Posted on 06/10/2010 9:40:18 PM PDT by Chet 99
June 09, 2010|By Dan Tracy, Orlando Sentinel
Angry bicyclists are hoping to strike back and repeal a law taking effect in September that would force them to ride in bike lanes or hug the right side of the road.
They've even enlisted the help of state Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, himself an avid bicyclist and tri-athlete.
"I'm one of them. … I'm open to just about anything," Gardiner said, including filing a bill next year.
And the bikers might not stop with just the law.
Another possibility they are considering is doing away with bike lanes altogether. That could result in more bicyclists using the roads just like a car.
"Bike lanes might not be all that we thought they were cracked up to be," said Mighk Wilson, a smart-growth planner and bike advocate at MetroPlan Orlando.
Wilson said he thinks riding in the midst of traffic is safer than bike lanes or the side of the road because bicyclists are more visible to motorists. Bike lanes, he said, often run too close to parking spaces, making riders vulnerable to people who open their car doors without looking.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.orlandosentinel.com ...
“It’s about applying socialism to the roads and highways.”
You’ve got that right.
And it’s about controling other people and shoving your “rights” and philosophy down their throats.
I have no clue as to what hese people decked out in skin tight spandex think they are proving by being on bicycles amidst vehicular traffic. Is it some gay pickup thing or do they just have a death wish?
Heck, if the bicyclist can keep up with me doing 40 MPH down Main Street, more power to him. If he can't do it, I'll treat him just like the other A. K. Fart's that insist on doing 25 MPH in the left lane of a road marked 35...
I have no issue with bicycles themselves, before I had a car, it was a timesaver and a good workout.
The issue is I’ve seen bikes on the 50 MPH HWY (where there is ample space to do some nice bike work on the SIDE) and though that was an exception, I’ve seen cyclists struggling to get up a steep hill, holding up traffic on a road with a 35 MPH SPEED LIMIT! You are allowed to go slightly lower but going 20 in a 35 (or 10 MPH really) isn’t legal and I don’t get how bike riders are allowed to break laws that the rest of us have to follow. It’s why people hate bikes on the roads, it’s not the bike lanes people generally have an issue with it’s these moron bicyclists who think they OWN the road and don’t understand that their 17 MPH pace is not sufficient for someone who CHOSE to use a car because their time is more valuable. If you want to use the roads, get on a scooter, a motorbike or something CAPABLE of it.
The one reasonable exception are bikes in much more crowded areas and on slower roads, but even on 25 MPH, a bike can be struggling to get up to 15-17 MPH with an incline. Why should public buses, cars, people going to work or to the hospital or with appointments now have to take into account the array of idiots who think they have a right to the road in a non-motorized vehicle?
I forgot about the fees and taxes that pay for the roads argument.
I know that some localities ban bikes on sidewalks or have certain regulations but I think that’s dumb too. Sure, bikes on the sidewalks can hurt people but there usually just aren’t enough people doing it to worry and I did it for years as an adult, but I limited my total travel distance.
But I think bicyclists should be on the sidewalk and in bike lanes. Anything else, other than a very few roads is unfair to those of us who allegedly pay for the upkeep of the roads and literally robs us of our lives as we wait for these bicyclists to struggle up a steep incline going 25 MPH under the speed limit or take an extra 15 seconds to just get back on the back and get accelerated to the proper rate of speed.
I would ride my crossover bike 40 miles round-trip to and from work and 90% of that would be on the sidewalks.
Too many people drive with their head up their ass. And, no, I would never even think about riding in the center of the road.
Get together with your bicycle buddies. Pool your cash. Go buy 40, 80 or 10,000 acres of private property. Build bicycle paths all over it. Enjoy.
Get out of my way, you faggy spandex-clad sissies.
Well said.
Make them register and inspect the bike and insist they keep up with the speed of traffic and it sound good to me. :-)
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I don't have a problem with cyclists. I give them the same courtesy as anyone else on the road, but I live in a rural area that's a main route for 'rides' on the weekend.
There's nothing like coming around a curve to see the ass-end of 20 cyclists directly in front of you.
Thank God I have good brakes.
You are being sarcastic, I’m sure.
Bicycles ARE less than the big boys and giving them their own lane is a VERY generous thing. Bicycles are slow, don’t pay taxes, Lack lighting and turn signals. Put a motor on the bike so it can do 45MPH uphill in a headwind, add turnsignals, lights and rearview mirrors and require license plates on it, a driver’s license, and insurance...THEN it can be treated as an equal.
Until then a bike is not a legitimate mode of transportation on roads designed for modern cars at modern speeds.
I rode a bike for years while in college. There were no bike lanes where I rode. My strategy was to use the slow lane(and hug the curb) while going downhill, then switch to the sidewalk for uphill and also when I got tired on long flat stretches.
These people just have no common sense whatsoever. If you are not going at least close to the prevailing speed of the traffic, you are not only a hazard to them, but to yourself. In a perfect world, every driver would be 100% alert and expertly skilled. In reality, the greater speed difference between you and the traffic, the more likely you are of being hit. A 50mph vehicle coming up on a 10mph vehicle requires a much much faster reaction from the faster driver than if say...a 30mph vehicle comes up on a 25mph vehicle. The latter example there is plenty of time for the faster driver to decide what to do and how and when to do it.
Spend enough time doing 10mph in 50mph traffic and you WILL get rearended. Its just a matter of time. Sooner or later someone not fully alert and/or inadequate skills will come up behind you and wont be able to react fast enough to miss you.
The sentence was inside quotes.. meaning from these wacko bicyclists’ point of view.
I know. I wanted to rant anyway. All i needed was your post for the excuse to do so. :)
I used to live out in the country and commute into town for work. There was a long, hilly stretch of two lane road where, far too many times, I would crest a hill only to find a group of bikers in their little gay shorts taking up the ENTIRE lane.
I lost count of how many times I had to swerve into the oncoming lane or slam on my brakes because of these arrogant, inconsiderate a-holes.
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