Posted on 11/10/2013 6:57:21 PM PST by nickcarraway
EVERYBODY who knows me knows that I love cycling and that I’m also completely freaked out by it. I got into the sport for middle-aged reasons: fat; creaky knees; the delusional vanity of tight shorts. Registering for a triathlon, I took my first ride in decades. Wind in my hair, smile on my face, I decided instantly that I would bike everywhere like all those beautiful hipster kids on fixies. Within minutes, however, I watched an S.U.V. hit another cyclist, and then I got my own front wheel stuck in a streetcar track, sending me to the pavement.
I made it home alive and bought a stationary bike trainer and workout DVDs with the ex-pro Robbie Ventura guiding virtual rides on Wisconsin farm roads, so that I could sweat safely in my California basement. Then I called my buddy Russ, one of 13,500 daily bike commuters in Washington, D.C. Russ swore cycling was harmless but confessed to awakening recently in a Level 4 trauma center, having been hit by a car he could not remember. Still, Russ insisted I could avoid harm by assuming that every driver was “a mouth-breathing drug addict with a murderous hatred for cyclists.”
The anecdotes mounted: my wife’s childhood friend was cycling with Mom and Dad when a city truck killed her; two of my father’s law partners, maimed. I began noticing “cyclist killed” news articles, like one about Amelie Le Moullac, 24, pedaling inside a bike lane in San Francisco’s SOMA district when a truck turned right and killed her. In these articles, I found a recurring phrase: to quote from The San Francisco Chronicle story about Ms. Le Moullac, “The truck driver stayed at the scene and was not cited.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Bicyclists...probably OK. Motorcyclists no.
LOL
I’m a cyclist, a triathlete and a Freeper. It’s damned dangerous out there. You can’t live forever anyway.
Oldplayer
Not without a permit.
Of course not.
But that said — bicycles are a lot more dangerous than people seem to understand.
I know of two separate cases where cyclists were run over by semis.
In one, the victim’s guts were strewn out along the pavement amidst a long, wide smear of blood (Saw the photos)
The other, the guy had only enough time to say “Too fast...too fast,” before he died at the scene. (Witness statement)
Friday, I was treated to wet paint signs on one of our major streets. They had just painted bike lanes.
Yesterday, I was stuck behind a bike rider riding outside the new bike lane.
I can specifically remember being 11 years old, taking my old “Western Flier” bike and riding 7 miles to town, riding around there for a while then 7 miles back to our house in the country.
It was remarkably easy to do. You can really get around on a bike, that is if you are in good physical shape.
Ah. I didn’t know there was a season on them!
Recyclists, yes.
There are many freepers who believe, truly believe, hitting cyclists would be okay.
And you can prove that slander, of course.
not all of them.
Just the ones who don’t seem to think that traffic signs and right-of-ways apply to them.
I swear, the idiots in Utardia insist on riding on the damned line between bike lane and car lane when the bike lane is 5 feet wide. As far as I'm concerned, they're begging to slammed with someone's mirror pulling that bullcrap.
A good friend of mine lost his daughter after she fell off her bicycle hitting her head. Young girl died hours later. Complete "freak accident" kind of thing. Sometimes stuff just happens.
the scofflaw bike riders....seem to stick in the minds of some people
Those are the people we have to watch out for,
The guys who ride five abreast blocking traffic and refusing to yield by adhusting to a sungle file formation for as long as is necessary to let motorists past are those..”some people” s enemy and they tend to view all cyclists in the same light.
I ride daily and keep my eyes wide open for the multi tasking absent minded driver and the one who are looking for cyclists to intimidate...
be safe
But, from my perspective, they do not reciprocate. They cut in front of my car, they take up entire lanes, they snarl intersections, and they give me the finger even when I put my left tires over the dividing line.
I think a lot of cyclists have a real attitude problem.
Just read the replies on any cycling thread.
On the last Friday of every month in San Francisco?
Helllll Yeah....
See post #14. Just sayin’ .....
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