by Lo-ru-hamah 82 Replies latest jw friends
It is not my wish to cause trouble, as I've certainly created more than enough for this board in my time. I intended to speak to both sides of the issue, driver and biker. Clearly I wrote as poorly as I often do. It feels as if I cannot do much correctly in my life the past year or so.
With that, I will back out of this thread.
As you might suspect, as a sports car freak I side with Lo-Ru on this issue. Also, because the cyclist was in the wrong.
IMHO, a few of the on-the-street bicycle people often display an unbelievable degree of rudeness. It often does not bother them at all to sit right in the middle of your lane on an uphill 2-lane stretch so you pull up behind them at about 5 mph, smoking out your expensive clutch.
Then, when you stop legally at the next red light, it again bothers them not at all to just ride right past all the cars lined up and get in front of you again in between the gaps. This may be what actually was happening with Lo-Ru(cannot remember the rest of her handle)..he wanted to get ahead of you by sliding up between you and the curb.
To put this into Texas perspective, my step-kid worked as a carpark while he went to UT in Austin until graduating last year. These guys used skateboards to get back to their station after parking customers cars sometimes several blocks away. This was sort of on restaurant row near the campus. He tells me it really was a blast to park some guy's Ferrari 360, and then skateboard back in true Bart Simpson style. However, he says they were under very strict instructions to use good manners and good sense both with the cars and the skateboard. This was apparantly a most coveted job for these guys and they were not about to mess it up with bad behavior. He thinks he got this job in part because he showed up for the interview in a 6-speed Corvette and with a clean driving record. (they had to prove they could drive a stick and stay out of trouble). Family rules to keep that vette were Grade Point 3.5 and NO TICKETS OR WRECKS.
He made it - but I'll bet there will always be a fraction of kids with both sports cars and bicycles that have not grown up to their rides.
James
I couldn't resist to add my two cents worth. Here goes.
I too am a cyclist. As a cyclist you have to take your life into your own hands, just like a motorcyclist, you have nothing around you to protect you. For that reason I stay off city streets. I use bike paths and take advantage of mountain biking outside of town.
I have respect for all bikers, because I am one, but I don't think they should be sharing roads in four lane traffic, especially rush hour. I would love to ride my bike to the grocery store or where-ever else, but because I find cyclists on the city streets annoying, I will not add to that irritation to other drivers)
I find it very annoying to have to dodge a cyclist, to move over and perhaps cut somebody off in the other lane because I have to dodge a cyclist, or even almost coming to a stop and holding up traffic backing up blocks because you can't pass the damn cyclist, like geez buddy move over, or get on the sidewalk.
Big Tex - don't feel bad, hugs to you.
Denise
I used to race for a team called Glasgow Wheelers and over here cars don't hit us we hit the cars, that shows them!!!
Sadly there is not enough respect given to cyclists but on the same token they/we shouldn't be going down one way streets, thats just asking for trouble
Happy cycling one and all
BM
Well I'll add my two cents.
I ride my bicycle often. I don't own a car though I rent occasionally. I don't consider my bicycle riding a sport. It's fun to ride, but I am no athlete and my bicycle is mostly a tool to get from point A to B.
I agree that bicyclists and car drivers should follow the laws and share the road, whether it is a two, four or six lane road. I don't agree that we need any extra laws on the books, beyond riding as far to th right as safely possible. The same laws covering all slow vehicles (tractors, etc.) should apply. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I often see fellow cyclists breaking the law, especially running red lights and stop signs. Car drivers routinely break other laws such as the speed limit, but that is usually of little consequence and most are predictable. I follow the law, but it seems that most cyclists don't. However, when a cyclists makes a mistake at the wrong time, they could pay for it immediately with their life. If a car driver makes a mistake with a cyclist, the car driver may not be harmed at all. The car driver is merely inconvenienced. I am more concerned about life than convenience. Bicycle riders have to take the physics of the situation into consideration and car drivers should too. At least car drivers are supposedly held to a higher standard before being given the privilege of driving machines which could easily be used to kill someone.
However, I have little sympathy for people who are irritated because they have to wait 4-5 seconds to get around a cyclist. I usually ride as far to the right side of the road as safely possible. But if its a two lane road and the right lane is too small for a car and me, I am not going to cower over to the side and encourage dangerous behavior (in other words, it wouldn't be safe; when I rider further out people are less likely to try to pass with unsafe margins). So far, no one totally incompetent or homocidal has come up behind me in that situation. There are always slower vehicles on the road, pedestrians in crosswalks and traffic. Given that small number of cyclists out there, very little of any delay is caused by cyclists. Try out the interstates in any city at rush hour. I guarantee you a bicycle/pedestrian-delay free ride for the time that you are on the interstate. Convenient motorized vehicle only driving. Nothing against the interstates. I use them when I occasionally rent a car, but not at rush hour if I can help it.
Caedes:
I think the driving test should have a section where you have to ride a bicycle down busy roads just so you have an appreciation of how dangerous and scary it is even without people trying to kill you deliberately.
Amen to that and as Princess said "With clip in pedals! That'll teach 'em."
maxwell IMHO your .02 is worth a million bucks a letter! I couldn't have said it better myself and it's worth repeating:
Well I'll add my two cents.
I ride my bicycle often. I don't own a car though I rent occasionally. I don't consider my bicycle riding a sport. It's fun to ride, but I am no athlete and my bicycle is mostly a tool to get from point A to B.
I agree that bicyclists and car drivers should follow the laws and share the road, whether it is a two, four or six lane road. I don't agree that we need any extra laws on the books, beyond riding as far to th right as safely possible. The same laws covering all slow vehicles (tractors, etc.) should apply. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I often see fellow cyclists breaking the law, especially running red lights and stop signs. Car drivers routinely break other laws such as the speed limit, but that is usually of little consequence and most are predictable. I follow the law, but it seems that most cyclists don't. However, when a cyclists makes a mistake at the wrong time, they could pay for it immediately with their life. If a car driver makes a mistake with a cyclist, the car driver may not be harmed at all. The car driver is merely inconvenienced. I am more concerned about life than convenience. Bicycle riders have to take the physics of the situation into consideration and car drivers should too. At least car drivers are supposedly held to a higher standard before being given the privilege of driving machines which could easily be used to kill someone.
However, I have little sympathy for people who are irritated because they have to wait 4-5 seconds to get around a cyclist. I usually ride as far to the right side of the road as safely possible. But if its a two lane road and the right lane is too small for a car and me, I am not going to cower over to the side and encourage dangerous behavior (in other words, it wouldn't be safe; when I rider further out people are less likely to try to pass with unsafe margins). So far, no one totally incompetent or homocidal has come up behind me in that situation. There are always slower vehicles on the road, pedestrians in crosswalks and traffic. Given that small number of cyclists out there, very little of any delay is caused by cyclists. Try out the interstates in any city at rush hour. I guarantee you a bicycle/pedestrian-delay free ride for the time that you are on the interstate. Convenient motorized vehicle only driving. Nothing against the interstates. I use them when I occasionally rent a car, but not at rush hour if I can help it.
I have a license plate frame that says "Share the road" and a bumper sticker that says;
BADD= Bicyclist Against Dumb Drivers
Where I live the roads absolutely suck, they are full of pot holes, crappy pavement and most of them are narrow, no shoulder and drop off into a ditch at that plus lots of blind curves, very, very few wide nicely paved roads with bike lanes. When I'm driving in my car I will stop and hold up the traffic behind me to keep a cyclist safe, it pisses most people off but I also hope that I am showing by my example how to be a respectful driver. At the most it might put you 45 seconds behind schedule......get a grip!
Back to the topic of this thread I do agree the cyclist was in the wrong, his actions were just stupid, however you cannot judge all cyclist by the actions of a few.
What really irked me most was Lo-ru-hamah's reaction to him:
So, in a blind rage I start to turn the car around to actually run him over this time for real and intentionally, when all of a sudden a car pulls onto the same road and runs the guy over. His bicycle is completely bent up and he gets up still yelling at me. He said it was my f***ing fault that this happened. He didn't even get mad at the guy who hit him. He was too busy yelling at me still.I was sorry, I didn't see him but he broke the law. I had my blinker on and I was in the far left lane. When he got hit the by the other car he wasn't even watching me anymore. The stupid Lance Armstrong wanna be might want to learn how to ride a bicycle. It took a bit to calm down but afterwards I was able to have a good laugh about how karma works.
That is pure hateful and appalling! I can honestly say I really can't wrap my head around anyone who can laugh at another person's misery, regardless of how it happened. But that's just me? Gawd I hope not!
Maybe it's time for this roadie to trade my bike in for an all terrain clunker and stay off the road and on trails, sucks! It's hard to train for a 100 mile road event riding trails.
It's hard to train for a 100 mile road event riding trails.
You training for something? I'm heading to Portland by bike in the STP next month (205 miles with 9000 other bicyclists on the ROAD). Just me and a couple of girlfriends this time, Steve is driving sag for us.
I tried riding the rails to trails for awhile, but I just get so sick of the same old terrain, and very few hills. Boring.
Being struck by various objects from moving cars;
Food
Fast food wrappers
Rocks
Spittle
Soda bottles/cups (full and/or empty)
Paintballs
By any chance are you that guy who zips all around on his bike wearin nothin but a g-string?
I'm with FairMind on this one. Anyone who rides in car traffic is living on borrowed time. I stay on the trails adjacent to the road and use back roads on my route to work, and in the event I ever need to cross an intersection I use the crosswalk just like a pedestrian. Maybe I'm just a scare-dy cat..
I think bikes and cars just do not mix. There ought to be some system of separating the two.
MJ,
Sorry I'm not that guy, I don't even wear stretchy bike shorts in public.
Ha!.. Anybody ever heard of a "Critical Mass"?... around here it's when all the cyclist/activist get together to ride down hwy 101.... holds up all the traffic for a while... Pretty cool to see when it happens..
I ride a bike... But mostly only at the local BMX track... I don't trust people driving around talking on their cell phones...
