If the fucking stretch-shit bike suit doesn't scream "ASSHOLE" loud enough, the riding does.

[HopeHoops]

:rant:
We have a stretch of road that's about 2 miles, one lane each way, 45mph. Despite this, it has REALLY wide shoulders, as wide as a highway breakdown lane. A lot of people use it for jogging, running, and biking. There seem to be two types of bicyclists: those in expensive stupid clothing and those in normal human clothing. I swear, to the one, they ride differently.

The ones in normal human clothing do what most of the runners and joggers do - stay as far to the right as possible for safety reasons.

The ones in the stupid clothes ride on the white line - RIGHT on the fucking line. Most cars can pass safely, but usually cross the double yellow to compensate for the asshole. Trucks have no CHOICE but to cross the line to avoid wiping the asshole out by the handlebar. Okay, we get it. The clothes already scream "ASSHOLE". Fucking morons.

:rant:

Disclaimer: I ride a bike and I know from much personal experience that there are places where there IS no shoulder. All of our bikes are decked out with extra reflectors, front and rear lights, and mirrors - including our tandem (which has 3 mirrors). What I'm talking about here is NOT about such roads. And we all always wear helmets.

[Lance_Boyle]

1. Count yourself lucky.

Where I live (rural area, no shoulders to speak of) the assholes ride 2 and 3 abreast and sometimes in packs of a dozen or more, refusing to let traffic pass. I always give most of the lane when passing riders who are single-file and to the right. But the double and triple stacked assholes? The one on the inside is gonna get buzzed if they refuse to move over. And maybe heavily sooted if I'm in a bad mood - the 10-year-old diesel is great for that. Drop a gear and put the jackasses in involuntary blackface.

The galling part is that they haul their bikes out to my neck of the woods on their luxury SUVs and then proceed to take their recreation on the roads without regard for the people who live there. The massive farm tractors that frequent these roads are more courteous.

[HopeHoops]

5. My wife and I always ride single-file - we have no choice when on the tandem.

:evilgrin:

On Edit: (Don't tell, but I let her do all the work pedaling the tandem).

[Lance_Boyle]

12. on a tandem,

bitch seat is definitely a SCORE. :toast:

[HopeHoops]

18. I have to steer!

[charlie and algernon]

2. The same with hiking trails

I hike alot and one of the trails I do is wide enough for a car, so it's popular with bikers as well as hikers. I've found that the ones in casual clothes will let you know that they're passing you and will give you enough space. The ones in the "professional" biker clothes will only give you a warning at the last moment, if at all, and it's usually an impatient shout as opposed to a calm warning. They are also mostly likely to pass you with just a couple inches of space between you and then immediately cut right in front of you. As if my walking is keeping them from winning the Tour De France. :eyes:

[WolverineDG]

11. As someone who almost got flattened by a cyclist

while walking the Camino, I can commiserate. Most were nice enough to give you a warning bell, or would start shouting "Buen Camino" as soon as they thought you were in earshot. However, there was one asshole who decided to take a very steep descent at full speed, even though he could see at least 20 pilgrims on foot ahead of him. In addition to almost killing me, he almost bowled over 2 elderly women. When I saw him later in the day struggling to carry his bike up a steep part of the Camino that is in the books as "foot only traffic," I wasn't too sympathetic.

dg

[petronius]

17. I've noticed a different pattern here: on trails, our cyclists are generally polite

no matter the clothing. It's the walkers that seem to have habits of strolling 3 abreast, yakking on cell phones, and basically ignoring all aspects of trail courtesy. As a hiker and not a biker, I find it particularly galling that my 'tribe' is the screw-up around here...

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. So true. The spandex crowd winds up bringing down the world's wrath on the rest of us normal bikers

[nolabear]

4. The bicyclers here in Seattle scare me to death.

I do appreciate the fitness and ecological aspects of the whole thing, but so often their sense of entitlement or obliviousness or SOME damn thing leads them to do things that just might cause me to kill them with my car. And they tend to glare at you while they're doing it. And it's a BIG bicycle town with a trail that pretty much circumnavigates the whole area, so there are many, many places where you have to cross it and pray one doesn't pop out of somewhere and fling his body into your grill.

And yes, I have nearly been run down when walking. They need bells or something, because "On your left" is not used nearly as often as it needs to be."

I don't mind the Spandex. And I envy the stamina. But I don't think I'll ever have the nerve to ride in traffic and act like I own the road.

[HopeHoops]

6. We have bells AND "honky horns" (the kind Harpo Marx used with the big rubber bulb).

[geardaddy]

7. I'm with you on urban bikers nolabear

Minneapolis was just named America's #1 bicycle-friendly city. Most bikers here in the Twin Cities are reasonable, but there are quite a few that do what you said, and with that glare on their faces. I also have nearly been run over while walking by these bikers several times.

[hifiguy]

10. The way that some of the younger ones weave through dense city traffic,

BETWEEN THE CARS, cross against lights (had to stomp on my brakes twice in a couple blocks in downtown Mpls last week to avoid flattening two such assholes) and generally behave as if no traffic rules apply to them whatsoever raises my blood pressure sky high. The flippant, snotty look you get when you flatspot four tires to to avoid killing them does nothing to add to their "charm." :grr:

And don't get me going about the ones who constantly lurch several feet to one side, then the other, depending on which pedal is being pumped; they travel not in anything like a straight line but in a long, wide S-curve. Try getting around one of those shitbags on a narrow urban street in heavy traffic. We get it, you're just so "athletic" and "powerful" when you're riding that you just CAN'T stay on a straight line and are entitled to fuck up all the traffic behind you. :nuke:

[geardaddy]

13. Man, HFG, I feel your pain.

I live in Uptown and don't drive much. I take the bus and walk almost everywhere in my neighborhood. But when I do drive, these turds do exactly what you're talking about. Riding the wrong way on a one-way, blasting through red lights, not stopping at a two-way stopsign, etc.

[hifiguy]

14. I live just on the western fringe of Uptown

and there don't seem to be quite as many of them there. From downtown out to somewhere between Franklin and Lake is nutsarama with the "Screw you, I'm on a bicycle and can do anything I want - C'mon, I DARE you to hit me" crowd.

[Demoiselle]

20. I was driving down a one-way street in center city Philly

not long ago when a young woman came straight at me on her bicycle IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. Going the wrong way. In MY LANE. I just stopped dead, flabbergasted. She, poor dear, had to go around me, and shot me a disgusted look as she did so.
On a brighter note, thanks. I just learned a great new term--"flatspot." Yes, I looked it up.

[MrCoffee]

19. MrsCoffee actually did get run down by a Seattle biker while walking

Fucker was lucky I was holding InfantCoffee at the time, or he would have gotten his ass beat.

[nadine_mn]

23. off topic - InfantCoffee made me spew my coffee

so cute I can't stand it

[Mutley]

8. People riding bikes on the road scares me.

Not that I think they shouldn't be able to do so, just that I am afraid I'll hit someone one of these days. There have been times when I've gone around a bend on a little back road just to have to hit the brakes to avoid a biker. It's nerve wracking.

[HopeHoops]

9. You have to make yourself REALLY visible. Lots of reflectors and lights if it is even close to dark

When we got a trailer (after our second daughter was old enough), the over-all length of the tandem/trailer combo was roughly 16' - longer than some cars. I drilled holes in the trailer and mounted two 4' orange bike flags, one on each side - vintage early 70's McD's "Bikes Are Beautiful" flags that I had held on to. You can't be TOO visible.

After the third daughter was born, we really couldn't figure out a way to take everyone on one bike. There's no safe way to attach a baby seat and a trailer to our tandem (and probably not to any other bike for that matter).

[Mopar151]

15. Does right-of-way trump physics?

Apparently, the wearers of spandex beleive so. I've had a couple hair-raising encounters with these mental defectives. I remember a whole bike tour that missed death by inches, when I met an oil tanker while towing my car trailer, on a no-shoulder 2-lane.

[Mopar151]

16. We have lost an event date to these clowns

Specifically, to the operators of the "Kingdom Trails" network at Burke Mountain. Our attempted contact with them to resolve/ameliorate the situation resulted in the comment "The rudest people I have EVER met in Vermont!". I'll explain the spectrum of issues if anyone cares - but the stticking point seems to be the fact that we exist at all.

[AmyDeLune]

21. The most jaw-dropping thing I've seen a cyclist do so far...

was ride with no hands on the handlebars-- he had a cellphone in one hand and a cigarette in the other. No helmet or protective gear.

I remember the screaming from the elitist cycling (and by elitist, I mean assholes) community when a helmet law was enacted here, though I still see a large number of cyclists with no helmets.

Every time there is an accident involving car vs cyclist where the car is at fault the cycling community is (correctly) up at arms and calling for more awareness and safety measures. When the cyclist is at fault, the silence from the cycling community is deafening. A few years back, after several instances of cyclists being injured/killed by drunk drivers driving with suspended licenses there was a huge outcry from the bike riding community; then there was an incident where a 7 year old boy on the sidewalk was reaching to push the "walk" button at a crosswalk and was not just run down by a cyclist; his head was impaled on the bike's handlebars and he was dragged for about 20 feet before disengaging from the bike. The rider never stopped and fled the scene. The cycling community said not_one_word. They offered no help in finding this man and they made no public statement decrying his actions. Eventually, the rider was identified, though I don't recall what sort of sentence he received (he was mentally disabled). Fortunately, the 7 year old sustained no permanent injury, he just had to wait for the hole in his skull to heal.

90% of all the bike riders I encounter are courteous, safe, and thoughtful. 10% are elitist assholes who seem to be trying to win a Darwin Award.

[RandomThoughts]

22. I like that image in your sig.

Bilbo and the trolls.

Yep,

keep talking to them till the sun comes up and they turn to stone.

It is all connected.



Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5JkHBC5lDs




Really is a great picture. Do you also see the flowers in the hair :loveya:



And some great songs.

Bonnie Raitt - I Can't Make You Love Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9Cu6GYqxo

Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time
http://www.123video.nl/playvideos.asp?MovieID=407128

Kutless - Strong Tower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOxeyj7itJE

[quakerboy]

24. Semi-opposite here

PDX. People wearing biking gear tend to be serious about what they are doing, and more likely to be paying attention and following at least the most common sense of the applicable rules.

Its the hipsters in their ironic clothing that are the menace here. They aren't there to get from point A to point B. they are there to assert dominance and superiority. Say there is a bike lane and a road lane. Damned if they are not going to be driving along slowly in the regular traffic lane whenever possible. And when not possible, they will pull out a phone and ignore all surroundings, weaving in and out through every possible permutation of unsafe wheeling.