Bicycle Rant

[Protocall_Design]

I have had 3 friends who were riding a bicycle that were run down and killed by someone in a car. I don't know who was at fault in any of the cases, but I don't ride a bike or motorcycle on the street anymore. Offroad only for those 2 items. Too many car drivers are more interested in their cell phone than their car driving. It's bad enough to be in another car these days.

 

[NYlakesider]

It seems. Everybody's getting big on rudeness and lack of respect in the USA.

Does not look good in the picture. That's all I have to say. It saddens me.

Deslike all you want. I got thick skin.

Edit. Hey! NYlakesider! I just quoted you because of the general picture you have shown. Nothing at all against you. Just to make it clear.

No problem, I have big shoulders!

 

[PatriotX]

Bicycles are the new toilet paper and there are a lot of inexperienced riders on the road. 'The new toilet paper:' Bikes fly off shelves, overwhelming shops - CNN

If bikes are the new toilet paper, what does that make the riders?

 

[CH4]

I just don't get Spandex although I think it looks good on CH4 .

Thanks, Lycra makes me look fast. At least I don’t shave my legs

 

[rwsmith]

How 'bout'.......

There was a riding club down south of me. They took to having support vehicles blocking lights at intersections with private vehicles. I'm sure they didn't have the authority to block off traffic.

Missing a long light was irritating for sure. I'd rather wait for a flock of turtles.

How 'bout we start a 'driving club' and block bicyclers off at intersections until we pass?

I think I'd report this in the interest of public safety.

 

[JS Esq.]

There are many reasons cyclists aren't actually fans of dedicated bike lanes on travel roads. One is if there's a parking lane to the right of the bike lane, the risk of getting doored (someone opens their doors into you (intentionally or otherwise), which can be fatal for the cyclist) is very high. Another is that if there's an obstacle in the (narrow) bike path, it can leave one with few good options to avoid a crash.

I try to avoid riding on major roads, and have a rear-view mirror on my left handlebar so I know what's coming behind me, but bikes have every right to use the road. If you try to stay far to the right or in the shoulder, the odds of getting hit go up significantly because cars won't make space to go around you. Riding in the middle of the lane and moving right as someone's passing you on the left is the safest for the cyclist.

Rude people are everywhere. What percent of drivers have their heads buried in their cellphones as they drive? At least as high as the percent of cyclists who are true jerks, I reckon.

 

[Onomea]

In Japan, if a motorist hits a bicyclist, it is always, no matter what, the fault of the motorist. (Ditto for hitting a pedestrian.) With serious injury or death, loss of license permanently is likely.

Serious bicyclists, Lance Armstrong wannabes, tend to respect the rules of the road and ride responsibly. (I don’t recall ever seeing two abreast more than momentarily.) The problem is children and grannies/grandpas, who make sudden turns without looking, or who sail out into intersections without regard to stoplights or stop signs.

(Mopeds and scooters, mostly ridden by teens and housewives, are a similar problem. Those who ride the big bikes are invariably responsible riders, obeying the same rules as the rest of us drivers.)

You’ll never survive as a driver in Japan if you are not very, very careful of pedestrians and bicyclists.

 

[dockmurgw]

Lets all sing it together


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwvWtZl2ICY[/ame]

 

[Dave.357]

OK let's talk about Amish Buggys
And Road Apples!

 

[H Richard]

Most area's have laws on "Minimum" speed limits or rural roads. They usually have frequent radio and TV announcements in spring and fall when farm vehicles are going to be moving about and the required orange triangle that needs to be displayed by them. Check your area and see if there are any minimum speeds or warning devices that must be displayed.

In the same vein, my pet peeve is runners within the city limits. We do have a city ordnance requiring people to use any sidewalks when available. But, see how often the runners always are in the street and running 2 and 3 abreast. I always smile when I seen arrests for "Pedestrian illegal use of roadway".

 

[rubiranch]

Too many car drivers are more interested in their cell phone than their car driving. It's bad enough to be in another car these days.

Amen.

 

[bigwheelzip]

OK let's talk about Amish Buggys

And Road Apples!

Ahhh, now there is a real public menace.
While working a short contract at Ford-New Holland in the heart of PA Amish country, I got three flat tires from horseshoe nails.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[Absalom]

Bicyclists have some amazing bike paths built for them. We have one here that is about 45 miles long.

A 8 mile stretch of it was built over a historic RR bed and has been repaved 3 times. The original 8 mile stretch cost over $1/2 million.

I would like to know what they contribute to the cost of this??

I will tell you, NOTHING!!

They ride $10,000 bikes that require no registration and they pay no fees for anything.

I am an avid ATVer. $30 of my annual registration goes into the states OHV fund to help pay for the trails that I ride on.

A small portion goes to the Utah Highway Patrol to help cover maintenance cost of their helicopter and their search and rescue who rescue hikers more than anyone else.

I worked at a resort at the end of one of those bike paths and everyone knew that a bicyclist brings two things with them.

A clean pair of underwear and a $20 bill and they leave with both of them.

Our county has built a nice off road course for them. They paid nothing for its construction and they pay nothing to use it.

In contrast to most other countries, hardly anybody in the US rides a bike because they are poor and can’t afford a car, as I did until age 25. Quite the opposite, to pay for those $10,000 bikes you so resent.

I don’t have numbers to prove this, so this is just my opinion, but I’m pretty sure the average cyclist who uses these fancy bike paths pays considerable more of the taxes that paid for the trails than the average person who complains about them.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

How about during the wheat harvest in Western Ok. and Kansas following
a combine with a 30+ foot header down a 2 lane highway. If it is a few
miles between fields they will road the combine.
When that use to happen I simply listened to music and
observed the countryside.

 

[dockmurgw]

We have A LOT of bicycles on the roads around here, there are tour groups that bring them in from down country by the buss load. Sure there are knuckleheads as there are with any group, but all in all its no big deal for me. They come, they spend money, they go home. I prefer them over the aggressive insidious tail gaters and idiots careening around corners heading straight at you because their nose is in their phone.

 

[Kurusu]

OK let's talk about Amish Buggys
And Road Apples!

We don't have Amish 'round here.

But when I was a kid, in the early 60s, many farmers came to market in mule driven carts. I remember them "road apples".

 

[snubbyfan]

Our little West Virginia town is near the C&O Canal Towpath. Lotsa people do multi day rides on the Towpath.
In order to make it more convenient for people to get to our town safely, a connector trail was made that connects the Towpath to our town and bike lanes were made in town.
My wife and I can head out to ride the Towpath from our back door.

Our bikes are built to go anywhere we feel like riding.


I do wear a helmet and spandex.


My wife and I out riding the Towpath with a friend from spin class.


In the off season, we have a home spin bike and we take spin classes.


Anyway, there are a lot of people who have no idea of road rules and bicycles nor do they know anything about trail etiquette.
I irritates me to see so much unsafe riding. In particular when groups of riders block the entire Towpath to stand around and jibber jabber. Usually they're right beside an open area where they can go and stand around for as long as they like.

We met my sister for a bike tour and she's an avid road cyclist. She made sure that our little group was safe and made us aware of the road cyclist rules.

She's the skinny one in the sleeveless blue jersey. I'm the good looking tanned muscular fellow in the red tank top and that's my wife beside me.

 

[bigwheelzip]

We don't have Amish 'round here.

But when I was a kid, in the early 60s, many farmers came to market in mule driven carts. I remember tem "road apples".

Something like this Polish hybrid?

 

[Czar]

When learning to drive my father taught me one simple thing. Gross weight prevails. If you are on a motorcycle you do not cut around a semi. If you are on a 30lb bike, do not block a 3 ton car. They have the right to be there but must respect the laws of physics.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Kurusu]

Something like this Polish hybrid?

Carts have only two wheels and are usually drawn by just one animal. 4 wheel wagon were very seldom seen.

The common sight was(in more rural areas you'll stil find them) more like this.

Classic wooden wheels.

Or upgraded to rubber tires.