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BE CAREFUL riding on the road...Bicycle.

Discussion in 'General' started by tonybrownphoto, Jun 4, 2008.

  1. Jed

    Jed mellifluous

    You must have street sweepers in your area! I used to ride the James Island connector and the Isle of Palms connector in SC. Only place to get a semblance of a hill. The problem was that the county never swept or vacuumed the bike paths / breakdown lanes. Broken glass, construction debris. gravel, sand, sticks, cups, etc. all over. The farther from the traffic lane you ride the worse it would get. If you were lucky you could have a foot of good lane to the right of the line from people not paying attention while they were driving and drifting into the bike lane.
     
  2. Jamesm925

    Jamesm925 Well-Known Member

    bike paths are usually narrow and clogged w/ runners.
    my brother was taken out riding on a bike path when an unaware runner randomly darted across the path when he was about to pass him.
     
  3. Joe Morris

    Joe Morris Off The Reservation

    Who asked you to build this? I've only been to one open viewing of bicycle lane/path designs. It was a disaster on paper that any cyclist could see. However, the project went right along despite the protesting local cycling community. But this project in particular was driven by the DOT and an initiative to build so many miles of mixed use path in our county. You can see from this thread that building an ill-conceived bike lane/path causes public backlash against all cyclist. Please, consider this when you're doing your designs.
     
  4. ThrottleJock

    ThrottleJock Has been/Never was


    They do get the full lane in NC and FL, if they want it. But you're right, they're responsible for following all vehicle laws as well, including stopping at lights. That's not to say that it's a good idea or something I support to go plodding down the center of a lane at 20mph on a bike. That's suicide. I've been a cyclist, a motorcycle rider and an enthusiast of driving WAY too fast in cars down back roads for as long as I can remember, and I've actually come around a couple sweepers in the car in the past and had to get into threshold braking so as not to run down cyclists. I felt like a total fool and asshole at the time, but these guys are taking their lives into their hands when they "claim a lane". It doesn't make it right to run them down but I can definitely see how it happens... and I'm an ex-SCCA guy with a lot of skill going fast in a car. Imagine the fat slob asshole drunk in the dump truck with one hand on his dick and the other flipping through the latest copy of "Nasty Biker Chicks". No chance the guys on the bikes will have a chance.

    We actually get tickets down here pretty regularly for running reds. Well, I don't, 'cause I stop because I've already been hit by one car... but a lot of the guys I ride with do whatever they want and have the points on their drivers license to show for it.

    What really irks me are the aggressive asshole car people who deliberately run you off the road, come up behind you (even when you're occupying only the far right 6 inches of the lane) and honk, or yell, or throw stuff. A couple weeks ago a guy in a new Mercedes SUV thing drove up directly behind me, honked, yelled, scared the shit out of me and then went flying around me about 1 foot away with the throttle pinned. I caught up to him at the next light and split lanes, punching his passenger side mirror of his big gay SUV off as I rode by. Figure that was about $500 worth of damage to his big gay car and it made me happy. He'll probably run the next cyclist he sees down out of spite for me. Didn't think about that at the time.
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2008
  5. JimboC

    JimboC Well-Known Member

    That is what I have been saying the whole time. In Alabama they treat you just like an automobile as far as law is concerned:up:
     
  6. ThrottleJock

    ThrottleJock Has been/Never was

    Again, not that I'd recommend that ANYONE (even big swarms of cyclists) take more than the far right couple feet of lane. I get 3-4 flats a week on average around here from glass on the side of the road, but I live on the far right white line or further over unless I"m passing parked cars, in which case I look back and claim a door-width extra lane space if it's clear. I also make an effort to travel at or near traffic speed anytime I'm in a congested area. If you're a strong cyclist you can run along at 35mph for a couple miles to limit impedance to cars and stuff. I do more than I should have to in order to be as little of an annoyance to cars as possible - but honestly it's just common sense 'cause getting hit sucks.

    What I don't understand at all is why/how people in cars devalue the lives of people riding bikes. If you run a bike off the road or hit him with the mirror on your F350 as you pass by at 40mph closing speed, you might kill 'em. That's manslaughter. That's fucking killing another human being.

    I especially love the dumb bitches (it's always young women) who ride by, honk, and yell 'GET A CAR'!!! What morons. I'm on a $4,000 bicycle, you think I don't have a fucking car? Jesus h. Christ these are the people that voted for George W. the second time. One of the guys I ride with tucks a nickel plated .357 with a 8" barrel in a rear holster when he rides, for all passing motorists to see. Hilarious. I love Miami sometimes, it's like the Wild West all over again.
     
  7. Jamesm925

    Jamesm925 Well-Known Member

    you guys dont get it: bike paths are great if you're a recreational cyclist that does like 10 miles a day on flat terrain at like 12mph.
    but if you're actually into the sport and want to ride some climbs/do more than 25miles, then you've gotta get on the roads. period.
    it's called a road bicycle because it's meant for the road, and it has thin, almost-slick tires on it b/c it's meant to go faster than what would be safe on a bike trail.

    it's not a matter of choosing to buy tires that will stand up to all the crap that gets pushed/thrown into the bike lanes. that's like arguing that it's your fault you can't go off-roading on a sportbike b/c you bought street dot's instead of knobbies.....
     
  8. Mr Sunshine

    Mr Sunshine Banned

    Around here in Redmond, Wa we have a metric ton of bicycle trails and bicycle lanes. These trails are in good shape and are used by a large number of bicyclists every day for their commute to work.

    Yet we always have a few dorks ride on the road that parelles one of the trails. I don't mean they ride on it because they are going home...they ride it the entire stretch. Too bad that road doesn't have shouldars or a bicycle lane. I mean they don't need it when there is a trail right there.

    Here is where I am talking about:
    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...933,-122.129989&spn=0.027227,0.05373&t=p&z=15

    The bicycle trail is right next to the Sammamish River. The road they ride on is to the right called Redmond-Woodinville Road NE.
     
  9. f4idrew

    f4idrew #800

    I was taken out by a Jogger on the bike path in Philly. 3 girls running 3 wide across the entire path that didnt yield. They never moved despite me yelling. Hit the brakes hard, over the bars still clipped in, into the back of one of the girls. They just said oops and kept running.... :down:

    Paths are nice for recreation.. but people dont pay attention, they think they own the whole path. Its useless for training purposes. Luckily philly area is HUGE for cycling and most drivers are pretty good about going around you.

    Riding 3-4 across taking up the whole lane though is not cool:tut:
     
  10. You mean they didn't have carbon fiber forks, and seat posts?:wow: No thin walled aluminum rims? No light weight frames? Geesh what did you ride back then a Pee Wee Herman bike?:crackup:
     
  11. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    So I should drive in the bike lane (just to clean it off)?
     
  12. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    Bottom line, if you want respect give it. I make sure to pass a rider with as much room as possible. In return, don't pass me on the right at the next light and make me repeat the process.
     
  13. When I turn onto my "hoods" road which is a dead end with a culdesac at the end with a decent hill and sweeping turn...I do this as a last 1/4 mile burn session. As I turn on my road Monday night I noticed two woman, a small girl maybe 8 or so, and their little dog. When I got oh about 60' from them (backs were turned to me) I said "coming up on your right" and slowed down, they turned in shock as I slowly pedalled past as not to startle them. As I was coming back up the hill they were again in the middle of the road so I couldn't do my usual hill climb at speed. They looked at me again as if "what am I doing riding on the road" type look. Funny thing is, they don't live in my hood and I've never seen them before.:rolleyes:
     
  14. Cuddles de Sade

    Cuddles de Sade AnACREE in the UK!!!

    so I'm supposed to stop at red lights when I'm on my bike?:p
     
  15. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    Hell no. Come right on up beside me.
     
  16. Joe Morris

    Joe Morris Off The Reservation

    I started coming to a complete stop at stop signs and stop lights just for you Rick. I must say traffic seems a little friendlier. :clap:
     
  17. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    I'm about $2 a gallon away from riding myself.
     
  18. Cuddles de Sade

    Cuddles de Sade AnACREE in the UK!!!

    :stupid: 'bike paths' are really multi-use trails intended for casual use...the constant stop/start of intersections and road crossings and the slalom course of soccer moms and their strollers walking side by side makes the paths more of a hazard than the road. I use to deal with this on almost every ride, every day as I used a section of the W&OD Trail to get out to the country roads I trained on...we would give a sigh of relief and relaxation once we could pull off the path. they probably work great for their intended audience, but for any serious cyclist they are the equivalent of riding a GSXR1000 on a go-kart track.
     
  19. JimboC

    JimboC Well-Known Member

    I am ahead of you. Been riding twelve miles to work and twelve miles back for a week now
     
  20. I'm about the same distance, but I'm afraid to drive to work as its a busy area to drive into let alone ride a bicycle into...plus there are people like Venom I have to think about. Maybe if my 9mm wouldn't bounce around so much while clip to my bicycle shorts it might make some of them think twice.:D
     

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