who the heck is this sign for??cyclist or motorist??
I have been involved in bicyling with a bike club now for 3 years. Prior to this, I biked by myself and purposely rode from 5 am to 8 am to avoid cars AND to avoid being a nuisance on the roads. I really thought that as a cyclist, I should ride when few cars were on the roads.
Now I am in a bike club and there is no such thinking as this. I have found that it is all about the rider and his or her ride. Cars and others be damned. I have a right to the roads, I am going to ride on them and I am going to do whatever the heck I want to do.
If we want to run a 20 man pace line and zoom around at 21 mph +, that is our right and ya'd better get out of our way, cuz we have a right to be on the roads.
Yeah, yeah, I know you have a right but what the heck happened to thinking about someone other than yourself when on the roads. And yeah, yeah, I know motorists do the same thing and we call them jerks.
I was a a bike gathering tonight and one of the "elite" riders told me he goes to a popular area sponsored ride just to ride fast. He said they can run a large pace line and speed as much as they want since it is a well marked ride with lots of folks on the road. He told me he was incensed at how many people kept riding in the middle of the lane and did not know to get over. I was sitting there wondering when in heck has this same guy ever had to get over for a faster rider.
Never cuz he is only riding faster than a bunch of marginally good riders. I would just love to see these A riders riding with some real elite riders. It would be sweet justice.
Hey I know, I sound mad, I guess I am. The sponsored ride that I participated in had over 4000 riders, it was rumored that a rider was killed in dangerous riding. We saw the scene but could not confirm the details. This is insane. Am I the only one that feels this way, I think so. Most tell me to shut up, cyclists can and deserve to ride on the roads and ride fast if they want.
Good thing all motorists don't feel that way, hello, it is why we have speed limits. But in the world of biking, there are no speed limits, go as fast as you can and hope that the only thing you break is a collarbone or arm.
I was sorely disappointed tonight and knew I was the only one who felt this way. All I heard was how fast the folks went in the ride, we got back at 11, we did not see any problems. What problems, oh, they say to me, "you got run over by a pace line, then why didn't you get over faster?"
The fast riders have no idea of their impact on other cyclists or cars nor do they care. I am convinced of this. They are having fun and that is all it is about.
Call me old, I guess I am, but cycling on roads has to be a team effort not only between cars and bikers but between bikers and bikers.
Streetsblog.net talks about livable streets. Yeah, where?? No one is willing to step aside for anyone.
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