Sometimes I hate being called a cyclist.

[biker72]

I honestly feel that some cyclists have a personality change when they get on a bike.

Years back a member of the group I was riding with was an accountant. Easy going, laid back....until he got on his bike. Screaming at motorists in busy intersections even tho he had a red light. Guy was crazy. He was asked to ride with someone else.

[firerescuefin]

Patrol you

Patrol and/or leave the group you ride with

The rest is at best a waste a time and at worst an invitation for violence

[redir]

Originally Posted by biker72

I honestly feel that some cyclists have a personality change when they get on a bike.

IDK about that but it's definitely the case when people get into a car. Just look at how cars are marketed. They are sold like they are wild powerful animals or something. When you get in one you are transformed into a super human/animal with the capability of reaching speeds ten times what nature has intended couple that with the fact that you are surrounded by a protective shell and it is a huge ego boost.

[shovelhd]

If I come across a group of cyclists taking way more than their share of the road I'll give two quick toots of the horn and wave when they acknowledge me. Never had a problem with that approach. I do have a USA Cycling sticker on the back window.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by redir

Typical pick up truck driver.

j/k



In my state riding two abreast is legal.

It is in mine as well, but it's not always smart to do so. 99% of the driving public, including the police, don't know this. This works against us. Riding two abreast on a road with traffic and no shoulder is stupid. Riding two abreast on a road with traffic and not using the shoulder is even more stupid.

[s_curran]

Everyones going to assume the worst when you honk. At the same time drivers are going to assume the worst when they see a pack of cyclists. Bad cycle to be in if you ask me. I cant claim to be any better, if someone honks at me I sometimes react poorly, but I also dont ride in the middle of the road.

I hopped on the the back of a group ride recently, because I desperately needed a pull back into the city. I couldnt beleive these guys, just in and out of the road, for some reason ignoring the massive shoulder we had.

Groups build confidence and macho-ness it seems to me.

[bobswire]

I've witnessed way more problems while driving with other autos and pedestrians and even deers on a roadway than I've ever had with cyclists. Granted, there is out there a perception that cyclists are a bunch of road hogging,traffic offending, no account, careless inconsiderate "A" holes but in reality they are less of a burden than a deer or other kinds of road kill. Personally I give cars a wide berth, stop at all red lights and yield to whomever gets to the stop sign first, rarely if ever do I have a confrontation with an auto other than a shake of my head.

[Seramount]

when I'm riding, being honked at is seriously aggravating. I'm typically not dawdling and am positioned in the lane where I deem it to be most safe.

using your horn on me isn't going to change my speed or force me to the curb.

[fuzzalow]

Every time this type of thread comes up, I retread the old Walt Kelly quote from his Pogo comic strip:

We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us

I have participated in many sports and activities at many different levels. Never have I come across a more self-righteous and elitist group of hobbyist athletes as I have with the so-called "serious cyclist" - which to me is a just a euphemism for "douche bag roadie" (DBR). Cluster DBRs together and you get an emboldened, mob-incited mess of epic proportions.

My primary revulsion with DBRs is not that they may have conflict with motorists - that's understandable due from cyclists and motorists, with varying skills of each, operating, contesting & conflicting in the same roadway space. My disdain for the DBR is from their proclivity and ease of, figuratively, throwing almost any other cyclist under the bus. All these rules about how to dress, how to ride, how fast to go, etc etc etc that reek of closed kinship and conformity. I have not witnessed a more insecure bunch who nevertheless insist on being in your face. For example that cry like a baby when a motorist buzzes them on an quiet road and yet feels no misdeed doing the same in passing another cyclist (me) on the same quiet road. My goodness, close enough to waft the smell and the heat as they went past. Golly it's nice you want to intimidate me on how fast you are but I don't GAS.

Stunning that serious cyclists desire respect and acceptance from the outside world and yet rarely do they practice looking out for and taking care of their own. "Own" meaning in the wider sense of cyclists, not their brothers in identical team kit. I am a serious cyclist. I am not a DBR. They are not me.

Strangely enough, I was friends with a person who pursued birdwatching as a hobby for a while. I described DBRs once to her and she said that was nothing compared to the cutthroat that goes on in birdwatching. Birdwatching!!! What a hoot!

[redir]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

It is in mine as well, but it's not always smart to do so. 99% of the driving public, including the police, don't know this. This works against us. Riding two abreast on a road with traffic and no shoulder is stupid. Riding two abreast on a road with traffic and not using the shoulder is even more stupid.

"Riding two abreast on a road with traffic and no shoulder is stupid. " I disagree, in this case I'd say that's a smart thing to do. Or at least ride singe file but out in the lane where a cars passenger side tires normally are. There's a lot of reasons why this is the case one of which is the most obvious and that is visibility especially in the angles that corners make, the second is that if you hug the white line shoulder then they will thread the needle. As the say goes, give them an inch and they will take a yard.

In Virginia the law says that slower vehicles must move over when they detect that a faster vehicle is behind them wanting to pass. I wish more cyclists would do that but they don't. Fortunately in my neck of the woods I can go on a 4 hour ride and pretty much once out of the small towns be able to count the number of cars that pass me on my fingers and toes.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by Seramount

when I'm riding, being honked at is seriously aggravating. I'm typically not dawdling and am positioned in the lane where I deem it to be most safe.

using your horn on me isn't going to change my speed or force me to the curb.

Why is it seriously aggravating? I just don't understand that mentality. If you're three wide taking the lane because you're having a coffe clatch and it's not safe for me to pass then I'm going to let you know I'm there, in a non confrontational way. Where it goes from there is entirely up to you.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by redir

"Riding two abreast on a road with traffic and no shoulder is stupid. " I disagree, in this case I'd say that's a smart thing to do. Or at least ride singe file but out in the lane where a cars passenger side tires normally are. There's a lot of reasons why this is the case one of which is the most obvious and that is visibility especially in the angles that corners make, the second is that if you hug the white line shoulder then they will thread the needle. As the say goes, give them an inch and they will take a yard.

In Virginia the law says that slower vehicles must move over when they detect that a faster vehicle is behind them wanting to pass. I wish more cyclists would do that but they don't. Fortunately in my neck of the woods I can go on a 4 hour ride and pretty much once out of the small towns be able to count the number of cars that pass me on my fingers and toes.

There are times when it's appropriate to take the lane, and it's not all of the time.

This thread has explosion potential.

[cinema]

Originally Posted by redir

if you hug the white line shoulder then they will thread the needle. As the say goes, give them an inch and they will take a yard.

My experience exactly, riding my whole life, in all three major cities of the U.S.

Get clipped once and you'll understand. Get doored and you'll never hug the white line ever again.

[Tom]

Situational. There's a whole bunch of places I ride out in the center of the lane exactly because somebody will try a driving move they don't have the skill to make if I don't. I also make it very clear why I'm doing that - left turn signal way ahead of time, point at the person getting out of the parked car, that kind of thing.

The deal is when riders, myself included, draw their world in between their ears and stop paying attention to what's happening around them. Can't exactly complain about car drivers doing that if one is doing it themselves, now can I? I know, I know, car drivers are a menace yes. Been there, done that, woke up in the ditch some time after they ran away. Doesn't mean I have to suck at what I do.

[ohsnapitsed]

Originally Posted by eippo1

The thing I hated most about commuting into the city via bike was the other bike commuters. The cars were predictable and not a problem since they were everyday drivers, used to bikes, and generally better drivers since they drove every day. You could usually spot the morons texting etc. on the phone so they weren't a problem.

Other bike commuters cut me off, ran into me at stoplights (happened fairly often and really pissed me off when I was doing track stands), constantly wanted to race, and on more than one occassion stirred up the ire of drivers who then redirected their anger on me since I was available and not running the light cutting over the curb etc.

I run into this all the time. Commuting about 6 miles daily in Chicago. Other bike commuters constantly run lights and stop signs, or cut up to the front of the group stopped at a light - just to get passed as soon as everyone starts riding. Another issue is just being generally unpredictable...

I agree with another poster that we (cyclists) are at times our own worst enemy.

Same goes for group rides - while I have been on a few that are good(ish) users/sharers of the road, there are others that are absolute cluster f**ks.

I worked at a Bike/Ped/Transit Advocacy NFP for 2 years, but also drive (often). I wish more people saw these issues from both sides of the fence.