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#1
06-21-2018, 10:01 AM
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Everyone hates us?
This is a topic that has been discussed before but over the last few weeks it has been rough being a cyclist. Was doored a couple of weeks ago and without going very deep into it, I was pretty much blamed for it (for not being in the bike lane, a bike lane that is new and I did not know about and that is on the other side of the road covered by parked cars. I was going with the traffic, was doing nothing wrong. Luckily was going slow and the crack I heard from my shoulder was not a break. Still hurts but I will be fine.
Then today I was ridding to a friends, on the bike lane and 2 men are standing on it, one puts the arm on the other and says.... becareful with these guys, they will hit you and then ask questions later. 3 weeks ago I got spat on while I was ridding (I did not see it but touched my shirt and had spit on it and on my sit post). This is a huge problem to me, everyone that does not ride a bike in this city seem to hate cyclists. Are we really that bad? What can be done to fix this because its just ridiculous. This is the best mode of transport in NYC, you can get everywhere fast, get an exercise, ect but after this accident everywhere I ride I feel like everyone in a car or foot is trying to kill me. 
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#2
06-21-2018, 10:16 AM
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It is a symptom and subset of a profound lack of civility and lack of respect in everyday life in 2018. People's instincts are to be critical, blame others and promote personal feeling and opinions as the most important thing in the worlds. People have poor abilities to compromise, consider other points of view or look objectively in the mirror.
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#3
06-21-2018, 10:18 AM
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Not just you, happens everywhere. Since moving to KY 2 months ago I've been coal rolled twice, purposely buzzed at least half a dozen times, had a teenager pass me illegally on a narrow road with a blind hill nearly hitting a car coming the other way head on (thankfully the kid didn't swerve into me to avoid it), and had 2 guys in a falling apart mid 90's Buick pull up next to me while the passenger rolled down the window and called me a slur. All of this was on the "safe to ride" roads in the area. I mentioned my experience at a LBS while picking up some chamois cream. "Welcome to Kentucky" was the response.
A state wide 3-foot law was just passed in April. Driver education is a big problem. Though the roads are beautiful, they are also narrow, have lots of blind spots, and poor escape/run out paths. That combined with an overall outdated road infrastructure that relies heavily on B and C roads for major traffic volume makes for some stressful rides. Its so bad I won't ride during commuting hours, its not safe. Even then I have the blinky lights on all the time and considering a set of fly6 cameras.
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#4
06-21-2018, 10:27 AM
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Sometimes it feels like it comes and goes in waves here.
The last couple weeks it's felt like all the drivers are really raging. Whether I'm in my car or on my bike. Yesterday I was trying to pass a 1/2 mile backup of cars that were all trying to go into an office park near my house. Trying to pass them on the shoulder at least 5 cars pulled over into the shoulder to block me when they saw me coming up in the mirror. Total d*ck moves because there was no way I was causing their traffic jam and there was no way blocking the shoulder was going to get them into the office faster. And it didn't really accomplish much in terms of slowing me down either considering I was riding fat tires on my gravel bike and could bunny hop onto the sidewalk or ride in the dirt when they blocked the road. This was about 7:30AM in the morning, maybe they're all grumps because they were showing up for work so early. It was a gov/academic facility to so whatever, they were probably all leaving the office at 3 in the afternoon.
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#5
06-21-2018, 10:31 AM
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This is eye-opening, for me, at least. Most of the routes I take (usual, new) have been at least cycle-able with no issues from other folks in cars, etc. I will say that most of them are used by a lot of cyclists. Maybe the folks in cars are used to sharing the road?
These are the quieter roads. The ones that are well used during rush hour, I usually do those with group rides/hammerfests. The groups are fairly large, so we can take up one of the lanes. Either way, they happen at least a couple times a week, for months, so the drivers are also trained? But back to the roads with less cars - maybe I have just been lucky. I get the occasional honk here and there, but I think it's more about "hey, on YOUR left," type honks rather than the opposite.
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#6
06-21-2018, 10:40 AM
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same exact thing happens here in sf.
I had a water bottle thrown at me, people yell, I had someone try and lunge at me, I’ve swerved to avoid people staring at their phones. I blame it on the app mindset. Everything is customized,catered, built for YOU in mind and people forget that there are other people in the world. We have lost all sense of empathy in this world and our sense of common courtesy is crumbling. Theres so much traffic at this light I’ll just get out of my Uber in the middle street—is the new normal. I forgot to add the guy who pulled out mace on me and asked me “if I want some” after nearly running me off the road. This was in downtown SF, financial district Last edited by jtakeda; 06-21-2018 at 04:06 PM.
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#9
06-21-2018, 10:50 AM
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I think we just remind them they are lazy and out of shape.
 . Plus, lots of people still think of bikes as kid toys or hippie transport. We are different and that means we are some kind of threat. Tim
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#10
06-21-2018, 10:54 AM
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The thing is, I feel like there are a few bad apples. I have seen cyclists do some stuff that could piss people off (I may have them as well but I have also done stuff in my car that pisses people off, yet car drivers don't hate car drivers, at least not always). I feel like we got a bad reputation and does not matter who you are, if you are on a bike, you are a problem, you brake the law, you hit people with your bike, yell at people, etc. But this is not true at all. I also just want people to understand why people ride bikes and how seriously this mess of traffic and parking and pollution in NYC could be easily alleviated...
On the contrary, upstate NY has been wonderful. I thought it was going to be bad up there but so far have had good experiences. Most drivers are very considerate. I have had some people not move over at all and was cursed at once (florida plates though) but apart from that. great. I agree with driver education, we need that.... Please look before you open the door, its not that hard. A few weeks ago someone died after being doored, falling on the road and getting ran over.
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#12
06-21-2018, 10:56 AM
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#13
06-21-2018, 11:00 AM
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my riding these days consists of if i'm not out the door by 5:00 or 5:30 a.m. latest, even if the goal is to only be out for an hour or so, i don't ride.
just ain't worth the headache on road once traffic picks up. if no ride, i'll go to gym for some sort of exercise instead. that's a bummer but it's how my head gets around the constant assault.
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#14
06-21-2018, 11:02 AM
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#15
06-21-2018, 11:07 AM
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i haven't ridden in the city in years, but when living there i'd be in central park around 4:30-5 a.m. for laps. or, after 8 pm. loved the night riding! do people still do that?
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