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Dear Urban Cyclists: Go Play in Traffic
The Wall Street Journal ^ | April 2, 2011 | P.J. O'Rourke

Posted on 04/02/2011 6:48:43 PM PDT by OddLane

A fibrosis of bicycle lanes is spreading through the cities of the world. The well-being of innocent motorists is threatened as traffic passageways are choked by the spread of dull whirs, sharp whistles and sanctimonious pedal-pushing.

Bike lanes have appeared in all the predictable places—Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berkeley and Palo Alto. But the incidence of bike lanes is also on the rise in unlikely locales such as slush-covered Boston, rain-drenched Vancouver, frozen Montreal and Bogotá, Colombia (where, perhaps, bicycles have been given the traffic lanes previously reserved for drug mules). Even Dublin, Ireland, has had portions of its streets set aside for bicycles only—surely unnecessary in a country where everyone's car has been repossessed.

Then there is the notorious case of New York City. Not long ago the only people who braved New York on bicycles were maniacal bike messengers and children heeding an abusive parent's command to "go play in traffic." Now New York has 670 miles of bike lanes—rather more than it has miles of decently paved streets.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Humor
KEYWORDS: bikelanes; bloomberg; potholes
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To: bigbob
I’ll bet most of you commenting here would be amazed at the number of rock-ribbed conservatives I enjoy chatting with on bike rides. NOT in NYC :-) but in fly-over country where cycling is just part of an outdoor lifestyle and like hunting, skiing, or any other we wear proper clothing and gear and obey the rules.

Twenty years ago I used to ride my bike to work early in the morning along rural lanes dodging wild Indian dogs, the occasional coyote, 400 pound hogs and pick up trucks. It was a thrill, but I never got in the way of a motor vehicle.

41 posted on 04/02/2011 8:28:10 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono (My greatest fear is that when I'm gone my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them)
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To: slowhandluke

“Hint back at you, you need the helmet because you aren’t Lance Armstrong or Evel Knievel. The helmet isn’t for speed, it’s mostly for protection.”

I have to agree.
Every day I think I should have some kind of hard hat, such as the one I wore when ridding horses.
I would not be caught dead in one of those fruity bicycle helmets, even though I might be one day.

Where I live, there are no stop lights or even stop signs.
At four ways, It is catch as catch can.
After dark is quite a fright, with poor street lighting.
I do not worry so much about cars as I do other bicycles, pedestrians and tricycle cabs, which also have no lights.


42 posted on 04/02/2011 8:28:37 PM PDT by AlexW
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To: cripplecreek

Nice.


43 posted on 04/02/2011 8:30:31 PM PDT by sheana
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To: cripplecreek

So who mows the street, you or the village?


44 posted on 04/02/2011 8:35:30 PM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: fso301

yeh, something VERY odd about some dude parading around in skintight spankex showing off his 1” pee-pee. WEIRD and gross.


45 posted on 04/02/2011 8:36:22 PM PDT by Hammerhead
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To: OddLane


The SmartBike program (a well-publicized urban bike rental scheme) seems to be a major FAIL in Washington DC. At work, I've been watching the same 20 bikes across the street rust away for months. This ain't Amsterdam.
46 posted on 04/02/2011 8:37:14 PM PDT by Thrownatbirth (.....Iraq Invasion fan since '91.)
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To: OddLane
Send 'em to China to ride for a month. If they survive they can take their chances in American traffic.

VIDEO

47 posted on 04/02/2011 8:38:32 PM PDT by Bernard Marx
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To: All

I know this has been posted before but some may have missed it.

Behold, the vision for our future. (By insane commie libs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7rCAYkoMT0


48 posted on 04/02/2011 8:41:47 PM PDT by wheresmyusa (FTUN)
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To: pnh102; sickoflibs; DakotaRed; Cobra64; BenKenobi; cripplecreek; Tublecane; JPG; JABit; ...
If cyclists want to make use of the roads then they should be made to pay for them like those of us who drive do.

A BIG tax on bikes - liberal elites hit us up with taxes all the time...

Turn about's fair play...

49 posted on 04/02/2011 8:43:34 PM PDT by GOPJ (http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php - It's only uncivil when someone on the right does it.- Laz)
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To: AlexW

I hate wearing helmets because they don’t have a visor and I get the glare over my sunglasses. Much prefer a baseball cap with a visor, but I know I’m risking my noggin every time I go out on my bike. My biggest fear is the college-age women who are yapping on their cell phones and looking to the left as they run right through a stop sign and will turn right into you. I keep outta da way of those dingbats if I can and prefer to stay on the canal pathways versus the roads. But even on the canals, you have to cross with the cars at intersections.


50 posted on 04/02/2011 8:44:31 PM PDT by ponygirl
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To: GOPJ

I LIKE IT.


51 posted on 04/02/2011 8:45:00 PM PDT by wheresmyusa (FTUN)
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To: cripplecreek
The "street" I live on.

Two bike lanes!

52 posted on 04/02/2011 8:50:46 PM PDT by jrushing (Anti-American-ProTerrorist-Coward-Fascist-Communist-Socialist-Democratic Party)
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To: fso301; LostInBayport
When I see these bicyclists all decked out in skin tight spandex I can’t help but wonder if what it’s really about is guys out cruising for guys?

I think you're on to something.

53 posted on 04/02/2011 8:52:34 PM PDT by theymakemesick ( islam - inspired by Satan www.prophetofdoom.net)
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To: ponygirl

Many helmets come with snap on visors.
54 posted on 04/02/2011 8:53:14 PM PDT by deport
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To: ponygirl

“I hate wearing helmets because they don’t have a visor and I get the glare over my sunglasses. Much prefer a baseball cap with a visor.

Go to an equestrian supply store.
There are numerous forms of helmets for jumpers and polo players. They are fiberglass with a velvet covering.
They have visors, but not quite as long as a baseball cap.
There are also helmets for race horse jockeys.
Anything would be better then those fruity bicycle helmets.


55 posted on 04/02/2011 8:54:23 PM PDT by AlexW
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To: OddLane

There’s a bicycle shop in a nearby town from me. I took my g/son and his flat bicycle tire there to get it fixed. While waiting, I thought I’d just look at some of the prices of new bikes they had displayed on a rack.

I couldn’t believe it, the first one I looked at was $29.95, I found the reason that it was unbelievable the next time I looked, it was not $29.95 but $2995.

They did only charge $3.50 to fix the flat though.


56 posted on 04/02/2011 8:54:56 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (Of course Obama loves his country. The thing is, Sarah loves mine.)
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To: OddLane

They’re obnoxious in the suburbs and in the countryside as well.


57 posted on 04/02/2011 8:56:08 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (You is what you am.)
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To: Graybeard58
Next you are in Walmarts buy a package of Slime Skabs and it only takes a few minutes to patch the tube and be on his way.


58 posted on 04/02/2011 9:08:12 PM PDT by deport
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To: Hammerhead
yeh, something VERY odd about some dude parading around in skintight spankex showing off his 1” pee-pee. WEIRD and gross.

LOL. Just saw "Spinal Tap" today and remembered this line:

Nigel: We've got, you know, armadillos in our trousers. I mean, it's really quite frightening.

59 posted on 04/02/2011 9:15:45 PM PDT by EricT. (Can we start hanging them yet?)
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To: wolfman23601

In most places, riding a bike on the sidewalk is illegal.
Riding a bike on a road is legal, except for freeways.

That’s the law.
Change the laws if you don’t like them but at least know what the current laws are in your area.


60 posted on 04/02/2011 9:47:00 PM PDT by Lorianne (o)
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