[al_c]

Bicyclists should have no right to be on a road, period. When you think about it, it doesn't even make sense. A bike going 5 mph sharing a road with cars going 35 mph?

There aren't enough trails .... cities usually can't afford that.

5 MPH?! What ... are you 90 years old or something? When I cycle, it's at least 15, sometimes mid 20s. Fortunately, 95% of the drivers I encounter are friendly and do share the road. And I do obey the laws of the road.

Yes, there are groups that do, at times, get in the way. But really .... how much time out of your day are they really taking? A few seconds?

[Leaning Right]

But really .... how much time out of your day are they really taking? A few seconds?

Oh, I personally don't mind the delay at all. As you said, it's only a few minutes.

But I am appalled at the way many cyclists ignore stop signs and red lights. And how casually they will pass cars that do stop, passing them on the left and right.

And I have no problem with cyclists who stay off to the side. but the road should be for cars only. It makes no more sense for a cyclist to be going down the middle of a road than it does for a runner to be going down the middle of a road.

[grey_whiskers]

5 MPH?! What ... are you 90 years old or something? When I cycle, it's at least 15, sometimes mid 20s.

I can hit 30mph going down a good hill ;-) Too bad there's ALWAYS a d@mn Stop Sign at the bottom, followed by a steep uphill.

"Team Gravity" works much better on the descent.

And anonymous notes for other posters:

Those helmets prevent severe head injury in case of a fall. On pavement, one can suffer skull fractures from a fall of as little as 3-4 feet. (Verified by lab experiments on cadavers).

Spandex looks gay, but prevents chafing.

I'm somewhat overweight but try to be sensitive by wearing a larger jersey so I don't look like a beached walrus.

The legendary Mrs. Whiskers bought me this jersey as a joke:

And $7,000 bikes are either for the mountain goats for who the extra weight and components make a difference(*), or the rich doctors for whom $7,000 is chump change and do quick metric centuries on the weekend to relieve stress.

Or fanatics who own five or six bikes just for themselves (divorced men).

(*) My son is an example. He was on the track and cross-country teams in high school and was leading a paceline on the MS 150 ride in Minnesota on a fat-tire bike for about 30 miles at at 23 mph. We bought him a good triathlon bike for graduation (tho' nothing like $7000) and it was like strapping at 50,000 hp Pratt & Whitney turbofan to him. Three weeks ago he took it out for a 140-mile ride "just for fun."

(Wistfully) Ahh, youth.

Cheers!