Posted on 11/10/2013 6:57:21 PM PST by nickcarraway
EVERYBODY who knows me knows that I love cycling and that I’m also completely freaked out by it. I got into the sport for middle-aged reasons: fat; creaky knees; the delusional vanity of tight shorts. Registering for a triathlon, I took my first ride in decades. Wind in my hair, smile on my face, I decided instantly that I would bike everywhere like all those beautiful hipster kids on fixies. Within minutes, however, I watched an S.U.V. hit another cyclist, and then I got my own front wheel stuck in a streetcar track, sending me to the pavement.
I made it home alive and bought a stationary bike trainer and workout DVDs with the ex-pro Robbie Ventura guiding virtual rides on Wisconsin farm roads, so that I could sweat safely in my California basement. Then I called my buddy Russ, one of 13,500 daily bike commuters in Washington, D.C. Russ swore cycling was harmless but confessed to awakening recently in a Level 4 trauma center, having been hit by a car he could not remember. Still, Russ insisted I could avoid harm by assuming that every driver was “a mouth-breathing drug addict with a murderous hatred for cyclists.”
The anecdotes mounted: my wife’s childhood friend was cycling with Mom and Dad when a city truck killed her; two of my father’s law partners, maimed. I began noticing “cyclist killed” news articles, like one about Amelie Le Moullac, 24, pedaling inside a bike lane in San Francisco’s SOMA district when a truck turned right and killed her. In these articles, I found a recurring phrase: to quote from The San Francisco Chronicle story about Ms. Le Moullac, “The truck driver stayed at the scene and was not cited.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
There should be a season. And you get extra points if the indecent cyclist is a lawyer.
many don’t think they can do anything wrong, as cyclists. any accident must be someone else’s fault.
In CT, we must drive our cars allowing a 3-foot “safety zone” around cyclists ...problematic when the cyclists ride 2 abreast on a 2-lane road....forcing the car in to the other lane.
Many towns here, have bicycle lanes....and cyclists hardly ever stay in them.
yeah b/c all bikers are innocent sweet law-abiding and never cause accidents. bad analogy.
assholes and idiots will be assholes and idiots regardless of the vehicle they’re driving.
From all the FR threads containing posts from the Spandex/exercise haters, it sounds like many FReepers think it should be open season on cyclists.
Some of the comments about spreading tacks on the road, using their trucks as weapons have pissed me off no end.
I know.
Seen plenty on any vehicle you can imagine.
Snowmobiles and atv’s included.
Damnit!
Switching from cell phone
Just beautiful...
As a cyclist who avoids roads whenever possible -- which is "always" except for a few short, wide connecting roads between trails or bike paths, it burns me up to have to renegotiate the vehicle code at every intersection where some blue-hair thinks she's doing me a favor by waving me through a right of way I don't have.
Why do I have to do this?
Because of a handful of d0uchebags who don't obey the vehicle code. Let's face it: most people -- including the so-called "professional drivers" commenting on this thread are CRAPPY drivers. They don't know how to drive very well even when the vehicle is commanding 100% of their attention, which is never never. They're distracted by eating, phoning, texting, arguing with their mates, disciplining their kids, drinking, getting high ... Now add to that the aggravation of a few near misses with idiots and they feel completely justified in talking about maiming or killing cyclists.
A lot of this could be ameliorated if police would stop issuing tickets to motorists who're 15 miles over the speed limit, and issue citations to bicyclists who are in flagrant violation of the vehicle code or common sense.
Here are some violations the cops give a pass to all the time:
If motorists would just see police issuing citations for these flagrant violations, the heat level would go way down, the spandex class might learn something, and everybody's life would be a lot more pleasant. Especially mine. I don't appreciate the mindset created by negligent bicyclists any more than the idiots who think they'd be justified in killing someone over their momentary impatience.
Oops!
Lol, too late!
You’re infected with typo virus now!
/ kidding
Yeah, this thing is a trip to type on sometimes.
The “helpful suggestions” in the center bar are bizarre and amusing.
Makes posting an adventure.
The bolded part is what I always did when cycling on the road. And I always cycled at a moderate pace so that I could stay in control of the bike and avoid serious spills even when I encountered road hazards for bicycles like grates or debris.
Bump!
I have only seen a cop yell at a cyclist once.
A young kid who wasn’t wearing a helmet.
I'm lucky in that with the exception of the first two miles through my subdivision, I can ride the 14 miles to work entirely on a bike path that parallels the road. If I had to ride on the shoulder I probably wouldn't do it. These are very busy 45-55 mph roads and while there was a time when that didn't bother me a bit, that was many years ago.
In PA, helmets are not mandatory. Obeying the vehicle code is.
I like being alive.
Bounced off the hood of a camaro once.
One of the predmore twins tried running me down with his camaro.
He kinda botched it up and merely sent me rolling over the hood of his car.
After I grabbed my bike and booked down a nearby trail, I heard him backing up and trying to drive his camaro down the path behind me.
“Welcome to Port Jervis NY!”
Of course it is not okay, but it’d be their fault.
I had to pick him up from jail the next day, and take him to get his bike back.
Eventually, the DUI charge got dropped, but he had to pay the ticket for running a red light. On a bicycle.
opened my apt screen door one day and nailed a bicycles riding in the hallway was funny he was so pissed off at me, but a sign in the common area said NO bike riding in the halls.... though i was going to have to go to the rental office and ask for a new screen door...
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