Agreed. If there's a dedicated bike path there and these guys aren't using it, they're inconsiderate AND stupid (it's safer to be on the dedicated path away from 5000# hunks of metal driven by inattentive soccer mommies talking on their phones).

with the bike path's come beginers, joggers,people walking their dogs onleash and lose. My Aunt and Uncle ride 14,000 miles a year on their tandem. the biggest wreck that they had so far was on a bike path, it involved a blind corner and a beginer on a bike that was riding at them on the wrong side of the road.

I usually bike my commute, 28-30 miles RT, thru Seattle. I have never had anything thrown at me, or any passes meant to intimidate. (not saying it doesn't happen to others) The thing is, I have the same attitude Fintstone does... Bikes are slow, and don't have some right to be impeding traffic.

As to tires... most problem bicyclist run on tires designed for a closed course . ..a nice swept track (like their spandex-clad heros ride) The ROAD, however, demands real tires. Not some 120 psi lambskin hoop condom. I ride a mountain bike with tires that can handle urban reality. The roadies . . .look like hikers in pink ballet slippers. --but hey, at least they're wearing spandex. :D

I've never fully understood the dynamic between rude drivers and rude cyclists on the road. I've ridden a bicycle for ~40 years on public streets w/o ever having to hold-up cars by riding 10 mph in the middle of a lane and I've never had a problem going around a cyclist while giving them a safe amount of room when they are over to the right. They're only 2 ft. wide.

As for the "nice guy" BS argument that cyclists use for riding like a twat and blocking traffic, it isn't about being nice. It's about common sense. Cars are much heavier and faster+ you have no idea who is piloting them, I let them go by and give them as much room as possible. I ride on sidewalks for stretches if there isn't safe room on the street. (I'm talking places w/ no pedestrians in L.A. like past the V.A. on Wilshire for instance). The cool thing about bikes is that you are in between driving and walking, IMO, you can slow to a silent crawl through pedestrian areas and ride anywhere or make good time on roads slicing through traffic. Do I run stop signs when no one is around? Absolutely. But you can also get a ticket if a cop sees you, so it's my risk. I sure as hell do not challenge cars for the right-of-way. That is prima fascia proof of a Darwin candidate.

Denis, Exactly!

This Assert whatever Bull is just a urinating contest by dorks who think they are fast enough.. oh swerve --a pebble may have broken my $400 rim.

I understand that the bike path is too slow for them and therefore unsafe because of "speed bumps" in their way of travel/around blind corners, is anyone missing the irony here? In this case I would think that they would stay the %^*# over to the right and let cars go by as easily as possible. Fintstone is right. Selfish jerk-offs.

There is no one on the bike path at 630 AM when I go to work...All the freakin bikes are in the middle of the street going 10 mph with a line of 30 cars behind them...looking for a safe way to pass. there are lots of streets that run parallel with lower speed limits. Also, if these folks are ridinbg a bike to "by save the world" reduce pollution and petrol products...creating huge trafic jams certainly does just the opposite. Why not adjust their scvhedule to ride outside of rush hour traffic.

I also resent sitiing in a long line at the gate to the AF base where they check IDs and having cycles passing the line and cutting in front. If they want to be treated like cars on the road, they should get in line and wait like everyone else. If the little prima donnas want to be treated with respect...they need to obey the law...and treat the folks in automobiles with respect...and wait their turn like the rest of us.

And what is this crap where they ride in the dark without lights? Do they think their colorful tights are bright enough to ensure they are seen?

Imagine if I intentionally drove my old pickup down a (45 mph) major arterial for 20 miles in first gear each way to work everfy day at 10 mph blocking traffic...and if anyone managed to pass me and then stopped at a light...I ran the light and got in front of them again? Would wearing half a pink or yellow superhero costume and a helmet make people any less angry at me?

nope, they're just not smart enough or ignorant. I was ignorant to it when I was in my early 20's and roade ton's of miles without lights

" <--------GIVE CYCLIST 3 FEET OF WAY."

Sure, when cyclists give my car 5 feet of way.

Seriously, why should car traffic give priority to cyclists (other than squish avoidance) w/o cyclist even trying to stay out of the way? ...is it because cyclists are enviro-superior?:cool:

It's funny how "real" bicyclist don't support CM. The bicycle forum I frequent is completely against CM. Most on the forum think CM is just a bunch of bicycle anarchists.

You really don't want to get me started on this. :D

Toys are for the park, roads are for cars. You shouldn't be able to ride a bike on >25 mph roads for the same reasons I can't walk down a road or ride a skateboard down the highway.

I agree with Sammy! :D

The other day, i was crossing Market Street in downtown San Francisco, at a crosswalk and on a green light, when this "bike messenger" comes flying through like he owned the road.

Not only did he ran a red light, but he also endangered the pedestrians. If he had done this with a car, it would have been "Assault with a deadly weapon"!

I took a swing at him as he flew by, partially missed him, so i didn't knock him off his bike, but i got him good enough for him to swerve. He turned around and looked at me but decided it was in his best interest to just keep going.

Now if i ever happen to have a baseball bat with me when one of them Harley dudes with open pipes drives by ...
:cool: Andy

I don't think anyone's asking for "priority", simply to be afforded the consideration of sharing the road (which is the law, incidentally).

Unfortunately and notwithstanding what the law says, if you ass-u-me that the drivers out there are going to (1) know the law, (2) follow the law, (3) apply basic common sense/courtesy or (4) simply pay attention to what the f they're doing, you're going to end up getting hit, clipped, etc.

I don't agree that cyclists should go out of their way to impede traffic (quite the opposite, actually). But I do think that "nice guys finish last". There are way too many stupid, inattentive, overly aggressive and simply moronic drivers out there to bet your life on their doing the right/considerate thing. 'cause that's what it boils down to. Them in their 6,000-pound monstrosity and you on your 20-pound bike. Who do you think wins that one?

The choices that need to be made riding (at least this is how I see it) are made not out of a desire for special treatment or whatever - they're rooted in simple survival instinct and doing whatever one can to maximize the chances of getting home in one piece after your ride.

This may sound a bit callous, but it's the same logic I apply while riding a motorcycle - "I'd rather have a driver be a little bit irritated with me (at least they're AWARE of me then) than oblivious to my presence". Not being noticed is what will kill you and trying to be too much Mr. Nice Guy will certainly result in you not being noticed - either by Mr. Self-Absorbed Cell Phone Guy coming up behind you or Ms. Inattentive flinging her car door open as you approach at 25-30 mph with a wall of metal next to you and nowhere to go.

Yes, that's a ****ty situation to be in - and I've been there. Not goin' there again. That's why I say "ride far enough out into the lane where you have an 'out' and you're not going to get squeezed/pinched". I know this one from experience. My friend Alan does too (he's the guy that got squeezed and launched about 30 feet breaking his jaw and four front teeth out while on a ride).

If drivers were halfway considerate and simply did what they were supposed to, perhaps cyclists wouldn't have to resort to survival tactics that make them appear "inconsiderate" at times. Yes, there are limits, but I will almost universally side with the bicyclists on this issue. I see a ton of inattentive drivers out there. Not too many inattentive cyclists...

All the more reason for "rails to trails" initiatives, dedicated bike paths or bike lanes. Those things all help.

Forcing bicycles onto the streets is the same issue as railroad grade crossings - incompatible transportation modes being forced into conflict. Predictable results.

So bike riders should go out of their way to screw with every automobile driver on th road because they have chosen to ride their 20lb contraption at 10 mph on a highway filled with 6000lb automobiles going 50 mph? It seems to me that an attitude like that just decreases their chances of survival. Riding the edge of the cycle lane means that no one could ever pass on leagally in the right lane...because there simply is not 5 feet left to do so lawfully.

...and imagine what they are doing to the environment by unnecessarily creating so many traffic jams. What about the children?

Attentive maybe, aware of traffic rules, not so much ...

Around here (SF Bay Area), i'd say 90% are either not aware of current traffic laws or intentionally ignore them.

As long as they insist that traffic laws do not apply to them, i won't give them any respect.

I'm not out to hurt anybody, but my patience runs thin for people that don't stop at stop signs, run red lights, drive down the wrong way on a one-way street, don't stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk and most annoyingly, they seem to always expect *me* to be the one to make sure *they* don't get hurt.

:cool: Andy

Did you miss the part where I said, "I don't agree that cyclists should go out of their way to impede traffic (quite the opposite, actually)"?

Let's try and work on that reading comprehension thing, mmkay?

A good reason to tax cycles as autos...they cost a lot of infrastructure that are paid for with gas taxes, registration, etc. Cycles should also be required to have liability insurance...just like a car...and get points on their license for breaking traffic laws. What would help would be minimum speed limits or reckless driving charges for cyclists riding on major highways at very low speeds.