What the F is up with bicycle riders?

[Bon-86]

Interesting viewpoints. RagingMain keeps his sense of humor; I like that.

Much of the anger and venom is not at all unlike what cagers feel toward motorcyclists. Cagers don't even see the motorcyclists that have quiet pipes, drive the speed limit and don't bob, dart and weave through traffic. They only focus on the motorcyclists that do and then craft their prejudices until ALL motorcyclists are "rubbish".

I'm not going to defend all bicyclists. There are bad actors in every crowd. Bicyclists can get tickets just like everyone that uses the street; stop signs, right of way, even speed limits.

Oh, and unlike mountain bikes, street bike brakes suck and they have no tread so anything and everything is a threat. Oh, and your shoes are clipped to the pedals and you can't wear leathers or boots to minimize road rash. Oh, and we're not all hardcore hippies.

Oh, and don't blame cyclists for being slow - they harley have any propulsion because all they've got is an inverted v-twin.

 

[MaxPower]

So maybe they act that way because the law says they can? They are just people out enjoying the sport of their choice.

Then they should obey all traffic laws (which most of them don't)

 

[Noxx72]

Running one of these tour de faux snobs off the road is sort of like fucking a midget.

You know you liked it, you'd do it again, but you probably don't want to admit to it.

 

[gleno]

We seem to have a plague of the the Lycra clad bicyclists down in my neck of the woods.

From what I've observed, they are not Triathletes, they are mostly mid-life crisis males.

I have found very few of them behave as if they are sharing the road.

The DO behave as if they have RIGHTS that we 'other folk' don't.

Most behave like road blocks.

Two abreast, three, four - no problem - ignore the traffic behind you.

Red Light - no problem - ignore the traffic stopping at the light.

Give Way Sign - no problem - ignore the traffic giving way at the sign.

Stop Sign - no Problem - ignore the traffic stopping at the sign.

BUT the clincher is......

WHICH REALLY SHITS me... in Australia these bastards don't have to pay to register their vehicle and don't even have to have INSURANCE!!!!

:bang head:

 

[RagingMain]

We seem to have a plague of the the Lycra clad bicyclists down in my neck of the woods.

From what I've observed, they are not Triathletes, they are mostly mid-life crisis males.

I have found very few of them behave as if they are sharing the road.

The DO behave as if they have RIGHTS that we 'other folk' don't.

Most behave like road blocks.

Two abreast, three, four - no problem - ignore the traffic behind you.

Red Light - no problem - ignore the traffic stopping at the light.

Give Way Sign - no problem - ignore the traffic giving way at the sign.

Stop Sign - no Problem - ignore the traffic stopping at the sign.

BUT the clincher is......

WHICH REALLY SHITS me... in Australia these bastards don't have to pay to register their vehicle and don't even have to have INSURANCE!!!!

:bang head:

You mean their bicycle???

We dont have to register or keep insurance on our bicycles either here in the USA

 

[98Redlne]

I didn't intend for this thread to become a bicycle rider bashing thread, only to single out those FEW individuals in their ranks that behave badly and vent some of my frustration.

I understand the safety factor, and I have no problem sharing the road with bike riders, whether I am driving my big lumbering SUV or tooling around on my Max. I am not the guy that will try and force you off the road or try to ensure that my side mirror narrowly misses your head as I scream by, but I still am irritated by those individuals that feel that "sharing the road" means that they can ignore traffic laws and impede traffic flow with impunity.

I am not going to say that you have to ride on the shoulder all of the time, but when vehicles start to stack up behind your group, it would be considerate if you could possibly get to the right side of the road and single up the ranks to allow vehicles to pass. As stated above, it really does not matter if you are in a truck, car with a trailer, car, motorcycle, bicycle....whatever. If you are moving so slowly as to be blocking the prevailing flow of traffic AND have traffic stacking up behind you, it sure would be nice if you could get over and yield flow to faster traffic. To me, this is no different than the guy in the car that wants to control the speed of all drivers in the left lane by refusing to get over and let faster traffic pass.

An asshole is an asshole regardless of their selected mode of transportation. It just happened that there happened to be more than a few of these bad representatives of the biking community on the road the other night.

 

[85 MAX-fan]

I am a cyclist as well as a motorcyclist,

So am I
we are all entitled to our opinion but the flagrant disregard for someone else?s safety is abhorring!!!

I think you mean abhorrent?


I hope you all are not serious and maybe I am off base.

There is a reason why cyclists ride like they do and it is out of necessity for their safety from assholes on the road.

I disagree, when I was in drivers-ed they taught us that bicyclists should ride on the right side of the right lane SINGLE FILE. The fact that these pedal-philes group up 3 across at 10mph slower than the speed limit and ignore stop signs/lights makes them ASSHOLES.



Riding side by side and brightly colored jerseys gives them the advantage of visibility?
It is shameful

Yes, many of those outfits are shameful, and really funny.

Just because you don?t like the way we dress doesn?t give you the right to judge or advocate hurting them.

I certainly am not advocating hurting someone due to the way they dress!!
I am suggesting we consider it when the endanger their lives and my F250's paint job by behaving like brainless idiots on wheels. Besides bear spray is less than lethal. The effects wear off in a few hours.

Share the road,

Precisely! Sharing does not mean 20 dudes dressing in flamenco clothes and blocking the road.

I can guarantee none of you like it when bullied around by a truck or SUV.

UUhhmm. Well, Rockatansky is kinda into that......

:confused2:

 

[RaWarrior]

As stated, all modes of transportation have an equal right to use the road. Some wannabe traffic cop that drives at EXACTLY the speed limit in their car while traffic stacks up behind them is an asshole. If you want to drive slow, fine. Then slide over and let others pass. Then you don't have to feel "rushed" by the traffic and can continue to drive at your lethargic pace.

As you said, bicycles lack even a Harley mouse-fart's worth of power and rarely ever do the speed limit. Fine. I'm not expecting you to pedal at 55mph all day. Ride as slow as you like, and pull the hell over to let non pedal pushers pass. You're not a traffic cop. When I had my Suzuki 450, I would slide over onto the shoulder on hills to let cars pass, some hills around here it would barely muster 50mph going up. It takes a few seconds, you don't even have to slow down, then everyone else continues on their merry way.

And I still don't get why road bikes seem to be in contest as to who can get the skinniest, most worthless tires that blow out over a sidewalk crack and have zero traction. What's up with that anyway? I've gotten one flat, ever, and that was casing it off a 6ft loading ramp.

 

[Bon-86]

:biglaugh:

And I still don't get why road bikes seem to be in contest as to who can get the skinniest, most worthless tires that blow out over a sidewalk crack and have zero traction. What's up with that anyway? I've gotten one flat, ever, and that was casing it off a 6ft loading ramp.

All the complaints about slow bikes - and being V-Max riders at that - and then not appreciate the cyclists quest for speed? Most cyclists are doing really good to produce around 1/4 - 1/3 average sustained horsepower. Top world class athletes are around 1 hp. Top world class athletes on drugs are around 1.1 hp. :biglaugh:

 

[jedi-]

I ride one ...only mine doesn't have pedals and fitted a 1200cc motor
:auto182:

 

[Woody]

I ride bikes also. But i also was raised stay to the far right.
or get run over. 2 guys out for a ride.who think they own the road riding side by side is just wrong.
I prefer mountain bikes get out in the woods and forget about traffic..But then I also raced atv's. you want to see some pissed off mountain bikers.see them jumping into the brush as I would blast by.I guess they couldn't hear me coming 4 gear pinned.Maybe i pods are to blame.. lol

 

[Slacker]

Think of it as bowling.......

:rofl_200:

 

[gleno]

You mean their bicycle???

We dont have to register or keep insurance on our bicycles either here in the USA

Same here. We dont have to register or keep insurance on our bicycles either here in OZ.

EVERY other road going vehicle has to be insured for 3rd party liability and be registered (govt road tax) so why not bicycles?

They really do believe they have special rights.

When a toll road opened here recently the bicycle riders staged a protest because they had to pay a toll to ride on the tollway even though the privately owned motorway had 70kms of purpose built cycle path which they could have used for free!!!!.

For the record, I ride a bicycle whenever I can but I stay the hell out of the way of other road users.

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

EVERY other road going vehicle has to be insured for 3rd party liability and be registered (govt road tax) so why not bicycles?

I think here in the states, they should start requiring the Amish buggy's to pay a road use fee as well. They are always using our paved roads that our taxes and licensing fees have paid for. They pay no taxes or license fees. No reason for a buggy to be on a state route that has a 55 mph speed limit.....no wonder they are always getting hit. They should be made to stay on the back dirt roads IMO. Bob

 

[gleno]

Let's take the heat out of the subject with a REMI clip.

This guy is as funny as Harley's.

Check out the rest of his clips.

Enjoy ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHCxdlZ7G18&feature=channel :clapping:

 

[vince95]

I am an avid cyclist and time trialist myself. Have spent a couple thousand on my road bike and few thousand on my time trial bike. Over 5k on my Vmax and counting. I pride myself on following the rules of the road be it on the bike or the max (well most of the time on the max :biglaugh. There are always going to be a few rebels that are going to do there own thing and ruin it for the rest. Some of the comments here are :rofl_200: Lets do our best in sharing the open roads.