Today a driver passed me while I was cycling home from work at the end of a dirt road. We had 30 feet or about 5 seconds to wait for use to get to the pavement. Instead she passed, throwing dirt in my face. The red light was 150 yards away; I rode up to her as she waited. Complaining about bad drivers is terribly monotonous, bad cyclists are a much better novelty.
I could post 2 or 3 pit threads a day about incompetent or mean drivers who kill people.
If kids never learn to, and gain confidence in, riding on the streets then they will just turn into the jerks mentioned by the OP.
I’ve cycled thousands of miles in both the US and the UK and while traffic in the UK is generally denser, the drivers here are far more considerate to cyclists than any I encountered in the US.
Whatever your quibbles about cyclists on pavements, the plain fact is, you are far more likely to be seriously injured in a cyclist v car situation than in a pedestrian v cyclist incident. If pedestrians actually expected bikes to be on the pavement, perhaps they’d be a bit more alert, instead of walking about like fucking zombies.
Sorry, this is only true if you are the cyclist. Pedestrians are much more likely to be hurt (and killed) by cyclists on the sidewalk. The bottom line is that sidewalks are set up for people traveling at a relatively uniform speed, with the ability to stop quickly. Cars that cross sidewalks are expecting that, people walking on sidewalks are expecting that. Bikes simply don’t fit in. It’s not something that you can fix by staying more alert.
I ride on city streets in Boston, and it requires you to ride defensively. It’s not the safest form of transportation but it is definitely safer for all concerned compared to riding on the sidewalk.
^^^What they said. I’ve been a pedestrian, a driver, and a cyclist at various stages, and I don’t believe there is a single argument that validates cyclists driving their bikes on the sidewalk or riding through crosswalks. They don’t belong there, and they’re making this more difficult and dangerous for all of us.
As a cyclist your likelihood of cyclist vs car collision goes way up when you ride on the sidewalk. Because every driveway becomes an intersection, and most drivers aren’t looking for folks moving at the speed of a cyclist when they pull out of their driveway.
I am another one who cycles daily and feels that people should never, ever ride their bikes on the sidewalk.
I will, however, point out that on those occasions when I do use the sidewalk, and dismount and act like a pedestrian, I still get ignored by drivers who fail to yield the right of way (where they would, for pedestrians). Because I’m walking, but with a bike, I guess I don’t count as a pedestrian.
I am not advocating that cyclists should ride on the pavements at all times; I am saying that if there is a clear path, one should be allowed to ride responsibly on any footpath, without fear of punishment. Show me the statistics that say there are more injuries caused to pedestrians by cyclists , than there are to cyclists by vehicles.
Translation: it is safer for me (bicyclist) to stay on the sidewalk, so all you pedestrians better pay attention and stay out of my way.
Sorry, you’re an irresponsible, self-absorbed idiot.
Sidewalks and crosswalks are for people walking. Anything on wheels (besides bicycles, that includes strollers, wheelchairs, motorized scooter chairs, skateboards and shopping carts) owes the right of way to people walking. I’ll cut some slack for manually powered wheelchairs only. Everyone else should yield.
Roddy
Roddy: Of course, I only ride on pavements, to keep the likes of you, and doddering old dears, on their toes, and not because I’ve had so many close calls on the roads, I avoid them as much as possible; so I guess I must be a self-absorbed idiot, or something.
Luke: There are a few designated bike lanes, but they only cover small stretches of road in the area I live, which is on the outskirts of Manchester, and not exactly a thriving metropolis. The pavements are mostly broad, and pedestrian free, and unless people are walking 4 astride, there is plenty of room for a cyclist. Obviously this isn’t the case everywhere.
::: sigh:::
Another bicycle rider rant? Is it Thursday already?
I swear that riding a bicycle is the Koboyashi Maru of the transportation.
If I ride in the street (where the law says I belong) drivers who don’t know the law honk at me and flip me off. (Happend to me me last Sunday) Or worse they try to run me off the road, or throw shit at me for sport.
If I ride on the sidewalk, I break the law, and pedestrians yell at me (with good reason I might add)
I stop at every stop sign even when there is no traffic, doesn’t matter everyone remembers a guy on a bike who did not stop for a stop sign.
I also stop at every red light. Doesn’t matter, I get tarred with that brush that says that bikers never stop at red lights. (In the interest of full disclosure if I am at a light where there is no traffic, and the demand system does not detect my bike, after about 2 minutes I will run the red, since I didn’t plan to sit there all day waiting for a car to come along.)( and before any car driver gives me shit about this, I bet if you stayed stopped at a light that refused to change, and there was no traffic, you would run the light also)
If I go down to the beach to ride on the dedicated bike path, I have to deal with pedestrians walking 5 abreast taking up the entire bike path. This despite the wording bikes only on the pavement, and a fucking pedestrian path 20 feet to their left. Yet if I get upset, I’m the asshole. So I find myself getting up at 4:30 some weekends so I can get a ride in without having to deal with pedestrians on the dedicated bike path.
Joggers don’t get me started. So there I am finishing up a ride at the beach at 7AM, going about 16 MPH. Around a corner up ahead come a couple of hundred people training for the LA marathon. Taking up the entire bike path. Both sides. I get yelled at by them for having the nerve to ride on a dedicated bike path.
Or riding near my house. Bike lane in the street. Three joggers jogging in the street headed against traffic, I am riding with traffic as the law requires. They are of course running abreast, not single file. Parked cars to my right, joggers directly in front of me, very large cars to my left. I can’t move left, I can’t move right, so I yell for the joggers to give way. I get yelled at. Seriously, how old were you when you learned not to play in the street? I think I was 3.
Want to feel like Rodney Dangerfield? Ride a bike in the US
Rick, everything you say is absolutely true, and I am right there with you. I used to ride to work in San Francisco from Telegraph Hill, down Montgomery in the morning and up Kearny at night. Before that I lived at the upper end of Corbett St, so I was going up and down Market and Mission during rush hour. I learned to keep my wits about me and take nothing for granted. But I was a lot younger then, and I doubt if I would have the guts to do it now. Now it’s mostly walking and public transportation.
So just because **Ivan **is a wilful nit please don’t think I tar all bike riders with that brush. And I hope I speak for most others as well.
Roddy
I’m so confused! People describe Saskatoon as incredibly unfriendly to bikers, but apparently it’s a biker’s paradise.
The worst thing I’ve ever had a driver do is go through a stop sign while I’m approaching, forcing me to slow down.
The worst thing I’ve ever had a pedestrian do was yell at me to get a bell (well-founded) when he was startled by my loudly-squeaking bike (the squeak was my justification for not getting a bell for a season; I yelled “ding ding” when necessary).
Thanks for the revision in your opinion, Roddy. I much prefer ‘wilful nit’ to ‘self-absorbed idiot’!
Does anyone want to consider this point again; if a cyclist hits a pedestrian, and a motor vehicle hits a cyclist, who is likely to receive the more serious injury? Who is facing the greatest danger from the inconsideration of others?
I feel it is unfair that you leave the dreaded motorcycles, the god-awful rollerskaters or the plain-ol’ asshole skaters out of the equations. As a biker, there are few things I hate more than motorcycles, but I admit that people cycling on the sidewalk comes close. Neatly in third place are bikers who cross zebra-crossings while riding their bike. (If you’re on a bike on the sidewalk, you’re a goddamn pedestrian. You walk when you cross the zebra stripe; if you want to be wheeling about in traffic, get in the road. Pick one.) Sharing fourth place are bikers who pass by cars on the right hand side (left-hand side in the UK, I presume) and skaters, in general.
Rarely, as a pedestrian, do I get so burning an urge to throw rocks or elbows at someone as when skaters whizz by me in busy city strees where I might have been going to turn in that direction any moment. If you’re whizzing by me at that speed so close that the wind drag is causing me to stumble, you’re also close enough for me to start throwing elbows. Capice?!.