Attention Bicyclists: Unless Your Bike has Training Wheels, Get Back in the Street where You Belong

The BBQ Pit
1

I remember back in sixth grade, my class put on a school play about bicycling rules. One of those rules was to stay off the sidewalks, and ride in the street, with the traffic and not against, obey the lights and signs, signal for turns, and on and on. This was a play acted by eleven-year-olds aimed at an eleven-year-old audience.

Around the same time, I took my first bike ride down to Lake Michigan by myself, all the way down on Fullerton Avenue. If I think about it real hard, I can still smell the truck exhaust and feel the potholes jarring my wheels. Eleven years old, no helmet, busy asphalt street. Afterwards, I was so proud of myself.

So now, why is it that nearly everyday, I see grown-ass people zooming down the fucking sidewalks when the street is right there next to them? Are they all afraid of the traffic? Scared of the big bag SUV’s? Fuck you, you goddamn cowardly bastards!!! Ride in the street where you belong, or take the fucking bus like the rest of us!!!

That’s right, I take the fucking bus, and more than once while I’ve had my back turned looking for the bus to come, I’ve come close to being run over from behind by one of these chickenshit morons on their bikes. Supposed I had stepped just a little bit over just as you were passing, fraidy-pants? That would’ve been just too fucking bad for me, wouldn’t it? Of course, I’m just standing there on the sidewalk WHERE PEDESTRIANS BELONG!!! I’m not expecting to be run over because I’M ON THE FUCKING SIDEWALK!!!

Goddammit, I was an eleven years old girl, and I was riding in the street, no helmet, no nothing!!! And I was never scared in the least! All I can say is I guess I had more balls than any of you grown ass biking bastards, because I can’t imagine why you’re on the fucking sidewalk unless you’re scared of the riding in the street!!!:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

2

They always look a little annoyed when I don’t stop for them when they want to cross, using the crosswalk, on the left side of the road. One day I hope to see one get a ticket.

3

And most of them are going the WRONG FUCKING WAY! Ride with the traffic, dumbasses!

And yes, I do look for dumbasses on bikes riding on the sidewalk going the wrong way when I pull out of a driveway, but still I’ve had some close calls.

4

Earlier this year I was riding my bike properly, in a bike lane and everything. Then I came across a dumbass riding in the bike lane, against the traffic. Fortunately I saw him coming with plenty of warning, and traffic was light enough that I could just go over one lane to let him get by.

5

Are you still in Chicago?

Because I am in Chicago and see very little sidewalk riding. I know that is anecdotal but frankly if you are downtown Chicago (Loop or Mag Mile) you are not going to get anywhere at all if you ride on the sidewalk in the middle of the day. You have to use the road if you expect to get anywhere.

That said I try my best to stick to the lakefront when I can and roads that have marked bike lanes. Riding in traffic is frightening. I do it when necessary of course but avoid it if at all possible (take side streets and so on).

6

This happens to me very occasionally. I’m kind of a dick about it; I move close enough to the kerb to make them go out into the traffic to go around me. My attitude is I’m not going to risk going out into the traffic so they can ride on the wrong side of the road; let them do it.

7

Yes, I still live in Chicago, and no, downtown is not such a problem. Out in the neighborhoods, it seems like an epidemic to me. Today, I had a near miss. Last week, about five of them blew past me while I had my arms full of groceries. Yeah, they yelled, “Coming through!” But I wasn’t expecting five of them, and nearly got clobbered dodging one from the next. Out by Loyola, I see this all the time. It’s like those college kids were never allowed to ride in the street.

Yesterday, I saw a biker getting a ticket. I don’t know if it was for riding on the sidewalk, but I sure hope it was.

8

I don’t know about Chicago Metro but here in DC Metro, some jurisdictions have the occasional sidewalk as an official bicycle path.

9

The ticket is karmic payoff enough. :smiley: ← Happy Buddha

And kids, even when you use Chicago’s many fine bike lanes when it’s dark wear wear light or reflective clothing and put some lights on your goddamn fixies. Yeah, it’s not hip and when you die your friends get to complain about an asshole driver, but it’s the law.

10

Aaaaand I just saw another biker on the sidewalk at Bryn Mawr and Sheridan while coming home on the bus.

I can keep posting sightings of this if folks still don’t think this happens with any regularity.

11

I almost took out a bicyclist this morning as I went to work. I’m turning left at a light, and as I do the jerk, dressed like an experienced rider, helmet, the spandex, the proper colors, the whole nine yards was riding against the traffic, through the intersection. I only wished I could have clipped him just enough to make him realize what he did, but not enough to hurt him in any way. Maybe just ruin his multi-hundred dollar bike. :wink:

12

Okay, I’m standing at the bus stop near the Red Line by the aforementioned Loyola, and I had one biker pass me from behind on the sidewalk, and two Divy bikes traveling down the sidewalk across the street.

I’ll stop posting sightings now, lest I piss the mods off, but I think I’ve made my point.

13

That day came last summer. I was on my way to work. There is an intersection that’s semi blind and in order to see traffic coming from the left one has to edge his car out a bit over the crosswalk. There is just no other way to pull out safely. This guy riding a bike on the sidewalk coming on my left starts screaming at me for blocking his precious crosswalk. Any moron can see a driver has to do that in order to see at that intersection. Of course, any other moron would have also observed that I was in a uniform (though not yet on duty) and maybe screaming profanities wasn’t the best thing to do.

An hour and a half later I was on duty and saw the same prick tooling down the sidewalk on his bike. Wrote him a municipal cite for riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in a business district restricted bicycle location. Trust me, hardly anyone even knows that ordinance exists! :smiley:

14

Sidewalk biking is allowed in my town. I’ve had a couple of close calls with bicyclists (one reason I never do the pedestrian thing with a full bladder), but most of them are kind enough move into the street before passing me.

I don’t mind them being on the sidewalk, though. The roads can be scary for bicyclists. When I rode back in the day, I’d sometimes avoid sticky situations by veering off onto the sidewalks. Bicyclists just need to aware that they can easily hurt or kill pedestrians in a flash of a second. Just like cars do to them.

15

Pffft, amateur.

16

As a kid, I made no bones about taking up the right lane on my bike. I stayed away from the busy streets and boulevards such that if I could maintain 20 mph in 25 mph zone, I took the lane by right. On the sidewalk I’d get a ticket, on the far right margin of the road I’d get hit. Fuck you cars, may your carbon-polluting piece of shit break a tie-rod end on the freeway … which where you should have been if you didn’t want to drive 15 mph behind a bicycle.

17

I was so pissed, and scared, that I didn’t bother to check out the price level. I would have gladly damaged a multi thousand dollar bike as well. Equal opportunity terrorist here.

18

It is here to, and the muni code specifically says it is. But not in restricted business areas which is an ordinance violation. It’s little known.

The guy that screamed and swore at me was more that 4 blocks away when I first edged out over the cross walk so it’s not like I cut him off or anything. All he had to do is wait another 15 seconds at the corner until I was able to pull out into traffic. Perhaps if he wouldn’t have been a dick earlier I wouldn’t have even noticed where he was riding later?

19

I get a lot more annoyed by cyclists on the wrong side of the road than them being on the sidewalk. And while we’re at it, obey the traffic signals, too. Red means stop for everyone, not just cars.

And I say this as someone whose primary means of transportation is a bicycle. Yes, yes, it’s annoying when the light turns red, and you have to throw away all that energy that you’ve worked hard to build up. I get that. But traffic signals are there for a reason, and not having two tons of protective steel wrapped around me makes me more respectful of that reason, not less.

20

Bicyclists in NYC have been getting slammed with tickets for YEARS for being on the sidewalk. Even if they’re crossing the street. Most of us have learned to dismount early and often.