[QUOTE=cowgirl]
We’ve got those here, but we’ve got lots of other people on other kinds of bikes, too. Do non-crazy people not bike in the Bay Area? or do they just use those bikes? I just know an awful lot of civil servants and yuppies and sundry regular folks who bike, I can’t imagine a city without such folks.
[/QUOTE]
I think some start out normal and then get sucked in to the abyss of crazy. You can just be a bike rider here. Everything you do is some sort of grand statement. I didn’t grow up here, and have only lived here a short time, so I’m still getting used to it. But co-workers chastised me for suggesting that bikes should have to stop at lights/signs.
[QUOTE=Fiveyearlurker]
Maybe it’s geographic, but you can call BS to your heart’s content, and I would welcome others from the Bay Area to confirm this. But, bicyclists here are their own strange political action group. At a major intersection, a bicyclist *might * stop at a red light only because cars are currently in that intersection, but I have NEVER seen one not run through that light the second traffic stops coming through. I can’t even conceive a bike around here stopping at a stop sign.
But like I said, having a bike that is even equipped with brakes is considered a sign of weakness around here.
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He is exaggerating a bit, but only a bit. In the Bay area, many don’t stop, unless traffic forces them to. They also often ride in the right lane, blocking cars. Many also don’t have brakes or reflectors.
Last year, as a pedestrian, I waited to cross a street until I got the “walk” signal. Just as I stepped off the curb, a bicyclist nearly plowed into me as he blew the light to make a right turn. I still have fantasies of pushing him over as he flew by inches in front of my face.
