Substitute “kid on pogo stick”, then. Or “man walking on stilts”, if you prefer.
OK, I’ll play along. In those cases, I would think (b), generalized to “that person should be doing that activity in a more appropriate place.”
Now, can we get back to the original topic of a guy riding a bike and trackstanding in the road, which is kind of the appropriate place for that?
At last, we have achieved common ground!
My contention is that trackstanding falls into the category of pogo-sticking, stilt-walking or juggling while riding a unicycle: unnecessary stunts, when done on a busy street. All the rider had to do was put his foot down to convert his “stunt” to “perfectly normal and appropriate behavior for the conditions”; and I haven’t heard a single compelling reason why he wouldn’t want to do that.
Then we’ll agree to disagree. You see it as dangerous, despite others telling you it is a pretty normal riding technique. You don’t see any reason to do that versus unclipping and putting your foot down, despite others pointing out that there are good reasons for this (why don’t you put your car in park every time you come to a stop? Your foot could slip off the brake pedal, you know). You seem to see some grave risk to you and your fellow drivers by the guy balancing over in the bike lane. If you want to look at all those things in that way, then yes, I guess it would be inappropriate in your view.
But really. There are a lot of dangerous, jerkish things that bicyclists do out there. If you want to complain about the guy blowing through the traffic light, I won’t argue with you. I might think you’re a little hypocritical if you complain only about cyclists while ignoring all the stuff drivers do, but I certainly am not going to argue that cyclists should be able to blow through lights with impunity.
But you’re complaining about how a guy stops at an intersection and his fashion choices. Maybe it’s time to consider you’ve gone a little too far with this anti-bike mentality.
None of those are considered vehicles by your state’s driving laws, I am certain.
Quite simply, for all your excuses, you are a bigot.
You have been given several reasons, you just don’t like them.
One I do not think was mentioned, however - clipping into pedals can be harder than clipping out. Maybe said rider didn’t want to waste time trying to start from a green light getting his foot into the pedal. Trackstanding becomes and option then.
And get honked and cursed at for not getting off the mark fast enough. Or clipping back in might take just enough time for the car behind him to say “fuck you” and just take the right turn in front of him, which is a recipe for a stupid accident.
Beyond that, the “putting a foot down” thing might not as ideal as you might think. On my Bacchetta, I have Speedplay "X"s, which are are very nice system (yeah, pretty hard to clip into), but putting those massive cleats on the pavement it pretty damn sucky. I believe this is also the case for Looks, as well as a few other systems. Putting a foot down is just fucking uncomfortable to start with, it can actually be more dangerous than trackstanding (the cleats have no traction on pavement), and the less crap I introduce into the cleat, the longer it lasts between cleaning/lubing/replacement.
Now, a Bacchetta is basically impossible to trackstand, because it is a recumbent high-racer, so I take the habit of regulating my speed to avoid stops as much as possible (I do this to some extent in the car as well). Sometimes I do “blow through” stop signs on my bike, but my vision, hearing and overall awareness of what is going on around me is thousands of times better than yours in your car. It may look to you like I was not even paying attention, because you are sitting in a motorized living room, nintedoing your way from here to there whilst I am out there exposed to everything around me. Heck, I usually even know you are behind me without even looking.
So … if your trip is taking you across town and through a dozen controlled intersections, why would you wear them? (Not you, personally)
I’m a motorcyclist, and the mantra of all good riders is to ride as if you’re invisible (or as if those who can see are trying to kill you). I don’t think bicyclists have the same mindset.
As others have noted, they improve speed and efficiency, and on my bike, they improve safety (when crashing on a recumbent, legs coming free is usually worse than having them stay with the pedals).
I used to ride in Portland Oregon, where the traffic lights are all timed in the urban area: I could control my speed just so, so that the light would be changing about when I got to it. Where I am now, with sensored lights, I can often do the same thing by keeping the right distance behind the car that will trip it for me – or if there is not traffic around, I might just “fail to notice” that there is a light there. Other riders take different approaches, I find looking at what is way ahead of me and timing my moves works best for me.
Fine for motorcyclists, absolute bullshit for bicyclists. The best strategy for a bicycle is to take the most visible, annoying position possible. Riding the sidewalk or garbage lane or trying to thread the fog line merely places the rider outside the bounds of the driver’s awareness range, increasing risks. More and more, cyclists are adopting the concept of being visually imposing so that drivers take them seriously. Yes, assuming you were not seen is probably wise in most cases, but that does not mean one should cower in gutters and sidewalks.
The OP needs to clip out of this thread and learn what cycling is about.
Clipless pedals are great, and they are not a problem clipping in and out for anyone who uses them regularly. I don’t even think about it. Trackstanding is fine for anyone who can do it. Most reasonably fit, serious cyclists can do it easily. We’re not in the TdF. We just know how to cycle. Sorry that you don’t.
When I was riding a road bike, I used SPD pedals with recessed sole touring shoes. The cleat made no contact with the pavement and you could walk normal.
He said “civilized”.
I used Eggbeaters for a while, which are fundamentally the same thing (slightly different design). For pedaling, I prefer the feel and the float of the Xs. I spend a lot more time pedaling than I spend not pedaling.
Thank you, Paul Ryan.
Maybe you should switch to Speedplay Frogs for city riding. I think they have the same float; it’s definitely free float. That’s what I use for all my bike, including a highracer and lowracer.
Thing is, riding as I do, I mostly do not need to stop. Lately, I am mostly not doing city riding, and when I was, it was still fairly easy to not have to stop. The Xs work nicely for me (apart from being set too far toe-ward, but I doubt Frogs would help that much).
Actually, “ride like you’re invisible” doesn’t mean make yourself inconspicuous: just the opposite. It means (for example) to assume that the driver coming towards you is going to make an unannounced left turn in front of you, as if you weren’t there.
Yet here you are ranting about a bicyclist that you noticed and applying that hate to EVERY cyclist on the road…
YOU are the problem, you’re entitled attitude IS the main issue on the road. Get off your high horse and get a clue.
Wellnow here’s the thing. You make some assumptions about awareness in a car (which could be construed as pretty disparaging and superior), but you really don’t know how aware I am as a motorist.
As a cyclist, I absolutely believe you when you say that you’re careful and alert and aware. I ride like everyone’s out to get me, and I try my best to be as aware of my surroundings as possible. You say you’re safe and not an idiot, and I believe you.
But…as a motorist I have no way of knowing that. All I see is you ignoring stop signs. Or pushing a yellow. Or jackrabbiting a green. You’re doing so safely, but I have no way of knowing. You acknowledge that it looks like you’re not paying attention…how can I be expected to read your mind and know that you really are?
Crappy, sloppy, dangerous cyclists are the exception, not the norm, especially in PDX. And assuming all cyclists are dangerous based on a small sample of idiots is lazy thinking and egregious confirmation bias. But the stakes are pretty fucking high–when I almost nail some idiot because he cuts across my grill without signalling, I get freaked out. I don’t want to kill you, and I don’t want to have to clean chunks of Bacchetta and leg out of my wheel wells. You’re probably not an idiot, even though you sometimes ignore traffic laws. But how can I know for sure?
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