Well, I didn’t catch the whole remark. I heard “0 for 12”. My co-worker heard more of it. His reaction was enough for me.
Robot Arm, this is just a suggestion. To thank people, maybe a one-syllable word would be less ambiguous. Like “Thanks” or “Peace”.
I’d think “Sorry” would have been better in the OP’s case.
Oddly enough, here in my small town, almost everyone I know obeys the traffic laws. Including Bicyclists. And they even ride in the unofficial bike lanes (Really small shoulders that might as well not exist)
I would like to add that just because you are riding a bike, you do NOT need to be wearing tight spandex cycling clothes. Particularly if you just decided to lose 50 pounds. (Good for you for exercising… but you’re not Lance Armstrong.)
Me, I like it when the asshole cyclist is the spandex-clad fashion victim on a $3K Merlin, rather than a tweedy granola-nibbler on a comfort bike. Then I can have my confirmation bias that Monday through Friday he’s also an asshole motorist in his BMW.
Otherwise I’d have to fall back upon the assumption that asshole bicyclists are Democrats, while asshole motorists are Republicans: the former self-justified by how healthy & green-conscious they are, the latter social-Darwinian and able to take out more lives in one blow.
In my town, and possibly yours, this is a bylaw violation and the pedestrians you are asking to accommodate you are not obliged to do so(here, your town may have different laws; you should be familiar with them). As a pedestrian I would ask you to dismount and walk your bike over any sidewalk you need to use to get to your destination. If this is too onerous I would suggest you choose the ecologically sound option of walking to your destination. Pedestrians are about as fond of bicyclists on the sidewalk as cyclists are of motorists who parallel park their cars in bike lanes.
I’ve run a tally this week; on each of my 45 minute walks home from work I’ve had cyclists pass within 1 foot of me on the sidewalk:Monday: 3, Tues: 2, Wed:3, Thurs: 5 times (Friday I bused home with groceries). This isn’t ‘I saw some guy across the street riding the sidewalk’, this is within handlebar smacking me in the back radius. I’m becoming a radicalized pedestrian; cyclists are to pedestrians as BMW assholes are to cyclists.
Off my %&* sidewalk!
Annie - here in Toronto, Ontario, the current law is that a bicycle with wheels less than 18" is legal to ride on the sidewalk.
This law was crafted with the intent of allowing young children still learning to ride to do so on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, some grownups now buy bicycles with small wheels so they can be a menace on the sidewalk. And some cyclists have no idea what 18" looks like, or think the law refers to the radius rather than the diameter.
Recently, a Toronto woman was killed by a 15 year old cyclist on the sidewalk. I’m still trying to find confirmation, but I seem to recall the cyclist was not charged with anything because his wheels were small enough that it was not illegal. Stupid, yes; illegal, not apparently. So far, the Toronto Sun video article is the best I can do.
Hi Lab Dec. There have already been a few responses to this, but I’ll throw mine in too.
Bike riders obey laws kinda like pedestrians and drivers: Do what works and is allowed by tradition and law enforcement. Almost no one follows the letter of the law. The most widespread example for autos is violating the speed limit.
As Rufus Firefly pointed out, recapturing energy on a bike is a lot more effort than in a car.
Compared to a driver a bicyclist has better vision (forward and side) and is almost always more alert. His life depends on it.
At a four-way stop sign a bicycle is a very minor danger to cars and pedestrians, whereas a car is a possibly fatal danger to bikes and pedestrians. And to other drivers if the car completely runs the stop sign.
So, unless the bicycle makes a car miss its turn at the stop sign by not yielding, I’ve got no problems with them not making a complete stop. It’s very inconvenient for a bike rider to go from 12 mph to zero mph, and have to either put down a foot for balance or to do a momentary stand and risk falling over.
Dropping down from 12 mph to 4 mph is equally safe or safer, and less annoying to any cars waiting behind them.
A sound idea!
Maybe that law needs to have an age limit on it if the intent is to keep little (ie: not 9th graders) kids safely out of traffic.
NO NO A HUNDRED TIMES NO.
This is what both pedestrians and drivers HATE about cyclists.
This is every bit as dangerous due to unpredictability as jaywalking or taking a right turn so wide your car is halfway in the oncoming lane.
Follow the rules of the road, jeez. I almost killed a kid who was doing this idiocy on Friday, he came barreling out of an alley and slowed up at the last minute, I slammed on my brakes (having no stop sign at all) and almost got rear-ended, and the cyclist looked at me with vacant, cow-like eyes and pulled on out in front of me, not stopping at all.
Jerk. And to think I’d feel guilty if I ran him over.
The Burke-Gillman runs through the neighborhood where hubby and I walk up a steep hill. The trail has stop signs on both sides crossing the street, no stop sign on the street, yet cars have to stop for every bicycle that crosses that street because none of them stop, not the spandex racers, not the kids, not the families riding together. The trail is level, (an old railway bed) the street is a 13% grade.
I’m amazed that there isn’t an accident a day. It’s probably because most of the drivers are from the neighborhood and know that the stop signs are invisible on the trail.
Do you want me to count the obstacles in the designated, signed Bike Route; the gaggles of clueless pedestrians walking five abreast, the people who stroll in front of me without looking, the joggers with their earbuds cranked so loud they wouldn’t hear me if I used an air horn, the people posing for pictures?
I used to ride the Burke-Gilman on occasion. I stopped. I stop at stop signes. Hell, I even use hand signals.
I was about to say that this was me, but I was wearing a helmet today.
You’re clinging to an absolute standard for no practical reason and offering up an example that has nothing to do with anything I wrote.
When I, as a pedestrian, am about to cross the street where there is a stop sign or a red light it is with the expectation that any car or bicycle approaching the intersection is going to come to a full stop, as the law requires them to do. Just as when the “don’t walk” sign is lit I do not step out onto the crosswalk, even if in my judgment I might have enough time to cross the street before the car or bicycle that I see a block away has time to get there. While I’ve never actually been hit by a bicyclist who couldn’t be bothered to stop, or even slow down, as they approach a stop sign, I’ve had a few wildly swerve around me, often yelling at me for daring to try to cross the street when I had the right-of-way.
The laws are there for a reason. If people are free to disregard those laws that they feel inconvenience them in any way, then what’s the point in having them?
When I was commutng on my bike I would count the total number of bike ridders I saw on my way to work. And I counted the number I saw ridding ignoring the laws. The number that I cam up with obeying the law was 10%.
Re the Stop sign thing:
Count me as someone who doesn’t see the big deal if cyclists slow down without coming to a complete stop at a Stop sign. As long as they DO stop when it is necessary (i.e., to let a pedestrian or another vehicle proceed), i don’t think it’s a huge deal. At other times, if they want to slow roll the Stop sign, i don’t care.
I live in a neighborhood with four-way Stop signs on just about every corner, and i reckon that at least 50 percent of cars don’t come to complete stop unless they absolutely have to. Not only that, but cars tend not to stop at the line, but to edge over it into the intersection. I’ve almost been whacked by cars on a few occasions when i was jogging across the intersection, because they don’t stop at the marked line. It’s not only cyclists that fail to follow the letter of the law at Stop signs and intersections.
I am both a biker and a driver. Biking is good fun, it’s healthy, and did I mention it’s a lot of fun? You really get to enjoy to scenery on a bike. Especially in the fall. Plus “oh yeah I rode 70 miles oneday” is always fun to say.
Now here’s the thing both bikers and motorists are idiots. I’ve almost been ran over twice attempting to follow the rules of the road. It’s not uncommon to have some jackass (and why are they always driving a blazer?) go whoosing past with rear view mirror less then a foot away from my head. One asshole did this in full view of the cops, and they did nothing. Michigan law says a bike has full use of the lane. Talk about outrage. Then you get the honkers. Why would you honk at a law abiding biker? Other then to be an asshole and startle them. In another thread someone pointed out their friend is a honker to “let the biker know he’s there”. After that I stopped flipping the honkers off, deciding to give them the benefit of the doubt. However it’s still a wrong headed reason. Honking to me says “I’m about to run you over. I hope all your affairs are in order. Better make the lizard part of your brain pump out the adrenaline”, not “hey guy just letting you know I’m about, well have a good day”. Quite frankly unless you’re driving a Ninjamobile I know you’re there. Just don’t honk at a biker unless they’re in your way or you have a good reason to get their attention.
Likewise you get these idiots on bikes riding the wrong way into traffic. It’s not bloody England here so get on the sodding right side of the road, before you actually are sodded.
In conclusion, most people are idiots and should slam their sex organs in their car door, or into their bike’s frame, which ever is available. For the good of the gene pool.
I’ve found people enjoy a good thumbs up, it’s easy, no room for misunderstanding, and people seem to get a kick out of it.
I’ve ran into some asshole bikers (pardon the pun). Most of them are nice, especially when they see you making an effort to get out of their way, or stop unloading something and close your driver side door so they can pass.
That said, it’s very annoying trying to drive down the street but having a biker take up a whole lane while going only 20 miles an hour. You have just enough room to pass him, but it’s such a close shave that it isn’t worth risking.
mmm… lessee what we’ve got to chose from:
:dubious: :eek: :rolleyes: :smack: :mad: 
You don’t drive a Blazer with Michigan plates do you?