Cyclists, Explain Yourselves

[LilithSlave]

Hey people who exercise and use less fossil fuels at the same time, explain yourselves! You scum! Scum scum scum! Here I am getting putting on weight by being sedentary and spending all my video game money on gasoline!

Eh, cut cyclists some slack. They don't get enough support when they're a really good form of transportation and automobiles deserve less dominance. And when you're forced to bike on the road even though you're surrounded by big 18 wheelers and things. But not on the sidewalks, because that's where people are supposed to be walking. And some driving law sensibilities don't apply to you, because you're not a big, threatening car, death on wheels, of course some people are going to feel like "rules are for motor vehicles". And take advantage of any possible freedoms that cycles allow.

I wish people in the United States liked bicycles more. People look at you like a freak, like you're just randomly doing push ups in public or like you're a hobo who can't afford a car. And you don't want to look like you're poor in America, noooooooo.

And don't get me started on how skateboarders are treated. I don't know about your culture, but in our culture, skateboarder pretty much means socialist, counter-culture punk. You're the child we as parents warned our children about. You're probably a drug dealer and a liberal scumbag. Don't you have a church to go deface you scummy atheist?

 

[deathninja]

My biggest peeve is cyclist jumping red lights at pedestrian crossings, I get hit crossing the street almost as many times as by cyclists on the pavement.

 

[Vrach]

What would you suggest be done differently?

Build more cycle lanes to accommodate the cycling traffic?

^This.

Also, let me reveal a hidden secret to you all.
Drivers hate pedestrians and cyclists.
Pedestrians hate drivers and cyclists.
Cyclists hate drivers and pedestrians.

You're not special. I know you think you're a lovely little snowflake, but you're just as annoying as anyone else. Yes, cyclists will act like jerks. So will pedestrians and so will drivers. I've seen pedestrians jaywalk slowly across the street when there's a car heading towards them and not give a fuck. I've seen drivers speed 80 km/h in the middle of the city and I've seen them go 60 km/h in a one way street, going the wrong way. And of course I've seen cyclists act like idiots, cutting in front of cars and slamming into people.

It's all a moot discussion. It's no one of the three group's fault, it's the fourth group, the idiots and the fact we don't have enough cycle lanes in most places. Oh and btw, your thread title is doing a good job of working at your membership towards the fourth group.

 

[LilithSlave]

Make them feasible. Shit in the US is just too damn far apart for bicycling to be a feasible method to get around. Maybe 5 or 6% of Americans live in a suitable range

I'm from Arkansas, believe me, I know how rural and spread out things can be.

That being said, with cities and suburbia there isn't much excuse. Hot Springs, Little Rock, and Texarkana, all have sad public transportation, cycle-ability, and sidewalks period. If you life in town in even little old Hot Springs, you live in town and not in the Garland county outskirts by school districts like Lakeside or Lake Hamilton, you live close to most of what you need like a local Kroger or so forth. But there are almost no sidewalks to be found whatsoever outside of the tourist attractions.

People don't even have proper walking areas. It is either tall grass full of chiggers and junk, or road.

 

[BringBackBuck]

I have just taken up commuting by bike, and like most cyclists I am also a licensed motor vehicle driver. Driving in a car for 15 odd years hasn't made me hate cyclists with anything like the abhorent venom being spewed so far in this thread, so I was genuinely surprised when cycling to work and obeying all road rules, not being a dick, and some car drivers responded by:

swerving to attempt to hit me (or just scare me), throw things at me, yell abuse as they drive by, open doors into my path (ie: the designated bike lane I am in) and generally be complete assholes.

Please, enough of the generalisations. Yes, some (many) cyclists are dicks, some (many) motorists are dicks. Some (many) people are dicks and they both ride bikes and drive cars. Some (many) people are dicks who neither drive cars or ride bikes.

 

[Yopaz]

I don't know how it is in other countries, but here cyclists are allowed to act kinda like pedestrians and kinda like cars according to if they are on the sidewalk, road or bicycle lane.

Now in general that seems to mean that cyclists here just follow the rules that allow them to keep going. "I am a pedestrian. whoops, red. In that case I'm a car!" Yeah, they annoy me too at times.

 

[LilithSlave]

The sweet spot for cycling is between one and five miles from work. Closer than a mile you can just walk. Beyond that point cycling takes far too long.

Funny, when I was living in Hot Springs, I was like, 1 mile from the local Kroger, 2-3 miles form the local Wal-Mart, and plenty close to plenty of other useful places.

But no place decent to bike or even walk. And what I'm saying is, even if there's reason to be able to walk or bike, it often is not facilitated enough. A lot of urban places in the United States that it would be feasible to have bike paths, don't. And places in the United States that at least deserve a decent sidewalk, do not.

People aren't encouraged to use non-motored transportation like they ought to. If they live out in the woods, the rural areas, plenty understandable. But for those that can, alternative transportation should be encouraged.

And what I'm trying to show, is that even in little old undeveloped Arkansas, biking and walking is feasible. And would be a lot more so if there was proper facilitation.

 

[somonels]

What would you suggest be done differently?

Flatten them, you outweigh them a thousand to one. I've seen a driver jump out of the car, caught up to the guy, yank the handlebar to the cyclist's groin, push him off and throw the instrument of despair to the ditch.
I believe the "Code of ye Bitumen" clearly states the one in the right doesth not need to ponder in regard to the one in ye wrong, who shall be blameth for all theh situation.

 

[Macgyvercas]

When I bike, I try to stay on sidewalks whenever possible (and always shout to announce I'm passing by someone if I'm coming behind them). When forced on the road, I try to stay as close to the curb as possible.

That said, when I'm driving, cyclists do really piss me off at times (but then, so do other drivers).

 

[Laughing Man]

Woo! A fellow Brit! Now I can feel less guilty about "Schoolin yo ass!"

One: Actual honest-to-god road tax was abolished many years ago. By many years ago I mean in 1937. As vehicles are actually taxed on the amount of CO2 they produce, technically you could state that cyclists DO pay road tax. And that they pay nothing. Because they produce no CO2. Ignorance is bliss!

Swing and a miss dude.

The fact that cyclists produce low CO2 (they produce CO2 unless you are some form of super human who doesn't expel CO2 when he breaths) has nothing to do with them not paying road tax. A low or no CO2 vehicle still requires a tax disc even if it is free or a low pay value one and to be able to apply for one of those the vehicle must have valid insurance and a valid MOT certificate saying it is safe for the road, two things that NO cyclist has.

Three: Oh, so cyclists need insurance to cover the damage when they "Roll over your bonnet"? Jesus christ. I assume you are a Tory?

Maybe I missed something, I've been driving for 10 years I have covered a fair bit of the country in that time and the number of times I have seen a driver choose to ignore a red light and pass through a junction, once, I;ve seen plenty of amber chancers but someone who clearly sees the light turn red, pulls up to it as if they are going to stop and then decides to just go through! I could go out today, since it is nice and sunny and guarantee that I would see a cyclist jump a red light. So I am passing through a junction and some dick head on a bike decides that the red light doesn't apply to him and as a result we come together, his stupid ass puts a massive dent in my car. How is he going to pay to get it fixed?

The funny thing is that you can go out for a drive and for the most part you would have to look really hard to find a driver doing something massively stupid. Yet it is a guarantee that you see a cyclist and I bet you by the time it is all over and done he will have done one of these 3 things.

1). Ignored a red light or taken to a pavement to avoid stopping for a red light
2). Held everyone as they tried to get past then caught up with the traffic because it has stopped at a junction or red light and instead of waiting in line, he will do number 1 and then force everyone to try and get past him again.
3). Be cycling side by side by his equally stupid mate instead of one behind the other.

To put that in perspective if I went out now the only things I could guarantee I would see a driver doing are

1). Some form of speeding
2). A dick having trouble working out that FOG lights are to be used in FOG.
3). Amber gambling
4). Someone on a mobile

 

[7moreDead_v1legacy]

Cyclists/Bikes should be on mountains...

Where we belong

Spoiler: WHEEEEEEE!

On a more road related note...I commute on one of mine every now and then and I obey the laws...But fuck me, the amount of times I've nearly had offs because cars thinking fuck it they can stop they're on a bike and pulling out...Or are a bus...

...Buses in general have nearly killed me more times in my life than anything else...

Also pedestrians stepping out in front of me, are annoying.

Not sure where I was going with this...So yeah more people on bikes less cars FIGHT THE POWA!

 

[Robert Ewing]

I'm all for cyclist lanes. But in places like Britain, that isn't always possible, as the roads are narrow enough as it is.

So legalize cycling on the pavement. Nobody fucking walks anywhere any more. And even if they do, it's what I'd call 'light pedestrian traffic' anyway.

Anything to stop cyclists from cutting me up, resting their sweaty body on the side on my car, slowing my entire day down, being faggots, and inevitably falling off, thus grinding the entire road network of great Britain to a screaming halt.

True story.

 

[David Bjur]

ultimate snip

Here's my theory why it happens:
In the animal kingdom, you show respect by lowering your head, and you show pride by raising your head. It's a way of showing that you're above others.
Same thing with humans, if you're talking with someone, then he will show you less respect if you're sitting down and he's standing up, because his instincts tells him that he's the alpha male or the one with pride, and you are the one that should bend to his commands. Same thing happens to you, you will feel weak and frustrated that this person is on his "high-horse" and you have no way of arguing with him.
Same thing with cyclists. These guys are a lot higher up than everybody else and thus sees themselves as superior since you're either a short pedestrian, or a man in a car, who is also pretty short compared to the cyclist. Plus, on top of all, a cyclist can't really see a man in a car and the driver is thus no longer seen as an individual, and instead like a moving object. ^
And mistreating objects is totally fine!

 

[halfeclipse]

Yesterday I nearly got hit by some jackass in a Honda trying to pull a U-turn on a small one way street (rather then just heading the 40 meters to the end of it where there's space to turn around.) Since there's not enough space he hops up onto the sidewalk and nearly runs my ass over. Where the hell do all drivers get off eh?


Best option is just to let cyclists ride on the sidewalk if there's no bike lane, ped-cyclist injuries are both rare and minor. Vehicle-cyclist ones tend to be neither.

Most annoyingly (At least for me) is when the road is 45mph and they decide to sit dead center of it going 10ish. That's just inconsiderate, not illegal though. (Live in the US, rural US. No cycling lanes)

Do this for me:

Mark out a line on the road using chalk or something. Stand two inches to the right of it facing the same direction as road traffic. Have buddy with a car (A truck or SUV is even better) hug that line and pass you doing 60 km/h. Change underwear. That's riding on the shoulder.

Try to keep in mind that for every jackass on a bike there's at least one behind a wheel, but when a cyclist does something stupid around a car it's annoying, a driver doing something stupid around a bike can put someone in a box several decades ahead of schedule.

 

[Auron225]

What pisses me off more is when there are a group of them that INSIST on cycling abreast rather than in a line. Cause why not take up the entire road and force rush hour traffic to watch your asses go along at 10mph (along a 60mph road) when you could so easily just go in a line and let everyone past?