Fu*king Cyclists

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Originally Posted by dan_pdx

They might have been commuting to work, thinking their bikes could get around downed trees better than their cars.

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No, this is a main commuter route that gets cleared first and has two different fire stations on it. It is notoriously quick to get cleared, and this was +24 hours after the storm. This road was cleared the morning of the storm.


The lack of self preservation/ darwin award winning entitlement is just wild to me. Its pitch dark, spoke catching debris everywhere, a main commute route with 35+ mph traffic (with obvious side/neighborhood roads one block over), cars blasting through darkened signalized intersections and a whole bunch of people decided it would be a great set of conditions to get in a ride!

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Had a big windstorm here in the seattle area Tuesday night, knocked a bunch of trees down, half a million without power, tree debris and fallen trees everywhere, etc. ...


I shit you not, the amount of cyclists out riding to work this morning was about the same amount i would see on a nice summer morning- the weather turned sour a couple months ago and i might have seen 1 or 2 per week prior to this. ...

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It is possible that some of the cyclists had perfectly functional cars that were trapped behind tree pieces.

That doesn't explain the group ride, though. That's just a WTF.

The power trip theory seems unlikely to me, personally I'm always very aware that drivers can end my life by turning the wheel a few degrees or tapping the gas. Kind of like motorcyclists brake checking cars, if you make a habit of it, it won't be a long-standing habit. Seems like a bad dumb idea for sure, maybe they were sight seeing the storm aftermath?

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Originally Posted by dan_pdx

The power trip theory seems unlikely to me, personally I'm always very aware that drivers can end my life by turning the wheel a few degrees or tapping the gas. Kind of like motorcyclists brake checking cars, if you make a habit of it, it won't be a long-standing habit. Seems like a bad dumb idea for sure, maybe they were sight seeing the storm aftermath?

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I want to believe the best in these people, i truly do... which is why i mentioned maybe their teslas were out of juice and they needed to get to work? And don't get me wrong, i was a patient, safe driver with the folks this morning.

But sightseeing in the fucking pitch black? Not taking the neighborhood/side roads and instead using the the main arterial? And whatintheeverlovingfuck was the goddamn group ride doing at 630am?!?!?!


I hadn't seen behavior this dumb since last year when someone decided the sidewalk was too snowy/slippery and decided to walk in the fucking wheelpath, in the dark, on this same road because (i assume) it had bare pavement? Fucking pedestrians.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Fucking pedestrians.

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We need a thread for that

Brutal. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCnUS...c4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Was the oncoming rider on his phone? Kinda looks like it.

Takes two to tango. If either one of them had been paying attention, that wouldn't have happened.

Fucking bike paths.
Avoid.

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Originally Posted by dan_pdx

Takes two to tango. If either one of them had been paying attention, that wouldn't have happened.

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Yeah, everyone is guilty there. I watched a second time but had to turn off the audio.

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Originally Posted by plugboots

Fucking bike paths.
Avoid.

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The "M" in MUP stands for morons.

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Originally Posted by plugboots

Fucking bike paths.
Avoid.

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There's a nice bike path along the Truckee River, mostly filled with kids with training wheels, pedestrians walking 4 abreast with their backs to bike traffic, and unpassable packs of HS XCers on roller skis. The serious bikers take their chances on 89 with its 55MPH speed suggestion (where a cyclist was killed by an inattentive 50 something sober woman driver a few years ago).

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Originally Posted by anotherVTskibum

It is possible that some of the cyclists had perfectly functional cars that were trapped behind tree pieces.

That doesn't explain the group ride, though. That's just a WTF.

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Obviously these guys got told not to come into work, or just had the perfect excuse not to go in to work, which is a great reason to ride bikes, choice of route notwithstanding! I waited till Thursday to go out and poke around on my bike after the big wind. Power just came back on Friday evening.

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Originally Posted by dan_pdx

Takes two to tango. If either one of them had been paying attention, that wouldn't have happened.

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Yabut ..... only one of them was on the wrong side of the path. I'm guessing that the one that was on the correct side was also focused on the pass he was engaged in, otherwise would have easily avoided the wrong way jerk.

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Originally Posted by old goat

There's a nice bike path along the Truckee River, mostly filled with kids with training wheels, pedestrians walking 4 abreast with their backs to bike traffic, and unpassable packs of HS XCers on roller skis. The serious bikers take their chances on 89 with its 55MPH speed suggestion (where a cyclist was killed by an inattentive 50 something sober woman driver a few years ago).

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We owned our cabin in the old Alpine Valley when that was put in. Even then, (a thousand years ago?), it was a shitshow if you weren’t out before 7:00 am.
The real solution to bike/car issues on a 2 lane road, is to just somehow mandate (whatever), shoulders to be a little bit wider so that it’s not just the road ending at the fog line. I’m perfectly fine with that with my ability.

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Originally Posted by plugboots

The real solution to bike/car issues on a 2 lane road, is to just somehow mandate (whatever), shoulders to be a little bit wider so that it’s not just the road ending at the fog line. I’m perfectly fine with that with my ability.

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Even with full 4-6' bike lanes around here, i am always amazed at how many cyclists choose to hug the fog/lane line instead of just riding in the middle of the bike lane. I think many folks who bike on roads would really benefit from some trail riding where you learn to hold a line on trail that never gets wider than 24".


One of the bigger dangers we are dealing with in my neighborhood is kids on ebikes... the ones with throttles. They have the poor judgement we all did when we were 10-16 (riding the wrong way on sidewalks, cutting across roads through traffic, weaving between pedestrians, etc) but they are now doing it at 25+mph on 80lb bikes with shit brakes. Almost nailed one while i was nosing out into an intersection to see if traffic was coming because there were hedges blocking the view and a kid on an ebike riding full speed the wrong way on a sidewalk blasted out infront missing my bumper by inches.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

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One of the bigger dangers we are dealing with in my neighborhood is kids on ebikes... the ones with throttles. They have the poor judgement we all did when we were 10-16 (riding the wrong way on sidewalks, cutting across roads through traffic, weaving between pedestrians, etc) but they are now doing it at 25+mph on 80lb bikes with shit brakes. Almost nailed one while i was nosing out into an intersection to see if traffic was coming because there were hedges blocking the view and a kid on an ebike riding full speed the wrong way on a sidewalk blasted out infront missing my bumper by inches.

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X2
There's a posse of four such miscreants that I have to deal with almost daily. The biggest hazard is when they blind turn into the alley over to the the park and I'm walking dogs at the same time. Epithets have been hurled.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Even with full 4-6' bike lanes around here, i am always amazed at how many cyclists choose to hug the fog/lane line instead of just riding in the middle of the bike lane. I think many folks who bike on roads would really benefit from some trail riding where you learn to hold a line on trail that never gets wider than 24".

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quite often those bike lanes are filled with debris, potholes, drains, etc. If you are travelling at a decent speed, staying near the road can be a lot more predictable for the rider (and better for the drivers than being in the middle of the bike lane and constantly swerving towards the road to avoid hazards)

I guess I was thinking of my ability. I tend to ride just to the right of the fog line and when I hear cars coming, move over if I can, etc. Every situation is different, but I basically just try to make it easy on drivers.
Now that I think about it, the best (for)bike paths around here in Eastern suburban Seattle are the ones that have no view, have a hill typically and nobody would ever walk them.

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Originally Posted by ironhippy

quite often those bike lanes are filled with debris, potholes, drains, etc. If you are travelling at a decent speed, staying near the road can be a lot more predictable for the rider (and better for the drivers than being in the middle of the bike lane and constantly swerving towards the road to avoid hazards)

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There are many bike lanes near me that I ride often that aren't filled with "debris, potholes, drains" and bikers still hug the lane line. I think roadies just want to go as fast as possible all the time which means not sizing up tires to deal with debris like bike commuters can and do, and they would rather be near traffic and take that safety risk and annoy drivers to get those fast speeds.

I think the solution is to move all the white lines much closer to the edge of the road, ha.

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Originally Posted by ironhippy

quite often those bike lanes are filled with debris, potholes, drains, etc.

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It would not be acceptable for a car to swerve into oncoming traffic or into a cyclist in a bike lane to avoid minor debris or potholes, so i do not find that excuse acceptable. Get some fatter tires, some beefier rims, ride at a speed to be able to stay safe, in your lane. Have a road safe vehicle. Same standard as the rest of the vehicle traffic. There was a poster on here complaining about having to brake while riding through urban neighborhoods that got pissed and indignant when it was suggested he should ride with his fingers near the brakes around busy vehicle traffic and intersections instead of on the flat part of road bike drop bars- to me, not doing so is the equivalent of putting cruise control on and sitting crosslegged.


And like i said, i think many folks biking on road would benefit from trail riding so they have better situational awareness about picking and taking lines through obstacles, being comfortable placing their tires through 12" gaps, and riding through some bumps.


I am safe and patient around these folks because i understand the risk-reward relationship at play if i were not, but it sure can be annoying to have the most vulnerable user group play by a different, more dangerous rule standard than 99% of vehicle traffic.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

..... a kid on an ebike riding full speed the wrong way on a sidewalk blasted out in front missing my bumper by inches.

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What is the "wrong way" on a sidewalk? You have one-way sidewalks?

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Originally Posted by Elkhound Odin

What is the "wrong way" on a sidewalk? You have one-way sidewalks?

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Heading against the flow of street traffic.

Much more dangerous because you would be coming up behind a driver turning left from the main road who is looking for oncoming traffic. And its also more dangerous because the cyclist has way less sight distance to see and stop for a car creeping forward looking to enter the main road.

I've spent a few months in Bend over the past year and the teens and tweens with e-bikes are a menace to themselves. I'm pretty shocked that parents are putting their kids on these electric motorcycles without making sure they have the ability to safely use them (they don't)

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

It would not be acceptable for a car to swerve into oncoming traffic or into a cyclist in a bike lane to avoid minor debris or potholes

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and yet that happens regularly
and not necessarily unreasonably
tho there are always assholes out there doing selfish things

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

i think many folks biking on road would benefit from trail riding so they have better situational awareness about picking and taking lines through obstacles, being comfortable placing their tires through 12" gaps, and riding through some bumps.

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not sure this would play out like you intend...

or, maybe the folks you wished would 'stay in their lane" are in fact the ones having enough "situational awareness picking and taking lines through obstacles" (ie choosing to take the lane to avoid road grates or slippery leaves or gravel or someone walking or whatever)

i'd guess that many of the folks with the confidence to ride in the road likely ride elsewhere too

just something to consider

Every single road cyclist I know rides mountain bikes as well.

Yeah, same. Most roadies I know are wicked good bike handlers. Guessing hugging the line is mostly due to being debris adverse with fancy fast thin performance road rubber. Pro-tip... 40c Schwalbe g-ones cut through our epic eastside Seattle windstorm debris like Ginzu knives! Full transparency Californiagrown, I was not part of that dawn patrol group ride

As far as the roadies needing equipment that's better suited to conditions, there's probably someone on a brodozer forum complaining about the Volvo driver that veered into his lane to avoid a 6-in pothole and wondering why they don't get equipment better suited to the conditions.

This probably doesn't make you feel any better, but for what it's worth, any driver that clips a roadie (regardless of where they're riding relative to the white line) won't face any consequences as long as they're sober. The magic words are "I didn't see him" or "he fell in front of me".

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Originally Posted by plugboots

Every single road cyclist I know rides mountain bikes as well.

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lol every single road cyclist I know has a story about why they don't ride mountain bikes

Personally I can drive to ride a mountain bike, or I can road ride on this road that goes past my house. Riding gravel from the house when we lived in Spokane was truly the best of both worlds.

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Originally Posted by plugboots

Fucking bike paths.

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I like em, but I'm usually the only one on them.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cead873553.jpg

I ride from home everyday, year round.

My kid bike commuted in Boston in all seasons for years. Because the hospital was charging residents $400/month for parking. On days that were just too nasty to ride he took an Uber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er1sDrnEMnc

Attachment 505977

Guy brings up some good points.
He needs some fatties.

Lots of people ride in ski boots here.
There's at least 50 bikes at the Gondi, everyday.

Don’t remember if I posted this here before.

Stratton Matheson rides his bicycle 20+ miles (and 3k feet of elevation diff) each way to go skiing at Mt Bachelor - almost every day
https://bendmagazine.com/stratton-ma...ike-and-boots/

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Originally Posted by Shredhead

There's at least 50 bikes at the Gondi, everyday.

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That is very cool

This MN ass is still trying to get himself killed:

https://youtu.be/i6CN9Dpjslw?si=ycpBnILypaN6iIl7

Naw, that dude is immortal or he’d be dead by now after all these years being a menace

Damn I was positive that guy would be at a bottom of one of the 10,000 lakes by now.

It's amazing he hasn't stroked out.

Meanwhile, he's a half million dollars in debt, his wife is the town pump, and his son is having an affair with the parish priest.