Fu*king Cyclists

**waveshello** · 06-07-2025, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by californiagrown

^dingdingding. Juanita to Market is the commute. FYI construction just wrapped up and its fully striped and open now through finn hill. Like i said, i get avoiding catchbasin grates or limbs etc (less so manhole covers), but that is honestly rarely the case for people hugging the lane line. Its usually people grinding uphill, so i truly think it is folks just needing a line to follow with their front wheel while head-down grinding. maybe something in their brain says that the pavement edge is dangerous so they need to stay well off it, and don't realize how close they are to the vehicle lane now? IDK. And, yes the bike lane down the hill towards the river at 40+ is unsafe. That's because the speed limit is 30mph there lol, and all the roadway improvements made in the last 3 years were geared towards slowing traffic down through that corridor. I actually see way less sketchy cyclist-vehicle interactions on that stretch than i do coming down the hill on Market into downtown kirkland. I've seen a ton of crashes and near misses there over the years with 100% being the bikers fault for going way too fast (40 in a 25, cough cough), misjudging their cornering, ignoring peds in xwalks, etc. And, FWIW, the reason i post in here fairly often is because that route has been my daily commute for years and as you can attest, it is highly used for cycling... so i just see a lot of interactions. Not because im out there looking for problems and bringing it on myself with aggressive driving.

Your frustration makes sense to me when I think about it in the context of a commute. Eg. You're driving it often, time-bound to some extent, on your way to do your days work and provide for the fam. Someone holding up the show or otherwise causing confusion and delay (I borrowed that one from Thomas the tank engine) for a leisure activity that they may or may not take a little too seriously... Yep, annoying.

My morning commute takes me EB over the I90 bridge at Vantage, and up the big hill... Often times semis end up side by side @40mph on that hill and hold up everyone behind. Same kinda feels.

Cyclists that act aggressive/arrogant like the MN dude in the videos above drive me nuts... I feel like as a cyclist you need to remember that whether or not you have the right of way, whether or not you're in the wrong or right, automobiles are pretty much undefeated vs. cyclists. A necessary measure of humility and self preservation is not found in some of these people!

**jono** · 06-07-2025, 06:12 PM

Self-preservation is the ultimate form of politeness and civic duty. Please don't let anyone's feelings about what makes you safe turn you into the asshole who gets killed because (s)he didn't want to offend anyone or appear "entitled." Projected feelings haven't killed any of us yet, unlike cars.

**old goat** · 06-07-2025, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by waveshello

Your frustration makes sense to me when I think about it in the context of a commute. Eg. You're driving it often, time-bound to some extent, on your way to do your days work and provide for the fam. Someone holding up the show or otherwise causing confusion and delay (I borrowed that one from Thomas the tank engine) for a leisure activity that they may or may not take a little too seriously... Yep, annoying. My morning commute takes me EB over the I90 bridge at Vantage, and up the big hill... Often times semis end up side by side @40mph on that hill and hold up everyone behind. Same kinda feels. Cyclists that act aggressive/arrogant like the MN dude in the videos above drive me nuts... I feel like as a cyclist you need to remember that whether or not you have the right of way, whether or not you're in the wrong or right, automobiles are pretty much undefeated vs. cyclists. A necessary measure of humility and self preservation is not found in some of these people!

So how do you feel about skiers who clog the roads on weekends and on powder mornings, keeping people from getting to work, slowing or blocking first responders. We as a group obstruct other people a lot more than cyclists do. Plus we can't park worth shit.

**Meconium** · 06-07-2025, 10:04 PM

https://youtu.be/kOsG0wx818I?feature=shared

**californiagrown** · 06-09-2025, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by waveshello

Your frustration makes sense to me when I think about it in the context of a commute. I feel like as a cyclist you need to remember that whether or not you have the right of way, whether or not you're in the wrong or right, automobiles are pretty much undefeated vs. cyclists.

FWIW, pretty much all my posts in this thread are bemusement,not frustration or anger... in large part because of the second sentence quoted above. When you chose to ride a bike or motorcycle on the road here in america you are choosing to participate in a dangerous activity where you are intentionally making yourself difficult to see, while also removing ALL crash safety. And yet, plenty of folks ride for the way it should be, instead of the way it is.

This morning, coming down the hill into dtown kirkland there was a cyclist ahead of me going faster than my car (25mph speed limit here, so not atypical), and the cyclist did like 3 cutty turns avoiding roadkill, a manhole cover, and a piece of paper (reciept sized) in a 1/8 of a mile. I was the closest car to him, and i was never closer than 50 yards, but it just struck me as funny how he was seemingly comfortable exceeding the speed limit by ~10mph where there are intersecting roads with traffic trying to enter, making cutty turns on skinny tires at that speed, and swerving randomly into/out of the vehicle, bike, and parking lanes... all things that if a car driver did you would call them drunk or crazy.

**californiagrown** · 06-25-2025, 09:03 AM

Seen on my commute home yesterday:

2 pedestrians walking side by side in the bike lane, instead of the sidewalk (on a 35mph arterial street).

1 cyclist riding dead center of the driving lane going 10mph under the speed limit on the same arterial despite a nice clear 4' wide bikelane.

**chaka** · 06-25-2025, 10:42 AM

from your description, doesn't sound like the bike lane was clear, with the side by side peds?

**californiagrown** · 06-25-2025, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by chaka

from your description, doesn't sound like the bike lane was clear, with the side by side peds?

different parts of the commute a couple miles from each other.

**californiagrown** · 07-08-2025, 09:01 AM

There is a main arterial with two lanes in each direction, and a center left turn bay that is signalized (so 5 lanes wide). This light and the left turn lane gets backed up around rush hour, and cyclists usually just ride to the front of the left turn lane on the right side of the lane so they are on the outside when the left arrow turns green. Normal, safe behavior. Yesterday, a cyclist rode up the right side of the lane like normal, then cut accross to the left side and then proceeded to trackstand/slowly creep in the dead-ass center of the oncoming straight lane. Cars were honking and trying to merge over to avoid this jabroni who seemed totally nonplussed. I had to do a double take because the stupidity was just astounding... literally the guy was claiming the lane of the dead-ass center of the oncoming left lane with 35mph traffic coming at him. He finally compromised and stood straddling the center double yellow line. When our left turn light finally turned green he cut through the intersection on the inside of the turning cars, and then cutoff a car to weave back to the outside and the bike lane. Older guy in full lycra on a steel roadbike with decent enough bike skills to be able to trackstand for 3-5 seconds at a time.

**californiagrown** · 07-10-2025, 08:12 AM

To continue my blog on the cycling equivalent of a blue square Mountain Run back to the village at 3pm... On the way in this morning two road cyclists riding side-by-side in the bike lane so that the inside rider was riding with his tire on the lane line, sometimes weaving across. Neither holding a steady line. Vibe was neither experienced road rider, nor experienced commuter... if you get what i mean. I thought about posting about them again, but decided against it as they weren't causing problem despite naively being a danger to themselves.

But then, i finished my drive down the hill, around the big 90deg turn into my parking lot and pulled into a parking spot. As i was grabbing my bag from the car the first cyclist comes ripping down around the corner leaning way over on the bike and in slow motion i thought (he is waaay too far over the side and too far over the front and is gonna washout at speed and wreck big time. there is no way he holds it together through the turn)... well, he held it together a split second longer and then washed out the front, his hands stayed on the bars, slammed his head into the pavement and skidded on his face and shoulder for a good 15 yards coming to a rest off the road, not knocked out but dazed. It was that weird slow motion that usually only happens when its happening to you, where i knew immediately it was wrong/bad and then the wreck felt like it took 10+ seconds to unfold. His buddy followed shortly and helped him stumble off to the side. they said they didnt need any help or phone when i asked.