[The Beast1]

Is it my bad luck or am I just cursed?

Today while driving my car, I had a green light and started moving into the intersection. I was minding my own business, excited and looking forward to my weekend. Then all of a sudden THIS appears in front of me running the red light:



What gives?! Did this guy have a death wish? He had a red light and decided to plow right through it like it was a mere suggestion.

This has happened to me at least three times in my life. Thankfully I've been aware of my surroundings and been able to avoid hitting them.

And why is it when you see cyclists on the road they'll almost never be in the correct gear? You'll always see them peddling way faster than they should. Of all the cyclists i've seen on the road it was only when I moved to the UK did I see these dorks actually utilizing the most efficient gear.

Most cyclists on the road treat themselves as part vehicle and part pedestrian. Violating traffic laws whenever they see fit and assuming that vehicles will stop for or avoid them as they hang out in your blind spot.

Does this mean that I hate biking? No! Biking is awesome and an excellent way to get your cardio in. I love biking, however i'm not a stuck up tool who violates traffic laws indiscriminately.

When I rode my bike to and from class and my part time job, I was 100% in tune with my surroundings. I assumed cars didn't see me and worked around dangerous intersections by taking less travelled side streets. I also never biked with head phones on. How in the hell are you going to hear cars coming at you with some inane pop music blaring?

In case these guys forgot, here is the food chain of the road:

Pedestrian > mobility scooter > cyclist > Moped/ Motocycle > Car > Truck /bus > Tank

These guys think they're impenetrable. I am fed up with these wannabe Lance Armstrongs. No, your skin tight bike suit isn't cool. Pull your head out of your ass and stay away from busy intersections and roads!

[debeguiled]

So, we have a group here who:

Are all privilege, no, responsibility.

And expect everyone else, cars, motorcycles, even people on foot, to change their behavior to suit them.

Have constantly changing behaviors and sense of their own rights.

Example: Have no problem hovering in an old lady driver's blindspot, slamming on the trunk of her car screaming: "Share the road!"

Example #2: Or blitzing down the sidewalk like a slalom course narrowly missing pedestrians, screaming "what the fuck" or "really" if someone turns to go into a store.

Wears outlandish bright skin tight clothing that draws attention to them, and when they aren't on their bikes totter around on their bike shoes like women on ultra high heels.

Remind you of anyone?

They are the trannies of the road.

[C-Note]

When I'm riding my bike, I hate cars and their drivers. When I'm driving my car, I hate cyclists. They just don't mix well together.

Hard-core cyclists don't like to stop because they're usually timing themselves on Strava or Map My Ride and also they don't want to have to unclip their shoes from the pedals. So, they'll take chances at intersections like this. Sometimes when they run a red light or stop sign when you have the right of way and you honk at them, they'll flip you the bird! I wonder if they realize how close they come to getting run over when they do that?

Anyway, I'm aware of what assholes some cyclists can be so when I'm riding, if do cut in front of a car (and I try not to) I'll nod my head or wave to let them know I'm acknowledging their forbearance. By doing that, I've never had any trouble. I've never even been honked at.

[Laner]

Ha. Yep.

Pretty much everyday. I think they are pissed that marathons block half the city on any given weekend all summer long.

[Ghost Tiger]

In Toronto, our politicians just run them over.

Quote:

The incident

On the evening of August 31, 2009, Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant and his wife were driving home in his Saab convertible after celebrating their 12th wedding anniversary. At one point, they passed a cyclist, Darcy Allan Sheppard, who according to an interview with Bryant was tossing garbage and holding up traffic by executing figure eights on his bike. As they neared a pedestrian crossing Sheppard pulled in front of Bryant’s vehicle at a red light. Subsequent events were captured on security camera.

According to Bryant his vehicle stalled when he stopped behind Sheppard. His car then lurched forward from his attempts to restart the vehicle which brought the car close to or in contact with Sheppard’s tire. Expert analysis of security camera footage confirmed the car’s headlights dimmed in a manner consistent with this explanation and that the vehicle had a “sensitive and light clutch”. The Crown also determined that no damage to the bicycle’s rear wheel rim was evident. Witnesses said that Sheppard confronted Bryant and his wife “loudly and aggressively” while they “remained passive.” The car’s next movement resulted in Sheppard ending up on the hood of the car. The car travelled 30 feet, lasted 2.5 second, the car’s speed was between 9 and 13.4 km/h and brakes were applied after 1 second. According to Bryant he was looking down trying to restart the vehicle and applied the brakes when he saw Sheppard on the hood. The crown determined that there was no evidence Sheppard was seriously injured at this point and there was not enough evidence to justify a separate charge based upon Bryant’s driving to this point.

The fatality occurred when Bryant drove away and Sheppard grabbed hold of the side of the vehicle. The car veered into the opposite lanes, Sheppard's body struck a fire hydrant knocking him off the car and his head hit the pavement. There were witnesses who said it appeared Bryant had attempted to knock Sheppard off the car by striking him against trees and mailboxes. There were also witness reports that Sheppard reached into Bryant's convertible and grabbed Bryant or the steering wheel. Bryant parked his car around the corner and called 911. Sheppard later died of his injuries in hospital.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Br...al_charges

[Mage]

A lot of cyclists are liberal lefties who have an incredible superiority complex - they think they are smarter then anyone else because they outsmart traffic and they feel great moral superiority in being green and ecological.

Many sworn cyclists are also childless vegan PETA activists who hate and detest the meat eating, child producing, car driving people.

They think they are morally superior because they don't produce emission gases, save the planet by not reproducing and practicing a vegan friendly physical activity that doesn't require a lot of muscle.

These vain cyclists also often think that they are so superior that the traffic rules don't apply to them and that car drivers must wait on them and slow down to make space for them on streets.

Nothing infuriates me like a cyclist that takes a lot of space on the street, making it hard to drive at decent pace without endangering him.

A lot of European cities have lately promoted more cyclist friendly attitudes, my own home city has recently shut down lanes on several major streets and turned them into cyclist lanes. I hate this. In my traditional Eastern European country not many people use bicycles, people have families and prefer cars, these cyclist lanes are an ideological dictate by European Union and just create more traffic jams.

I see the promotion of cycling at expanse of car driving as a hidden form of birth control.

Cycling is extremely selfish mode of transportation. You cannot properly transport girls, children or elder people with a bike. You cannot transport furniture. A bike is no good for you if you own anything like a house or a family. A bike is not a family friendly means of transportation. It's only good for Bernie student types who own nothing and dream of communist vegan utopia.

Cycling is not even a great physical activity for fat burning. So many fatties cycle for years and lose no weight. it offers no progressive increase of load.

There is nothing bad about owning a bike and using it when appropriate but the whole cyclist subculture is extremely unmasculine and annoying.

[C-Note]

^^^^
The hippie cyclists who participate in critical mass rides and the like fit what you're talking about in the US. The spandex-clad, uptight, skinny wieners such as pictured in the OP I don't know if always fit that profile.

By the way, there are several reasons why cyclists ride down the middle of the lane. One is to stay out of the car door opening zone. I've been knocked on my butt before by someone opening their car door. Another is because the closer you are to the gutter, the more debris there are that you can give you a flat tire. Finally, when cars pass you they'll give you more room if you're further away from the curb, because if you're close to the curb the car driver will try to stay in their lane and therefore pass you much closer.

[Cattle Rustler]

Is this even thread worthy? Seems like something for the EE lounge.

[Mage]

(09-14-2016 01:54 PM)C-Note Wrote:  

^^^^
The hippie cyclists who participate in critical mass rides and the like fit what you're talking about in the US. The spandex-clad, uptight, skinny wieners such as pictured in the OP I don't know if always fit that profile.

By the way, there are several reasons why cyclists ride down the middle of the lane. One is to stay out of the car door opening zone. I've been knocked on my butt before by someone opening their car door. Another is because the closer you are to the gutter, the more debris there are that you can give you a flat tire. Finally, when cars pass you they'll give you more room if you're further away from the curb, because if you're close to the curb the car driver will try to stay in their lane and therefore pass you much closer.

I don't care about cyclist problems and excuses. They slow down traffic and create dangerous and stress inducing situations. They should drive on sidewalks. It's much safer for a cyclist to collude with a pedestrian then with a car.

[kaotic]

(09-14-2016 02:01 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  

Is this even thread worthy? Seems like something for the EE lounge.

Come to Southern California and you'll understand.

In LA alone they're getting more and more space for bike lanes than cars (and more rights).

You have these jackass bicycle marathon guys all over snake paved roads that won't move out the way.

The hipster fixer bikers are the fucking worst and are even dicks about it.

Me if I had a diesel pusher:

[Foolsgo1d]

@ theBeast.

If you think city cyclists are wannabe lemmings just go to any country lane with long stretches and curves. namely the Yorkshire dales and Pennines. Urban people in the country going 30-40mph, doubling up, in the centre of the road. Its asking for an angry beef with some motorist.

[debeguiled]

Before any cyclists come on this thread and get offended, we are not talking about you or cyclists in general. This is a special class of cyclists who are trying to pass their own reckless behavior off as some sort of political statement.

It is not just the virtue signaling SJWs but, as in the original post, the LARPers with the full gear pretending crowded city streets are their own personal time trial velodromes.

These people don't even acknowledge that they are engaging in dangerous behavior, not really. They have completely absolved themselves of responsibility to others or for their own personal safety, and are probably a small minority of the cyclists, living in their own solitary magic worlds, really pushing the bounds of behavior, and relying on the patience and reflexes of people in cars to keep them from dying. And all for no good reason. All to prop up their delicate need to believe that they are special and that the rules don't apply to them.

I am often shocked at the risks they take. I once saw a friend of mine cut off a car in the most dangerous way possible, and later asked him about it and he said that he had the right of way and the car had to respect that.

I said, "Yeah, but what if he didn't see you?"

He looked at me stunned. He had no answer for it. He was so engaged in his imaginary fight for the rights of beleaguered bike riders everywhere, that he didn't take into account a pretty obvious possibility.

Sometimes I think they realize they are idiots and are unconsciously trying to cull themselves from society.

The other aspect of this, and the reason they are so infuriating, is the manner with which they "share the road" with everyone else. The condescension and cockiness that reveals itself in their manner and actions is the real reason people end up so annoyed with them.

They aren't activists, and they aren't making a political statement.

They are just selfish people.

So the fact that they take on a self-righteous attitude as they risk their own lives and the lives of others is what really steams the hell out of me.

They are like the Gammas, and the SJWs and the feminists. They are hiding their own personal failings behind a mask of righteousness.

Look, we all tend towards selfishness, and every now and then, a person might think, 'You know, I am not really giving anything back to society here."

This is an uncomfortable insight for anyone.

You can either just carry on and live with the decision, or you could also decide to volunteer at a soup kitchen or be a Big Brother or find some civic minded activity that makes you feel more connected to the community and less guilty.

They do neither of these things. They rationalize. They suddenly decide that their own hobby, something they were doing before they had the urge to give back to society, is now magically a political act, and that they are ambassadors of a healthier lifestyle, or in the vanguard of people being less reliant on fossil fuels.

They fucking rationalize, and their solution to feeling guilty about being a selfish person is to become more selfish, and relabel it some sort of higher consciousness.

This is serious gamma territory. It is as game denying as you can possibly get.

Don't improve yourself or you life, just criticize cars for their pointy elbows.

[RexImperator]

10/10 insidious thread title

[Easy_C]

[debeguiled]

(09-14-2016 02:08 PM)kaotic Wrote:  

In LA alone they're getting more and more space for bike lanes than cars (and more rights).

I'm with Kaotic.

There is a one way street in the college town I live in where the two way bike lane is actually wider than the lane for cars, and you still see these doofuses riding their bikes in the car lane or on the sidewalks.

Entitled biker hate deserves its own thread.

[Cattle Rustler]

(09-14-2016 02:08 PM)kaotic Wrote:  

(09-14-2016 02:01 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  

Is this even thread worthy? Seems like something for the EE lounge.

Come to Southern California and you'll understand.

In LA alone they're getting more and more space for bike lanes than cars (and more rights).

You have these jackass bicycle marathon guys all over snake paved roads that won't move out the way.

The hipster fixer bikers are the fucking worst and are even dicks about it.

Me if I had a diesel pusher:

Just don't do that shit in Texas or some cowboy might pull out his CC and put it to use.

My post was more of: The overall topic can be a forum topic, but venting is not really a topic. There are a lot of RVFers who bike (including OP) so to call us a threat is like calling us a basket of deplorables. Fuck the hipster fixies, those POS can't even go fast.

I'd rather have more space for bikes on the road, riding a bike on the sidewalk is already illegal and roads without a designated lane results in the cyclist taking up the entire road or cars trying to share the same lane next to the biker. Add wake turbulence from the cars passing next to the bike, and the cyclist can easily lose control. A decade ago I had some crazy teenagers trying to run me over on purpose, chasing me down the street.

Some cyclist are dickheads to drivers, but I can assure you more drivers are dickheads to cyclists.

[eradicator]

He wouldn't try that in Los Angeles, I bike in LA and sometimes I think I'm taking my life into my own hands the way people drive. Drivers will do U turns across quadrupple yellow lines, run red lights if they are impatient, drive on the sidewalk, whatever.

[The Beast1]

(09-14-2016 02:28 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  

(09-14-2016 02:08 PM)kaotic Wrote:  

(09-14-2016 02:01 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  

Is this even thread worthy? Seems like something for the EE lounge.

Come to Southern California and you'll understand.

In LA alone they're getting more and more space for bike lanes than cars (and more rights).

You have these jackass bicycle marathon guys all over snake paved roads that won't move out the way.

The hipster fixer bikers are the fucking worst and are even dicks about it.

Me if I had a diesel pusher:

Just don't do that shit in Texas or some cowboy might pull out his CC and put it to use.

My post was more of: The overall topic can be a forum topic, but venting is not really a topic. There are a lot of RVFers who bike (including OP) so to call us a threat is like calling us a basket of deplorables. Fuck the hipster fixies, those POS can't even go fast.

I'd rather have more space for bikes on the road, riding a bike on the sidewalk is already illegal and roads without a designated lane results in the cyclist taking up the entire road or cars trying to share the same lane next to the biker. Add wake turbulence from the cars passing next to the bike, and the cyclist can easily lose control. A decade I had some crazy teenagers trying to run me over on purpose, chasing me down the street.

You a competitive cyclist Cattle Rustler?

I kid i kid, i wanted to start a topic on this and felt my rant a good way to segue into the subject.

A lot of cyclists have a, "I'm right" attitude and don't understand two very important things:

Dead right.

You may be right, but in a collision with a half a ton hunk of metal you will be dead.

I enjoy biking, but let's not kid ourselves here. Biking is a very dangerous activity. I feel safer on a pair of skiis over a jump than i do riding a bike.

[weambulance]

Since there are apparently cyclists here, can someone explain to me why cyclists so often ride right on the solid white line even if there's a 5+ foot shoulder and they're alone? I see that all the time, both here in NY and when I lived in Alaska.

[Cattle Rustler]

(09-14-2016 02:40 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

You a competitive cyclist Cattle Rustler?

I kid i kid, i wanted to start a topic on this and felt my rant a good way to segue into the subject.

A lot of cyclists have a, "I'm right" attitude and don't understand two very important things:

Dead right.

You may be right, but in a collision with a half a ton hunk of metal you will be dead.

I enjoy biking, but let's not kid ourselves here. Biking is a very dangerous activity. I feel safer on a pair of skiis over a jump than i do riding a bike.

I'm a non-competitive competitive cyclist, hahaha! No worries man, you did bring a good topic to the table. Sometimes those dickheads will not move over to the side of the road when I'm driving right behind them, which I do when I'm riding. The hispter ones are the worst, it's like adding wood (bikes) to the fire (hipster fag).

A lot of bikers end up being quadriplegic, I try to ride on trials or 2am on the streets. Fuck riding during daylight hours while Stacy is applying make up and Chad Thundercock is on Tinder.

[RoastBeefCurtains4Me]

Good thread topic. It's obvious that lots of people have strong opinions about this.

Bicyclists drive me nuts here in the US. I've seen all the behaviors mentioned here, and I've seen side by side bicyclists riding downhill in the mountains, going 20 MPH slower than traffic, and refusing to make room for passing. The stupid skin tight suits bug me too.

However, I've spent time in the Netherlands this past year, and they have bicycle lanes along every single street, with separate traffic signals for all the bike lanes. There, bike traffic is very heavy, people ride in ordinary clothes, and they obey the traffic laws. You still have to watch out when driving a car. At first I wasn't used to watching a separate set of signals to know when it was OK to go through an intersection. However, once I adjusted to the local rules of the road, it actually works fairly well.

Motorized scooters and even smaller motorcycles are able to use these lanes as well, and they're often the best way to get around town, due to limited parking for regular cars. The only reason it works so well there is high population density to support all the bike lanes, and the country is almost entirely flat. Cities are compact, so most people can actually get where they need to go with a bike. Snow is rare, and they ride in the rain just as much as on clear days (which aren't that common).

I would say the system actually works there, but as soon as I come home, the bicyclists drive me nuts.

[Chunnel]

(09-14-2016 02:42 PM)weambulance Wrote:  

Since there are apparently cyclists here, can someone explain to me why cyclists so often ride right on the solid white line even if there's a 5+ foot shoulder and they're alone? I see that all the time, both here in NY and when I lived in Alaska.

Do you mean the line designating the shoulder? Debris tends to clog up shoulders pretty regularly, especially in early spring. In Virginia there was always sand in the shoulders for whatever reason.

If I'm out on some back road and cars are passing me only once every two minutes, there's no harm in riding just on the left side of the shoulder (except on hills, its dangerous for everyone involved to not get as far over on the shoulder as possible). I've never had any run ins with cars, especially when there is zero danger factor during the pass. Now on busy roads, its a different story, I even hate it when I'm driving and trying to pass someone on a bike on a heavily used road. Its easier to just to avoid them anyhow.

I'm the first to admit, I'll blow through stop signs, but only when the opportunity is safe. The ones I do blow through, I've been down the roads so many times I know exactly what's coming, and can plan seconds in advance if I do need to stop. And random red lights out on country roads, if there are no cars in sight, no way in hell I'm waiting, many times I won't be able to even trigger the sensor to switch the light to green.

Being on a college campus again, I've seen everyone at fault in different scenarios. Cars will pass you with dumb drivers glued to their phones, dumbass cyclists will cut in front of cars or squeeze through on the tightest shoulders while stopped at a red light, and pedestrians will blindly cross into intersections looking down at their phones. Everyone is culpable to some degree. Its unfair to group all cyclists in the same category as kings of the road, but I know those type are out there. I get just as pissed at them when I'm trying to maneuver by them in my car.

[GlobalMan]

(09-14-2016 02:42 PM)weambulance Wrote:  

Since there are apparently cyclists here, can someone explain to me why cyclists so often ride right on the solid white line even if there's a 5+ foot shoulder and they're alone? I see that all the time, both here in NY and when I lived in Alaska.

If you mean the left edge of bicycle lane, in a city, it is to avoid getting door'd by a parked car and allows more time to react to people/things darting out from the side.

In a non bicycle lane shoulder, that area in almost any locale is coated with a thin layer of sand or dirt which is a perfect slipping hazard for a bike, especially on curves, and having to brake while riding in that does not end well.

Edit- Chunnel beat me to it.

[weambulance]

So at least there's a good reason for it. I always thought it was just stupid fucking "let's see if I can stay on this line" thing because that's honestly what it looks like. I've never ridden on the road with anything but a mountain bike; I assume it's way easier to go down on a road bike.

I ride motorcycles so I sympathize with wanting to avoid road hazards. I just think it's nuts in general to be in traffic on a bike going way slower than everything else on the road. I almost never ride a bicycle anymore, don't even own one actually since someone stole my mountain bike off my porch, because there's no fucking way I'm riding on the road with the cars. It's bad enough dealing with the retards in cages when I'm on a motorcycle.

[Truck'n]

is that your photo or a stock photo that you picked out of Tour de France?

I have been on all four sides of this argument. I have been a motorist whose safety has been compromised by a dickhead bicyclist. I have been a motorist who has crowded a bicyclist off the road.

But as someone who rides 150+ miles a week, I have also been the bicyclist who has been a dickhead and driven on roads that are meant for cars.

And finally, I have been a bicyclist who was in a very serious wreck due to a complete dickhead driver (I was riding on a bicycle path where no cars are allowed. I had right of way, and a stopped car, waiting to cross the bicycle path where I was riding, stopped, the driver made eye contact with me, and then pulled out in front of me right as I approached his car and before I had time to stop, causing me to go over my handlears, land on my face, fracture multiple bones in my face. I was unconscious for several minutes. When a policeman roused me conscious, he told me that the driver had told him that I simply just fell down and that he was completely not culpbable in the accident, and drove off before I was conscious.)

But there is a definite uptick in the number of dickhead bicyclists who cannot or will not use common sense and ride safely. Call the local police department immediately and give them the description of the rider and the direction they are headed. Cops hate these fuckers just as much as the rest of us because they cause so many unecessary accidents. A good cop will chase them down and a give them a decent toungue lashing that they so desperately need. Since most of the dickhead ones are middle age ninnies, that is usually enough to do the trick.