Marty! wrote: I think it's just the silly clothes that cyclists wear that make people hate them. I mean no grown man should ever be caught in Spandex - that is unless they wrestle in the WWE or are Axl Rose.
I think the phrase "grown man" exempts your exceptions. 
DukeOfUndersteer wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJLrcG64ulU
This video illustrates an attitude problem with too many cyclists I've encountered.
The biker is traveling the wrong way on a one-way street and hits a pedestrian who's not using a cross-walk. Yes, the pedestrian (maybe) should have looked both ways, but he's crossing a freakin one-way venue. Why should he be expected to accept the "two wrongs make it even" rationale?
The cyclist thinks everything is cool, but would he saying the same thing (through a wired jaw) if an unsuspecting passenger opened a car door in front of him.
I don't think so.
I have left Cycling groups because of this. In every state I have lived the law has been that bicycles are to follow all of the rules of the road. Plus, they are to ride as close to the right side of the road without going onto the shoulder. Bicyclists that do not should IMO have their rides confiscated (as they don't have to have a license).
slantvaliant wrote:Marty! wrote: I think it's just the silly clothes that cyclists wear that make people hate them. I mean no grown man should ever be caught in Spandex - that is unless they wrestle in the WWE or are Axl Rose.I think the phrase "grown man" exempts your exceptions.
...and it's comments like this that make you all look like a bunch of ignorant E36 M3s.
Dr. Hess wrote: Around here, they congregate on a 2 lane steep mountain road AT RUSH HOUR and ride 2 or 3 abreast uphill when they see someone is behind them. And they wonder why everyone hates their guts.
Read "guts" as "glutes." Works both ways!
<doesn't wear spandex any longer.
Ian F wrote:slantvaliant wrote:...and it's comments like this that make you all look like a bunch of ignorant E36 M3s.Marty! wrote: I think it's just the silly clothes that cyclists wear that make people hate them. I mean no grown man should ever be caught in Spandex - that is unless they wrestle in the WWE or are Axl Rose.I think the phrase "grown man" exempts your exceptions.
...any yet these same belligerent haters will be glued to the NFL (large men in tights anyone???)
While I understand being miffed at cyclists who don't hold their lanes, I'll never understand the MASSIVE animosity lunkhead America has w/ cyclists. It's really not that odd to ride a bicycle.
I wear spandex shorts under regular exercise shorts. Otherwise the shorts catch the wind and give everyone a great view of what would otherwise be obscured.
Riding a bicycle is a lot like riding a motorcycle. Assume that you are invisible, wear whatever you're comfortable getting into a crash in (personally, I am a helmet wearer on a bicycle 100% of the time), and being right doesn't matter when you're dead. Remember that you annoy probably about 95% of the flying steel bricks out there, too.
I hate the cyclists on my way to work. There are signs up every mile or so that say no riding more than 2 abreast. And yet so often I count them riding 3, 4, and often 5!!!
I have no problem with the cyclists if they stay in a safe situation, but more often than not, they ride so far into the middle of the lane that I have to go into the other lane to pass safely.
It also bothers me whenever I see more than 4-5 of them together. Wouldn't it be much safer to spread out a few hundred yards???
And yes, I've ridden my bike to work before on those same roads. I know what its like. I've come to the conclusion that more often than not, the bicyclists get cocky.
PHeller wrote: On "swerving into the lane", I keep my ass out of the road, especially when in the turns (unless going downhill). Mind you, if the road doesn't have a berm, YOU MUST SHARE THE ROAD. It's that simple. Don't take away my rights of riding because you feel you own the road.
As a bicyclist and a motorist, I feel the same way. UNTIL I see cyclists blast through stop signs without stopping. Not in the middle of the day, but in rush hour traffic.
It sucks to loose momentum, but loosing your life sucks more. I want to yell at the guy (its always a guy) and say, "Hey shinyhappyperson! Quit making us look bad!"
I think there are people that use all types of vehicles (motorcycles, cars, and bikes) that understand how to be polite, and some that really should not be allowed on the road. I'm happy to be polite to anyone who is considerate of everyone else in any type of vehicle, and while i do the best i can to react safely to the others, I think there are again people using all different types of vehicles that are lacking the mental capacity to share the road with anyone.
The problem is the spandex crowd. The shlub hauling ten bags of cans to the scrap yard on his bike is predictable. Passing him is easy. He will stay on the edge of the road and hold his position. So will the moped riders. Hell even the children on bikes do a pretty good job. The idiot on the $2000 bike with the spandex clothes could do anything at any time. I hate passing them because you never can tell what stupid move they are going to make. The stupidity of their moves is directly proportional to the number of riders in the group. That isn't to say that all of the spandex riders are like that, but all the bad riders I see are wearing spandex.
My son's MIL had that problem until she ended up spread all over HWY 41. Cracked her head like an egg along with most of the major bones in her body. Legally she was in the right. Being right doesn't help her tie her shoes in the morning though. She went from being a professional to running a cash register at a Hallmark Store for minimum wage. I figure riding a bike on a high speed two lane road isn't much better than playing Russian Roulette.
Every time I see a bunch of those nuts riding up and down the mountains of North GA wearing tight bicycle pants and clip shoes that make them look like they are walking on their toes I wonder if they realize how close the Chattooga river is...
...where Deliverance was filmed. 
Toyman01 wrote: That isn't to say that all of the spandex riders are like that, but all the bad riders I see are wearing spandex.
that's funny, because all the bad drivers i see are driving cars.
a few years ago i had someone swerve at me cussing and swearing. then about 100 yards later she had to stop for a red light and i stopped next to her. i tapped on her window and told her that when she's rolling at 40mph she wins, but here at the traffic light i'm a grown ass man and i'll beat the berkeley out of her in broad daylight.
whenever i'm riding, if anyone honks or swerves at me, i flip them off. if they slam on their brakes, i can dismount and be armed in about 2 seconds. i carry pepper spray and me plus pepper spray will fight just about anyone, especially when i'm jacked from riding. one of these days, someone's gonna learn a valuable lesson. i hope it's not me.
In reply to AngryCorvair:
With an attitude like that, my money's on you!
oldsaw wrote: In reply to AngryCorvair: With an attitude like that, my money's on you!
you wouldn't be the first to win that bet. you also wouldn't be the first to lose that bet. 
it's easy to hate on us road bikers from inside a car. me, i'm like Mr Rourke in spandex. i merely offer people a chance to indulge their fantasy of kicking a biker's ass. i'm doing it for them, you know?
In reply to AngryCorvair:
You think you're like Mr Rourke, but against a soccer mom behind the wheel of 3500lbs, you'll end up more like a Tattoo on the asphalt.
Just sayin......
AngryCorvair wrote:Toyman01 wrote: That isn't to say that all of the spandex riders are like that, but all the bad riders I see are wearing spandex.that's funny, because all the bad drivers i see are driving cars. a few years ago i had someone swerve at me cussing and swearing. then about 100 yards later *she* had to stop for a red light and i stopped next to her. i tapped on her window and told her that when she's rolling at 40mph she wins, but here at the traffic light i'm a grown ass man and i'll beat the berkeley out of her in broad daylight. whenever i'm riding, if anyone honks or swerves at me, i flip them off. if they slam on their brakes, i can dismount and be armed in about 2 seconds. i carry pepper spray and me plus pepper spray will fight just about anyone, especially when i'm jacked from riding. one of these days, someone's gonna learn a valuable lesson. i hope it's not me.
AngryCorvair wrote:Toyman01 wrote: That isn't to say that all of the spandex riders are like that, but all the bad riders I see are wearing spandex.that's funny, because all the bad drivers i see are driving cars. a few years ago i had someone swerve at me cussing and swearing. then about 100 yards later *she* had to stop for a red light and i stopped next to her. i tapped on her window and told her that when she's rolling at 40mph she wins, but here at the traffic light i'm a grown ass man and i'll beat the berkeley out of her in broad daylight. whenever i'm riding, if anyone honks or swerves at me, i flip them off. if they slam on their brakes, i can dismount and be armed in about 2 seconds. i carry pepper spray and me plus pepper spray will fight just about anyone, especially when i'm jacked from riding. one of these days, someone's gonna learn a valuable lesson. i hope it's not me.
Wow, I see why they call you angry now. Does that mean you swerve in front of people and blow through stop lights and signs and then pepper spray the offending car when they blow their horn at you. 
Don't get angry with me for stating a personal observation.
BTW all the idiots bikers I see are one...wait for it...bikes. I haven't seen one yet on a trike.
In reply to AngryCorvair:
Is this why they call you TAFKAAC, or would that be TshpFKAAC?
Just a quick point...
Marty! wrote: I mean no grown man should ever be caught in Spandex - that is unless they wrestle in the WWE or are Axl Rose.
Riding in lycra = more manly than wrestling in the WWE. 
In reply to Dr. Hess:
Damn, I Googled that just to see what it meant. This was returned from the archives.
http://archive.grassrootsmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?id=20571
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to Dr. Hess: Damn, I Googled that just to see what it meant. This was returned from the archives.
Ah, to be a newb again...
Joey
I consider myself a bicyclist 1st & a car owner 2nd, but the majority of rodies around Long Island are a bunch of moronic babies.
They simply can't get any dust on their bikes, and will swerve at will into the middle of the lane without looking or signaling to avoid anything but perfectly clean surfaces, or to block what they consider people driving too quickly for their liking.
Out east in suffolk county they specialize in riding in the middle of the lanes, in packs, around blind turns... makes for a interesting commute.
It's a frustrating situation. As a spandex wearing, road bike riding cyclist, I've lost count of the number of times I've been harassed while doing nothing more than riding solo and hugging the white line on the side of a road. In fact, last time I rode, I was by myself, on a Sunday morning, on a lightly traveled country road with a bike lane that I was in and I still had a jacked up pickup truck with the stars and bars on it find it necessary to slow down and hurl insults at me.
Then again, I've witnessed lots of cyclists ignore the rules of the road, which saddens and frustrates me too. It gives cyclists a bad name.
If both groups would be a little more tolerant, everyone's blood pressure would probably go down a little. 
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