Brian Nystrom wrote:
>
> Sure. No road user group is completely without blame. Jerks are jerks,
> regardless of what they're driving or riding and you're always going to
> encounter them.
>
> What most motorists don't realize is that in most states, bicycles are
> considered to vehicles, just as cars, trucks and motorcycles are. As
> such, we DO have the right to use a lane if need be. From a practical
> standpoint, we typically try to stay out of the way and use shoulders
> where they're available and in adequate condition, so we don't impede
> faster traffic. Staying "as far to the right as practicable" is often
> also required by law.
>
> Although I do most of my riding solo, when I do ride with groups, we
> ride single-file unless the shoulder is wide enough to permit us to
> double up without intruding into the travel lane.
If the local police ever cracked down on the car vs. bike situation around
here, the cyclists would likely be getting more tickets than the car
drivers. There are several major bike races here every year so we often
have groups of bikes out there practising. They ride 2-3 across in groups
of 8 or more and refuse to move over for cars. These are rolling rural
roads with blind intersections and no shoulders. Riding in single file is
a foreign concept to them. even on the bike trails, which are generally
designed for 2 way bike traffic, they insist on riding 2 or 3 across. I
have learned to stick to the middle. I found that if I am approaching two
cyclists riding side by side coming in the opposite direction, they are
reluctant to move over to let me pass safely, If I move to the right they
will try to squeeze by side by side. If I stick to the middle, even though
they pretend not to see me coming, they eventually smarten up and move
over.
When they come to stop signs they just blow right through them, one after
another. Most of them don't even slow down. I almost hit a single
cyclist with my car last fall at a four way stop. I came to a stop and
then
started to go, assuming that he was going to stop. He didn't. A few weeks
early an entire gaggle of old cyclist blew a stop sign and pulled right in
front of me. To make matters worse, they puled right out into the far left
to make a left turn, and then one of the dumb bastards yelled at me for
honking at them.
> What amazes me is the amount of harassment I get from people driving a
> 5' wide car in a 10' wide lane that don't think they have enough room if
> I'm riding near the white line on the edge of the road. This past
> summer, I even had some brain-dead "bimbette" driving a Jeep that her
> mommy and daddy must have bought her try to tell me that I should be
> riding on the sidewalk (which is illegal here). At the time I was on a
> road with 2, 10' wide travel lanes and a 6' wide shoulder. Apparently,
> that wasn't enough room for her.
Always carry a few extra water bottles. They make a hell of a bank when
they hit the hood :-)
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