Idiot on four wheels and, no brains
08-06-09, 01:35 PM
#51
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If drivers don't seem to get upset over double-parked cars, I suspect it's because parked cars don't usually have anyone in them for the other drivers to yell at. Also, it's easier to get around a stationary object than a moving object.
08-06-09, 01:38 PM
#52
L T X B O M P F A N S R
Heh, I probably come across 20 or more double parked cars every evening on my commute home. I guess a lot depends on where you are.
08-06-09, 01:43 PM
#53
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I don't mind sharing the lane with illegally parked cars, but even then, drivers will not give me room to get around the parked cars which would mean approximately 0.0000sec lost in their drive time. What's up with that?
08-06-09, 02:00 PM
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Anyway, riders did just fine without helmets for generations (including all through my childhood, adolescence and early adulthood), and I don't see the need for one now.
08-06-09, 02:02 PM
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08-06-09, 02:11 PM
#57
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You drive without a helmet? Don't you know most fatal car crashes involve head injuries? Your childhood memories of riding bikes touched me.
08-06-09, 02:33 PM
#58
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It's nice that I was able to brighten your day. And no, I don't ride or drive with a helmet. (Though I used to wear a helmet while riding a fire truck, because it's easier to wear it than to carry it while hanging onto the back of the truck.)
08-06-09, 03:14 PM
#59
the dream shall never die
Geary
08-06-09, 04:37 PM
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I don't know how long he was behind you, but when I take the lane, I try to make sure I won't be blocking anyone for more than 5-10s (varies depending on how much slower I'm going). At the same time, I don't rush it if it seems like I won't hold them up for more than 5s because it gives them more experience sharing the road with bicyclists. If you try to assert your right on the road for too long, not only will you irritate the driver and risk inviting a confrontation, you will have just ruined your peaceful bike ride for the day.
08-06-09, 04:49 PM
#61
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08-06-09, 05:21 PM
#62
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None of the lanes in DC are wide enough to safely share. If you feel safe sharing the lane with a car, go for it. I've broken my collarbone on a car door opened in my path. I feel safer in the middle of the lane, that's where you will find me. Accommodating cars is not something that enters my mind.
08-06-09, 05:34 PM
#63
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Fair enough. Most of the busy roads around here have shareable curb lanes, bike lanes, or a half-decent alternate route.
08-06-09, 05:51 PM
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Actually, I do try to go as fast as I can in situations where I can't keep up with traffic. I'm not intentionally obstructing. I do try to accommodate traffic to that extent.
08-06-09, 05:57 PM
#65
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08-06-09, 07:27 PM
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Context, people.
On a 2-lane blacktop w/ no shoulder, there is NO safe place to move -- except OFF the road, which is ridiculous; we,as cyclists, have the same right to the road as cars in all 50. If it was a WIDE lane, I would have no problem sharing the lane.
The average citizen has NOTHING going on so important that they require us to leave the roadway for them. They need to re-learn the meaning of 'share'.
On a 2-lane blacktop w/ no shoulder, there is NO safe place to move -- except OFF the road, which is ridiculous; we,as cyclists, have the same right to the road as cars in all 50. If it was a WIDE lane, I would have no problem sharing the lane.
The average citizen has NOTHING going on so important that they require us to leave the roadway for them. They need to re-learn the meaning of 'share'.
08-06-09, 07:36 PM
#67
the dream shall never die
Originally Posted by galyons
Please reread the post. "if you are slower move safely to the right and let faster traffic pass." Moving safely would preclude putting oneself in danger.
GearyHow so? I can't imagine an infinite impediment that would disallow eventually moving to the right to allow faster traffic to pass.
Geary
Please reread the post. "if you are slower move safely to the right and let faster traffic pass." Moving safely would preclude putting oneself in danger.
GearyHow so? I can't imagine an infinite impediment that would disallow eventually moving to the right to allow faster traffic to pass.
Geary
08-06-09, 07:49 PM
#68
the dream shall never die
Context, people.
On a 2-lane blacktop w/ no shoulder, there is NO safe place to move -- except OFF the road, which is ridiculous; we,as cyclists, have the same right to the road as cars in all 50. If it was a WIDE lane, I would have no problem sharing the lane.
The average citizen has NOTHING going on so important that they require us to leave the roadway for them. They need to re-learn the meaning of 'share'.
On a 2-lane blacktop w/ no shoulder, there is NO safe place to move -- except OFF the road, which is ridiculous; we,as cyclists, have the same right to the road as cars in all 50. If it was a WIDE lane, I would have no problem sharing the lane.
The average citizen has NOTHING going on so important that they require us to leave the roadway for them. They need to re-learn the meaning of 'share'.
Attitudes, such as "They need to re-learn the meaning of 'share' " do not make the roads safer for cyclists. Seems to me some cyclists, and I pray the vast minority, need to learn the actual meaning of sharing and get the seat post out of their.....
YMMV,
Geary
08-06-09, 08:00 PM
#69
L T X B O M P F A N S R
Originally Posted by galyons
Please reread the post. "if you are slower move safely to the right and let faster traffic pass." Moving safely would preclude putting oneself in danger.
Geary
How so? I can't imagine an infinite impediment that would disallow eventually moving to the right to allow faster traffic to pass.
Geary
Please reread the post. "if you are slower move safely to the right and let faster traffic pass." Moving safely would preclude putting oneself in danger.
Geary
How so? I can't imagine an infinite impediment that would disallow eventually moving to the right to allow faster traffic to pass.
Geary
I have to merge left to get onto an underpass that goes under a busy street. The whole thing is about 500 feet long or so, the lanes are narrow, and there's a big concrete wall on the right (no shoulder). Naturally moving to the right to let traffic pass is not an option. There are two lanes, so the motorist behind me can pass on the left if they want. But if that lane is full of other cars, well tough cookies.
In addition, I have to take the lane early before I even get there or else it's difficult to even get onto it since aggressive drivers are loathe to let me in when I try to merge. I've actually been hit by a car at that location (no injuries though) and ever since then I've been made it a point to be more assertive there, with good success.
Last edited by apricissimus; 08-06-09 at 08:04 PM.
08-06-09, 08:17 PM
#70
the dream shall never die
Here's an example on my daily route to work in the morning.
I have to merge left to get onto an underpass that goes under a busy street. The whole thing is about 500 feet long or so, the lanes are narrow, and there's a big concrete wall on the right (no shoulder). Naturally moving to the right to let traffic pass is not an option. There are two lanes, so the motorist behind me can pass on the left if they want. But if that lane is full of other cars, well tough cookies.
In addition, I have to take the lane early before I even get there or else it's difficult to even get onto it since aggressive drivers are loathe to let me in when I try to merge. I've actually been hit by a car at that location (no injuries though) and ever since then I've been made it a point to be more assertive there, with good success.
I have to merge left to get onto an underpass that goes under a busy street. The whole thing is about 500 feet long or so, the lanes are narrow, and there's a big concrete wall on the right (no shoulder). Naturally moving to the right to let traffic pass is not an option. There are two lanes, so the motorist behind me can pass on the left if they want. But if that lane is full of other cars, well tough cookies.
In addition, I have to take the lane early before I even get there or else it's difficult to even get onto it since aggressive drivers are loathe to let me in when I try to merge. I've actually been hit by a car at that location (no injuries though) and ever since then I've been made it a point to be more assertive there, with good success.
My strategy is the same as you detail. If you need to go left to follow your route, then you need to do so, and generally, earlier is better.
I have no issue with this. That is vehicular flow.
I do take exception to immature, self-centered cycling behaviors that only serve to make the roads more dangerous for all.
Sorry to hear that you were hit!
Geary
08-07-09, 02:16 AM
#71
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When a jerk drives a company vehicle in an unsafe manner I have been known to email the company to complain about it. Unless the proprietor was operating the vehicle, a chewing out from his supervisor about liability is more effective than any face-to-face rant I could come up with, even if I could catch the miscreant.
I was descending a two-lane road this morning that I frequently take to avoid the greater and faster traffic on the state highway. I was passed on the curved downhill by some sort of heavy equipment vehicle. I was in the process of taking the lane, as the road's edge — no shoulders — was obstructed by a fallen tree branch. Joe Bigtruck had to cross the double-yellow to get past me, and there was a small sedan approaching in the other direction. You'd think that taking his foot off the gas, braking, and letting the compact get around him before he passed me might make some sense, especially to a professional driver. No, he had to beat me to the 4-way stop on the other side of the next hill.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch the company name. It was "Allied" something or other, but not the moving van folks.
No way I wasn't seen, either. I was wearing an orange and yellow reflective vest, and had a blinking taillight on my seatpost rack.
Kevin
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch the company name. It was "Allied" something or other, but not the moving van folks.
No way I wasn't seen, either. I was wearing an orange and yellow reflective vest, and had a blinking taillight on my seatpost rack.
Kevin
08-07-09, 05:35 AM
#72
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You can mark me down as one of those who don't wear helmets, either. I started riding in the late '50s/early '60s, never even knew bike helmets existed until sometime in the '80s or '90s, and never got a head injury while riding, nor knew anyone else who did. We did plenty of dumb and dangerous stunts as kids, too, like trying to ride up a near-vertical hillside that tended to send bikes tumbling over backwards if you didn't have enough speed to make it all the way to the top. (We all had to keep trying until we'd made it all the way up at least once.) We also had "contests" where we rode our bikes as fast as possible down the sidewalk, swerved into someone's front yard and leaped off sideways at full speed. The object was to see whose bike would travel the farthest without a rider. (Things like that would destroy most bikes made today in short order, but those old heavy cruisers from the '50s and '60s were built like tanks. Usually all that had to be done was to hold the front wheel between your legs and twist the handlebars back around till they were pointing the right way.) There were plenty of bruises and scrapes and the occasional broken bone, but never any serious injuries, and we wore no protective equipment of any kind (often not even shirts or shoes).
Anyway, riders did just fine without helmets for generations (including all through my childhood, adolescence and early adulthood), and I don't see the need for one now.
Anyway, riders did just fine without helmets for generations (including all through my childhood, adolescence and early adulthood), and I don't see the need for one now.
You will also end up in the A&S Memorial list.
Last edited by Chris516; 08-07-09 at 05:51 AM. Reason: Needed to add stuff.
08-07-09, 01:02 PM
#74
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It is not always safe to move to the right of the road, what should be done then? On a mountain road with a shear drop it would not be safe to move over to the right. The same for a road with just a shoulder and a significant drop from the road to the shoulder.
08-07-09, 01:04 PM
#75
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Context, people.
On a 2-lane blacktop w/ no shoulder, there is NO safe place to move -- except OFF the road, which is ridiculous; we,as cyclists, have the same right to the road as cars in all 50. If it was a WIDE lane, I would have no problem sharing the lane.
The average citizen has NOTHING going on so important that they require us to leave the roadway for them. They need to re-learn the meaning of 'share'.
On a 2-lane blacktop w/ no shoulder, there is NO safe place to move -- except OFF the road, which is ridiculous; we,as cyclists, have the same right to the road as cars in all 50. If it was a WIDE lane, I would have no problem sharing the lane.
The average citizen has NOTHING going on so important that they require us to leave the roadway for them. They need to re-learn the meaning of 'share'.