[*WildHare*]

I've never before encountered two idiots of the level I came across yesterday. Two decked out roadies who seemed to be oblivious to there surroundings giving cyclists a bad rap. How you ask? Riding side by side next to parked cars forcing people to go around them with fairly heavy Saturday afternoon traffic. I think these two were on a bit of a competitive ride jockying for position back and forth and this was not the road to be doing that on. I've come across many a cyclist while driving but never as careless as these two. Even while single file these guys were way out into the road not holding a particularly straight line. They made me nervous just watching them, waiting for one of them to get whacked by a car.

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[mike]

Oops.

I thought your post about "pin heads" was about telemark skiers.

[Joe Gardner]

I have a pin head story for ya!

Yesterday i was riding on the local bike path, when i got forced off the path by a car! Not any car, but a speeding rhoads car! (ya know, the 4 wheel pedal cars...).

There were 4 rather large people in the car, taking up the whole path, they came around a blind corner doing ~20mph, forced me and another lady cyclist into the weeds as they past by. We had a little laugh knowing that 2 miles down the path with a very narrow foot bridge... I would have loved to see these guys turn the car around (if they can!), and pedal back up the trail (if they can!) to where they started, a good 6miles hill on a 5+% grade :D

What were they thinking? I hope they didnt hurt any of the kids, joggers, grandma and grandpa's i saw that day on the trail... what a bunch of pin heads!

[Oscar]

I was on a nice, quiet path this morning and found a few flyers seeking information about a cyclist who hit an 8-year-old girl. She fractured her skull and was left unconscious by the biker. Whaddajag.

[Chris L]

Originally posted by *WildHare*
I've never before encountered two idiots of the level I came across yesterday. Two decked out roadies who seemed to be oblivious to there surroundings giving cyclists a bad rap. How you ask? Riding side by side next to parked cars forcing people to go around them with fairly heavy Saturday afternoon traffic. I think these two were on a bit of a competitive ride jockying for position back and forth and this was not the road to be doing that on. I've come across many a cyclist while driving but never as careless as these two. Even while single file these guys were way out into the road not holding a particularly straight line. They made me nervous just watching them, waiting for one of them to get whacked by a car.

I don't know about over there, but in this country, cyclists are legally allowed to ride two-abreast and take up as much as an entire lane if they so desire. Of course, this doesn't happen often, as many of them just don't need to. However, it may have been a case of these guys simply riding within the law.

Another thing about parked cars is that you have to give them a wide berth most of the time, as people who open car doors more often than not don't bother to use their eyes first. I learned all about that one first-hand!

[John E]

On a four-lane road with outside lanes too narrow for safe side-by-side bicycle/car sharing, bicyclists should take the lane, for their own safety. Two cyclists riding side-by-side are far more likely to be noticed from behind than the same two cyclists riding single-file, and the expectation in this case is that motorists behind them should either slow down or change lanes.

The situation is considerably sticker on a two-lane road, where taking the entire lane forces overtaking motorists to cross the center line, risking a head-on collision. In this case, I still ride one door length from any parked cars, but I will ride single-file with other cyclists.