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...is sometimes the left curb.
Finally got a helmet cam so I can more effectively advocate my safe riding. If you have ever "won the door prize", took a "right hook", had a pedestrian spring out in front of you from between parked cars, had a rash of flats from riding in the trash in the right gutter, or just enjoy the thrill of getting home before your coworkers in their silly Hummers and urban-assault vehicles rotting in traffic, this video is for you.
This vid was actually a camera test video that I liked enough to post online. I'll call it "Inner City Cycling Instruction Part I" Much, much more to follow! I wear the camera every day now.
http://www.vimeo.com/996199
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Interesting video. What type of camera did you use? I notice that you do not stop for red lights. Be careful.
What type of camera did you use?
VholdR helmet cam
http://vholdr.com/shoot/camera/overview
Can't give it my approval just yet. Had it less than a week and there are some issues.
Running the lights is part of being careful here. It allows me to ride in the huge gaps created by the lights themselves much of the time. I did not edit out those gaps on purpose.
So everyone that buys a helmet cam is suddenly an advocate?
Awesome.
Well lots of these guys won't like that you pass cars, they think you should rot behind cars. But I think you should stop for stop lights. The girl with the baby stroller that you buzzed while running a red light probably thinks so as well.
...I think you should stop for stop lights. The girl with the baby stroller that you buzzed while running a red light probably thinks so as well.
She never even saw me. The camera made that look a lot closer than it was in reality. It also looks like I went out of my way to get near her. I moved left in anticipation of the cars entering the intersection from the cross street at the right. Had that first car turned right and not yielded to her, I would have moved to the left curb. The first car did not intend to turn as it turned out, so I just swung in behind her. I was 3/4 of a lane from her at least (3:36). Had everything gone wrong at once I would just bail up onto the trolly tracks past the left curb.
A few seconds later (4:00) I stopped at a red for a lady in the crosswalk - that's what it looks like when I am close enough to "buzz" someone.
was this supposed to be a game where we counted the traffic infractions in a five minute period? I lost count at about 30. What do I win?
I think you just gave up your right to ***** about the next car that plows into you.
7 posts... took longer than I thought Joey. :lol:
"You're a wicked man....an evil, wick, wick, man"
You're my hero.
On the running reds - looks like you do it with all due caution, but if you get a ticket, I hope you just pay up and move on. I certainly won't cry for you.
That looks like a fun place to ride. Was that a wrong-way cyclist tucked in there, too?
I have no problem with filtering but it looked like you cut it close a few times.
I agree on the left-side positioning in that specific scenario 100%.
I notice that you went by at least two police cars in there too. I guess they don't mind you splitting lanes and running reds, lol.
That camera you have costs $ 350 !!!
No way !
IMHO, safe riding advocate? You have to be kidding. You ride in and out of traffic without much room, squeeze between cars and sidewalks at a full clip, run lights, buzz a pedestrian. You're not going to last very long riding like that and you give cyclists a bad name to boot. I'm not impressed.
"Running the lights is part of being careful here. It allows me to ride in the huge gaps created by the lights themselves much of the time. I did not edit out those gaps on purpose."
That's the most ridiculous rationalization I've ever seen for running red lights.
Do you walk the same way you ride?
You're not going to last very long riding like that...
I know. I started when I was 15 and I just made 50. Granted I am a lot better at it now, but still not a scratch after only 35 years.
I am lasting long precisely because I ride like that in this town.
...if you get a ticket, I hope you just pay up and move on. I certainly won't cry for you.
I am definitely not a cry-baby. One really nice bonus to riding like that is that I don't expect much from motorists. When I bike, I expect everyone else to do whatever they want to, so I am never surprised and rarely angered by traffic. And motorists in this town seem to be happy I am not in their way.
As for New Orleans Finest, they seem to have better things to do than mess with cyclists. Cyclists have almost no rights here. If I get run over, unless the driver is drunk (50 percent are at any given moment), they won't even get a ticket. I'll be dead or maimed and they won't even be home late for supper. So I do whatever it takes to not let them run me over. Notice how many cars passed me? Zero. That is my goal.
OMG, those palms trees lucky freaky, almost fake, are they sick or something?
"Inner City Cycling Instruction Part I"="Full Speed Ahead & piss on everyone else"
Who wants to cycle like that? I like to belong to the city.
I know. I started when I was 15 and I just made 50. Granted I am a lot better at it now, but still not a scratch after only 35 years.
I am lasting long precisely because I ride like that in this town.
You are my hero.
Keep up the good work.
That looks like a fun place to ride. Was that a wrong-way cyclist tucked in there, too?
It is very fun to ride here. The inner grid was set up by a sadist. No timed traffic lights, or timed badly. Auto traffic is stuck in quicksand. Light after light after light they have to stop and sit. So if you are willing and able to ride in the spaces the cars are not utilizing - the world is yours!
Yes, the wrong-way cyclist is just one more reason to stay out of the Door Zone. I noticed that too in the vid. Very prevalent in the French Quarter. I do very little contraflow riding myself and only with utmost precautions.
"Running the lights is part of being careful here. It allows me to ride in the huge gaps created by the lights themselves much of the time. I did not edit out those gaps on purpose."
I find that in that type of traffic, filtering to the front then accelerating away from the traffic allows me to open big gaps, without running the red lights. Maybe I am a better (MUCH) better sprinter than you are?
Maybe I am a better (MUCH) better sprinter than you are?
If you are sprinting away from traffic at every red light, then I can be pretty sure that you are the better sprinter here. Sprinting for me is kinda like sex. I may not be as good as I once was, but I am still as good ONCE as I ever was.
Joey --
First, your sig: I would use doors as long as they were right there; otherwise, I'd use the walls. Boy, running through women's locker rooms could be a real rush...!
Second, your vid: while I applaud you making it to 50 (I'm looking down that barrel myself pretty soon), I can't say much for the red-light activity. Kind of commando-style riding, and others are right, you don't do the rest of us any good. But, you're gonna do what you're gonna do, so it's whatever....
...you don't do the rest of us any good.
I have heard that here before regarding another similar video filmed by a friend and posted by me. Yes, if I were riding like that in YOUR community, it might do some damage I guess. In New Orleans, motorists seem to care only about me staying out of their way. "The City That Care Forgot" was a tag line back in the 1930's regarding this place and is mostly still true. Folks here are not very uptight and tourists seem to pick up on that vibe pretty fast. So it does not cause any problems that I can see and I have been car free for 19 years now. So I am out there all the time and have not noticed one bit of difference in 30 years.
...is sometimes the left curb.
Finally got a helmet cam so I can more effectively advocate my safe riding. If you have ever "won the door prize", took a "right hook", had a pedestrian spring out in front of you from between parked cars, had a rash of flats from riding in the trash in the right gutter, or just enjoy the thrill of getting home before your coworkers in their silly Hummers and urban-assault vehicles rotting in traffic, this video is for you.
This vid was actually a camera test video that I liked enough to post online. I'll call it "Inner City Cycling Instruction Part I" Much, much more to follow! I wear the camera every day now.
http://www.vimeo.com/996199
Advocate for safe riding?? Is this the example of how not to ride safely? I suppose all of us safe riders should thank you for your advocacy? I will say thanks, thanks for all the driver you've pissed off who then feel the need to vent their anger on the next cyclist they see who is riding safely and legally.
I hope the Police Department sees the video and writes you out a book of tickets for all the traffic laws you broke. If we want to be treated the same as cars and trucks we have to follow the same laws, or at the very least not go around bragging about breaking those laws.
Bikesafer (www.bikesafer.blogspot.com)
Jeff
Who wants to be treated the same as a gas guzzling, pollution spewing deathmobile? Not I .... says the vastly superior transportation platform. Sitting around at light waiting for some light to tell you it's ok to proceed after a forced stop to make sure they can proceed in another direction without killing one another. Kinda sad really. If everyone rode we'd have almost no need of red lights period.... aw crap, I've posted in A&S again....damn. It's OK Joey, I get it. :lol:
Joey, you create your own advanced stop light for bikes at the intersections....nice.
Urban riding is a traffic dance. It's entertaining to pass safety-minded bicyclists stuck in lines of stopped traffic because they feel filtering or contraflow approaching congested pinch points is WRONG.
Joey, BAD, BAD CYCLIST, riding past stopped traffic!! ;)
I say, cars pass me, I pass them. they cross the double yellow to pass me, i cross the double yellow to pass them. screw it, virtual anarchy rules on the roads nowadays. 10 mile over the limit, no turn signals, rolling stops, blowing reds, distracted driving.... I'm all for expeditious urban cycling. Way to go. Stay safe.
Who wants to be treated the same as a gas guzzling, pollution spewing deathmobile? Not I .... says the vastly superior transportation platform. Sitting around at light waiting for some light to tell you it's ok to proceed after a forced stop to make sure they can proceed in another direction without killing one another. Kinda sad really. If everyone rode we'd have almost no need of red lights period.... aw crap, I've posted in A&S again....damn. It's OK Joey, I get it. :lol:
It must be a nice little world you live in where there are no "deathmobiles" around you. "If everyone rode"... its a nice thought but not everyone does, so I have to exist in the real world where we have to share the road with "deathmobiles" I respect their right to the road and in return I expect and usually get my portion of the road in return. The times I don't get respect from "deathmobiles" is when they are mad at cyclists who routinely do the kind of riding in this video.
By all means since some drivers break the law and endanger others, let's all do it. Won't anarchy be great.
The times I don't get respect from "deathmobiles" is when they are mad at cyclists who routinely do the kind of riding in this video. that's presuming a lot.
They're more likely mad at you for just being in their way. Far more dangerous than disrespectful drivers are the simply distracted ones. joey's riding mitigates that quite effectively.
It must be a nice little world you live in where there are no "deathmobiles" around you. "If everyone rode"... its a nice thought but not everyone does, so I have to exist in the real world where we have to share the road with "deathmobiles" I respect their right to the road and in return I expect and usually get my portion of the road in return. The times I don't get respect from "deathmobiles" is when they are mad at cyclists who routinely do the kind of riding in this video.
By all means since some drivers break the law and endanger others, let's all do it. Won't anarchy be great.
You expect to be given something from a motorist? I completely respect the cars' right to the road, despite over-riding logic as to why they shouldn't be so damned many of them. I DO NOT however subscribe to the fantasy that if I gutterbunny for them they will feel all warm and fuzzy to ppl on bikes. I also don't subscribe to the idea that the car is the dominant form on the road, the most numerous yes, but not the most dominant. Not gonna happen, and I've been doing this since the 80's. In urban core riding, you don't give..if you do you're toast. There aren't that many deathmobiles around me as I , like Joey, leave them far behind.
Here's an example of being part of the solution. Where we have streetcars, it's the law to stop behind the doors when open with the little stop signs on them. Cars will be totally harassed by the streetcar for failure to stop with bells and horns b/c they could kill someone coming off the streetcar. I've been gently poking my way through streetcar commuters for 15 years and have not once been dinged /honked by them, and allowed to proceed safely as the cars wait. Why? The streetcar drivers see we are part of the solution and that the potential to kill and maim is virtually nil. Just blasting through car traffic does not make one unsafe. There is a difference. But generally A&S folks don't get it. Bikes aren't cars so why emulate their actions(?), heck even the drivers hate how they have to drive in the city.
In my riding I don't get in their way.. if I do a red light there are no horns of frustrated drivers or slamming of the brakes. I'm simply not an issue. Almost as if I was never there.... you know the same way they ALWAYS say I'm sorry I didn't see you. So instead of being crushed, side swiped, right hooked , doored, b/c someone didn;t see me ... I see them first and leave them looking at my quickly vanishing butt.
I know. I started when I was 15 and I just made 50. Granted I am a lot better at it now, but still not a scratch after only 35 years.
I am lasting long precisely because I ride like that in this town.
and some ppl smoke all their lives...
I can't remember the name, but there's a term for behavior where you get lulled into thinking that because you haven't seen the repercussions of risky behavior that the risky behavior is safe.
I've only been riding for 35 years, but I know enough that that riding style is more likely to end up with bad results than a more patient riding style. If you want to ride like that, that's obviously and rightly your choice, but to pronounce it as safe because you haven't been injured or hit is ridiculous. The only thing I really take issue with is your buzzing a pedestrian. If you ride and get hit, that's your issue. If you hit someone else or damage their car/property that's a different story.
You expect to be given something from a motorist? I completely respect the cars' right to the road, despite over-riding logic as to why they shouldn't be so damned many of them. I DO NOT however subscribe to the fantasy that if I gutterbunny for them they will feel all warm and fuzzy to ppl on bikes. I also don't subscribe to the idea that the car is the dominant form on the road, the most numerous yes, but not the most dominant. Not gonna happen, and I've been doing this since the 80's. In urban core riding, you don't give..if you do you're toast. There aren't that many deathmobiles around me as I , like Joey, leave them far behind.
Here's an example of being part of the solution. Where we have streetcars, it's the law to stop behind the doors when open with the little stop signs on them. Cars will be totally harassed by the streetcar for failure to stop with bells and horns b/c they could kill someone coming off the streetcar. I've been gently poking my way through streetcar commuters for 15 years and have not once been dinged /honked by them, and allowed to proceed safely as the cars wait. Why? The streetcar drivers see we are part of the solution and that the potential to kill and maim is virtually nil. Just blasting through car traffic does not make one unsafe. There is a difference. But generally A&S folks don't get it. Bikes aren't cars so why emulate their actions(?), heck even the drivers hate how they have to drive in the city.
In my riding I don't get in their way.. if I do a red light there are no horns of frustrated drivers or slamming of the brakes. I'm simply not an issue. Almost as if I was never there.... you know the same way they ALWAYS say I'm sorry I didn't see you. So instead of being crushed, side swiped, right hooked , doored, b/c someone didn;t see me ... I see them first and leave them looking at my quickly vanishing butt.
First I don't "gutterbunny", second, my concern is not for your safety, you are responsible for that and clearly have a disorted view of how to behave safely. I'm concerned with the image you leave with all the motorists whom you claim don't even notice you. They see you breaking all sorts of laws and they think even less of cyclists than they did before. Your illegal behavior hurts all cyclists, except maybe the selfish ones who think they are somehow above the law.
Keep believing that and it might be true one day...drivers don't give a flying fig about you or me, nor will they ever. (odd exceptions do apply) You're deluding yourself that a driver keeps that kind of information in their heads long enough to be upset by what they see me do. I'm not in anyone's way..I'm in that open space, then I'm not there at all. If anything they are glad I'm not there at all, otherwise they'd have to look out for me. I'm not riding around as a socio-path, but one that understand the ebb and flow of city traffic. I ride like I'm invisible, and you know what...it works. Some what I'm speaking of is why some jurisdictions are allowing red light cyclists to treat it as stop sign and proceed if safe, and stop signs as yeilds. This gets the rider out of the drivers' way even faster. Traffic laws are being changed to acknowledge the difference in abilities between cars and bikes. To have everyone on the road act like a car is foolishness and shortsightedness in bucket loads. Sorry we'll just have to disagree, but once you catch up we'll have a beer ok? :hug:
I can't say I care for your riding style but that's definitly a nice camera! Most clear riding video I've seen yet! I'd keep it.
The only thing I really take issue with is your buzzing a pedestrian.
This has been answered, but it bears repeating since not many people seem to have picked it up.
He didn't buzz any pedestrians, it just looked that way because the camera's fairly narrow field of view makes things look like they're a lot closer than they actually are. I've found the same thing with my ATC2000.
You're deluding yourself that a driver keeps that kind of information in their heads long enough to be upset by what they see me do.
Well, going by the comments from 'drivers' that we see every time bicycles are mentioned in the newspaper, I think the 'gives all cyclists a bad name' is a very real phenomena. I just recognise it for the irrational prejudice that it is, and refuse to pander to it.
They see you breaking all sorts of laws and they think even less of cyclists than they did before.
"They?" I would say "Some". Most never "see" me as mentioned above. I am working on another vid that will show you how many drivers just disregard me totally when crossing my path from a side street. Either they are not seeing me, or they just expect me to yield even when I have the right of way. Bully by horsepower and weight.
I had a young man, probably early 20s, walk into a bike shop where I was hanging out and told the clerk: "I was sitting in bumper to bumper traffic yesterday downtown and this dude on a bike came flying by me between the cars, blew through the red light that I caught for the third time, and disappeared into the sunset in seconds. He was probably lying around the house sipping a brew before I got free of the gridlock. I want to buy a bike!"
Another example: When driving my wife's car downtown (I am now "Them") I often see cyclists splitting lanes. If I notice them approaching me, and it is safe, I squeeze over a few inches to make their life easier. People do the same for me all the time, some because they think I will run into them and ding their ego-can, but many just see me as part of the flow of things.
I think you assume too much about what other people are thinking.
I can't say I care for your riding style but that's definitly a nice camera! Most clear riding video I've seen yet! I'd keep it.
You should see the raw uncompressed video! I can read the speed and the time on my cycle computer and all of the graphins on my gloves! I have to wreck the quality to upload it to the Web, then Vimeo, YouTube, Myspace, whoever, will reformat the vid and usually compress it more.
I'm not in anyone's way..I'm in that open space, then I'm not there at all.
For me it is like existing in another dimension. Like a ghost (I don't believe in ghosts, but you get what I mean). I am passing between the atoms of a solid object (traffic) just like walking through a wall (see sig line). I am using spaces that are not otherwise being utilized by anyone. And the feeling of freedom of movement is euphoric. No...it's orgasmic!
I think if a driver sees me at all, the thought of me blowing a red might fire up a neuron briefly, then his/her cell phone starts playing Vagner and the thought is pushed right out the other ear.
"I was sitting in bumper to bumper traffic yesterday downtown and this dude on a bike came flying by me between the cars, blew through the red light that I caught for the third time, and disappeared into the sunset in seconds. He was probably lying around the house sipping a brew before I got free of the gridlock. I want to buy a bike!"
:single tear:
If everyone rode like you did in your video, wouldn't that dangerously narrow aisle in between the two lanes of opposing traffic become in adequate for all of the dare devil riders combined? Kudos for riding that recklessly with such an expensive camera on your head.
This has been answered, but it bears repeating since not many people seem to have picked it up.
He didn't buzz any pedestrians, it just looked that way because the camera's fairly narrow field of view makes things look like they're a lot closer than they actually are. I've found the same thing with my ATC2000.
I have that camera, too and use it every commute.
It looks exactly like he buzzed her because that's exactly what he did.
What ped buzz? I watched it again and I don't think I saw one.... time stamp? In front or behind the peds motion?
If everyone rode like you did in your video, wouldn't that dangerously narrow aisle in between the two lanes of opposing traffic become in adequate for all of the dare devil riders combined?
That's a great point. And it would look much like this:
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=71482&stc=1&d=1210797455
Photo credit: Lucas Brunell (http://digave.com/videos/) from his NYC Drag Race video.
I find another rider on the double-yellow with me once or twice a month. It adds another element of timing with the auto traffic sometimes, but has never been a problem.
You asked "If everyone rode like that..." Do you plan to join us? If not, then we don't have to worry about everyone, now do we?
^^^ and awesome fun when you can line up and exchange hand slaps as you pass^^^
I LOVE the yellow line.... everyone on the drivers side can see you. As well in the core of most cities left hand turns are allowed once every x blocks, but right hand danger is everywhere.
Won't anarchy be great.
Yeah it would...I'd love seeing the look on the faces of all the helmet nazis when they find out what Darwin really means! :thumb:
...right hand danger is everywhere.
I would go so far as to say the right half of the right lane (from the oil drippings to the curb) is completely worthless for biking in the core. Unless of course you are trying to commit suicide and make it look like an accident.
[QUOTE=Allister;6678864]You're my hero.
I like the way you ride.
First I don't "gutterbunny", second, my concern is not for your safety, you are responsible for that and clearly have a disorted view of how to behave safely. I'm concerned with the image you leave with all the motorists whom you claim don't even notice you. They see you breaking all sorts of laws and they think even less of cyclists than they did before. Your illegal behavior hurts all cyclists, except maybe the selfish ones who think they are somehow above the law.
Was that clear? Missed it.
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