Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Oh boy....here we go again

Letter to the editor supporting biking and some of the responses in here (http://journalstar.com/articles/2008/07/24/opinion/letters/doc488798f708ef1771955398.txt#blogcomments) are just HILARIOUS. Wow. :roflmao2: Bdinger and I have to LIVE here......

I would expect the same kind of responses here. It is sort of entertaining though to hear these people come up with a lot of silly excuses to hide what they really feel. I'd like to hear one of them just come out and say it just once: "Anything that costs me even one second on my way to get a triple baconator with quadruple cheese and extra large gravy fries with a supersize diet coke makes me really really mad."

Three weeks ago I was a triple baconator (I forewent the gravy fries, though). Now im just down to a baconator-there is nothing more uncomfortable than having had a lardge lunch late in the afternoon at work and then trying to ride home. If nothing else, besides gas, its saving me about 12-18 dollars a week and untold number of calories.

Letter to the editor supporting biking and some of the responses in here (http://journalstar.com/articles/2008/07/24/opinion/letters/doc488798f708ef1771955398.txt#blogcomments) are just HILARIOUS. Wow. :roflmao2: Bdinger and I have to LIVE here......

Remind me to skip Nebraska when I ride cross country next year.

Three weeks ago I was a triple baconator (I forewent the gravy fries, though). Now im just down to a baconator-there is nothing more uncomfortable than having had a lardge lunch late in the afternoon at work and then trying to ride home. If nothing else, besides gas, its saving me about 12-18 dollars a week and untold number of calories.

They have a tripple baconator now? That's incredible. I tried the baconator a once or twice, it's a pretty good sandwich, I thought. Disgustingly unhealthy, but delicious none the less. I don't know about a "tripple" though.

Tom just pwned them with some bike law knowledge. :beer: :thumb:

It's not as bad riding here as those comments would have you think. I get the impression from a lot of the commenters that they're not people who actually work or live in Lincoln. I've only ever had one very minor incident on the roads here, though.

Those comments, and the underlying lack of understanding they demonstrate, were bothering me, though, so I emailed the police chief to see if he would be interested in addressing bikes as vehicles on his well-read and respected blog sometime soon. He replied that he'll put it on his topic list. It would be great to have a local person in a position of authority go on record regarding the laws and their practical application, and might help out the local cycling community in some small way. So we'll see.

By the way, I understand that John Maher, publisher of the Lincoln Journal Star, is a bike commuter himself. So the local paper will most likely continue to include pro-cyclist and pro-bike commuting articles, online comments by unhappy readers notwithstanding.

Great stuff. If nothing else, the current economic and social culture will hopefully bring more of an understanding of biking rights in general. I have spoken with people who used to get pissed off at bikers in the road, but after explaining the rationale for certain situations, such as car doors, right hooks, and sharp corners necessitating taking the lane, etc etc etc, they were more understanding. I almost hit a car that right hooked w/o a signal, and I stopped to talk to her. She couldnt, for her life, understand why I was so upset, since she thought that she made a legal right hand turn-when I explained that she made a right hand turn without a turn signal, and WITH BROKEN BRAKE LIGHTS, without checking for bike traffic, she almost died, and apologized profusely.

Sometimes it is just lack of knowledge, or ignorance. Also, i try to remember that car drivers and bikers are just cross-sections of our society, and thus each have a proportional amount of good people and A-holes.

Tom just pwned them with some bike law knowledge. :beer: :thumb:

Yes, but the NASCAR arguments are funnier.

Sadly, for some of these, I see their reasoning. There is a great group of law abiding cycle commuters in this city, and there is a group of people transplanted straight from the SUV to the bicycle. Then there's even another who thinks that nothing stinks, and laws don't apply to them. Unfortunately the latter two groups get noticed a lot, and do some really colossally stupid stuff. So for drivers to be a little on the upset side, yeah, I'd see it. I've seen FAR too many "wrong way" cyclists, and ones who put themselves in the middle of the left lane.

As with anything, it puts a bad image on the rest of us. Just like the ******* drivers do to the nice and considerate majority.

It's not as bad riding here as those comments would have you think. I get the impression from a lot of the commenters that they're not people who actually work or live in Lincoln. I've only ever had one very minor incident on the roads here, though.

It's the same kinds of comments that we see in the Seattle P-I when there's an "us vs. them" article, or a bicycle issue up for vote. You should have seen some of the bicycle hatred that got spewed over the most recent bike lane controversies. For being one of the more bicycle friendly cities, there have been a whole lot of "don't scratch my car when I run you over" kinds of letters in the paper.

We really must stop meeting like this. I found one person in here that lives around the corner from me! Tom's blog is a nice addition to the police dept, I think-while he may be locked up in policy stuff a lot it allows him to be public and a little more off the cuff. We've disagreed on some things here and there, but id rather disagree than not have the opportunity at all.

When they put in a bike lane in the middle of 11th street here you should have heard them howl about it being the dumbest thing they'd ever seen. 11th street goes to DT and has parking on both sides of it, angled in-and the detractors couldn't understand why the lane couldn't be off on the right somewhere.
CAS

We really must stop meeting like this. I found one person in here that lives around the corner from me!

What part of town are you in? I'm in the Woods Park area, and work downtown.

We should seriously set up a social BF Lincoln ride sometime. Not this weekend, though--I'm going to take it off and get over a saddle sore. Just riding to work and back until next week (and I'm going to slap a Brooks on at least one bike before then, too).

What part of town are you in? I'm in the Woods Park area, and work downtown.

We should seriously set up a social BF Lincoln ride sometime. Not this weekend, though--I'm going to take it off and get over a saddle sore. Just riding to work and back until next week (and I'm going to slap a Brooks on at least one bike before then, too).

+1 on a BF clydes ride! I bet that the three of us, seriously, either pass or almost pass each other on a daily basis. I ride the Rock Island daily, and think Alathena does as well. That's really funny, and cool! I'm pretty booked up this weekend too, and maybe next weekend - that's still TBD.

Or rather, you guys are welcome to join, but tomorrow I'm starting pedaling at 0500 again, I think. Nobody likes getting up that early, including me :D

I'd be willing to do a 5AM ride the weekend after this one...I usually head out for an hour or two on Saturday and Sunday mornings around 6, so it wouldn't be a super-huge adjustment.

I'd be willing to do a 5AM ride the weekend after this one...I usually head out for an hour or two on Saturday and Sunday mornings around 6, so it wouldn't be a super-huge adjustment.

Hey, that works. I'll start a thread when I know my wife's schedule for next weekend, and maybe a couple of us can get together for a "coffee ride" or something! :)

Also - side note - cool to see you picked up that Miyata from craigslist! I was going to email the guy, but got threatened because I already have a touring bike :)

I'm game, but I don't know about a 30. I do a pretty short commute right now about 5.5 in and then back from work, so 10 mi. split by 8 hours. Right now I go from Tierra to RI, then RI along S 14th.

Hey, that works. I'll start a thread when I know my wife's schedule for next weekend, and maybe a couple of us can get together for a "coffee ride" or something! :)

Also - side note - cool to see you picked up that Miyata from craigslist! I was going to email the guy, but got threatened because I already have a touring bike :)

I'm game, but I don't know about a 30. I do a pretty short commute right now about 5.5 in and then back from work, so 10 mi. split by 8 hours. Right now I go from Tierra to RI, then RI along S 14th.

My actual commute is super short, about 8-12 minutes if I go straight there (depending on the bike and my pace that day). So I sometimes mix is up and go ride around in the Near South neighborhood on my way. If I go straight there, the only part of the trail I use daily is just where Billy Wolff crosses J st to downtown (and that whole section was completely removed a couple of months ago as part of Antelope Valley contruction). That's actually been good for me, mixing it up and looking at other parts of the neighborhoods around here, riding further, leaving earlier and putting in more miles, stopping for coffee downtown before work, etc. Or I just go in early and leave early and put in even more miles!



But yes, a short ride would be fine--whatever mileage you'd like, Alathea. I don't really keep track of how far I go, I just tool around and look at stuff, look for the occasional hill and the occasional sprint, whatever.

The Miyata is pretty sweet! The guys at MW downtown said that it's more or less a comparable frame to the LHT, and the components aren't as nice as new stuff but sweet and well-maintained for what they are, so that's cool. For 100 bucks invested so far, I'll be able to put on a Brooks and a front rack and still have a super cheap bike that rides like a $1000+ bike. Can't beat that, really! I slapped some Olympic Gold bar tape on it that's close to matching the gold Miyata logo. I didn't do a perfect job, but not bad for my first try. I'm not very mechanically inclined at all, unless we're talking about repairing electric guitars ;)

I'm game, but I don't know about a 30. I do a pretty short commute right now about 5.5 in and then back from work, so 10 mi. split by 8 hours. Right now I go from Tierra to RI, then RI along S 14th.

Naa, I don't think 30 would be a good idea. A nice relaxed 10 miler ending up somewhere with high doses of caffeine, OTOH, would be perfect! :)

Sounds like quite a find!
I'm game for anything, just keep in mind that I have little Idea what my cruising speed would be for a duration-there are lots of little dips in the RI that let me cruise. I do the 5ish miles in about 30 minutes in the morning before eating, so that puts me at around 10-11 miles an hour. I'm putting the speedo on this weekend so Ill have a better gage of what I actually ride instead of just relying on my memory and MapMyRide skills.

Naa, I don't think 30 would be a good idea. A nice relaxed 10 miler ending up somewhere with high doses of caffeine, OTOH, would be perfect! :)

Boingggggg!

Hey, that works. I'll start a thread when I know my wife's schedule for next weekend, and maybe a couple of us can get together for a "coffee ride" or something! :)

Also - side note - cool to see you picked up that Miyata from craigslist! I was going to email the guy, but got threatened because I already have a touring bike :)

Naa, I don't think 30 would be a good idea. A nice relaxed 10 miler ending up somewhere with high doses of caffeine, OTOH, would be perfect! :)

A Saturday AM that somehow ended up at Cultiva Coffee on South St and 14th or so would be absolutely awesome for me--I'm a huge coffee fan, and that's seriously the best coffee I've ever had. Locally roasted, certified organic, etc. I haven't had anything else since Jon moved back to Lincoln and started roasting.

I'm game for anything, just keep in mind that I have little Idea what my cruising speed would be for a duration-there are lots of little dips in the RI that let me cruise. I do the 5ish miles in about 30 minutes in the morning before eating, so that puts me at around 10-11 miles an hour. I'm putting the speedo on this weekend so Ill have a better gage of what I actually ride instead of just relying on my memory and MapMyRide skills.

I don't even have a spedometer. I think my legs are in pretty decent shape from hauling heavy bikes with IGHs around for the last three years every day, so I've noticed my speed on the Miyata this week seems to be...well, fast! I can keep up with downtown traffic speeds for four or five blocks, anyway, and that's something new.

But speed doesn't matter. No drop ride, man, for sure. And I've never ridden with a "pack" before, so I wouldn't want to go super fast wheel-to-wheel, anyway.

I've been thinking about doing the Sunday cruiserbike/social ride that leaves from Re-cycled on 28th and South around 4PM, but I'm always busy by that time of day. Early mornings seem to work best, but the rest of the weekend morning rides I know of are serious cyclists that really haul. So I just ride around with another musician friend of mine at lowish/mediumish speeds and sight-see, and then work on recording for a few hours until late morning.

This sounds perfect to me, honestly. I'd like to find a group to ride with where I'm forced to relax and take it easy, I personally believe heavily in "no drop" on group rides, even if I occasionally forget and attack hills :D. But really, that sounds perfect, I've been wanting to check out Cultiva for a long time and adding in a nice relaxing ride to boot? It's a plan.

Anyway I'm generally free Saturday and Sunday mornings. I like to be home by 9 or 10 so I don't miss the time with the kiddos, so I'm an early riser. I'd be game for a nice, slow paced, relaxing ride around town and some coffee. Turns out I'm free this Sunday, and most likely next Sat/Sun. Let me know when you guys are free, and we can start a post for a route - maybe get one or two others in on the fun!

A Saturday AM that somehow ended up at Cultiva Coffee on South St and 14th or so would be absolutely awesome for me--I'm a huge coffee fan, and that's seriously the best coffee I've ever had. Locally roasted, certified organic, etc. I haven't had anything else since Jon moved back to Lincoln and started roasting.

I don't even have a spedometer. I think my legs are in pretty decent shape from hauling heavy bikes with IGHs around for the last three years every day, so I've noticed my speed on the Miyata this week seems to be...well, fast! I can keep up with downtown traffic speeds for four or five blocks, anyway, and that's something new.

But speed doesn't matter. No drop ride, man, for sure. And I've never ridden with a "pack" before, so I wouldn't want to go super fast wheel-to-wheel, anyway.

I've been thinking about doing the Sunday cruiserbike/social ride that leaves from Re-cycled on 28th and South around 4PM, but I'm always busy by that time of day. Early mornings seem to work best, but the rest of the weekend morning rides I know of are serious cyclists that really haul. So I just ride around with another musician friend of mine at lowish/mediumish speeds and sight-see, and then work on recording for a few hours until late morning.

Sadly, for some of these, I see their reasoning. There is a great group of law abiding cycle commuters in this city, and there is a group of people transplanted straight from the SUV to the bicycle. Then there's even another who thinks that nothing stinks, and laws don't apply to them. Unfortunately the latter two groups get noticed a lot, and do some really colossally stupid stuff. So for drivers to be a little on the upset side, yeah, I'd see it. I've seen FAR too many "wrong way" cyclists, and ones who put themselves in the middle of the left lane.

As with anything, it puts a bad image on the rest of us. Just like the ******* drivers do to the nice and considerate majority.

Yep, it is the minority of yahoos that get noticed. I see it myself. In the last week while in my car, I have seen a biker going the wrong way on a busy street shoulder and another blowing through stop signs in a neighborhood - not just slow and goes but right through them. On my way home today, I saw someone riding the yellow stripe with no indication of why. I assume they were eventually going to turn left but they were a disaster waiting to happen.

Around here I am lucky in that, almost exclusively, the drivers are courteous and not anti-cyclist. No honking, no throwing stuff, no ignoring you at stop signs, etc. With the problems I am seeing now, I am afraid that may change.

NASCAR is a sport???

Yes it is, The drivers are fit for what they do, and are athletes (again built for what they do) are some chunky? yes, are some bean poles? yes and you have some in between. Nascar drivers loose more weight each race than a marathon runner or ld biker does, and they do this every week, most marathon runners and bikers require 2 to 4 weeks to fully recover.

Now you say driving a car 300 miles is easy, yes it is, but can you drive it at 180 mph with a accuracy of 3 to 4 inches for that 300 miles

The Chief of Police kindly made a blog post about Lincoln bike traffic: http://lpd304.blogspot.com/2008/07/share-road.html

I live in Lincoln as well, and I will say that I have had very few bad experiences riding and commuting around Lincoln. I don't have many compliments for the town otherwise, but as far as bike friendliness it could be much worse.

If anything, to many drivers are too nice yielding to me when it would be best for them to go.

I wouldn't call it a sport, but it IS a highly skilled job in the entertainment field. ;)

NASCAR is a sport???

You guys are lucky! In my town, small rural under 5000, I ride to the store and back and now up to 10 miles round trips to the gym and pool. In town, I always get, "did you lose you get a DUI?" Like the only way I would bike is beause I can't drive! I bet they watch NASAR also!

Jerry

Also, more than 80 percent of the bike collisions with cars in Lincoln occur when the cyclist is riding on the sidewalk — it’s two to eight times more dangerous to ride on the sidewalk. Collisions to cyclists riding in the street are actually very rare.

Am I missing something here, do the cars in Lincoln drive on the sidewalks?
No wonder there are so few collisions on the street, they're all on the sidewalk!

Am I missing something here, do the cars in Lincoln drive on the sidewalks?
No wonder there are so few collisions on the street, they're all on the sidewalk!

Sidewalks intersect with streets and driveways. Those intersections are where car/bike accidents frequently occur.

Good enough to post here. Shineyville's link. Our Police Chief blogs regularly, and puts himself out there-its a great read overall, but this post is the best:

Share the road
Last week, a regular reader of The Chief's Corner asked me if I'd blog about bicycles and the rules of the road. "Sure," I replied, "I'll put that on my list of future topics." As the price of gas is causing all of us to flinch, I am sure we will continue to see more people consider the two-wheeled option. It is almost certain that bike-car conflicts will increase. I've blogged about road rage before, and t is not limited to car-on-car situations. Lincoln's bike lanes are pretty limited and many of our recreational trails, although nice for a leisurely ride, are not suitable for commuting so drivers and riders will increasingly share the road.

Sharing the road is not just polite, it's the law. Bicycles essentially enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicles on the public streets. Motorists need to accord bicycles the same right of way, following distance, and passing protocol that they would another automobile. I see a lot of impatience here. Some motorists view a slower-moving bicycle as an obstruction. Any avid cyclist has their stories of Beavis & Friend flipping them the universal peace sign, crowding them to the curb, making a right turn directly in front of their path, launching a Big Gulp grenade, and otherwise pestering them with obnoxious and dangerous behavior.

Fortunately, these incidents are mostly rare--at least the intentional type. The unintentional stuff, though is sometimes the result of a phenomenon all bicyclists and motorcyclists must learn as a matter of self-preservation: you are invisible. Defensive driving, for a cyclist, is an issue of survival.

In Lincoln (and everywhere else I know of), bikes basically are treated like any other vehicle by the municipal ordinances. The major exception to that would be the required position in the lane. City ordinance states that bicycles must be ridden "as close as practicable to the right-hand side" of the roadway, if the bike is travelling at less than the "normal speed of traffic." Crowding the curb is a safety risk for a cyclists, so a couple feet to the left is generally what is practicable--but not always.

The seam where a concrete curb joins the pavement is prone to cracks, crevices, and pot holes, so a wider berth may be needed. Some roadways have drainage grates that will swallow a 1" tire and wheel. A row of parallel-parked cars is risky, and cyclists generally need to move out to the left by the approximate length of a 1972 Monte Carlo's door. The right-hand side of the roadway is impractical when you are preparing a lane change, a left turn, or getting positioned at an intersection to avoid right-turning cars from cutting across your path. Moving away from the right side in these circumstances complies with the "close as practicable" rule in the law, and motorists just need to deal with that, treating cyclists with the same respect as any other vehicle.

Trouble is, some motorists don't treat any other vehicle of any kind with respect. Aggressive driving seems to be a common condition for a growing number of motorists. It's not solely motorists, though. Some cyclists seem to think that traffic signals are optional. Occasionally, I will see cyclists in pairs or groups riding side-by-side, which violates the law. From time to time we get complaints about groups out for training rides who will form up into a peloton and basically occupy an entire street. The echelon may be good form, but it is also illegal. For the most part though, cyclists aren't the problem--rather, it's a nincompoop behind the wheel of a gas-guzzler, who views anything that slows his route as an annoyance.

I commuted to work by bike for a decade, back when running and triathlons were among my passions. For a good deal of that period, my seven mile trip home followed a shift that ended at 1:30 AM. That was interesting. Here's some advice for cyclists: When operating your 21 lb. road bike, do not get in an argument with a probable drunk who has poor impulse control and drives a 4,500 lb. weapon.

And, of course, here we go yet AGAIN, with another letter to the editor:

http://journalstar.com/articles/2008/08/11/opinion/letters/doc489f4f75dc693336501626.txt

And the comments get more obnoxious every time!

And, of course, here we go yet AGAIN, with another letter to the editor:

http://journalstar.com/articles/2008/08/11/opinion/letters/doc489f4f75dc693336501626.txt

And the comments get more obnoxious every time!

Remind me again never to visit Nebraska.

It's really not bad on the roads here. I don't know where these anonymous-internet-tough-people come from, but apparently it's not a problem when they're actually driving or biking. But my troubles have been very few and far between.

Misha might have been a bit accusative, but its really nothing that we all haven't seen/heard before, along with the requisite responses in the lower portion. My burning question is How to trigger the D**n lights in Lincoln without having to wheel over to the sidewalk, dismount, hit the button, cross, then try to rejoin traffic. Any main drag light in Lincoln will do, though I refer mostly to 48th in College view-it NEVER changes on its own unless there is a car somewhere, and in the AM at 7 there is rarely a car on Prescott-they are all on 48th. Frustrating......I don't see any cutouts on the pavement that are obvious, and the light isn't camera controlled either.

and then there is this guy:

Analyze before action wrote on August 11, 2008 1:31 pm:
" People who ride bikes on the road either don't have a valuable life, or they don't value their lives. One should perform a profit-maximization analysis using projected future earnings (discounted using historical CPI data) and the average rate of bicycle incidents as they relate to medical bills and the loss of life in order to determine whether they should be riding bikes to work. If, through the analysis, you determine that it is cheaper to ride your bike, you, my friend, have a meaningless career. "

I already replied to that guy with this: http://davesbikeblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/cyclists-live-longer.html

...but it hasn't been posted yet.

Funny.