Great Lakes - Barrington Hills Riders BEWARE

There out to get you on the weekends.

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/barrington/news/2540012,barrington-bikecop-072910-s1.article

Only if you fail to abide by the rules designed for your safety.

If one of them passes me on Breaburn, I QUIT!

:roflmao2:

If one of them passes me on Breaburn, I QUIT!

:roflmao2:

I won't feel too insulted if they just wait for me to catch my breath at Spring Creek.

LOL, on those heavy bikes I better have no problem outriding them. So they don't have sirens. Maybe I can pretend to have an ipod in and just drop the hammer if I see one of them.

Yeah.....because it totally makes sense to ride away from the cops in an area that we ride in frequently that has an annual showdown between cyclists and residents. We wouldn't want to do anything that might make us good ambassadors of the sport or anything.

Just tell them that in typical Barrington resident fashion that the laws are for everyone else....not you.

The bigger question is that if they are remotely effective at cracking down on running stop signs, etc then how are you going to note that in your data? I mean you can't possibly compare data from not stopping at stop signs to after having to slow at stop signs.....

You might have to start training your other strength....crashing.

Easy there, slick.

I'm wondering if the officers on patrol will ride single file. That will be interesting to note.

Seriously, though, IMO I think this is a great move by B Hills. Bicycle cops are so much more approachable than those riding in intimidating cruisers. That was my experience when living in Chicago. It's easier for an officer on a bike to pull over and chat with locals that may be out for a jog/ride/walk than it is in a car. This should be seen not just as an anti-racer move, but as a step in the right direction for their entire community outreach from the law enforcement angle.

If I was a resident and had to deal with gaggles of cyclists attempting double rotating paceline ( :rolleyes: ) during rush hour times, I'd be happy this was getting the attention it's getting. Sometimes I'm glad I fall off the back so quickly so I don't have to deal with this stuff.

Edit to add...

There out to get you on the weekends.
This is the wrong attitude, for sure. The Us vs. Them crap needs to stop, even in jest.

Yeah.....because it totally makes sense to ride away from the cops in an area that we ride in frequently that has an annual showdown between cyclists and residents. We wouldn't want to do anything that might make us good ambassadors of the sport or anything.

Just tell them that in typical Barrington resident fashion that the laws are for everyone else....not you.

The bigger question is that if they are remotely effective at cracking down on running stop signs, etc then how are you going to note that in your data? I mean you can't possibly compare data from not stopping at stop signs to after having to slow at stop signs.....

You might have to start training your other strength....crashing.

If you're short a few bucks before refilling your prescription, let me know and I'll help you out. :wtf:


I agree CyLowe, it just depends on how they want to handle it. If they are out there to harass and collect revenue through fines, then it may not work out so well. If they are doing the community outreach approach you are suggesting, going after overly aggressive riders/groups and drivers, then I think it could be good. I'll wait to see before passing any judgment.

I think what it will do is make us ride in smaller groups, and this I think is a good thing. When you have 40+ people, it is too easy to get in large clusters, taking up the whole lane, as opposed to a 10 man rotating paceline, which I do think is reasonable. Even a single paceline with one guy dropping back should be good and that is what I will try to discuss with one of the officers when I meet them. Hopefully this will fall within their "single file" legislation.

If you're short a few bucks before refilling your prescription, let me know and I'll help you out. :wtf:


I agree CyLowe, it just depends on how they want to handle it. If they are out there to harass and collect revenue through fines, then it may not work out so well. If they are doing the community outreach approach you are suggesting, going after overly aggressive riders/groups and drivers, then I think it could be good. I'll wait to see before passing any judgment.

I think what it will do is make us ride in smaller groups, and this I think is a good thing. When you have 40+ people, it is too easy to get in large clusters, taking up the whole lane, as opposed to a 10 man rotating paceline, which I do think is reasonable. Even a single paceline with one guy dropping back should be good and that is what I will try to discuss with one of the officers when I meet them. Hopefully this will fall within their "single file" legislation.


I know you can never find fault in your actions, but the attitude you are conveying in these two posts:


There out to get you on the weekends.


LOL, on those heavy bikes I better have no problem outriding them. So they don't have sirens. Maybe I can pretend to have an ipod in and just drop the hammer if I see one of them.

...is the attitude that gives us a bad name, and I find personally despicable.

Just stop at the f'n stop signs and ride single file. If you don't and someone attempts to stop you for it then take it like a man instead of trying to whine you're way out of it because you disagree with it.

Your excuses are aways endless and I find them abrasive.

the cops aren't gong to catch up with us on their bikes,that's for damm sure,the only way they will catch is with their radio's and a road block and cars.

Are they going to be looking for cars that violate the 3 feet to pass law too? I got buzzed by someone and then had a minivan pull out right in front of me after not stopping for the red light/signaling his turn this week, all right by the police station.

Are they going to be looking for cars that violate the 3 feet to pass law too? I got buzzed by someone and then had a minivan pull out right in front of me after not stopping for the red light/signaling his turn this week, all right by the police station.

Hopefully, but that's not the point.

I use to love riding those roads. Recently I refrain. Too many cyclists who act like morons taking up the entire road for no reason, stopping in the middle of the road to grab a rest, get mad when a car almost hits them as they roll a stop sign. Then many are bewildered when there is a disproportionate amount of the B'hills population (compared to everywhere else) that treat us like crap.

Too many cyclists who act like morons taking up the entire road for no reason,
A impromtu double rotating paceline in rush hour traffic is totally a valid reason to take up the whole road! :twitchy:


Then many are bewildered when there is a disproportionate amount of the B'hills population (compared to everywhere else) that treat us like crap.
It's the view of those darned trees always obscuring the forest, you know.

You two play nice now.

As a somewhat expert in the field, trust me, this "patrol" will be more for show than for go. Bike patrol is a very ineffective way to patrol unless your looking for high visibility or after dark covertness. They will wave at the residents so they can feel they're getting their moneys worth but other than that, they will have a very difficult time taking any type of enforcement action, especially against vehicles. Some alderman got a hair up his butt and wants to be able to campaign that he put the bikes in the neighborhoods.

Maybe we can hire this guy to be our blocker and destract the police.

I hoped to have a chat with the officers today to see where there heads were at, but I'm sick so no go. Tomorrow looks unlikely at this stage but I will report when I do have a chance to talk to them.

A impromtu double rotating paceline in rush hour traffic is totally a valid reason to take up the whole road! :twitchy:


It's the view of those darned trees always obscuring the forest, you know.

you know i had let this go, but since it was brought back up let me say; i think a rotating left, into rush hour traffic, paceline 3 miles into a group ride is classic ******baggery.

later.

No one should have a problem with this. If only more communities would get involved.

I love me some south of Crown Point rotating pace lines on Wednesday nights. Barely any cars on the road and you can rotate a 10 man paceline without impeding traffic at all.
And we got a few hills to boot :)

Not that I added anything useful to the discussion at hand, but I thought I just throw that in for good measure. Haha.

Rode out there yesterday afternoon. Couple times along Ridge, up Braeburn, up River Rd and Haeger's Bend. Nary a bike cop in site.

There was a car full of teens pulled over by B Hills' finest on Plum Tree, though. Young punks probably driving two abreast and running stop signs.

There was a car full of teens pulled over by B Hills' finest on Plum Tree, though. Young punks probably driving two abreast and running stop signs.

Probably had a trunk full of landscaping lights too :notamused:

I see this as a positive. A couple of likely things to happen: 1) Motorists know there are cops on bicycles out there so the afford maybe a little more courtesy or think twice about exhibiting poor behavior towards cyclists. 2) Cops do witness/experience poor behavior from motorists and accordingly the department cracks down on such behavior from motorists.

As a side note: Fleeing / eluding police is a felony. Does anyone seriously want to do time because they first made a bad decision not following the local traffic ordinances and then compound the mistake by trying to outrun the officers on bikes? You very probably would lose them. You won't outrun their radios.

I finally met someone at the Tour of Elk Grove who said he got a ticket in BH for 2 abreast. He beat the ticket simply because the other communities surrounding BH have a different law. North Shore cyclists and the community are seeing this now. Moronic politicians don't think before they think or sign. Like kinder said, it is just for show, Roselle does it too, and believe me, they won't even think about chasing a person on a road bike. I have tried :p Also I talked to some of the EG officers this weekend who were on bikes, and they said it is mainly for show as they do not give chase unless a person is on foot. It allows the officers to get closer with the community.

Orion, If you don't know cyclpsyco (a.k.a. mountain goat), it is in total humor that a cop could beat him up Braeburn. In that vain, my comment of pretending to have an iPod and not see them, while I take off is also intended in the same vein of HUMOR (many people need to find some).

I don't intend to do much of anything until, like I said, I talk to them. If their purpose is to break up the large, unruly groups, I'm for that. If they are there to control overly aggressive riders and drivers, I'm all for that. If there purpose is to harass cyclists to remove them from their streets, then I think plan B might be in order. What's harassment? Enforcing a single file only for a complete section of road where you can't either pass slow solo riders or drop back after a long pull from a group that is trying to ride single file.

Kimber, can I have your input on this?

Probably had a trunk full of landscaping lights too :notamused:

Psycho, did someone pinch your landscaping lights?


Finally, not sure I've ever been in a properly functioning double rotating paceline that took up the whole lane. Normally it's well less than half?

I'd like to see a wild police chase video on the evening news tonight of a bunch of cops on mountain bikes chasing a Cervelo through Barrington Hills.

LOL, kind of like a really slow speed OJ chase huh?

To be honest, I don't see what the big deal is with the double pace line. Do like we do on our team rides. Someone yells car back from the rear, go single file until it is clear. The back roads where we ride aren't highly traveled. I do understand Old Sutton and not clogging that up. Where ABD rides in West Chicago, pretty much every driver has been awesome. Plus we have "Share the Road" signs everywhere on our ride.

To be honest, I don't see what the big deal is with the double pace line. Do like we do on our team rides. Someone yells car back from the rear, go single file until it is clear.
In Barrington Hills this means yelling Car Back every 10 seconds, especially on Old Sutton and Ridge. These are the places drivers seem really to get pissed.

The other issue is that the "hills" part of Barrington Hills means there are little crests everywhere that drivers cannot see over. It's dangerous to pass blindly, but after a while many drivers get steamed and do it in spots where they just might end up with oncoming traffic in their dash.

Barrington Hills is a great place to ride, but rush hour on a Tuesday night is not the best place to have 20+ riders occupying lanes on less than visable roads. Who wants to drive way under the speed limit for a long way to accomdate riders? In an optimal world there would be such patience, but in the real world, that's not going to happen. I think that's the point and why residents get frustrated.

Finally, not sure I've ever been in a properly functioning double rotating paceline that took up the whole lane. Normally it's well less than half?

For reference the group recently has been riding across the entire lane. Enough that I removed myself from it last week. Going the opposite direction it was truly amazing how every time I passed the groups was across the entire lane.

As a result we have taken action to eliminate this potential from the ride in the future. As I mentioned to you during the ride last week we WILL be departing in 2 different groups The people that don't get it are not welcome in our group. They are more than welcome to ride with your team "5:45".

Invitations have been sent along to riders we wish to have join us. If you didn't receive one but think you should have then please contact me.

Unfortunately this seems to be the only way to restore some sort of actual form to the ride with a repeating route, safe riding, and camaraderie with good people.

In Barrington Hills this means yelling Car Back every 10 seconds, especially on Old Sutton and Ridge.

What we do (ABD) on our rides in situations like this is go single file. We yell single file and everyone follows suit. As for the hills, that I understand. There are only a couple that the group really slows down over that I remember. I do understand the frustration the drivers get.

As I mentioned to you during the ride last week we WILL be departing in 2 different groups

This is good. If there are more than say 15 people, split the groups and have a 15 minute separation in starts. Enforcement is going to be tough, but a pint of Guinness and I am down to run enforcement :p Haven't seen a whippet I can't choke out in 15 seconds yet :p Though carrying my fat ass around will slow the pace down to about 3MPH :p

There are other options for those wishing to practice their wicked awesome double paceline action, even on a Tuesday night.


Head out west of IL-47 and US-20 to Hampshire.
Find Melms Road. 6 miles of flat, straight road with no stop signs between Harmony and 23. Almost no traffic outside of the stray farm truck or tractor.
Get crazy with your killer rotations.
???
Profit!

Finally, not sure I've ever been in a properly functioning double rotating paceline that took up the whole lane. Normally it's well less than half?
This piqued my curiosity, so I did a little google search.

How does 4 across for much of such an exercise constitute "well less than half?"

Second from the left:
http://www.laketravis.com/cycling/pacelines.jpg

Call me wacko, but this kind of riding probably doesn't belong on low visibility, two lane, rush hour roads.

Last week we were doing the third on in except the right side was accelerating through the whole time and the left was dead stop and not rotating back in. Instead they were yelling at people to join in and in the process jamming up the road causing situations like #2 as riders from behind overlapped as the front slowed.

The proper patroons IMHO to be used out in barrington is the first one. That is the method we have used the most on that ride and is the most appropriate. The third is unacceptable especially with the issues with residents and traffic.

There are other options for those wishing to practice their wicked awesome double paceline action, even on a Tuesday night.


Head out west of IL-47 and US-20 to Hampshire.
Find Melms Road. 6 miles of flat, straight road with no stop signs between Harmony and 23. Almost no traffic outside of the stray farm truck or tractor.
Get crazy with your killer rotations.
???
Profit!



or they could take their team to Matteson for a some practice racing. heck, tonight you can get some practice racing in with the SCW crew at the Joliet Autobahn. i mean, if you want to race and all. later.

There are other options for those wishing to practice their wicked awesome double paceline action, even on a Tuesday night.


Head out west of IL-47 and US-20 to Hampshire.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=397987

What, are you trying to get us hurt now?

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=397987

What, are you trying to get us hurt now?
That's a four way stop with a flashing red light and helluva lot safer (usually) than the B Hills ceremonial Tuesday night crossing of Algonquin Road. I'm guessing the driver had his mind on his lapful of food after exiting the Chick'n'Dip drive in and just didn't see the kid.

Hope the kid's okay.

1. The city ordinance is single file. Like it or don't, i'm not going to get a ticket because you are pretending that you are Dave Zabriskie.
2. The recent group has been taking up the entire road 3-4, sometimes 5 wide.
2a. This is annoying
2b. It is illegal
2c. It does not do anything at winning the "hearts and minds"
2d. You're not Dave Zebriskie, this isn't Le Tour, there is no reason you can't sit single file on the road and ride your bike. If people would be reasonable about riding in a pack on small busy roads that are mostly traveled by local citizens, there probably wouldn't be a single file rule in the first place you knuckleheads.

^^^^ i am not DZ but i do wear DZnuts on a regular basis. maybe you should try some. later.

In Barrington Hills this means yelling Car Back every 10 seconds, especially on Old Sutton and Ridge.

Maybe a bit of exaggeration there? While last week was busier than most, it wasn't that busy. What did bother me though is when someone did yell "car back", a lot of the riders didn't get the heck over, preferably into single file. That was rude, dangerous, and frustrating. I think the group was just far too large.



To be honest, I don't see what the big deal is with the double pace line. Do like we do on our team rides. Someone yells car back from the rear, go single file until it is clear. The back roads where we ride aren't highly traveled. I do understand Old Sutton and not clogging that up. Where ABD rides in West Chicago, pretty much every driver has been awesome. Plus we have "Share the Road" signs everywhere on our ride.

Agreed. I support #1 on the most dangerous roads, and #3 otherwise. Groups would be best kept to around 10 riders IMO. This is kind of hard to enforce. I'll try to have a chat with the people I know about keeping it to #1 or #3 as appropriate.

Or let them know that a 230 pound ex-middle linebacker and former MMA fighter (1 win and a **** load of losses) will come get them!

Maybe a bit of exaggeration there?
Obviously, but not by much. I fell back, mainly because I'm slow, but partially because I was frustrated with the erratic riding going on along Old Sutton and then Ridge last Tuesday. Ridge Road is a very busy pass through and, true to its name, has a lot of little ridges over which cars/riders travel. Even getting everyone in single file causes problems at that time of day. The line gets strung out and cars stack up behind.

So while every 10 seconds may be an exageration, getting backed up behind 25+ riders doing ~24 mph on the flats and much slower on the uphills begins to take its toll on the patience of the motorists and all the sudden we've got "Car Back!" every 2 seconds.*

This is going nowhere. Either people get it that it's up to us to hold up our end of the deal by dropping the Us v Them attitude and the whole "the cops are targetting us!" schtick or they don't. (Not aiming that at you, CC. That's a general statement, as this conversation is not exactly new in 2010 and it's not exclusive to Barrington Hills)


*2 Seconds is an approximation. I did not have my eyes on my timer; I had them on the road.

Either people get it that it's up to us to hold up our end of the deal by dropping the Us v Them attitude and the whole "the cops are targetting us!" schtick or they don't. (Not aiming that at you, CC. That's a general statement, as this conversation is not exactly new in 2010 and it's not exclusive to Barrington Hills)


And that's about all there is to say about that.

While I appreciate your sentiment CyLowe, the cops could be out to get us. As I stated earlier, I will wait till I have a conversation with them and see how they act before I decide to drop or support an us vs. them attitude.

Psycho, did someone pinch your landscaping lights?

http://i458.photobucket.com/albums/qq304/Cyclepsycho/14510.jpg

:cry:

More sarcasm. Get it now? :lol:

ROFLMAO ... didn't think of that.

While I appreciate your sentiment CyLowe, the cops could be out to get us. As I stated earlier, I will wait till I have a conversation with them and see how they act before I decide to drop or support an us vs. them attitude.

Maybe they could be out to just keep the damned peace and enforce what they are told to enforce per the village law creating cabal? Hell, I don't know. The liberals stole my tin foil hat.

http://www.pandemicfluonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/tinfoilHat.jpg

While I appreciate your sentiment CyLowe, the cops could be out to get us. As I stated earlier, I will wait till I have a conversation with them and see how they act before I decide to drop or support an us vs. them attitude.

I doubt Barrington Hills is bringing in additional cops and telling them to "go get the cyclists". Knowing about a billion cops and working around them nearly every day, I'm going to go out on a limb that those guys just want to keep the static to a minimum. Period. They don't want cars running over cyclists. They don't want cyclists impeding traffic. Their angle is to minimize conflict. They're on nobody's side.

Don't think of laws as rules aimed at "us" or "them". Think of laws as tools for law enforcement to use in an effort go after stuff that "just doesn't look right". Barrington Hills has the single file rule. The state now has the "new" rules protecting cyclists. What happens if a car buzzes (at a close proximity) a group of cyclists that aren't necessarily tightly single file?

Your average officer is going to typically enforce the law against who ever looked like they were acting unreasonable. Was the line of cyclists merely passing a slower rider? Did the car speed up on the cyclists and make a dangerous move?

Officers who get into bike detail aren't going to be "after" us or them. They're just going to want to make sure there are no major conflicts between cyclists and motorists.

Besides all that, this gets back to my opinion of earlier this year: The Penny Road Pub route is fun. It's not great for training, though, and seems to be getting less so with every passing day.

I doubt Barrington Hills is bringing in additional cops and telling them to "go get the cyclists". Knowing about a billion cops and working around them nearly every day, I'm going to go out on a limb that those guys just want to keep the static to a minimum. Period. They don't want cars running over cyclists. They don't want cyclists impeding traffic. Their angle is to minimize conflict. They're on nobody's side.

Don't think of laws as rules aimed at "us" or "them". Think of laws as tools for law enforcement to use in an effort go after stuff that "just doesn't look right". Barrington Hills has the single file rule. The state now has the "new" rules protecting cyclists. What happens if a car buzzes (at a close proximity) a group of cyclists that aren't necessarily tightly single file?

Your average officer is going to typically enforce the law against who ever looked like they were acting unreasonable. Was the line of cyclists merely passing a slower rider? Did the car speed up on the cyclists and make a dangerous move?

Officers who get into bike detail aren't going to be "after" us or them. They're just going to want to make sure there are no major conflicts between cyclists and motorists.

Besides all that, this gets back to my opinion of earlier this year: The Penny Road Pub route is fun. It's not great for training, though, and seems to be getting less so with every passing day.

Thank you, counselor!

GEEESH! :twitchy:

Can we just ride our bikes now?