Oil_LOL

Found this post on another site I follow, the site ******.com, through /r/bicycling.
https://www.******.com/r/twincitiesso...ne_of_traffic/
For those to lazy to click through, it's this guy ranting about how this cyclist was riding in front of him, and how they should go on the sidewalk, and not slow him down. It was also posted on a weird sub******, /r/twincitiessocial... this just feels like a sign that many Americans haven't even considered a bicycle as a utilitarian form of transportation, and just think of them as toys ridden on sidewalks and at the park on Sunday afternoons. As a commuter, who rides a bicycle on the majority of my errands, I feel like s*** for being treated like a crazy minority.

monsterpile

From the looks of it its one guy ranting and everyone else saying the guy is nuts. I was expecting more people to agree with the original post, but there weren't any that I saw. Thats progress if you ask me. =P

Cyclaholic

True, but don't worry, nothing >$10/gal gas won't fix... and that's not a matter if it will happen, but when.

Oil_LOL

I agree, but this summer was supposed to be a big deal for cycling, based mostly on the assumption that gas would go over $4.00... I just checked, in my area, it's close, $3.75 for a gallon of low octane stuff, but it's still not at that magic number' and we're basically at the height of summer. I think that people aren't gonna stop driving because of gas, they're just going to accept it as an added cost for their summer. They accept it as a fact of life, but they think of no practical solutions. There's a Yehuda comic, where Yehuda mentions that there are long lines at the pump (air pump at the shop), and she runs off to the gas station because she thinks prices are now lower... that's ho I feel the majority of Amercan drivers feel.

Seanholio

Yet another person with no ability to consider the actions of others in a light other than how it affects himself.

Seattle Forrest

Just ignore this stuff. Don't seek trolls out, because they're everywhere, just waiting to come out of the wood work. Bikes are great fun, and not everyone has realized it, so count yourself lucky to be in on the secret. Or something.

ClimbTheHill

I call it being Self-Absorbed without being Self-Aware.

BTW the general attitude towards cyclists on ****** seems to be favorable or at least neutral.

Surrealdeal

This happened in Minneapolis, MN, allegedly one of the most "bike friendly cities" in the country. I don't ride in the city much myself but I do navigate through several of its suburbs. My commute has one 200' or so stretch where it is single lane and zero shoulder before the bike lane resumes. After a couple weeks of letting people squeeze me (thinking that I was being a nice guy) I finally got yelled at by some ignorant person to get on the sidewalk.

That was an "Aha" moment for me and I realized that drivers who honk & yell at bicyclists are going to do it anyway. There's no sense in endangering myself trying to appease them. From then on my motto has been, "Take the lane, before somebody gets hurt."

BTW - Admittedly I just skimmed the comments thread of the article, but the best response that I saw was this:

Fizzaly

Awe poor guy deleted his username

RichardGlover

Cyclists don't impede traffic; we are traffic.

monsterpile

I am thankful gas hasn't jumped up to that $4.00 or much higher for 2 reasons.

1. My wife and I will probably end up driving at least 6,000 miles on long trips this summer. Our Hyundai Elantra gets great gas but an extra $1.00 or more a gallon would have added up.
2. While I would love more people to join the cycling ranks becasue of gas prices (plus I would sell my bikes even faster) it would be rough on people finacially. It affects everything for prices food is a big example. IMO as long and gas stays around or under $4 a gallon I think the country has a decent chance of recovering much more quickly. If it goes up its going to be alot harder. There are lots of companies small business owners and people in general that drive alot (some have no choice but to do so) feel it when gas prices rise significantly.

To me one of the best ways to get more people cycling as transportation is doing it more myself and being a great ambassador of it. I can tell you that some people do attempt to chance their lifestyle even based on today's gas prices and other factors. I know because they buy bike from me. Hopefully at least a few stick with it. I agree that alot of people just accept the higher prices and do nothing about it. I wish I could get rid of my 2nd car and then I would ride even more making people I know think even more about a bike as transportation, but at this point I still need it for my job enough days that I can't get rid of it. =(

Andy_K 

Nonsense. Americans are addicted to cars. If electric car technology isn't ready in time (which I think it will be), Americans will pay $10/gallon for gas. Getting plantation owners to give up their slaves would look like easy work next to getting suburbanites to give up their cars. It's too deeply ingrained in the way our society is structured. If we had a major revolution that forced everyone to give up their cars, a group would emerge that covered their SUV's in white sheets and went out at night to run down bicyclists for having destroyed their grand culture.

bhop

I'll never understand why someone that gets that angry doesn't just go around.. if it were any other slow vehicle besides a bicycle they'd just pass and be done with it, but a bike pisses them off so much.

EKW in DC

+1,000,000 to the Andy_K and Bhop's comments.

exile

It seems to depend on the medium he uses to express his point of view. If this was done by a shock jock then every caller in would agree with his sentiment. If it were a major newspaper online then there would be a lot of opinions similar to his in the comment section.

truman

I hope a narwhal stabs that ****** poster in the tire...

Cyclaholic

Why would you see more cyclists at $4 gal.? that is dirt cheap! it's almost given away!... Here in Australia we drive just as much as you guys and there's no real effort to economize either - the medium to large SUV is the biggest selling vehicle type, followed by large family saloons, and in peak hour the overwhelming majority of those large vehicles are single occupants. We are considered among the most agressive drivers in the world, every single traffic light is a drag race (seriously). Guess what gas costs here?.... over $6 gal. and it's been up there for a long time now.

I think Andy_K is right, $10/gal. won't impact on driving habits, it'll be the actual shortages as a result of diminishing production due to peak oil that will do that, but people being what they are, they won't take to bicycles even then. I'm sure they'll first go to motorbikes, then scooters, and ultimately to electric vehicles when the technology matures sufficiently. Heck, I'm sure people would rather ride horses than bikes, given the chance... they'll take anything that means they can sit on their ample posteriors, suck on their starbucks, and send their text messages, so long as they don't have to actually pay attention to where they're going.

rex_kramer

Oil_LOL

And turns him into bacon

SouthFLpix

A lot of the people I work with agree with that guy, although they are more diplomatic about it. The thing is that traffic has them so frustrated that even slowing down and having to go around a cyclist often pushes them toward the boiling point.

I can understand it. Don't you guys remember how stressful it is to caught in traffic going 20 miles an hour and having to stop at red lights every 3 minutes? Driving is actually fun, it's traffic that makes it almost unbearable.