dlandis

I did the 75 mile route on my fixed gear bicycle today. There were some good points to it (well organized for example), but my most lasting impression is how poorly almost everyone else there was riding, especially in the city. I was actually embarrassed at many points in Manhattan to be part of this group that was overall completely oblivious and caught up in some kind of group stupidity cloud. It made all cyclists look bad when people were just casually cutting the other traffic off, blocking intersections and sidewalks, not paying any attention whatsoever to right-of-ways and just generally assuming it was holiday from cars and people, and possibly personal responsibility. The thing is this kind of thing wasn't done for any policy protest like a critical mass or something, just out of pure ignorance. It was the exact same mentality that makes the car traffic in the city so dangerous and hectic. These people in the ride were for the most part drivers themselves every other day most likely and they simply transferred their driving mentality to the bicycle. It you are frequent rider and bicycle commuter it is easy to dislike all the people driving around you for any number of reasons, but the chances are if you put them on a bicycle it's not going to have any effect on who they are.

KFL2006

agree

Metricoclock

+ 2

dueL_

Probably the opposite...Pedestrians and cyclists who have never driven (or don't drive regularly) will ride (and walk) totally oblivious to cars around them.

jhnmrk

i would rather the person in front of me blow through a yellow/red if they are protected by other riders than slam on the brakes and cause a pileup.
But the century tends to bring in a lot of people that usually either ride circles around a park or only ride a couple times a year. I think that's good. They probably learned a little something by the end of it...