Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
Has anyone here indicated to you that they ride hugging the curb?
No, Not actually, or every once in a while. Yet I never claimed anyone was. I was stating, why I won't.
Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
What I gather from reading this thread is that we have two primary schools of thought amongst us. There are those that take the lane the majority of the time. They justify it for a variety of reasons to include, "It's MY lane," it makes them more visible, and it FORCES safer passes. Then there are those of us that regularly ride FRAP, taking the lane only when reasonably necessary due to the specific road and traffic conditions we find ourselves in.
In the vein of FRAP, it still includes 'taking the lane'.
Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
I can tell you that the former group pisses a LOT of motorists off, and I mean a lot. I am enough of a thinker to know that neither group is at all difficult to find my way around when I am in a car, but...and this is a big but, most motorists aren't thinkers. They are in such a hurry to get nowhere, that anything they perceive as a hindrance will be met with blind rage.
I don't care if I tick off a motorist. Because there is no reason to allow motorists' to run a cyclist off the road on account of them thinking 'bikes don't belong on the road'. Also, I am fully aware the a motorist, just as I a cyclist, has places to, people to see, and things to do. But that doesn't mean they have to be selfish doing it.
Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
I'll clue you in on something. Nobody, and I mean nobody, gives a flying fish fart if you slow roll a stop sign or a right turn on red. And nobody gives a schidt if you stop and go at a red light.
Now this just had me ROTFLMHO!!!!!!
Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
They do care that it looks like you are selfishly occupying more of the road than is reasonably necessary. It pisses them off.
What is 'reasonably necessary', is a matter of definition, and one that a motorist cannot make for a cyclist. So if that pisses them off, then so be it. When I encounter that, I will deal with it accordingly.
Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
Anyone want to make a list of the consequences of a pissed off motoring population? SHARE the road! And yes, in some cases this may mean safely sharing a portion of the same lane.
Since when did 'SHARE THE ROAD', equate to 'SHARE THE LANE'. I am not hogging any space on the road.
Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
We ride bikes specifically because they are not cars, so to get on one and behave exactly as cars is ridiculous. We ARE NOT inferior. We are different. Being different has advantages and disadvantages. Accommodating others because we are slower doesn't have to be dangerous and isn't if it is done correctly. Some of you are downright amusing with this Napoleon kind of complex you carry.
Exactly, That is why I don't maintain a 'road position' that gives motorists' even greater opportunity to run me off the road, just because they don't like cyclists' and can't bare the thought of not being able to drive over the posted speed limit. It may be Napoleonic to you. But my experiences tell me otherwise.
Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
Ask yourself this. If you were on a bike pedaling down a busy roadway with narrow lanes and double yellows down the center and got stuck behind a grandma going 7 miles per hour in her 81 Buick, what would you do?
I would pass her at the earliest LEGAL chance I had. That means, I would not cross a double-yellow to do it.