Originally Posted by cradduck

I personally don't think that cyclists are the innocent victims that we make them out to be on this forum. I still drive to work part time and there are an abundance of cyclists on the weekends and quite a few during the week along my entire route.

For all the people on the forums that follow the rules of the road there are still plenty out there that think they somehow have special rights because they are on bicycle and a belligerent attitude to boot. Just today on my drive to work a group of four or five Fairweather Fairies blew through a red light forcing traffic to come to halt and conjesting the intersection long after they past. I am guessing by the honking horns that I was not the only one upset by this stupidity.

Another one that pisses people off around where I am are the group riders and/or clubs that ride four and five across (even though their total group is less than 20 people) and they extend well beyond the bike lane and into traffic; basically blocking a lane of traffic when they have a clear lane all to themselves that is more than wide enough to accomidate the number of riders in the group. I am sure there is some arguement here on the legality of it, but on a road with a speed limit of 50-55mph having a lane blocked by "vehicle" going 20-24mph is going boil some blood.

Almost a year ago I nearly creamed a cyclists who was crossing the street in the middle of the night on dark street with a black bike with a black hoodie on. I was going almost 10mph under the speed limit, posted 45mph, and didn't see this guy till he was almost stuck in my wheel well.

Another problem is that drivers classify cyclists into one large group. More than once I have been asked by non-cyclists "Why do you guys do this or that stupid thing," when they are actually talking about some BMXer doing tricks in the middle of the street and not about commuters or other groups of cyclists at all.

I have some group of punk 18-21 year olds who think it is funny to yell as loud as they can when passing me to try and scare me. This has happened more than once with the same group of kids in the same car. I have been tempted on more than one occation to catch up and return the favor but with a 45mph speed limit and a long distance before the next stop light I haven't had the chance.

Lastly, I just think that cyclists are easy targets for butt-munches. Throw a slurpee at my car and you are going to have one pissed off driver who can follow you all the way home. I can't say the same thing if you toss the same slurpee at me while I'm on a bike.

Perhaps we should be as willing to call out other cyclists for doing stupid crap as much are we are willing to be critical of the drivers.

BTW, this is perhaps one of the more interesting topics I have seen on the forums.