Because it's safer. Because it causes way less inconvenience to traffic. Because it's far easier to get through things like stop lights together.

Mostly, to not be a dick to other road users. If you think these cyclists are doing nothing wrong, you're part of the problem.

It could be worse. It could be a motorcade, a trucking convoy or a motorcycle gang.

Title of this thread should be changed to "Reporter behaving badly".

It took an entire day of yelling, taunting, lecturing, and prodding, but they finally got the "angry cyclist" shot they wanted. I notice how they linger on it at the end of the story, as if that's the one thing you are supposed to remember from the story.

Is that an industrial park they're riding past? On a Sunday? And yet these people are still a nuisance no matter when and where they ride? :(

I don't think anyone came out of that video looking very good.

I stopped riding with some groups as, no matter how many shouts of car back, folks stayed 4, 5 abreast. embarrassing. Some riders seem to have a chip on their shoulders and really hostility toward cars and a I'll show them attitude. I also did a recent mass ride with 2,600 cyclist. Yes that volume takes over the rode but I actually saw riders take up the oppisite lane on a two lane road, not passing, just riding and with opposing traffic coming! Go figure. On this one I'm in the camp of the drivers and this group needs some work in politness and common curtesy.

In Québec, a group ride cannot be bigger than 15 cyclists. It's the law.

That's why I'm glad where I live, they close some parkways Sundays mornings during Summer so cyclist can ride without having to worry about cars. There is even a " Would you like to ride faster? The Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway (8 kilometres) becomes the new Fast Lane, between 7 am and 9 am"

NOKIA Sunday Bikedays | National Capital Commission
*

I wonder how they can enforce that law.* What happens if a group of 10 cyclists is slowly overtaking another group of 10 cyclists?* A some point they will look like one large group.**
*

Oh man, I got stock behind something like that took me over an hour before I could pass the last motorcade!

That's because the reporter was biased and only showed one side of the story. When they can only get one side they're forced to make the rest up.

A good/investigative reporter however, could have found the cyclists start/end point and interviewed them under safer conditions and in a more appropriate environment other than traveling down the road at high speed in a peloton.

For all those who think the group should break up into smaller groups I'll make a few observations:
1. This looks like the Vets ride that has been riding on that route for at least 20 yrs every Sun at 10AM
2. It's a relatively short section of road with no shoulders and not a lot of traffic especially on weekends. It includes a residential section with 30kph speed limits and speed bumps every 100m or so.
3. A little over 1 1/2 yrs ago a cyclist was killed while riding in a smaller group of 6. The driver, who had been gambling all night at a local casino, crossed the center line and plowed into the group head on. He received an $1,800 fine. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/cyclist-fatall...wife-1.3150307
4. It's much safer for the cyclists to be riding in a larger group. There are sections of double yellow line which motorists will use to pass a single line of cyclists which is fine provided there are no on coming cars. If there are the cyclists are in danger.
5. After the death of Brad Dean mentioned above the city put up 'cyclists must ride single file' signs. They've since been removed as I assume someone pointed out the negative impact on cyclists safety.

Much ado about nothing.

Cyclists are traffic too bro... perhaps motorists should just slow down and enjoy their little 4 wheel couches... there'd be way less inconvenience to all the OTHER traffic.

See the whole "traffic" issue IS the problem... motorists think only they are "traffic."

There is no problem.

Cars inconvenience motorists way more than bikes do. We have regular traffic updates on media to tell us all about it.

Sorry gang, but those excuses may seem valid but they're all trumped by the laws -- you can't block the road -- and blowing through stops signs is just wrong and dangerous.

What they need are runners that sprint ahead of the group and hold traffic. In any event, unless its a closed course, the cyclist are the violators here.

Good ol' n00bs and rubes on the Anti-cyclist & Sputum forum.

Never change A&S, never change.

Some folks should sell their bikes or just stay on the sidewalk.

If the lane is too narrow to share, a cyclist (or cyclists) can. Although since it's legal, I wouldn't call it "blocking the road". It's using the road safely in accordance with the laws.

Agreed on the stop sign running is not legal.

And allowed in our city...

If/when a motorist decides to block a road going < 1/2 the speed limit for kicks every Sunday you would have a reasonable point. Our recreation gets in people's way from time to time. The least we can do is recognize that fact and do what we can to safely minimize it.

:lol: :thumb: The stuff here is fun sometimes!

Irrelevant.
No doubt that group of what, 30 cyclists all ride in the shoulders the rest of the way.
Not seeing how a bigger group would help here.
Who said anything about riding single file?
Indeed.

Interesting strawman digression for a guy who spends so much time itemizing quotes to insist they're irrelevant because they don't fit your biases.

It isn't just recreation. For many of us it's transportation as well.

And what we sensible, experienced and informed cyclists practice is what we're doing to ensure our safety. These are minimal inconveniences to drivers, seldom amounting to more than a few seconds of slowing down until there's an opportunity to proceed safely.

Sell your bike or park it until you can find that clue. It's out there somewhere. Meanwhile you're just cluttering up the road with fuzzbrained babble.

Good question. I don't know.

It's relevant that it's a quiet Sunday with a group of cyclists occupying the lane of a stretch of road for 20 min or so, going close to the speed limit (sometimes over). Most people tend to chill a little on Sunday and aren't concerned if they have to slow down for a few minutes.
There are no shoulders on that road.
Bigger groups are easier to see.
The person who made the video appeared to want to 'share' the road. I assume they were thinking more along the lines of sharing the lane. In any case, breaking the large group up into several smaller groups isn't going to make it easier for cars to pass safely.

I watched that and thought..... thank God there wasn't any deadly house or apartment fires, school shootings, gang rapes, missing children, etc.. Must have been a slow news day. So... a great time to pick on middle aged prosperous men recreating a little of their childhood.

No, not a good thing to do. But I would argue that the truly unsafe one was the cyclist who engaged the reporter.

The reporter wasn't driving the vehicle, so his actions by themselves were not unsafe. The cyclist, however was operating his bike in a large group of other cyclists. He was under no obligation to respond, but chose to take his attention away from riding safely in order to engage. And what was he doing with a phone in his hand? As a driver in CA, that alone will get you a ticket. Had he drifted off course and wiped out the riders behind him, it would have been on him, not the reporter. The responsible thing to do would have been to ignore the reporter and concentrate on riding safely.

JHC you realize there are people capable of riding and talking at the same time?

I guess you didn't get my point. Also, an accusation of bias coming from one of the most extreme posters on the A&S forum is pretty rich. My opinion on the matter is far more pro-cyclist than that of the general population.
True, but that isn't the case here is it.
​​​​​​​ I'm don't agree with your use of the words "sensible", "minimal", or "seldom".
​​​​​​​This makes absolutely no sense. Furthermore, courteous cyclists are far better for supporting and advancing our rights than rude extremists. If anyone should be getting off the road, it's people like you.