SortaGrey

On an erand with the car Sunday I found I had good brakes on the car.... having to shut it down pretty quicky to avoid the head-on ass coming into my lane. Posted speed was 45... it/he/she was well under that figure.... passing the biking moron riding center of the lane. NO excuse for the car fool... deserves a ticket and one thorough ass chewing. Happened too quickly to get a plate number... and traffic was heavy enough sans a good opportunity to turn around to go get said info. Or I would have....... and made a report to the cop shop in person.

Road was a two lane county hiway... clean and dry.. with white lines painted to the lane edge. This road is cleaned past the white edge.. it's easy to ride the edge safely. I say 'biking moron' as this dude gave the exaggerated head shaking in disgust... riding CENTER of the lane. A line of cars had formed behind him... the idiot going around having lost what sense or patience it/he/she.. had.. if any. The bike rider had in effect made this road one lane... riding a steady line far from the road edge.

YES it does happen when one rides LEGALLY to the road edge... but this biking.. behavior.. lack of sense.. etiquette... got me thinking this morn over a cup. His apparent attitude.. his comic disgust.. when he wasn't LEGAL... either. I've observed some of this over yrs.. bikers who act/think the road is all theirs... over 3+ decades of riding myself.

I've never given these peddling prima donnas any feedback.. maybe they need some?

BlazingPedals

I won't presume to guess why the cyclist was where he was. But there are many valid reasons to take the lane, and many states codify the reasons. So it's entirely possible (though not inevitable) that he was in the right by riding there. SHARING the road does not mean getting the he11 out of cars' way. And you're right about the car driver. It's the responsibility of the passing car to do so only when the oncoming lane is clear. No excuse for that, not even impatience.

I'd leave the enforcement to the police. Giving the cyclist a piece of your mind from your car's seat could be considered harassment, intimidation, or even assault.

rogerstg

I've seen the kind of behavior you describe, however seems pretty rare. More often I see the opposite; a few riders blocking the right turn lane even though they are going straight and should have taken the through lane. I can't really fault them either: not everyone is comfortable with being in the middle of the paved area.

DX-MAN

Most two-wheel riders (pedal AND motor) tend to avoid the CENTER of the lane, as that is where the 'oil track' is, laid down by leaks and fumes from countless autos. But to some people, any two-wheeler not ON the fog line is in the center of the lane.

The law in all 50 says cyclists have the same right to the road as cars; I'd be willing to bet that even the most restrictive of the bunch would also give the nod to the cyclist deciding what is 'safe' and 'practicable' -- at least in the printed code. We ALL know that real life is different.

But you can't blame the cyclist for some idiot making an unsafe pass around him, especially when the driver would be required to give a safe distance to the cyclist when passing, regardless. Just because there are cars on the road doesn't mean that the cyclist has to move over or disappear. Equal right is equal right.

I will shake my head at a stupid driver, every time. You want to stop and 'discuss' it, that's cool. And like the song says, "you -- try to flex on ME? don't be silly."

CB HI

Mind linking to the "Wisconin" law he was breaking?

msincredible

The right wheel track would be an appropriate place to "take the lane" on a road like that. In the lane enough for cars to see, to the side enough to let a motorcycle or faster bicyclist pass him while staying in the lane.

BarracksSi

Sharing the road works both ways. Both ways.

Doing something that you know will piss off other road users is NOT sharing the road.

Bekologist

Cyclist felt he needed to be there. sorry it pissed you off and made other motorists angry.

bicyclists in most states need only ride as far right as they are able to safely put into practice at the time. Perhaps this cyclist wasn't practicably far right enough for you, but it was for him.

I'm one to use a safe, well provided shoulder, but what looks like a good shoulder out of a car windshield doesn't always look so good from a bicycle saddle.

to the OP: have you ridden this road before? how wide is the paved shoulder? are wisconsin bicyclists required by law to use the shoulder or is it optional?

this kind of shoulder on a rural road is genrally rideable though if there isn't anything blocking it.

.

vc4.jpg

CommuterRun

What is the lane width on this road? I don't see where the cyclist was doing anything wrong. Particularly not if the lane is less than 14' wide. Not even if the lane is over 14' wide depending on the circumstances. The passing motorist was the only one acting the idiot.

There is no paved shoulder on this road, as described in the OP.

I don't know Wisconsin law, but in Florida the cyclists road position would have been perfectly legal in a substandard width lane. Most states are the same.

The Human Car

Wow talk about your prima donna's this thread started off with one. While I would agree that cyclists should avoid roads like the ones described but if there is no other option then what can one do?

BarracksSi

^^^ Sounds to me like the cyclist wasn't forced to use the center of the lane. Maybe a little clarification from the OP is needed (especially since I'll bet NOBODY ELSE in this thread has ridden this same stretch of road).

jaxgtr

Moving to Adv & Safety.

Roughstuff

Road was a two lane county hiway... clean and dry.. with white lines painted to the lane edge. This road is cleaned past the white edge.. it's easy to ride the edge safely. I say 'biking moron' as this dude gave the exaggerated head shaking in disgust... riding CENTER of the lane. A line of cars had formed behind him...


I'd need to see a pic of the shoulder to really get an idea of how easy it was to ride the edge, but my suspicion is that it was fairly easy to do so, especially since it was cleaned. More proof of why the shoulder 'should be' the bike lane; why traffic should enter it only occassionally and intermittently; and why bicycles should do the same with the traffic lane. Had this principle been followed the whole event would have been a 'non-event.'

roughstuff

mikeybikes

I'm confused, what are you pissed about?

Are you saying the cyclist should've been over to the edge of the road? Why do you say that? Was the lane + shoulder wide enough for him to be where you think he should've been and still provide 3 feet of passing clearance? - That is the key.

I don't care how clean a shoulder is. Unless I can ride in the shoulder and still have enough lane width that 3 feet of clearance is provided when a vehicle passes, I will take the lane.

CB HI

Actually, it is more proof that had the motorist simply obeyed traffic laws, the whole event would have been a 'non-event.'

CB HI

Should have been moved to the BS TROLL forum.

crhilton

How it makes people feel is of absolutely no legal or ethical importance. You do what you *have* to do to get yourself there safely and not endanger others.

If that means riding in the middle of the lane to avoid buzzing and unsafe passing then you do just that!

Being in the middle of the lane will piss people off where you need to be there or not.

Jtgyk

When I first took Driver's Ed. in Colorado (back in the dark ages of the 70's) there was a rule of thumb that if you were going slow enough that you had 3 or more cars stacked up behind you, it was a courtesy to pull right and let them by when it was safe for you to do so.....either driving or cycling.

Was this cyclist legal? Probably.

Was he positioned for safety? Center of Left tire track is more visible (usually directly where drivers are looking) and forces a complete lane change for passing. Many times drivers will crowd and "close pass" if you are riding in the Rt tire track position.

Could he have chosen to allow the "courtesy pass" and pull to the shoulder? Yes....I probably would have, given the description of the situation. However, I wasn't there and was not in the cyclist's shoes. He may judged that he was safer to maintain position.

genec

It is usually 5 cars stacked up behind, and the "pull over" is at the discretion of the slower vehicle driver, and at a safe place... if there is no safe place to pull over... then that group of cars may grow even larger.

And no matter what, you probably also learned in Drivers' Ed to not pass into oncoming traffic... which the offending motorist clearly did.... and no doubt probably went on to say something like "a guy on a bicycle made me do it...." never mind that it was the motorist's choice as to when and where he chose to pass the cyclist.

Jtgyk

Yep! That's how I remember it. Not calling foul on anyone but the driver that passed angrily (pissed passed?) and illegally.
The courtesy pulling over always depends on the situation and safety of the slow mover in front. The pulling over seems more rare than it used to be (especially with drivers).
Like I said, I wasn't there, and can't say I would have done any differently.

ItsJustMe

Unless you were on the same road at the same time on a bicycle, you really can't judge whether the cyclist had a reason to be where he was in the lane. There are a lot of hazards and conditions that are dangerous to bicycles but are not even visible from a car, even by someone in a car who rides a bike frequently.

Just yesterday I was dropping my car off for service, the place was down a newly paved 5 mile stretch of road that I'd never ridden on before. I was in my car, looking at the spankin' new bike lane, and saying "that looks great, I'll be able to ride that the whole way." When I was actually on the bike, I found it nearly unridable due to rutted ice chunks frozen to it. After picking up my car in the afternoon I got another look at it. It still looked totally rideable to me from the car, but was between miserable and dangerous on a bike. I got off it before it made me fall into traffic, and got into the regular car lane. Some of the cars passing me were probably pissed that I was riding in their lane when there was a perfectly good bike lane 2 feet away.

Digital_Cowboy

How wide is this particular lane? There could be any number or reasons why he choose to ride in the middle of the lane. We cannot and should not presume to know why he did what he did without more information.

Digital_Cowboy

Nor does it mean (although some think it does) sharing the lane. To me at least sharing the road means that we all have a legal right to use as much or as little of the road as we need to safely get to our destination.

Good points, although a courtesy call to the local cop shop to report the reckless driver might be a good idea.

Digital_Cowboy

Exactly, I think that most of us who actually ride with traffic, as opposed to those who hug the curb/gutter pan. Either ride in the clear track created by the passenger side wheels, or in the clear track created by the driver side wheels. But very few of us, except for sitting at stop lights when we're the lead vehicle actually ride in the center grease track.

Ain't that the truth. And fortunetly even in the Military they generally realize that there is a time to go strictly by the book and times to use the book as a loose guideline.

Exactly, that "idiot motorist" probably would have passed a slower car, or a motorcycle or scooter in the same manor. Again right, even though we all know that there are plenty of motorists out there who think that we should. Well said.

Same here, I will also wave and thank or at least nod at drivers who allow me to travel through an intersection before they themselves pull out and merge with traffic.

Digital_Cowboy

+100