Exactly.

Cars may have a higher velocity at any instant, but in the situation described they have the same average speed over the distance.

As a cyclist I will lose energy and time if I sit in the queue of cars instead of rolling along.

A motorist passing and re-passing a cyclist needs to get a bike and shut their pie hole.

Battery, actually [1L pedantry, sorry].

Totally accidental - he had a bit of a cramp in his foot.

When driving one should be considerate - when biking one should be considerate.

Really strange here because you never know what the other guy is going to do - the only saving grace is that most everyone practices defensive driving and does it well.

Good question... I wonder about this when I drive... as I simply coast to red lights and try to time my speed so I hit the lights when they are green...(much like the way I bike), yet I see dolts all the time that crowd me and hug my bumper trying to get to the red light as fast as possible... which makes no sense. The most efficient way to drive is to maintain a consistent speed, and racing from light to light is not efficient... it is just a waste of fuel and increases wear and tear on the vehicle.

You know what really ticks me off? Is bicyclists filtering past other bicyclists. We were on this group ride and this one rider was slower than most. In an effort to keep up with the group, she would filter to the front whenever were stopped for a light or stop sign. A lot of us got PO'd because we had to pass her again when we got moving.

Think about that.

Totally agree. I became most aware of this while commuting on a fixed gear. You get really good at looking up the road and timing the lights.

I think motorists do this because there is no immediate feedback. You just move your right foot from the gas to the brake to the gas again.

A little tough love can spurn growth.

Your post and the earlier "fire truck" post, was pretty much indicative of what my post was about...

Exactly what the issue REALLY is...

I see it a lot...
(This is when there's no bike lane or it's a substandard lane..)

Cars pass me when I'm taking the lane....
They get to a stop light....
I catch up to them...
I stop behind them, because there's not 3' to their right...


There are plenty of times when another cyclist comes up and bypasses everyone.
That's what ticks off everyone (including me-because I'm usually faster then other cyclists anyways) because we all have to re-pass the same cyclist, over and over at the subsequent lights.
It's a matter of fairness... Some people just don't get it. Too many cyclists think the rules apply to them only when it helps them.
Which leads me to the first part...
When it comes to that scenario, this is what I see more often then not...
(Especially in "rush hour")
Bicyclist taking the lane "because they can" even when there is a 5' wide paved (free of debris) shoulder (not a bike lane) and make cars change lanes (partially or fully) and then when they're stopped at a light, the cyclist THEN moves into the shoulder to "filter thru to the front" and then when the light changes, they go back to taking the lane. And this process goes on and on until every motorist gets mad..
(These are also the guys who ask to draft me and then if I get a flat, they continue to ride on without even asking me if I need help!!)

(P.S. In my area, there's wide paved shoulders and lights every block)

There is one "cyclist advocacy" group (who I won't name) here in Florida who WILL purposefully be "inconsiderate" just to "prove the point of cycling superiority" when dealing with paved shoulders, FRAP and filtering..

Keep that in mind when you unintentionally irritate a cager. It will happen. We all make mistakes. You're advocating for no mercy, and you certainly will get little sympathy if you get hit (which I'm hoping never actually happens).

If I irritate a fellow road user it will not be because I am repeatedly discourteous as the rider in my quote was.

You realize that doesn't matter? The hypothetical cager is irritated whether you did something intentionally or not. It will happen, guaranteed. Unless you drive in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood, you will annoy cagers simply by being on the same road. You are here defending their actions and saying a bicyclist doesn't have the right to complain. So I would expect you to take your own advice, is all.

I think I'll focus on what is under my control, which is to say riding my bike as safely and efficiently as possible, and not worry about what is out of my control, which is to say the opinions of motorists.

Arguable, since there was no contact.

No, his "payback" story is admission of intent.

:rolleyes: Or injury/kill somebody.

You really are making a mountain out of something that usually is barely a molehill.

My consolation prize will be that I tried to treat others respectfully and to exist in harmony with other road users.

I would argue that the exhaust pushed the rider into the ditch. The driver bragged that it could knock over a dog or small child.

If I filter up to the intersection at a red light, even when there is plenty of room to do so, drivers get mad because I got ahead of them and they have to go around me again. If I stay in the lane behind the vehicles ahead at a red light, there is always a driver or drivers behind that get pissed off because I'm in their way in the lane and they will have to pass me when it is safe to do so. So, I'm going to do what I think is safest for me and other traffic for any given set of circumstances, which I believe is entirely appropriate. I'm watching out for other traffic and acting accordingly, so should the drivers of automobiles.

That is a time where not filtering makes no sense.

Thinking about it I'm wondering if drivers complaints about filtering cyclists are realy more about cyclists filtering poorly. I had one do that recently. I was turning right and he filtered past and then sat partway in the crosswalk. Borderline dangerous, if I'd been agressively trying to make the turn I would already have been inching out and looking left.

Oh and then they run the red light after filtering past you only to force you to wait behind them again. Whether in the traffic lane or in a bike lane this really annoys me. Almost as much as the people double parked in the bike lane who get all pissy at me when I give them a little air zound action.

Agree with this, but it also requires drivers to use their turn signals all the time which they don't. I had this happen to me this weekend. I rented a truck to pick up some over sized items and was at a light with my turn signal on, and a rider comes up filters on my right and pull in front to the right near the blind spot of my A pillar. He would have been better off waiting behind me since I had my signal on, or coming around and lane splitting to my left.

When I ride to lunch with people from work, they commonly filter to the right on turning cars and filter to the right in right turn only lanes. I think its the presumed notion that you are supposed to keep right at all times no matter what.

Seriously, what is so hard about passing another cyclist that you have to get your panties all in a bunch. Your on a group ride as well, is it your intent to just drop lady? Sounds to me, that her filtering actually improves the average speed of the group, since if she started in the back of the group at each light.

You sound as bad as the JAMs. Think about that.

What a bunch of self-centered, holier than thou BS. You sound like so many Prius owners.

:lol: Good one!

When I use the city/filtering mindset in my city(which is a moderately easy one), I have found the lane space on the left lane of the 2 lanes same direction (one way format) to be more effective than the right. I know some Frap pushers object, but the ownership of lane in such context is less defined in practice and therefore 'when in Rome' applies. Left of left lane is passing on the left, drivers are on the left which allows direct vantage of the driver in the mirrors and the door zone is less populous as the right side. When using that model, I usually get halfway to the next block light before the car behind is even close to needing to pass. Even that is subjective since the peak speed limit is 25mph anywhere in the city and lights are every block. Considering in a car the cars are disrespectful of any gaps or hesitations, I do not consider it any different with a different mode other than I chose a mode which offers more freedom and sensory awareness. We all end up in the end game at the same time(sometimes I get a several minute lead over 3 miles).

This. What is it about cyclists thinking they should be stopped six feet ahead of all the other traffic at the light, including other cyclists who were waiting at the limit line before they arrived at the intersection?

The worst example of this I can think of is the New York City Century, where this behavior is epidemic. I can remember doing it one time when a group of three slower riders would filter past us at a red light, ride ten miles an hour in front of us until traffic cleared and we got a chance to pass, then would do exactly the same thing at the next light, and the next, and the next, for twenty miles across Queens. I wanted to give them a sound beating with my pump by the time we finally managed to clear them for good.