I do it on occasion. Not a P.O.V., but perhaps a FEDEX truck or some such in just the right spot. Usually I just lean on my knuckles for balance with the cranks ready to hammer it out of the gate. My life is riddled with peril.

I think you're missing the basic point, which is that YOU DON'T EVER TOUCH OTHER PEOPLE'S STUFF!!!

- Wil

Maybe your an exception to many cyclists that I see trying to track stand to the right of the lane, and their track stand is twitchy so that to an undeducated motorist it looks like the cyclist may take off in any direction at any time.

Some posts had me laughing my ass off enough to get my boss to come over and read this ( a non-cyclist).

His response, and he's a 50+ mellow, widower with 3 kids in college:

"I'd kill some ****er who touched my car, who the **** does he think he is!"





Now that we have the outside opinion, let's review:

1. People are shooting at each other over DVD players in the delta; this isn't just 'stress' but an extension of the normal behavior patterns of a select percentage of society. e.g. you 'lightly lean' on their ride, they'll 'lightly pull' the hair trigger on their 9mm and part your hair, helmet and skull.
2. Momma always said 'Don't touch other people's **** without permission.' Momma has never been wrong (other than about my first wife, and things working out with her - albiet she did tell me she was a dirty ***** at the wedding, but ...)
3. Not being able to do general things with your bicycle (i.e. not knowing how to shift/gear patterns on the bike that bust the **** out of your chain) means your doing damage to yourself, your bike and potentially a threat to others around you (fellow cyclists).
4. Momma said 'Cagers are mad because they got all that cage and your dirty fingerprints on it - and they just paid 3 hot hookers in bikinis to wax that ride with their booties' and Momma ain't n'ver wrong...


I love the idea of leaning on another cyclist though, that's funny as hell...

Not only is it down right rude to use someone elses property like that, you are also placing yourself in a potentially dangerous situation. As you lean against the truck, you are placing your weight into a vehicle that will soon be a moving object. If that truck took off suddenly and you were not prepared, you could easily end up falling inward and underneath him.

Not only will you scratch up his paint job on the way down, but you will have a nice set of tire tracks across your jersey, along with lots of blood, broken bones and...

oh yes, YOU WILL BE DEAD!!!

In other words, what is best, is to roll up to the light, unclip on the right, and lean away from traffic. That way if you fall over, you don't end up as a speed bump. Unless you are careless and fall to the left, which in that case, you may want to unclip on the left, so if you fall it will be to the right. Either way, whatever your tendency, make sure you don't end up under someones car.

Besides, as you unclip on the right, you can pull up close to the curb, and place your right foot down on the curb to support yourself. That way, you can stay on your saddle while waiting fo the light. Makes things easy, and you don't worry the heck out of the guy with a nice freshly waxed Toyota Corolla sitting on your left. This is what I always do, and works well for me. I lean so far to the right, that I literally CAN'T fall to the left unless someone purposely pushes me.

The character Psycho, from "Stripes:"

"Also, I don't like no one touching my stuff. So just keep your meathooks off. If I catch any of you guys in my stuff, I'll kill you. And I don't like nobody touching me. Any of you ***** touch me, and I'll kill you."

I recall a story from Nelson Vails, while messengering in NYC he's leaning on some guys car and the guy slaps Nelson's hand away. Nelson takes his bike, leans it on a taxi, and then goes and socks the guy in the jaw. I guess it makes a difference if you're a big bad a$$.

He won't be so bad ass looking down the barrel of my USP45. Basically, don't touch other people's car. unless they throw bottles at you.

Do you realize how gay and cliche that sounds? Look everyone it's Napolean Dynamite with a handgun. The bigger the pistol the smaller the equipment.

I'm an SPF-45 man, myself. I hate sunburn.

Colt...45, tastes great..

Ya right.

*waddles off*

once again... it's RUDE!

Now to the trackstand issue: The only way my trackstand might confuse anyone is because they're staring at me in amazement that I can hold a trackstand indefinitely. The longer the light, the longer the train, the more confusion. They're mezmerized! If anything it tells the driver behind me to stay the frig away because they perceive that I know how to handle a bike properly in traffic and there's no question as to my intentions.

Treespeed and I are giving lessons on trackstanding. Send each of us $10 via paypal and we'll send you a self-instructional video. With just 10 short sessions 3 times per week, you'll be looking like a messenger on a fixed.

If you touched my car I would give you an earful. Don't be touching my car when you are riding. Learn to track stand or clip/unclip. How would you like it if some guy on a bike leaned on you while at a light? I mean you when you are on your bike also! I bet that would make you upset.

I wouldn't, and don't, do it just out of respect for the person's belongings. Jeepers creepers, man, just f'n kick out, wait for the light, then clip in.

In a few more years none of this will matter. No one will be able to afford gas and so we will all be on bikes, or at least there will be fewer and smaller cars.

I have always made it a practice to stay as far away from cars as I can. They are big huge hunks of metal that could crush me and my little hunk of metal. I don't want to mess with them odds. I don't want to be road kill.
I have heard the argument that we have as much right on the road as cars and I agree, but I also have seen what a car hitting a bike can do and it ain't pretty.
In short I would say..."keep your hands off the car unless you want to 'buy it'."

Not only is it rude and dangerous, but imagine the position that you're putting the driver in with regards to your safety. It's not fair to make him/her unwillingly assume responsibility for your actions should an accident occur. Whether it's full legal liability or simply being inconvenienced by an accident, it's awfully presumptuous to put someone else in that perdicament. I'm an avid cyclist/commuter, but would be furious with someone causing such a distraction and potentially putting me at higher risk of an accident/liability simply because they were too lazy to unclip and wanted to lean againts my car.

My co-workers are wondering why I'm cracking up back here!

So I'm off my Trackstanding soap box, I forgot to say that I would never lean on someone's personal vehicle. But I have been known to lean on busses and big commercial trucks, especially dumptrucks and such. What, am I going to rub some of the dirt off. And the bus is part mine anyways, property taxes and such.

Um... usually "no"... but then again if I do stop at a light I'm usually up past the crosswalk waiting for a hole in traffic to run it. The only circumstance in which I'll lean is if I'm between lanes of traffic and get pinched. But there is nothing inherently more dangerous about touching the car, when you're right next to it anyway. At any time they could get twitchy and bash you.

I leave for the weekend, and you guys just keep going... I couldn't have trolled better if I were trying.

But seriously, I probably won't do this, unless it's a friend's car (like the buddy cycle leaning, which I have also done. Though usually only on the trail, when that cyclist is leaning on a tree). My main reason: The 3 foot rule. If we want to keep cars from hitting us - and I do - then we should stay away from them. Everybody's got their own reason, and good for them. Some people get their undies in a bunch about being rude. Other people follow absolute kindergarten logic. Different strokes, etc.

I should learn to clip in better, I think it's a habit coming from clips and straps to try and flick around the pedal with my toe before stepping in, this tosses the bottom of the pedal up. Practice, etc. Or I may just switch to an SPD system. Anyways, thanks for the replies. Only 1/2 an hour until the ride home.

OK, so is it okay for a car driver to disable their brake lights when completely stopped?

Discuss.

The only reason I won't lean on someones car is because I wouldn't want them to 'lean' their car on me...

Even if I wouldn't care about someone leaning on my car, I would still resent them not asking me.

I love to trackstand. It's just a fun challenge for me.
To anyone who may be admiring me, I think "yeah, I'm The Man!"
To anyone who may think I'm a showoff, I think "who cares?"

I don't see a problem with it. Brake lights don't illuminate when the handbrake is on, and I'm not aware that there's anything bad about sitting at traffic lights using the handbrake to keep you stopped instead of the footbrake. As a driver, If I'm at the back of the line or the only car stopped I might keep the footbrake on to make sure approaching drivers know I'm stopped, but in a line of traffic no reason to.