Leaning on cars
 

I hate to unclip. I mean, it just ticks me off to have to start cranking when the light turns green, AND find the pedal. I'm not very good at it. Plus, I suck at trackstanding too.

Today, I tried holding onto the car next to me while we were waiting for a green arrow. It was a pickup, and I was leaning on the edge of the box, so I don't think it bothered him. He was talking on a cell, and after a little bit he noticed me and looked back. I gave him a wave, and he didn't seem to notice. When the light turned green, I fell in behind him and made the left.

Does anybody else do this? Do drivers get upset or unnerved (and thus dangerous) when you do it? I'm considering doing this more regularly, if I'm presented with the situation.

i wouldn't touch someone elses ***** without permission; car, bike, or otherwise....

i'd say your lookin for a confrontation if you pulled that round here, but hey this is philly....

Stupid thing to do.

Have you seen the video?

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Just do not touch another person's things, even if they are in a public road. Just learn to unclip and be done with it.

My car is a 10-year-old POS, and it still would probably pi$$ me off if a biker leaned on it in traffic. I can only imagine how people driving nicer machines might feel if you did this. I agree with max-a-mill, keep your hands off other people's stuff.

I wouldnt do it.

I think the risk of running across a total nuter is just too high, plus I am sure it would irritate a lot of people (as the previous posts have stated). Just unclip one foot and get your foot back in when you get going. I personally use SPD pedals and usually have no problems getting my dominate foot back in the clip in under a second. If you are using SPD you might want to reduce the clip tension a little, it will allow too get in and out of them more easily. Sorry for saying that if you already knew it.

Never never never. Supposed he made a small move that catches you off guard and you lost your balance and fell into the car and damaged it? Not good.

Very bad idea for reasons above. Plus in NYC especially you could get the living daylights kicked out of you for it.

You'll just have to practice unclipping, stopping, then getting back in again. Don't touch other people's cars. I am a pretty die-hard cyclist but I would not be happy at all if other cyclists were leaning on my vehicle...I don't do it, I don't expect others to do it, and there is no reason to do it (i.e., clipping and unclipping isn't that hard).

Not a chance I'd try it. It's someone elses property, and you just never know what reaction you're going to get.

What pedals are you using? I use Egg Beaters on my commuter, and these days have no problem clipping in (can do it almost immediately, clipped in on the upstroke). Practice makes perfect....

Learn how to TRACKSTAND

did you check to see if the pickup had a gun rack in the back? :D

I personally would not touch a car as that could be pretty dangerous. Unclipping from pedals leaves me in control. Wne touching a car you are not in control....

Just dont do it at intersections next to cars. Again, you could lose your balance and fall into someones cars. Then you have property damage and everybody laughing at you.

Trackstanding is a worthwile skill to have and im glad i can do it, but its just not safe to do a long red light.

A better skill is to learn now to clip in without looking down.

So I guess holding on and getting a ride up a hill is out of the question? :roflmao:

Personal and amusing anecdote on trackstanding. I de-clip - I just cannot balance like that.

I do it at red lights all the time. If I feel like I can't balance anymore, I put my foot down. I haven't fallen into traffic yet.

Neither have I (phew) yet, but i've seen it happen more than once on group rides.

My brother-in-law taught me a valuable lesson on using a pick-up to balance. He was waiting at a red light, grabbed onto the bedwall and couldn't let go once the light turned green. He had managed to get his wedding ring caught on the bedliner up near the cab and was dragged most of a block, almost lost his finger. Then got to go home and tell my sister why he needed to buy a new wedding ring...

One more vote for "HELL, no!"

I vote NO as well. I'd personally be pissed if some cyclist did that on my car. Mostly because I consider it laziness on the cyclists part. Also because I'd never do it to anyone else's car.

So, I'm getting the impression that it's a great idea...</internet sarcasm>

But seriously, I can understand being afraid of psychos and whatnot. And even the extremely rare "my glove got caught in the trunk, and I lost my hand, bike, wife, dog..." Are these the only two arguments against it? I'm only touching the vehicle with my fingertips, and I'm not smudging up windows or anything. I'm not saying that this is a great idea, but I thought that if there was such a resoundingly negative response, there'd be a few more reasons.

So, any reasons besides psychos and getting dragged?

EDIT: Just saw the video. That guy was an idiot. You DON'T lean on a car that is still moving. And don't lean on the hood. And don't tap your fingers, that's just asking for trouble.

"Other than being attacked and losing limbs, is there a good reason not to do this?"

Yes, it's rude. And an eager lawyer might call it grounds for a lawsuit.

Don't trackstand, it confuses drivers.

Just unclip one foot and put it down. Start with clipped in foot about 2 o'clock, push down when ready to go and clip in the other foot at the othe pedal comes around. You don't loose any time or start up speed that way.

As to leaning on cars, apart from all the social, safety, etc. reasons the main reason is that cyclist want 3ft clearance from cars. How can we expect drivers to give us the clearance if we violate it? Leaning on cars badly teaches drivers that its OK, in fact cyclists want to be close to cars. Yes, I realize we want the >3ft when being passed at speed, but I don't think drivers are going to learn that distinction.

Al