N_C

Yes, this is yet another thread about cagers yelling at me to my ass on the sidewalk. I was not expecting this until later in the year though. But it was yelled at me today on my commute home from work.

Here is what happened:

1. Distance into commute: About 2.8 miles.

2. Roadway: Singing Hills Blvd, a divided 4-lane, 35 mph, through a commercial area, both right & left turn lanes at intersections.

3. Parallel to Sing Hills Blvd: Multi-Use Path, or MUP.

4. City Ordinance: States if a MUP is parallel to a roadway cyclists are to use it rather then ride on roadway. This is never enforced & I have ridden with an off duty police officer on a roadway that parallels a MUP. I doubt the cager knows of this ordinance.

5. I was riding in the right half of the right lane, where I was legally allowed & supposed to be riding.

6. She was behind me for about a block maybe, but could not get around me because of a lot of traffic in the left lane. She had to turn right. Which means she had to merge into a right turn lane to do so, she had to wait until the start of the turn lane to merge into it. The right turn lanes start well before the intersection.

7. The light was red on approach to the intersection but turned green just before we got to it, she was in the turn lane, I was still riding in the right half of the right lane.

8. Just before she turns right I hear her yell, "GET YOUR ASS ON THE SIDEWALK!!!". To which I yelled, "THANK YOU FOR THE ADVICE I APPRECIATE IT!!!" We were both moving when this happened. As she was completeing her turn & I was continueing straigh through the intersection I saw her window go up. This tells me she put her window down to yell at me.

I am flabbergasted as to why a cager would put their window down to yell at a cyclist. That takes twice the energy. So why?

I used to yell something rather profane back & flip the bird, not anymore. I just yell what I did. I do not know what the look on her face was, but another motorist who was sitting at the red light on the cross street the cager who yelled at me turn onto, she was oncoming to him when she turned right, waiting to go straight saw & heard it first had this look of agreement on his face when she yelled at me, then a very confused look when he heard what I yelled. Again why?

So have any of you had anything like this yelled at you yet, or is it still to early in the season?

ragboy

Do I understand this correctly -- if there is a MUP that parallels the busy road why not use that instead? Maybe that is why the motorist was upset?

N_C

Because it is my legal right to use the roadway. I was excercising that right. I have ridden on this roadway for a couple of years now. I am not about to start riding on an MUP because some cager or JAM wants me to. I always ride on it as a VC. Meaning I am in the right half of the right lane, not hugging the gutter or curb line. When I am approaching intesections to stop I move to the middle of the lane to avoid a motorist from coming up beside me & to avoid a right hook in the area where there are no right turn lanes, or even where there are.

Another reason is because it is actually safer for me on the roadway vs. on the MUP. Where the MUP crosses certain intersections traffic is never on the look out for bike/ped traffic & it used to be at the intersections where there are medians on the cross roadways there were no cuts through the median to accomidate the MUP traffic. Which meant the MUP traffic had to go around the median putting them into traffic on the roadway that parallels the MUP.

Another reason is the MUP starts out on the east side of the roadway, it goes north & south, then goes under the roadway to the west side. Then it turns into a park further up & ends. I need to go further north then that.

I am sure this is why she was upset. To me she was nothing more then an ignorant cager who needs to be educated in the rules of the road.

Topher_Aus

Weren't you legally in the wrong then, if the city ordinace tells you to be on the MUP?

Besides annoying motorists to prove a point, was there actually a point to riding on the road?

bkrownd

MUPs are not for cycling. They're for strolling.

ragboy

I don't mean to be antagonistic, but doesn't your city ordinance read that you should have been on the MUP, since it parraleled the road? If you're waiting for motorists to be educated as to rules of the road regarding cyclists, don't hold your breath.

Bekologist

I got the sidewalk comment from a carload of adolescent JAMs on Saturday after work. A woman and I were riding two abreast, downhill on a four laner, taking up the right lane, and pulled up to a stoplight. kids honked behind us, I waved and gave the driver the stink-eye. then the passenger started ranting about 'there's the sidewalk' I rebutted. quite loudly, 'we're allowed to ride on the road. LEARN THE RULES.'

yeah, JAMs and the misconceptions. its not our inferiority complex, despite the cackles of the dogmaticly addled 'vc'- its the lack of respect from the JAMs.

N_C

Here's a little more clarification on the ordinance. It is for young kids mainly. Even though it does not specifically state as such, the fact that it has never been enforced when ever I have been passed by a police officer while riding on a roadway parallel to a MUP & when I have ridden with a cop on a roadway that parallels an MUP tells me I was not legally in the wrong.

So to answer that question, no I was not.

N_C

Yeah, it is safer. Read my comments above stating why.

ragboy

In that case, riding on the road in that particilar spot you're always going to be vulnerable to a verbal assault. It isn't right, but when a motorist sees a MUP along the road your slowing them down on, well, you see where it leads.

sfrider 

I'm getting a video camera and will start putting JAM footage up on a website I'm creating for that purpose.

CB HI

It is easy to roll down the window with power windows, just one finger.

I like to respond with “Get on the freeway”.

Nermal

Not to avoid the thrust of the op, I just hate intersections like thi:

"6. She was behind me for about a block maybe, but could not get around me because of a lot of traffic in the left lane. She had to turn right. Which means she had to merge into a right turn lane to do so, she had to wait until the start of the turn lane to merge into it. The right turn lanes start well before the intersection."

InTheRain

Something similar happened to me this weekend. I was hugging the right edge of the roadway. No traffic at all on the road except the pickup truck that was right on my tail for about 200 yards. Then I heard him rev his engine and blow past me. However, he would not cross into the other lane and he clipped me with his passenger side mirror. It didn't send me down though. Another 200 yards ahead was a "T" in the road where he had to make a turn (so right after he blew past me... he had to hit the brakes to slow down to make the turn - he has now saved himself all of 1.5 seconds.) He turned right, which goes into a mobile home park that has no outlet. so I followed him in, and waited for him to get out of his truck.

I asked, "are you in a hurry?" He said, "quit holding up traffic!" I said, "I am traffic - it was just you and I on the road!" He then told me, "you aren't supposed to be blocking the road." I told him, "I have just as much right to that road as you do." He then said I was full of S%#&.

I responded that we'll just call the police and see if that's really who is full of S%#&. I did. The police told me to wait for them at the entrance to the mobile home park. I did. It took them 30 minutes to get there. I gave my report. The cop wasn't really interested, other than he did not want me to go back and get into a confrontation with the cager. I said, that would be a welcome confrontation on my part. He said he would talk with the guy and then get back to me. Of course, I never did hear back from the cop.

Anyway, the cops don't care. I've been run off the road before and injured but couldn't get the guys plate cuz I was skidding on my head. I'm not too impressed with the Police around here. Every time I have been the victim of a crime or accident they've seemed disinterested and have never got back to me on any report. I'm ready to start taking things into my own hands. Looks like the cagers are willing to bump me around and leave me bleeding on the side of the road. If I follow them home, pound them unconscious and leave them - I doubt the cops will solve that either.

All this frustration is coming out after watching a cager talking on a cell phone run over a pedestrian that was in the crosswalk. Most of the drivers don't know the laws and are careless as hell about anything that isn't bigger than them.

AlmostTrick

NC- Did she try to hit you with her car? Throw something at you? Point a gun at you? If not then who cares what she said. You know you're right and she didn't endanger you in any way. Yeah I know it sucks putting up with ignorant attitudes, but don't let it ruin your whole day. How long have you been riding in traffic? This stuff happens, let it slide.

bkrownd

Hooooold on there - isn't this a hit-and-run incident? Aren't they required to file something? Anything?

urodacus

trailer park resident driving a pick-up truck? let the stereotyping begin NOW...


BTW, what's a JAM? pardon my ignorance of these american acronyms, and generalisations.

Zeuser

Did you consider for a second that the "sidewalk" the cager was referring to was actually the path?

Personally, i don't understand why cyclists who ***** about not having bicycle friendly roads don't use the paths when they are provided for the safety of the cyclist.

That being said: I did get the "ride on the sidewalk" myself once. But there was no path; just the road and the sidewalk. I later caught up to the dumbass cager and quoted the HTA (Highway traffic act in Ontario) to him and told him to expect a visit from the cops because of his dangerous driving. He the responded "your word against mine". The I pointed to the little black box in the middle of my handlebar... "Hey dip*****... smile for the camcorder." He got pissed and got out of the car, I simply turned the corner and lost him in the sidestreets and parks (GPS are useful for that!).

Got home, called the cops, filed a complaint, they came over, I handed them a copy ofthe MP4 file (Electronic video). They charged the driver based on the evidence on the video. About 8 months later I was subpoenaed to appear in court as a witness but I got a call the day before that the driver pleaded guilty to a lesser charge so I wasn't needed.

Moral of the story? DON'T GET MAD... GET EVEN!

CBBaron

MUPs are usually designed for recreation,
roads are usually designed for transportation,
when I am commuting I am riding for transportation,
Therefore I ride on the road unless the MUP is more convenient and safer.
There are a lot of idiotic local ordinances that most people including law enforcement ignore for the better.
Craig

bkrownd

They're usually provided and designed for recreation, not transportation. They often aren't very safe, either. (Even less so after the idiot who designed those extending leashes.)

Zeuser

Ah yes.. those stupid leaches. I have to agree. But for me: I'd rather deal with some moron on a MUP with a long leash than with a road rager in a 4000lbs car on the street.

Killing myself is less likely to happen on the MUP.

San Rensho 

Many drivers just hate bicyclists, period. You will never educate them, because they have already made up their mind that bikes should be on the sidewalk and notions like laws are certainly not going to make them change their little minds, so I rarely try anymore. I just make it clear to them not to f@ck with me and then ride on.

Roody

+1.

Reasons why some side paths are more dangerous:

• Cagers aren't looking for fast moving bikes as they turn into (or out of) driveways and side streets.
• It's often hard for the cyclist to see traffic approaching on a driveway or side street, especially when there's signs and shrubbery.
• The side paths often cross busy streets a few feet away from the intersection, where visibility is bad for both cager and cyclist.
• The standards for paving and maintenance are usually lower on side paths. That means more bumps, cracks and debris than you'll find in the roads.
• Walkers, leashes, skaters, etc. Y'all know what I mean!
• Some paths are poorly lit at night.

Actually, I believe that highway standards now prohibit most side path designs, and very few new ones are being built.

fthrud

I generally avoid "me too," but...um...me too. I get up to ride at 4:30 on weekdays, get in an hour while it's still cool and little traffic. I especially like riding down the middle of Main St. Then, I turn down US41, which is 3 lanes in each direction. I take the center of the right lane. I've got 2 headlights, 2 blinkie tail lights, reflectors and a scratched Pink Floyd CD in the pocket of my gear bag that really catches the headlights behind me. When traffic approaches from the rear, I make myself big and visable, weave (in my lane) and 99 out 100 cars move all the way to the left lane, leaving the center clear and me smiling. Except for that $*#% CocaCola delivery truck, who every @#$% morning hugs the right lane and honks his horn at me. I realize he has to turn right at every C-Store on the road, but is his schedule and life so lousy that he's got to mess with my sole serene time of the day? It's been suggested I hold the center of my lane and MAKE him so around, but I don't want to be roadkill to prove a point. I've seen him loading up his colored toxic sugar water at 7-11, but figure if I confront him than tomorrows ride would be even more dangerous. There, I've vented, all better.

newbojeff

Part of my commute I ride on the road with a MUP about 10 feet away. Reason? I come down a hill going 25 MPH and there is no way to turn onto the MUP without almost coming to a stop. Staying on the road I can go about a mile at 25 MPH. I occassionally get impatient drivers behind me, but I'm legally entitled to ride on the road even though there is a MUP a few feet away.

Best responses for "Get on the Sidewalk!!"?

1. "Read the Law!"
2. "SIDE--WHAT?!"