phillyskyline

Unfortunately this is all too common in this city. Once I was driving and encountered a 4-way stop at 47th and Pine Sts. I stopped, looked both ways, and started to proceed--when a cyclist ON HER CELLPHONE flew into the intersection without slowing down or even looking. I slammed on my brakes and honked, and in trying to stop she dropped her phone and almost fell off the bike. I don't get it...do these folks have a suicide wish? They put themselves and others in danger, and in turn make us all look stupid. Grrr.

electrik

**** happens, nothing special about a woman on a cellphone blowing through a stop-sign... i guess you're lucky she wasn't in a giant SUV.

Fizzaly

In my parts most of the lycra clad peoples are the worst they will pass you, then slow down then when i pass em they speed up and pass again, this morning i got angry and raced one, aparntly i found one with no stamina and ended up with about 10 lengths head of em on my raleigh loaded down with laptop work clothes and my lunch, he wasent to happy and found that yelling at me just didnt quite work so when i stopped at a gas station to get coffee he confronted me and told me that i passed him unsafely and that i was a shame to cyclists. I of coarse being a gentleman told him to have a nice day, and to maybe do alittle more training before he puts his lycra on again and headed off to work.

JimJimex

In fact, over my last 6000 miles of commuting in the City of Boston, the ONLY accident I had was caused by a cyclist who undertook me from the right.

I've never had any probems with Boston motorist.

thenomad

I've never done anything wrong while in a car or on a bike, I'm exceptional at both.
But everyone else I'm surrounded by are morons with death wishes.

electrik

Oh yeah, i know that feeling.

khanom

Funny, here in Berkeley, CA motorists get all weirded out if you don't blow through stop signs.

I used to be very diligent about stopping, but then I started to realize that, at least here, it was causing more problems. I slow down and only stop if I can't see both sides. If there is no car immediately at the intersection or one about to stop, I proceed, and it ends up being less hassle for cars because they don't have wait for me to clear the intersection. There's a kind of ballet to it, and as odd as it sounds, it's the expected behavior here. And I think it's better for everyone because it has a traffic-calming effect. As long as you're careful

That said, I draw the line at traffic lights and it pisses me off to have stopped and get passed (usually on the right, eh), by some hipster on a pseudo-fixed gear... 9/10 times I end up passing them after the light changes anyway.

BA Commuter

I love the salmon comment!

Many people seem to think it's much safer riding into/facing traffic. This is where a mirror is invaluable IMO. Sometimes you can't even hear those damn hybrids!

wolfchild

A lot of those lycra suited roadies are the worst offenders. Some of them don't have a clue how to ride in the traffic. Many times I've seen them do stupid things.
I don't think 1000 dollars worth of cycling clothes and cycling kit will make anybody into a better rider.

Robert C

Just to ask, what city? I lived about three years in Xinyang, Henan Province. I returned to the states on '09 to get my MBA. I had no real trouble riding and rented bikes in several cities when I visited.

One thing I did was to join the local riding club. Almost every weekend we went about 100km. I got to see things near my city that I would have never seen otherwise. I also went on a 3 day, solo and unsupported, trip on my bike. I wanted to go to Shanghai (on the bike, I went several times by train) but I got to a section that required freeway and I didn't want to go that far between water vendors. If I tried it again I would get better maps.

CB HI

So you look like a women on a cell phone running stops, when you ride?

CB HI

In my experience, the worst are those people that are too stupid to understand the benefits of bicycle specific clothing. Especially the ones that like to brag about the one time they passed someone in lycra.

Just the other day, as I was entering downtown, nearing the finish of a century ride, I slowed to time getting to the next intersection as the light turned green. Some baggy shorts guy that only rides 2 miles to the park and back home yells “on your left” as he races to the red light. Of course I still had my momentum as the light turned green and I easily rode by him with at least 3 feet of separation. Being downtown, there was no need to sprint as a steady 20 mph pace would time hitting the green lights the rest of the way home. Well, baggy pants just had to turn his face blood red trying to pass me, which he did while looking like he was going to die. PS - his baggy pants had started a downward drift and he was showing butt crack. He was screaming something about how I did not pass him safely because I did not yell “on your left” as I cruised by him.

I bet he even went on some cycling forum as soon as he got home to brag about how he passed some guy in lycra.


Good thing we lycra folks do not brag every time we pass some baggy pants, there would not be any room left in the forums for any other post.

azesty

I live in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, which is the capital of spicy food, beautiful women, and grey skies. I think the latter two are related.

Been here for about 15 months so far, been riding for just over a year. I wanted to walk for the first few months so I could see more of the city.

While there are riding clubs, I havent joined one yet, I just call some friends and we go for a ride, or I will go off by myself.

z

cyclokitty 

I ride thru stop signs when I'm the only one there. I never do when there is a pedestrian or bike or car. Besides safety, there is also a kind of line up. I need to wait my turn to pass thru the intersection. It does irk me when I see a car or bike ignore the stop sign when there are other vehicles stopping because they don't want to wait their turn is a bother instilled in me since kindergarten. I'm less bothered by pedestrians because stop signs are on quiet neighbourhood streets and I really dislike treating someone else's neighbourhood as a miniturized freeway.

One thing about stopping at a stop sign I wish car drivers did understand is how tough it can be to stop cycling up a hill. Sometimes I think drivers would be a bit more accepting of letting bikes pause and then roll thru a stop sign if they appreciated how hard it sometimes is to stop, put one foot down, then pedal away uphill. Or at least not press down on the horn a foot behind me when I'm doing my best to
ride up a hilly street full of stop signs.

Fizzaly

yeah my commute may only be 6mi each way but i wasnt braging about it just stating my anger with some of them a lot of them dont seem to just pace one speed they speed and slow often maybe it just a diff. riding style than i have but it just seems like a waste of energy

Fizzaly

yeah my commute may only be 6mi each way but i wasnt braging about it just stating my anger with some of them a lot of them dont seem to just pace one speed they speed and slow often maybe it just a diff. riding style than i have but it just seems like a waste of energy

JPprivate

I thought we were talking about commuting?

wunderkind

You're just jealous....
In contrast I see the worse offenders are the khaki wearing punk with their huckster mtb, clueless old man with their wal-mart bikes, teenagers that doesn't give a crap about safety and sadly.... gaggle of family cyclists (most of the time on sidewalks and parents without helmets)

corkscrew

Boise is headed in the right direction. Although until we have bicycle lanes that don't mysteriously end and re-appear 6 blocks later *Cough, cough EMERALD!*, I'll continue to take the Greenbelt to work.

BassNotBass

Roadies who took up cycling to justify their lycra/spandex fetishes, hipsters wearing girl-pants and riding fixies, shirtless baggy-shorts wearing MTB riders who spend more time designing their full sleeves than on their education, granny-bike riding 'suits' on their way to a desk job, little 7 year old goth wannabe girls on their Huffy Skelanimals ... they're all morons. I usually can't wait for incliment weather to hit or tempertures to drop below 60°F. Then I don't have to deal with any of those fair-weather 'cyclists' who aren't as 'real' as I am.

Bat22

I remember Cambridge cops giving tickets to bike idjits 15 years ago.
I'm sure the city council will start this program again after enough
bike mayhem has been caused.

boilermaker1

I live in a neighborhood with a great deal of bike traffic and from my balcony have a view of the intersection of 14th and Indiana which is a 4-way stop. I often watch the intersection while enjoying a smoke on the balcony and I'm gonna tell ya something; bikes blow through the intersection far more than cars do. It's very unusual for a car to not stop but it's very unusual for a bike to stop.

Now I understand slowing down at a stop sign, checking the traffic and then continuing. But most cyclists don't slow down or anything; they just peddle on through as though the world around them doesn't exist.

Myself, I stop and wait at stoplights just as a car would. Some stop signs I come to a complete stop and others I slow down to where I'm practically stopped. If I ride on a sidewalk (which I sometimes do for a block, never more) I never ride faster than a walking speed.

JPprivate

Hey boilermaker, I thought I was the only one in Chicago. Good to find somebody else!!!

thenomad

Isn't that just to keep your Cigarrette from blowing ash?

Seattle Forrest

We have the right to move about, and to not be injured in the process. We also ( in most states ) have the obligation to follow the same rules of the road as other road users. But these rights and obligations aren't tied together like two sides of a coin. You can run a red light and still have the right not to be killed; other drivers' obligation to avoid a collision isn't contingent on your behavior. ( Although the law of physics reigns supreme. )