Right on! I am tired of being told that I pay less in taxes and therefore have fewer rights by people who resent every dime spent to maintain common spaces.

I can understand he's point of view, SOME what. A narrow road like that, it's pretty dangerous for cyclist, especially when there isn't too much "wiggle" room.

They shutted off one side of the street here, it's 2 lanes one way and 2 lanes the other way - and turned in to 1 lanes on each. It was pretty scary for me, and I had cars literally on my tail's the whole time coming down. When I go back home from where I was, I just took the side walk instead, (that's how unsafe I felt on the road) until it's back to normal again.

I think the guy who wrote that, calling cyclist naives it's stupid, we are (in some way) risking our lives on our bicycle than drivers are in their steel cage. =|

There is more to life than increasing its speed.
Mohandas Gandhi

There is no possible condition that would force options 1 and 2. When will people slow down and become mindful of this moment?

I am not sure how bicyclists "aid" the environment unless your bike leaves rainbows and sunshine in its wake.

I don't know about you, but when I am riding my bike and I fart, flowers sprout at the side of the road where it happens.

So I wonder what Mr Russell would be saying if he lived in the portions of IN, OH, and PA, where Amish buggies are frequently encountered on the roads?
- Unlike 99% of cyclists, they don't have drivers licenses, and don't pay gas taxes.
- They are as large as a car.
- They move *slower* than most serious cyclists.
- The steel shoes of a horse cause *more* damage to asphalt than a car.

Bicyclists aid the environment in the same way that wind and solar energy users/advocates do. They reduce carbon emissions and the use of non-renewable resources.

Yeah the world's smallest violin made me LOL too. :D Reading comments in our local birdcage liner is a sure-fire way to raise your blood pressure. It's loaded with trolls hiding behind a keyboard.

it may or may not be lawful. When it is done in situations where it causes an undue interuption of motorized traffic, it is extremely inconsiderate and it makes the rest of us look like arseholes.

i see this sort of militant VCing from time to time and it pisses me off to the point where i'm almost hoping the cagers run them down.

after reading that article, i suspect that mr truck driver dude might just be talking about such cyclists.

As is usual with such articles, the best stuff is in the comments, both against and in favor of bikes:

(^^^ Imagine how dangerous is would be if we couldn't!)

(^^^ surprised it took a bunch of posts to get to some variation of this)



It goes on like this for pages and pages. It'd be funny if it weren't so frightening.

Edit: One more, pure gold:

You can get mad at the idiot trucker/business man who wrote the article, but that's misplaced, imo.

There's no issue here, no blatant violations of the law perpetuated by the cyclist, and, as such, the Burlington newspaper never should have published this letter. It just stirs the pot in a negative way, and we should take notice on this newspaper, not the idiot cager.

SactoDoug- So it sounds like you would take the position that it is fully permissible to ride two abreast in either of the following circumstances (because there is no obligation to right as far right as practicable):

1. if you are moving with the flow of traffic; or
2. if the lane is of a substandard width.

Uh, fantasies about murder (even if it's someone else doing the murdering) are probably not healthy.

Are anger management classes in order?

It's a jungle out there,
everybody in a hurry,
ain't nobody getting nowhere.
--Buddy Guy

I love this reader comment:

Now, I only wish I could commute on my Luddite Fiber bike, instead of my aluminum one.

I'm not sure where you get that idea from. In both instances it is against the law to ride side by side with another rider on the road. I clearly stated, "In other words, you can only be abreast if you are in the act of passing the other bicycle." That is the only time it is legal to be side by side with another bicycle and it can only happen for as long as it take to pass the other bicycle.

Keep in mind that illegality does not mean enforcement. A LEO would still have to take the time to pull the cyclists over and write them a ticket.

I would never get very far if I limited my riding to this criteria. I suspect that many posters here would never get out of their driveway, or at most their neighborhood. Riding on the road with automobiles is simply necessary in most places in this country if you want to viably commute by bike.

Hmm, let's see:

Given that #1 or #2 involve violating the law in a manner that places others' lives in danger, one could argue that's a THREAT.

Anyone who lives near Underhill VT got the stones to file a police complaint against Bill Russell for making that threat, and the Burlington Free Press for publicizing it?

You said that CVC21202's "right right" rule prevented double riding, so it seems logical that if CVC21202's rule doesn't apply, e.g., in the situations I've described, then double riding would be permitted. In other words, if CVC21202's rule doesn't apply, I am entitled to take the whole lane. If I am taking the whole lane, cars need to change lanes to pass me, so why can't two cyclists share the same lane? I haven't seem any argument for that conclusion (and CVC21202 doesn't support you as you've noted), but if there is another section of the CVC that prohibits this, please do let me know!

#1 is only permissible if you are going as fast as the flow of traffic. I think that is what you meant but it reads like you are saying going in the same direction. So if you are in a 25 mph zone and can ride 25 mph, then it is legal to take up the whole lane and ride side by side. On my road bike I can cruise pretty close to 25 mph at 22-24 mph, but I still stay to the right on the road because most drivers do about 30 mph in a 25 zone.

#2 is also legal. While it is legal, I don't know if I would advise it. Drivers are not aware of the law and will get very peeved about it since they expect cyclists to be at the far right of the lane at all times.