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Living Car Free Do you live car free or car light? Do you prefer to use alternative transportation (bicycles, walking, other human-powered or public transportation) for everyday activities whenever possible? Discuss your lifestyle here.

Invisible Cyclists

Old 04-21-08, 04:43 PM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by AllenG
Three year old thread being revisited by a troll post.
Fine, I will go crawl under the bridge from whence I came. Some bikers sure can be condescending

Sometimes though I will ride on the right side of the road, depends on traffic conditions, etc.. Wherever the least cars are, that's where I prefer to ride!
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Old 04-21-08, 04:51 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by evblazer
I like to see the cars approaching from behind to make sure they are moving over and not driving right over me.
I've had one drive right over me. Fortunately, he only crushed my rear rim. Looking back wouldn't have helped as I was stopped at the time.

Believe me, you are better off looking ahead checking for potholes, goathead thorns, and wrong-way bicyclists. They are far more likely to get you.

While you are here, I have a question for you that I know all the others would be interested in hearing your answer.

You are riding along on the wrong side of the road. You come upon a bicyclist riding correctly. The road is narrow. What are you going to do. What do you expect the other bicyclist is going to do?

It's not a trick question. I just want to know what a wrong-way rider thinks, so I can predict their behavior better.
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Originally Posted by Bjforrestal
I don't care if you are on a unicycle, as long as you're not using a motor to get places you get props from me. We're here to support each other. Share ideas, and motivate one another to actually keep doing it.
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Old 04-21-08, 05:43 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Artkansas

While you are here, I have a question for you that I know all the others would be interested in hearing your answer.

You are riding along on the wrong side of the road. You come upon a bicyclist riding correctly. The road is narrow. What are you going to do? What do you expect the other bicyclist is going to do?

It's not a trick question. I just want to know what a wrong-way rider thinks, so I can predict their behavior better.

Oh yes, please do answer! I am curious as well.

After that, take a peek at this web site, they will explain the advantages of riding with traffic and the dangers of not doing so:

https://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

Tailwinds!
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Old 04-21-08, 06:35 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by ChipSeal
take a peek at this web site, they will explain the advantages of riding with traffic and the dangers of not doing so: https://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm
Thank you for the safety booklet, the part that concerns me is, "Do not be intimidated. Take responsibility for your own safety, even if other traffic must occasionally slow and follow you." I am afraid some drivers will not slowly follow me and instead run me down. No one ever seems to notice bicycles around here. If I were to come across another biker riding the right direction, usually bike lanes have enough room for two bicycles to pass, if the road's narrow I would move into the road (if there's no traffic) or ride in the grass/gravel as a courtesy. Drivers honk, yell, and generally drive as if bikes have no place on the roadway, I would have to be traveling extra long distances or going on a little or no traffic road to ride with cars whizzing past me! If a biker is traveling in the right bike direction I would stay the course since anything that happens wouldn't be your fault, and I would much rather get hit by/run into another bicycle than a car!

Here is another scary quote from the Orlando "look, BIKES on our roads" article:
""They see a cyclist and they target them in many cases,""
MANY cases! I don't have a death wish, but I still want to be safe and courteous to other riders.
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Old 04-21-08, 06:48 PM
  #30  
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David, if you're not a sock puppet or troll, listen and lurk on Bikeforums. The members here include thousands of the best amateur cyclists in the world. They will unanimously tell you that it's moronic to ride on the wrong side.

You're not gonna win this one, fella, and if you keep trying to, you will most likely be banned for disruptive posting.
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Old 04-21-08, 09:23 PM
  #31  
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Here's another site that provides a lot of good information and advice:

https://www.bicyclinglife.com/index.html

Cycling against traffic is both dangerous and illegal. Don't do it. Just don't.
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Old 04-21-08, 10:17 PM
  #32  
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Wrong-way cycling simply doesn't make sense. I can understand the fear of being hit from behind, but please consider the physics. If you're riding with traffic at 20 kilometres an hour and you're struck from behind by a motorist traveling at 60 km/h, that's an impact of 40 km/h (or around 25 m.p.h.) It's going to hurt and you'll get bruised, but you probably won't have any serious injuries. If you're riding against traffic at 20 km/h and you're struck head-on by a motorist at 60 km/h, the impact is 80 km/h or 50 m.p.h. That's enough impact to leave you severely and permanently injured or dead.

Even though you can see the vehicles coming, you're at a much greater risk by riding against traffic. Motorists don't expect to see you there and neither do other cyclists. Eventually, something will go very wrong unless you go with the flow.
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Old 04-21-08, 11:50 PM
  #33  
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The worst part of riding against the traffic: cars are FORCED to pass you IMMEDIATELY .
if the car is arroaching from behind they can slow down make sure there is room and carefully pass.
but if they are coming head on can't slow down or judge the situation before passing with out coming to a complete stop first; which would require slamming on the brakes and a rear collision with the car behind them having to stop fast as well.

you do not need to constantly turn around to check behind you, that is what ears are for. I glance behind me when I can hear a car approaching. hearing is very important for riding on roadways. I wonder if you are listening to music or have hearing problems, I have never had difficulty knowing when a car is going to pass with out looking
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Old 04-22-08, 12:30 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Thor29
Of course, every one of these guys that is riding a bike now because he is poor will buy a car as soon as he gets a toe-hold in America. So few people in the USA consider bikes as legitimate means of transport and the car is practically an object of religious worship.

The thing that has always bugged me about cheap bikes like the Magna, and even relatively cheap bikes at the LBS is that marketing and perception are so much more important than reality. Instead of a bunch of useless bedsprings masquerading as suspension and drivetrains that can barely shift when new, why not a fully rigid single speed mountain bike? Less stuff to break, easy to maintain. Oh yeah, I keep forgetting, if people ever start being logical I'll know for sure that I've been teleported to a different planet.
I totally agree with you about suspension. It's simply not necessary on a bike you're using on surface roads, especially if the suspension is on a low-quality bike. Gears, though, are a different matter. In many places, such as Seattle or SF, it's not reasonable to expect someone to ride a bike without the ability to change gears.

Of course, it's just silly to fret about the quality of the bikes that poor, mostly Hispanic workers ride. It's not like they have a choice about their bikes, or that they even care themselves. As soon as they can, they'll switch to cars. In the meantime, they'll ride the cheapest thing that rolls that they can find.
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Old 04-22-08, 06:44 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by david7700
If a biker is traveling in the right bike direction I would stay the course since anything that happens wouldn't be your fault, and I would much rather get hit by/run into another bicycle than a car!
Bikes can get up to 20mph pretty easily. Even I can manage it, and I'm *slow*.

Now, what happens when 2 bikes are aimed straight at each other, each going 20mph? You have a 40mph collision. That is fast enough to kill *both* of you. Breaking your skull, vertebrae or a femur has high odds of death as a side effect - and that's enough speed to easily do for any one of those bones. The majority of bike falls cause damage to the head and legs, with skull and femur fractures being common if there is a fracture. It's also very common for cervical vertebrae to break in the case of a head on impact... And there is some reason to believe that helmets increase the risk to your vertebrae as a side effect of reducing skull fractures.

It's not a certain death sentence, but it sure isn't an accident I'd pick. I don't like accidents where all the high probability injuries can kill.
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