derailer

A guy died in a race similar to this in Chicago last year. "Using his head" at a 5 way red light, he got hit by a Cadillac Escalade going 40 miles per hour.

fauxto nick

They're def not all fixed and/or brakeless, still they cause some pretty serious problems. The cops are going crazy out here lately, groups like this don't help. I just got lucky and got out of a $450 ticket and 1 pnt on my license for stopping at a red light and then rolling through it when it was clear.

mangovich

true this. I do see quite a few guys riding around brakeless, it makes me sad.

bikeybikebike

don't hate on the brakeless, hate on the reckless

fauxto nick

Sorry man, I gotta disagree. I have a lot of friends who ride brakeless very well. I know it's fun, I can handle riding brakeless myself. BUT I think it's irresponsible to ride brakeless for the simple fact that no matter how good you are at riding brakeless and skid/bump stopping you are adding risk. If you want to put yourself at risk, that's fine, I do it daily, but I'm not putting others at risk with my riding.

You'd be pretty hard pressed to mess up braking using brake levers but IMO when you're relying on a learned skill like skid stopping to brake you are taking a chance. All it would take is for you to miss your skid to cause bodily harm or property damage (I personally saw a bmw get trashed just because a kid messed up on his stop when his foot came out of his clip).

I'm glad to see kids riding bikes but I'm not happy about seeing more and more kids go out on the road and getting overly aggressive with drivers and riding recklessly. I'm the only one out of my group of friends who rides road bikes, most ride brakeless fixed, and I'm definitely the only one putting down serious miles. I tell them it's great when they go out to a critical mass and cause a ruckus but I'm the one who spends more time on the road with these ticked off drivers.

If more people in LA want to start riding AWESOME! But if someone has never really ridden seriously before maybe a brakeless bike isn't the best bet to dive into the world of cycling, and on top of that this isn't The Warriors lol no need to treat every driver like a seal clubbing, nazi.

jonathdo

I bet he made this whole thing up. There was no race. He doesn't even own a bike.

fauxto nick

I should add though the LA Brakeless crowd can be pretty nasty from my observation maybe it's different in other places. Our CM rides out here will just roll into an intersection and ride in a circle for 15 minutes holding up 100's of cars.

RacerOne

What kind of person does this stuff.. ?? It hacks me off when the people on my group ride can't / won't form a predictable tight line so cars can pass.

iab

Is your brain filled with the same amount of ***** as your story? If it is, you may want to stop at lights/stop signs.

fauxto nick

It was pretty embarrassing. The worst is the kids who can't afford fg bikes or conversions so they run road bikes without the derailleurs or brakes .

mrvrsick

So I assume they use the old chuck taylors?

macadamia nut

I always obey the law. No tickets were issued in this race. Everyone was pretty level headed
unlike what I'm seeing here. What is it with you people? Have you never raced for the thrill?
You are so quick to be negative and there was nothing negative about it.

ps. everyone had brakes, nothing fixed.

fauxto nick

I think I'm at 10 races since Jan 31st, 11 if you count my TT from a stage race. Should be at 14 by the end of this month as long as I don't crash out.

ShooterK2

If you can honestly say that not one person did anything foolish/dangerous (running thru red lights/stop signs without AT LEAST slowing and looking; racing on a crowded bike path or MUP; things of that nature) then I guess it wouldn't be total chaos. I just have a hard time believing that nobody involved would do anything stupid to win that kind of cash. Especially after posting up $200 up front.

macadamia nut

The weather was cold and damp, not much trafffic on the paths. Most people were probably
snuggled up to a keyboard. The money was not the goal, so no one was going
to risk their life for it. It was fun and thats it. I just wanted to know if others do this.
So chillax, and go out on a date sometime.

neuronal

Agreed.
OP is claiming that people paid $200 to take a 23 mile tour of Chicago. At about $10 a mile, I think only idiots would have entered that race. How do you even safely get up to a decent speed or pass each other in the bike lane between red lights?

tkm

100% agree. Look at what happens on the 'cannonball run' style of races that automobiles do.

Anytime you race for cash, regardless of what it is and outside of a specific venue--you're going to create havoc on those that aren't in your little 'race'.

OP, are you married or do you have any kids? If no, then I understand your level of incomprehension to how idiotic that race is. If you are married and/or have kids, then I'll assume you're just a moron.

neuronal

The money was not the goal? Then why pay $200?

tkm

You don't get it, do you? Any amount of traffic--even one single person--is too many people. Unless the race is in a controlled location, then what you did was stupid.

GP

This forum had an amazing transformation. Yesterday it was full of anti-fred, road nazi, ******bags. Today it is full of law abiding citizens that obey all traffic laws and ride at sensible speeds through traffic and on bike paths.

macadamia nut

you need some positive attitude first, then pick your spots wisely. there are some nice
stretches of road to drop or be dropped.

fauxto nick

You're telling us to chill? You're the one flying off the handle acting like none of us race and we just dry hump our keyboards.

ShooterK2

Speak for yourself, nick. As for me, I wasn't even touching my keyboard..................I mean, I was touching it, but.........................I wasn't really...............I was just............um..........................uhhh............... aw dang.

tkm

Question: How many people on this forum, when riding on a bike path, don't slow down when passing a family with children?

macadamia nut

I just wanted to know if others do this.
A yes or no would be fine.
Did you feel I was questioning your manhood? I wasn't, so chill.