Had an interesting experience today while riding in my new local area of North San Diego County. I am still new to the area and as such don't know all the roads well. Today on my ride down the coast while descending a small grade I caught up with two cyclists. Due to traffic and parked cars I didn't try to pass as it was unsafe and I didn't need to speed by. So here is my beef. I let the riders know I was behind them and made eye contact etc. Once we reached the bottom of the hill both riders split to avoid a giant set of potholes and neither one pointed it out. I ended up almost eating asphalt at 27mph due to a lack of common cycling etiquette. Am I wrong in thinking it was kind of lame on the part of the cyclists up front?

nope, you're not wrong, but it is a dog eat dog world out there.

Yep, kinda lame. If they knew you were there they could have notified you of the obstacle even if you weren't riding with them.

It was lame that they didn't let you know, but not irresponsible.

You shouldn't follow two random fools that you don't know so closely. Stay far enough back so that you can see potholes/obstacles ect.

If this was an organized group ride then I might say something sarcastic like "Thanks for the heads up on that pothole back there."


BTW I am from Vista. Can't wait to go home from school in a few weeks. Where were you on PCH? Dip south of Palomar Airport?

EDIT: Long story short I agree with you. Bad etiquette. I guess what I'm trying to say is think about your sig next time you decide to follow strangers closely on a non-organized group ride.

did you crash?

There noses maybe out of joint cause you joined them without an invite. There are snobs out there everywhere. Some people just don't like company. Not saying that was the reason, just saying.

Don't put your safety in the hands of other people you've never even spoken to. Problem solved.

If this had been in cars instead of on bikes, you would have been cited for following too closely.

Personally, I think the bad etiquette is dumping the responsibility for your safety on someone else's shoulders just because you feel like riding their ass without so much as a 'hello'. Not everyone is comfortable with that.

You are correct, the cyclists up front were jerks.

this.

it's not a crit. and if it were, nobody would point anyway. treat it as if you were driving a car. would you follow that closely to an unknown vehicle?

Correct.

The cyclists up front were jerks nonetheless.

At the end of the day it's your front wheel. Guard it or crash.

maybe they were jerks. maybe they were the kind of riders who never point. who knows? it's all just assumptions unless you know them, which you don't, so the safe bet is to assume the worst and hang back until the coast is clear.

Maybe they also didn't know the roads. I mostly ride solo, but I've done group rides where there just wasn't time to signal. It was a bumpy section that happened quickly. It was hang on tight to the bars and every man for himself.

If I'm unfamiliar with a road --even if it's just a small hill-- I don't go as fast and I don't follow others closely.

Yeah ok. Maybe the Mets suck.

They were jerks.

They crash victim was the dumber jerk. Hopefully a lesson was learned.

Look, this is friggin road cycling. It's a massive jerkfest to be sure. I can safely tell you this after 20 years of observation.

ahhh I see why you know this.












(you were one of them right?)

You don't, how could you?

It's difficult to say because if you want to turn and don't want to risk taking your hands off the bars, then you're not going to give a signal. Also, they may have assumed that since they split like that that you'd get the point.

There are regional differences though. When I moved about 1000km from where I was, I noticed there were some slight differences in the way people behave. I guess I almost forgot I had read a textbook on sociology years ago though.

I gotta go with this one.
You made an assumption that they'd look out for you. That's dangerous.

I'm not going with another line, I got the line.

Yep south of Palomar Airport kind of just before La Costa area heading southbound.

We need more Seinfeld links in the 41.

Almost. I bunny hopped the first pothole only to catch the second one. Basically bucked me up and almost over the bars. I recovered, barely recovered. A runner was right there when it happened and even he thought it was lame of the guys in front.

Cycling is dangerous. Hopefully we will watch our for our fellow riders, but the reality is we can only ride one bike at a time....so in the end it is your bike, your health, your fault. I'm glad you didn't fall, and needless to say...it was a learing experience, and hopefully this will remind us all to point out road problems...even for strangers.

I'm an older guy, having started racing in the early 70's...and often ride on Hwy 101... and sometime my moderate pace results in me riding with newbies on their brand new "first road bikes". Sadly, many of this new riders tell me what a-holes the so called cycling "studs" that they encounter on the road on even Pro LBSs.

How about this for a new year's resolution, help a newbie...give a stranger on the road a tube and show him or her how to install it....untangle their dropped chain, whatever

happy holidays

thanks for the support and the good advice. And for the record I usually never assume anyone will be looking out for me unless they are my teammates or friends. That said this all happened in the span of a few seconds from the time I caught up with them and made contact. Oh well, live and learn. My wheel seems ok and the bike is fine.