I saw 1/2 of the youtube video and couldn't watch anymore because it made me too angry.

This looks like a ride for every narcissistic cyclist in the area. How can cyclists campaign to ask drivers to "share the road" when there are videos like this that show cyclists acting like they own the road. Near the beginning, it looks like there's even a bike lane or a fairly wide shoulder and yet these folks insist on taking up an entire car lane riding anywhere from 3-5 abreast. At several points it's clear that they are taking up more than one lane. Overall, it's a pretty pathetic display of selfish behavior that constitutes nothing more than an organized middle finger to the drivers. Problem is this kind of behavior hurts the rest of us who try to return the courtesy that overwhelming majority of drivers show us.

Don't like my posting...Don't read it

It's pretty simple...

BTW, that video of the Doral ride is pretty tame...You wanna see crazy, watch some videos of the Donut ride in Toronto...

if you don't like people pointing out your strange and repetitive punctuation, then don't post it.

it is pretty simple.

Don't cyclists 'own' the road as much as any other taxpayers?

In any case, it looked like an early morning ride on large multi-lane streets with virtually no cars in sight. I can't see what any motorists would be upset at. Worst case they might have had to pause for 5-10 seconds.

You sound like an angry guy.

I only watched half of it too because I had to get up and dance.

Annoying things that cyclists do just don't' bother me that much compared to the stupid sh#$ cagers do.

I bet most motorists don't care. In fact they probably enjoy watching the group go by. It's smart putting the good looking woman at the front too.

LOL, there must've been a few dozen "big ones" in that group. Slowest peloton on Earth. Can't imagine how many hours a motorist must wait for them to cross an intersection.

Methinks otherwise... many of those affected motorists will be furious that a pack of cyclists flaunts the law.

Next time you and your pals ride like the OP described, take some good video.

Go to the next city council meeting, stand up and tell the council how you and your buddies love to blow through red lights en masse, obstruct cars by crawling along at a whopping 20 MPH in a 45 MPH zone, etc etc etc. Show the video while you brag about what a raging stallion you are for riding like that.

Invite the local police to come and watch your next ride; tell them when and where you'll be riding.

Then invite public comment to see how many folks will be on your side.

If you are afraid to do any of the above then you don't believe your own BS.

Outlaw packs of riders that obstruct traffic, blow through red lights en masse, and otherwise engage in mass lawless behavior ought to be in jail, not on the roads.

If you choose to ride like the OP described, then that is your choice. But don't deceive yourself by thinking that it isn't unsafe or illegal, or that the motorists that you obstruct don't care.

Off-topic, but what's up with all of the locked elbows and riding on the tops in this video?

I was thinking exactly the same thing, ivan.

From the video, that ride looks fairly safe and inocuous. As it's well-established, the drivers are probably used to the riders and the riders used to the drivers, which is actually probably one of the things that makes it safe -- when people know what to expect from each other.

A 50 to 100 person ride on those size lanes wouldn't make sense to ride single file as the cars would most likely have to move mostly into the left lane to pass, and to pass a 100 rider long line would take forever. Riding the whole lane actually makes sense to me in this case as it compacts the peleton, is safer, and makes it quicker for any other vehicles to pass safely. It probably also makes intersections less dangerous to navigate.

However, it does make me glad there are plenty of country roads to ride just a few miles out my driveway. Urban cycling sucks in comparison, IMHO...

Umm, no, I don't think cyclists "own" the road. Best we can hope for, at least on this side of the border would be that drivers SHARE the road as almost all of them do.

I do get pretty angry when I have to sit behind self absorbed riders who refuse to move over when they know I'm behind them so I can try to pass safely; especially if I'm on my way to work or need to get to a place by a certain time ( people do go to work on the weekends).

I also wonder how many of those rare drivers who buzz me on the road or honk angrily have been inconvenienced at some point by people who think that cars should be content cruising along at 15 mph admiring their awesomeness from behind or just suck it up and watch them run through the intersection in front of me when my light's green.

The fact of the matter is, few inconsiderate cyclists can make life tougher and more dangerous for the rest of us, and it's those few that I remember, not the vast majority who ride single file, in the designated cycling lane or the shoulder, and stop at a red light at an intersection.

No offense cks, but you do sound like an angry dude.

Getting stuck behind a pack of cyclists causes you distress, may make you late for work or another appointment?? Interesting, what happens if you get slowed down by a slow moving vehicle or other traffic?? If it's that much of an issue then leave early to build a bit of a buffer time in. I just dealt with that in morning rush hour traffic, made me extra late for work...The traffic that is, not cyclists...

Group riding happens and when it does some people are inconvenienced. The question is how do these people react? Like I said above, the idiots will always be idiots no matter what. The others need to be educated in what the true rules of the road are. For example, in Ontario it is not illegal for cyclists to ride two-abreast, but motorists have a misconception that we must ride single file. All the highway traffic act states is that we must ride as far to the right as practice and that we are legally allowed to take the lane if we feel it is in our best interest.

Personally I do not participate in groups of that size, but do ride in smaller groups and solo. I follow the rules of the road as I would in my car...Some get bent a little

Still the times I have the most issues are when I am riding alone or with my wife and usually in those cases we are single file and to the right. We still get buzzed, we still get yelled at and I know that no matter what we do or any other cyclist does you will not please motorists because a vast majority are selfish and uneducated when it comes to cycling and the rules of the road.

My personal favourite, around here, is when motorists call for cyclists to be licensed. Thinking that by doing that it would ensure that we know the rules of the road and have proper insurance. What they fail to realize is that a vast majority of us, own and drive cars, have a driver's license, carry insurance and pay taxes for the roads we all ride on. They see us on a bike and think we are on a toy. Very few realize how much these things really cost and the fact that we work as hard as them to achieve the financial rewards to play this game

So everyone ride safe and remember it's not just a matter of use abiding by the rules as much as it is teaching them why we do certain things. The funny thing is I use to be one of them and then I started cycling over 15 years ago, then I understood. Now I never get angry when stuck behind a group, I just sit back and enjoy watching them enjoy their day...Oh yea, and as I pass I scope out the bikes to see what everyone is riding

There's more important things in life to get upset about...

I can't believe I saw the word "peloton" used here.

it may not be fair, but the group has right of way due to their numbers, velocity, and 'take the road' mentality

That of course is simply not true. Your numbers and your own personal philosophy regarding your use of the road does not in any way give you right of way. Right of way is a legal term and if you're running a red light you simply do not have the right of way. Do you honestly believe that your group somehow acquires special rights due to it's size, or is it just a confusion of terminology?

I believe that if bicyclists approach road riding with a mentality of being 'at war with the cagers' and justify any and all of their own actions, they are ultimately making it worse for all of us. If we can't respect each other on the road, there's really no hope for improvement.

I fastforwarded through a fair amount of that video, but it seemed to me that most of it showed the group taking the far right lane of a wide open two- and three-laned boulevard. Did I miss the narrow, twisty, blind curve part of the road?

This issue seems pretty obvious to me. If you are in this group, the light turns red before you enter the intersection and you see several police standing on the side of the road, past the intersection you are about to enter on a red, ticket pads & pens out & ready... do you stop or blow through the red light? If you stop, you do so because you know that blowing through a red is illegal, regardless of your group size & the inconvenience of regrouping after the light turns green. If you don't stop you can enjoy the ticket.

When I'm driving a car I have an expectation that when a light turns green I have the right of way to enter that intersection. I yield that right to police, ambulances, firetrucks & funeral processions. I do not yield that right to groups of cyclists. They should have no expectation that their need to stay in a single group overrides the law regarding stopping at red lights. If I enter an intersection on a green in the midst of such a group of cyclists and 3 or 4 t-bone my car I fully expect that they will be charged with breaking the law & pay for my car repair.

Your definition of 'share' seems to be: use whatever portion of the road vehicles don't need.

For a large group as shown in the video it's often better to take the whole lane rather than stringing out in one long line. When travelling on roads without a shoulder it's safer for everyone if the group makes itself as short as possible which requires taking the lane or at the very least riding two abreast.

Just remember cyclists may occasionally piss off motorists but we seldom endanger their lives. On the other hand, motorists frequently hurt or kill cyclists. I think your anger is misplaced.

This group behaviour happens in many cities without incident. Are you saying that you would just plow into the group of cyclists riding through the intersection and claim it was their fault?

No, not plow through the group. But when the light turned green I would expect to move out into the intersection. It would depend on the speed & density of the cyclists how I would do this. If it was me on the bike I wouldn't do this regardless of whether it's the norm. Consider the driver who is coming up to the green light at the speed limit, chatting on a cell, not expecting to have a need to stop because the light is green. It's crazy to think that because you want to keep an obviously unmanageable number of cyclists together you expect everyone else to wait while you clear intersections on a red light. btw, would you blow the red if there were cops on the other side as I described?

All I can think after reading all this, is large group rides are like lemmings. Technically aren't bikes vehicles and don't we all get mad when our fellow vehicle operators don't adhere to the rules of the road? Mostly in our cases, too close of passes and too high of speed.. but also stop light/sign runners pose a major risk to us as cyclists as a whole. Riding side by side.. fine dandy I agree it shortens passing time and keeps dangerous passes down (sometimes). But blowing a light/sign and expecting traffic to stop for you because your too busy being a lemming... really? How would you feel if 8-10 extra cars blew the light after the red one after another? Must be okay since the guy ahead of him did it right? Your only out 30 seconds to an extra minute right? So must be okay.

When travelling on roads without a shoulder it's safer for everyone if the group makes itself as short as possible which requires taking the lane or at the very least riding two abreast.

Absolutely true. When I'm not on a bike, I'm driving the same roads and the local clubs love the roads near my house. With limited passing opportunities given hills and turns, it's much easier to pass of they ride two and three abreast taking the entire lane. If they were single file, you'd never find a space to pass.

Just remember cyclists may occasionally piss off motorists but we seldom endanger their lives. On the other hand, motorists frequently hurt or kill cyclists. I think your anger is misplaced.

OTOH, that sounds like little more than a weak rationalization for poor behavior. Which I see repeated ad nauseum in these threads. I can only shake my head in amazement that anyone that as a serious excuse.

The first requirement is for individual cyclists to ride safely and legally. There's no legal requirement to keep the "group" together.

If you can't ride legally while in a group, then you can't ride in the group.