spirochete to cyclists: I HATE YOU. I hate you so much and I hate your next 15 generations
I hope your bikes melt down and your little helmets crack and and you lose a bike seat up your butt.
Do you ride on the bike path RIGHT NEXT TO THE STREET? HELL NO! You ride right in the street and hold up traffic.
Do you ride single file as traffic goes by? HELL NO! You ride in pairs while blocking traffic and we're all at your mercy driving at bicycle speed for miles on end.
Do you ride in a responsible manner? HELL NO! You cry that you have just as much right to the street as I do in my car yet you run EVERY SINGLE stop sign, turn without signaling and whatever illegal maneuvers you can think up while wearing a Doritos branded spandex team shirt.
I seriously hate cyclists so much.
Original Post by spirochete:
Oh hey, guess what I just saw this morning? You got it, a cyclists breaking several traffic laws and mucking up traffic.
Did you, by any chance, count how many cars you saw breaking traffic laws this morning?
First of all you're free to make a thread about motorcycles and cars and whatever else aren't bicycles since this is the bicycle thread.
Secondly, yes, I did notice that no cars almost caused accidents this morning to answer your question.
Original Post by floggingsully:
Did you, by any chance, count how many cars you saw breaking traffic laws this morning?
You think because car drivers break traffic laws, cyclists are justified in doing the same? Am I reading that right?
Wow, I am amazed at the negativity towards cyclists in this thread. I am also amazed at the stories of cyclists running stop signs and red lights as if they were not there.
I am a cyclist, and often do 50-60km rides as a way of trying to get some exercise. I often do not totally stop at stop signs, but I ALWAYS make sure there is no traffic before going through, just as many cars slow down for stop signs rather than fully stop.
I almost never use "bike paths" here because A) there are often pedestrians using them which means any speed on said paths is a risk, and B) these paths are not often very long, and the start and ends of the paths are usually not designed to sync well with pushing you back to the road.
When I am cycling on the road, the entire trip is a constant defensive ride, I have lost count of the number of cars that go past me, and then turn in front of me to go around a corner as if I wasn't there.
There certainly is one point mentioned that I think everyone in this thread could agree with, if you are going to ride a bike, wear a helmet!
Spiro, it sure seems there is that one group that bugs the crap outta you, but please do try to consider that most of us, even if we do wear spandex (although never could bring myself to wear it sans-jocks, and the pic of the polish team reinforces my habit!), try to be considerate, and hope to be treated likewise.
I feel it's the appropriate time for this.
Edited by request.
And besides anything else, those ridiculous clip on shoes are sooo unsexy it's untrue. Makes them walk like they've forgotten where they left their horse.
(Ex boyfriend was a spandex brigade cyclist)
Original Post by spirochete:
Secondly, yes, I did notice that no cars almost caused accidents this morning to answer your question.
That wasn't my question.
Original Post by p0nda:
Original Post by floggingsully:
Did you, by any chance, count how many cars you saw breaking traffic laws this morning?
You think because car drivers break traffic laws, cyclists are justified in doing the same? Am I reading that right?
I think that people shouldn't single out cyclists for breaking the law when everyone is doing it. Something about glass houses and stones.
Original Post by oit:
Spiro, it sure seems there is that one group that bugs the crap outta you, but please do try to consider that most of us, even if we do wear spandex (although never could bring myself to wear it sans-jocks, and the pic of the polish team reinforces my habit!), try to be considerate, and hope to be treated likewise.
It's more than one group; it's the cycling community as a whole where I live. While I can understand the confusion, no where was it EVER stated I didn't drive around cyclists with their safety in mind.
In fact, most of what irks me is I go out of my way to make sure I do not come anywhere near them, startle them with my car or do anything that would remotely endanger them. As I'm doing that, they are driving around doing one stupid thing after the next.
Original Post by floggingsully:
I think that people shouldn't single out cyclists for breaking the law when everyone is doing it. Something about glass houses and stones.
I don't drive so my house isn't see through. If you want to make a thread about crap drivers then I will be happy to articulate my "crap driver" stories. I live in Vancouver, I have loads. However, this particular thread is about the spandex army that congest our roads and sidewalks, and make our lives miserable with their arrogant tactics.
You actually reminded me of one story to do with them so let me share with the class. Walking around False Creek with my dogs, as I do many mornings, when suddenly on the horizon, a spectre of spandex comes flowing toward me. It was around 50 cyclists riding in a pack, taking up not just the bike lane but the pedestrian lane as well. The grins and shrugs that I got as the flowed by me did nothing to placate me or my tan dog, who spun on her leash in a panic out of fear of being hit.
Are these people the norm where I live? No, I have uneventful encounters with bicycles every day. Do they exist? Hell yes.
If the only thing between you and the road is a thin layer of nylon, then you need to be more careful and my cognisant of the rules, because whoever's fault it is, you are the one coming off worse for wear.
floggingsully just wants to crap up this thread instead of making another one about his gripes about other things and that's fine. Time to work around him.
edit: haha not that this thread is some beautiful work of art or anything
Original Post by floggingsully:
Did you, by any chance, count how many cars you saw breaking traffic laws this morning?
First off, you shouldn't be breaking the law just because someone else is. Second, I think we are going with something called a percentage.
I see, several hundred cars during my drive to work or downtown. Yes, I see a couple, hell let's put it at a dozen, acting really stupid. That would mean that I'm seeing about 10% of the cars on the road breaking the law. During the same drive I'll usually see at least 2 cyclists and I'll see them both breaking the law. Dude, that's 100%! Even if it was one of the two, that's still 50%. The fact remains, cyclists break the much more than motorists.
On of my co-workers rides to work every couple days and even he admitted that he runs stop signs. He agreed that running a red light is a bit much, but he does run stop signs.
I totally agree that cyclists should be expected to follow the rules of the road and am fairly happy to report that most cyclists in my area do so. I've even seen cyclists go above and beyond by not only wearing a helmet but also wearing the reflective vest and putting the reflective things on the back of their bikes. In fact, I've even some some cyclists stop and wait at lights when there is no traffic coming from any direction. SHOCKING! However, I also live in a community that is VERY cycling-friendly. There are a TON of bike lanes and cars generally either change lanes to pass or wait behind the cyclist until it is safe to give them a wide berth.
Now that I've been complimentary, let me tell you that there still are a handful of morons on bikes who try to ruin it for everyone. Some cyclists do run lights, which is incredibly dangerous in a city where 4-6 lane roads are common. I'm a runner and they'll come zipping up behind me on the sidewalk, scaring the heck out of me and practically "buzzing" me. Sadly, I don't think there's anything I can do about them. I just remind myself that they're the idiots and if they have a death wish, I will happily testify that the cyclist was no victim in the situation.
We've had some mishaps with elderly drivers here, one guy plowed into a whole crowd of cyclists one Saturday morning. Pretty horrific. On the whole, however, we're respectful of each other down here.
Some of these comments reminds me of one time I was riding my bike, on the bike path, and this car came really close to me, scared the crap out of me. Now I wonder if this person did that on purpose :s. And I was only going to the dentist a few blocks away, I'm not one of the bad cyclists! lol
Original Post by gmule:
edit: [gmule making a personal attack against spirochete] (removed by mod request)
The Interweb: "Where making personal attacks works better than sticking to the subject" since the early 90s.
Original Post by theshockwave:First off, you shouldn't be breaking the law just because someone else is. I totally agree, everyone should follow the rules of the road, but individual groups shouldn't be singled out when everyone is breaking the rules, it's a double standard. Second, I think we are going with something called a percentage. I'm really glad you brought that up.
I see, several hundred cars during my drive to work or downtown. Yes, I see a couple, hell let's put it at a dozen, acting really stupid. That would mean that I'm seeing about 10% of the cars on the road breaking the law I'd bet my last dollar that (unless your sitting in rush hour traffic) at least 95% of the cars you see on your way to work are breaking the law. During the same drive I'll usually see at least 2 cyclists and I'll see them both breaking the law. Dude, that's 100%! Even if it was one of the two, that's still 50%. The fact remains, cyclists break the much more than motorists. 50% of a population is much lower than 95%, so it seems cyclists are much more law abiding than drivers.
On of my co-workers rides to work every couple days and even he admitted that he runs stop signs. He agreed that running a red light is a bit much, but he does run stop signs.
Original Post by theshockwave:
Original Post by gmule:
I can see that you are truley a very selfish and hatefull person.
The Interweb: "Where making personal attacks works better than sticking to the subject" since the early 90s.
His avatar needs to be much larger.
Fair People of Calorie Count,
You can hate each other if you want to - but you can't disrupt our forums and you can't violate our posting guidelines.
This thread is about cyclists who get in spiro's way and jeopardize her life by not following traffic laws.
It's not about car drivers that do that. It's not about anything else.
You need to restrict your remarks here to the subject and not the author. No personal attacks, capice?
Note: If you quote a personal attack before we can delete it - you can expect your post to be deleted too because of the quote.
Aside: It's generally considered bad form (not done) to make public a private conversation. If you can't stand another member, you have something called the Block feature which makes a pesky user "disappear" from your view. YOU WILL EITHER BEHAVE CIVILLY OR FAILING THAT, YOU WILL USE THE BLOCK FEATURE. Those are your choices.
*gives members in this thread 'the look'*
Don't make me go over there and lock this thread!
Original Post by floggingsully:
Original Post by theshockwave:I see, several hundred cars during my drive to work or downtown. Yes, I see a couple, hell let's put it at a dozen, acting really stupid. That would mean that I'm seeing about 10% of the cars on the road breaking the law I'd bet my last dollar that (unless your sitting in rush hour traffic) at least 95% of the cars you see on your way to work are breaking the law. During the same drive I'll usually see at least 2 cyclists and I'll see them both breaking the law. Dude, that's 100%! Even if it was one of the two, that's still 50%. The fact remains, cyclists break the much more than motorists. 50% of a population is much lower than 95%, so it seems cyclists are much more law abiding than drivers.
Oh cool, I can change the percentages, too. Umm, I saw 2% of the cars breaking the law and 87% of the bikes. 87% is larger. 
People in cars do speed and cyclists probably would too if they could (looks around for those that drive motorcycles). But, stopping at a stop sign? Yeah, some cars do a California rolling stop, but cyclists don't even seem to slow down or even care if there is cross traffic.
Nontheless, my point is, no one should be breaking the law. I live right next to a police station, I've never seen a cop giving a cyclist a ticket. I have seen cars pulled over in the same area. I think that cops just don't really care about cyclists and so they are allowed to get away with whatever they want.
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