Spring/summer I HATE CYCLISTS thread for 2009

Already I have been stuck behind a pack of spandex clad traffic interlopers and it's just finally breaking out of the 40s in the Chicago area.

why would we use the bike path off the street about 10 feet over there ---------> when we can completely demolish any hope of avoiding rush hour traffic?

Red light? Is that for ME?????

I'm sorry but I can't possibly ride on the street without my bff riding right next to me!

Original Post by theholla:

But for goodness sake please put some breaks on your stupid bike and don't ride while under the influence.

Ah, so you are dealing with liquorcycles? But dude, if you get a DWI and lose your license, how else are you supposed to get around town while drunk?

ive been gone for CC for a couple of years - it sure is good to see someone stirring things up - the new forums seem so...mild and happy and idk...BORING!

ANYWAYS

i always have to slow down and enjoy the spandex scenery, the muscular legs, the tight butts, o yeah! i love sharing the road!

smell the roses people smell the roses ;)

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Original Post by theholla:

But for goodness sake please put some breaks on your stupid bike and don't ride while under the influence.

Ah, so you are dealing with liquorcycles? But dude, if you get a DWI and lose your license, how else are you supposed to get around town while drunk?

Lolz! I like the term "liquorcycles!" One of my friends actually got into a nasty accident (with a parked car) while biking under the influence. And yeah, when I see a kid with a bad haircut and tight pants flying down the road with a 40 in one hand, I just run.

Interestingly, sometimes, late at night, I see a guy riding around on one of these (which also scares the crap out of me).

you can get a dUI on a bicycle if a cop catches you noticably drunk.

you can also get a DUI on a motorized bar stool

Original Post by nomoreexcuses:

you can also get a DUI on a motorized bar stool

It's the home-made version of the cooler scooter.

oh oh i want 1 of those!

wonder what itll top out at?

vroom vroom vroom

The guy said it tops out at 38! Me likey.

Spirochete, If it makes you feel better, those cyclists who only use cycling for exercise are at higher risk for bone loss.   Just think, while your squats are making your bones stronger, theirs are wasting away as they ride. 

It's not so bad here in the burbs where there's usually a shoulder for them to ride on or room to pass.

This is one problem with "public" roads.  I'm sure there's a free market solution to this somewhere.

To me, riding in traffic is just plain nuts.

This is a funny thread and I know and like (in a CC way) many of you posting here....

I feel the same way about the cyclists who really do seem to hog the road and are almost asking you to hit them. However, I really like my bike and moved last year from a place that had a 30plus mile bike path to a place that has nothing like that.

Spent the whole year last year scared to death to ride my bike, because of fear of DEATH or worse , because I know how I do completely asinine things behind the wheel.

I am not able to run like I want to and walking is boring to me-so this last Saturday I went out and did 30 miles on my bike on roads. It was great-a better workout than the flat bike path too. But I definitely know that if I get hit by someone doing 60 miles an hour I am dead. It's a risk I have to decide to take each time. Personally I wouldn't ride at rush hour and there are certain roads I wouldn't go on. But that won't help if I'm on a country road and the driver of a car doesn't see me because they are texting or putting on mascara (both of which I have done behind the wheel).

Also enjoy riding on the back of my BF's motorcycle and may get my own some day. Doesn't make me a Hell's angel. And I have no respect for anyone who is an ass on a motorcyle.

Actually I have no respect for anyone who is an ass on a bike, motorcycle or car. Wouldn't it be great if we all could just get along?

For me, I try to spend the warmer months paying a little better attention. Peace out and have a good day.

Original Post by nomoreexcuses:

you can also get a DUI on a motorized bar stool

 The guy who did this has no front teeth.

mmm...nothing like tight spandex in the morning.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by lalalacheesejah:

but I seriously don't understand why they (cyclists) can't use bike paths/sidewalks. 

Um, maybe because cycling on sidewalks is illegal

Original Post by lalalacheesejah:

You are wasting our tax money!

What money is being wasted? Cyclists pay taxes which go to construction and maintenance of roads the same as people who drive cars do, they have every right to use the public resources their tax money goes towards.

Original Post by lalalacheesejah:

Roads were built specifically for automobiles. 

 This is false.

 Roads were designed and constructed to cater to automobiles, not bikes. That is pretty obvious. Sorry you are oblivious to that.

If cycling on sidewalks is illegal, then perhaps they should find a bike path to ride on.

I understand that cyclists are tax-paying citizens too, but our taxes go to support their little needs, like biking everywhere they go, by building paths specfically for them. So if they are not using them, then tax money is going to waste in a way.

And I never said that cyclists have no right to share the road with drivers. I just said that I don't support it.

uh...wow.

my brother rode one back and forth to work because he couldnt afford a car

and there werent any bike paths

he was killed by a hit-and-run driver who was apparantly more interested in their own "little needs" than in owning what they did.

#34:

When a lot of roads were built, people were driving horse and buggies.

srsly.

not all cities have bike paths. most rural areas don't, which is why all states have traffic laws that govern the movement of cars and bikes on our roads.

cyclists might use bike paths when the path will take them where they need to go, but use roads when a bike path is not an option.  there are not bike paths that go everywhere that people need to go.

and if you're saying that cyclists have just as much right to the road as drivers do, and that you don't support cyclists having any right to the road, then may i recommend a course at a community college to help you make more coherent arguments?  either logic 101 or composition 101 should be of help.

Original Post by lalalacheesejah:

I understand that cyclists are tax-paying citizens too, but our taxes go to support their little needs, like biking everywhere they go, by building paths specfically for them. So if they are not using them, then tax money is going to waste in a way.

 You know what else grinds my gears?  Pedestrians!  Sheesh!  Why don't the buy a car like everyone else and drive where they need to go.  I'm tired of my tax dollars going to build things like sidewalks and crosswalks.  If you want to walk somewhere, buy the land between here and there and build your own darn sidewalk... 

And don't even get me started on those silly school-zones...  Those kids should be on buses!  What parent in their right mind would encourage their kid to ride a bike to school or (*gasp*) walk...

Original Post by lalalacheesejah:

And I never said that cyclists have no right to share the road with drivers. I just said that I don't support it.

 How can you not support it?  It's environmentally friendly, it's healthy, and it's not a drain on our natural resources (gas).  Cycling is not going to go away.  Cycling is actually getting bigger.  The US is actually behind in this.  Check out some of those European countries.  We are moving in that direction.  Maybe if we all supported it, we'd get more bike lanes built faster so that car drivers would stop complaining about it already.

i know right!

freakn pedestrians!

Oh, dear! I am so sorry. You have all made me see the error of my ways! Let us please make a huge deal out of a few simple statements that you happen to disagree with. Oh, gosh. This is just too much. Let us blow things out of proportion. Ha.. Isn't it funny how some people take such offense to something?

I'm not trying to be insensitive to the topic. I am just stating my opinion. If you take issue with this, then I suggest you do not puruse the forums. The people arguing with me...you seem pretty ridiculous to get involved with such sarcasm. It makes people think you have a sour attitude. Oh, but that is right...You don't care!

I just feel that it is annoying when a cyclist holds cars up, which happens a lot on the one-lane roads in my area. Simple enough.

Oh, I absolutely support cycling for the environmental reason. And the health reasons. Yes, I am aware that that contradicts what I said earlier, but hey, people are multi-faceted. I actually wish I could bike everywhere. However, I feel that it is unsafe to share the roads. For me, it is just impractical. If there were an better network of bike paths then I totally would bike places.

I simply dislike how they hold up traffic.