Post a controversial opinion

Thank you for illustrating precisely the sort of sanctimonious siege mentality that makes me not want to inconvenience myself for cyclists

I'm in Pittsburgh via Birmingham btw

Most of my friends are cyclists and I don't think I know a single one who hasn't been in or narrowly avoided a terrible accident

14-15mph is pretty fast, not sure I've ever seen a cyclist (excepting messengers) going over 8mph outside of a major metropolitan city

But, see, here's the thing: I, in all honesty, couldn't care less what you do and don't want to do. If I am in front of you, I have the legal right of way, and you will either ride behind me until you can safely pass me, or take another route. Just as you would with any other vehicle, be it a bicycle, another car, a bus, the Batmobile or a giant hamster ball. That's how the rules of the road work throughout the US -- the person ahead of you has the right of way until you can safely pass them. (I don't know about PGH or Pa. generally, but in Ohio you're allowed to cross a double yellow line to pass a cyclist provided the way ahead of you is clear and you don't have to exceed the speed limit to do so.)

Most of my friends are cyclists and I don't think I know a single one who hasn't been in or narrowly avoided a terrible accident

I personally know four who have been hit in the last two years. Two were hit by motorists making illegal left turns; one required shoulder surgery, the other knee surgery. One got off with just minor contusions. One was rear-ended at 65 mph and spent 10 weeks in a coma and had to learn to walk again this year.

Additionally, two people I knew only through other friends were killed when their group of five was plowed into by a pickup truck making a left who did not yield to them as they came towards him.

These were all the fault of motorists who also did not want to be inconvenienced.

14-15mph is pretty fast, not sure I've ever seen a cyclist (excepting messengers) going over 8mph outside of a major metropolitan city

It really isn't. I pulled 14mph for a solid 50-block stretch downtown this morning.

the tv show fargo is mostly pretty bad

I agree with u

I mean here's basically how I break it down to an extent: I ride in a manner that gets me where I'm going as efficiently as possible, and try when possible to make it easy for motorists to legally pass me. But if I need to take the lane for my safety, I'm taking it. At worst, I might delay you from your preferred speed for 10-15 seconds. At worst, you might kill me. So cool your jets.

Might as well start a new thread if this one is going to become bikes vs cars vs peds.

imo both are disgusting symptoms of a lack of good public transportation

I just want to walk fewer than two blocks to a transportation stop and then be able to ride to within two blocks of my place of work, without moving to a larger city. Make it happen, politicians!!

ULTIMATE DEATHMATCH - Drivers vs Cyclists vs Motorcyclists (vs Peda-cab drivers)

My hatred of cyclists can be traced to an exact moment.

I was taking a walk on the Brooklyn Bridge and this African-American family was standing in the bike lane so they could take a photo on what anyone would agree is one of New York's most popular and iconic of tourist sites. A white cyclist was BARRELING down the decline and just starts yelling "NO!" at them, like he was scolding a dog, without slowing down. Like it just put a sharp focus the fucking entitlement of these people.

Wow yeah you really nailed cyclists good detective work there.

I think you're confusing "cyclists" with "white New Yorkers."

lol was it someone from ilx on facebook who posted about some woman on the manhattan bridge backing into traffic while trying to take a picture wearing flip-flops? something about it looking like she was going to have a heart attack when someone honked

xpost A) It's the "post a controversial opinion" thread and B) I don't care?

I live in Cleveland, and no, I'm talking about people just straight up running the light. Or accelerating to TRY to be in the intersection at the yellow but being 2-3 seconds late. It isn't just you, though -- I have a friend who grew up in Massachusetts and he tells me he was shocked to see this from Cleveland (and other Ohio) drivers. He never saw it back east.

― Lauren Schumer Donor (Phil D.), Sunday, April 23, 2017 11:38 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tbf i lived in boston for 8 years and people blow red lights all the fuckin time there

imo the cyclist/driver/pedestrian conflict is locked in the mutual aggression stage and will be there for a long time until someone budges. maybe the electric bike people can form some sort of splinter

first couple seconds of red light is often treated just like a yellow light especially if you are making a left turn

i would bike to work way more if i wasn't terrified of ending up in the hospital

The "entitlement" of not wanting people to stand in traffic.

There is also a dedicated ped lane on the bridge y/n?

idk maybe yelling "bike lane!" or something relevant at tourists (or people acting like tourists) instead of barking "no!" at them like you're scolding an unruly pet might be useful

They were standing in the bike lane briefly to take a picture on a famous landmark, Phil, but I'm sure you also think Eric Garner should have been murdered by cops because he sold loose cigarettes

lol this is a great development for this conversation i'm glad it was a white biker yelling at black tourists and not vice-versa or it wouldn't be as wonderful for ilx controversial opinions thread

Dude, go fuck yourself. I mean seriously, rip off your dick and insert it in your anus.

I'm not going to excuse someone shouting something rude -- again, WHITE NEW YORKERS ARE NOTORIOUSLY ENTITLED CUMSTAINS -- but you would not excuse someone stepping into traffic on Fifth Avenue to get a better shot of the Empire State Building either, presumably.

It's amazing how you all are managing to find individual instances of either bikers or drivers doing really mean and dangerous things. Especially since both groups are made up of many millions of people

xp lol I saw people doing that all the time a couple weeks ago in manhattan and they got honked at and were like "oh shit!" and jumped back on the curb

like, they did something wrong, but it's something that's done wrong a hundred times a day

imo people who get offended by honking or dinging a bike bell or w/e in smaller cities need to just get the fuck used to it, it's normal behavior to tell people to pay attention

like if you're not going to excuse people saying something rude, Phil, there's no actual argument here? unless "NO!" isn't rude, but that's a different discussion entirely

no one's saying the family in the bike lane wasn't in the wrong, just that it's a minor wrong

one time I saw a cyclist who was a Knight of the Templar and he murdered an entire family

all without leaving the bicycle?

the bicycle was the instrument of death

Yes, it is a minor wrong. But cyclists are asked more often than any other road users to concede to uses of their very few dedicated lanes for things other than cycling, and it gets under the skin. (When I say "very few" I'm referring to where I live. I know it's different in NYC.) (Also I have also walked across that bridge and you can get a perfectly serviceable picture without exiting the ped lane.)(Where is Morbz with his "fuck tourists" shtick when I need him?)

Bike advocacy groups in Cleveland went to great lengths a couple of years ago to get a "no stopping in the bike lane" law passed, and it's never enforced. You would not believe the number of people who are practically willing to get out of their cars and fight cyclists over it when they complain. (SOME OF THEM ARE BLACK WHINEY WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCUSE ME OF SOMETHING ELSE HORRIBLY RACIST?)

when did this turn into morning shock jock radio

Nov. 20, 2002

If we were in 30's Berlin we'd all be Nazi's.
― Sylvestre, Wednesday, November 20, 2002 8:58 AM (fourteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's just about ethics in gaming journalism man

I feel like going anywhere by any means is basically a hate crime tbh

Personally I wear a mask to avoid inhaling insects and sweep the path in front of me to avoid treading on them. We all compartmentalize, though - this morning I killed thousands of germs with my morning mouthwash.

But cyclists are asked more often than any other road users to concede to uses of their very few dedicated lanes for things other than cycling,

the horror

Bike advocacy groups in Cleveland went to great lengths a couple of years ago to get a "no stopping in the bike lane" law passed,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gomCkCbKHA4

I resent other bicyclists when I'm biking but bow to their moral superiority when driving. I really don't miss biking to my old job in downtown just because it's really fucking annoying when dudes in $500 worth of bike gear need to go top speed in a crowded bike lane with numerous stoplights/crosswalks at 8:30 in the morning. And yeah, occasionally someone does something really assholish and I worry that he's inched up the likelihood of my getting killed by making a driver think we're all the same. Still doesn't equate to, I don't know, killing someone. Which of course is very rarely punished. This thread has a remarkable resemblance to local news comment sections, wtg.

Would you like to make 2000/week working from home?!!!

I've seen enough friends and friends-of-friends get maimed, injured and killed while cycling in the last ten years that it's impossible for me to be glib about people not respecting what little bike infrastructure there is, which apparently makes me Hitler or Bull Connor or something. But nice to see Whiney owning the "entitled cumstain" badge like a fuckin' pro.

Thread delivers, method of delivery not noted on docket

I don't think the entitled one here is the one defending a family's right to take a vacation photo without getting yelled at.

Guess which mode of transport I am using as I type this

People who cycle with their kids like they're mother geese shooing everyone out of the way and holding me up when i have like coffee to get and shit i hope a plane lands on the entire brood

canoe xp

Segway?

Xpost

XP sorry whiney u lose points there for not pointing out their race

Like a functional society that involves not murdering or injuring people should boil down to a very simple common sense equation:

Motorists should yield to cyclists, cyclists should yield to pedestrians.

Once you start constructing dipshit "b-b-but the rules" around roads being for tires or bike lanes being your spandex safe space, you can fuck off

Wow, fuck you for implying I would post while canoeing, mh. FUCK YOU

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