Cyclists -- Why do you hog the road even with a large shoulder?

[Anonymous]

Many of the cyclists here are assholes, many of the drivers are assholes. Because we live in an area where most of the people are self important assholes. They drive on the shoulder, don't signal for lane changes, refuse to move out of the left lane if they aren't passing, don't understand how to merge, and generally don't care about anyone but themselves. It should come as no surprise that this attitude carries over when those same people get on a bike.

[Anonymous]

Nothing says, hi, I'm an angry repressed white male more than being a cyclist in DC or the inner suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing says, hi, I'm an angry repressed white male more than being a cyclist in DC or the inner suburbs.

??

What a stupid and racist comment.

[Anonymous]

my husband is a cyclist and I agree with 9:15

[Anonymous]

maybe I should be posting in the relationship forum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know where this pull to the right nonsense is coming from

Cyclists have a right to the road just like cars

I blow through stopsigns and treat traffic lights like yields but I always check first. I used to obey all traffic laws but in DC no bikers actually wait at red lights or come to a full and complete stop at a 4 way stop so I joined the local customs.

It does amaze me watching some bikers blow through without looking. Thats asking for a serious accident.

I love the bike lanes in DC. Its tough riding in downtown I tend to avoid it if at all possible. Sometimes there is no choice and its pretty dangerous. I have a right to be on the road.

If you don't follow the rules of the road, then you don't have the right to the road like other cars.

Different poster here, and I agree.

Drivers, for the most part, follow traffic laws.

Cyclists, for the most part, don't. Which is why I don't believe they should be on the road.

That is why they are so infuriating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know where this pull to the right nonsense is coming from

Cyclists have a right to the road just like cars

I blow through stopsigns and treat traffic lights like yields but I always check first. I used to obey all traffic laws but in DC no bikers actually wait at red lights or come to a full and complete stop at a 4 way stop so I joined the local customs.

It does amaze me watching some bikers blow through without looking. Thats asking for a serious accident.

I love the bike lanes in DC. Its tough riding in downtown I tend to avoid it if at all possible. Sometimes there is no choice and its pretty dangerous. I have a right to be on the road.

If you don't follow the rules of the road, then you don't have the right to the road like other cars.

Different poster here, and I agree.

Drivers, for the most part, follow traffic laws.

Cyclists, for the most part, don't. Which is why I don't believe they should be on the road.

That is why they are so infuriating.

As long as I followed the rules, I don't care. STay out of my way if you don't want to get run over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know where this pull to the right nonsense is coming from

Cyclists have a right to the road just like cars

I blow through stopsigns and treat traffic lights like yields but I always check first. I used to obey all traffic laws but in DC no bikers actually wait at red lights or come to a full and complete stop at a 4 way stop so I joined the local customs.

It does amaze me watching some bikers blow through without looking. Thats asking for a serious accident.

I love the bike lanes in DC. Its tough riding in downtown I tend to avoid it if at all possible. Sometimes there is no choice and its pretty dangerous. I have a right to be on the road.

If you don't follow the rules of the road, then you don't have the right to the road like other cars.

Different poster here, and I agree.

Drivers, for the most part, follow traffic laws.

Cyclists, for the most part, don't. Which is why I don't believe they should be on the road.

That is why they are so infuriating.

BS. Try to drive at the speed limit. In most of the region you will be tailgated and honked at frequently, and always passed. Probably 90% of drivers speed, but we consider speeding less than 10MPH over the limit as "not really something to worry about" Cyclists almost never exceed the limit. OTOH the other hand they are more like to treat stop signs as yields, and red lights as stop signs. Because bikes and cars are different.

(of course in addition to speeding, probably at least 50% of drivers fail to signal turns consistently, and a big minority regularly proceed through stop signs just the way cyclists do, and more turn right on red without stopping - and of course some run reds, etc)

[Anonymous]

BTW, I guessed this was about MoCo.

I live in inner NoVa, ride there and in DC. Nowhere on my commute, and nowhere I regularly ride, are there shoulders suitable for riding. Pretty much everywhere there is parking adjacent to the general travel lanes.

There are places where there are striped bike lanes, that are unsuitable for riding for various reasons, some mentioned above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because I have the same right to the road as you. Deal with it.

And obligations. Don't forget your obligations that accompany your rights, including the obligation to move to the right when you are traveling below the speed limit and allow traffic to pass so that you are not impeding traffic.

The obligation is to move as far to the right as is safely practical. If the lane is too narrow for someone to safely pass me in it (as is true on the majority of roads in this region), then riding far enough to the right to be passed in lane is not safe, and riding in the center of the lane is safer.

Near where I live there is a road with very wide lanes (and no on street parking) , and there I ride all the way to the right. Ditto on quiet streets that have no center line, so they are effectively one big lane (though I do ride far enough left to avoid being doored). But on a standard lane that is less than 12 feet, I ride in the center of the lane - between my width, the 3 feet needed to pass, and the width of most motor vehicles, there is no room for you to pass me in lane anyway. I try to avoid slowing faster moving traffic by "releasing the lane" (going into an empty parking lane) when it is safe to do so (but often it is not - I need room to come back into the general travel lane safely) or simply by trying to avoid such streets, when possible, at least on the uphill. I can go fast enough on the flat, you won't be that delayed on a 25MPH street if you only are behind me a couple of blocks (that is assuming you only drive 25MPH on 25MPH streets)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know where this pull to the right nonsense is coming from

Cyclists have a right to the road just like cars

I blow through stopsigns and treat traffic lights like yields but I always check first. I used to obey all traffic laws but in DC no bikers actually wait at red lights or come to a full and complete stop at a 4 way stop so I joined the local customs.

It does amaze me watching some bikers blow through without looking. Thats asking for a serious accident.

I love the bike lanes in DC. Its tough riding in downtown I tend to avoid it if at all possible. Sometimes there is no choice and its pretty dangerous. I have a right to be on the road.

You are doing it wrong. An Idaho stop, as defined in Idaho law (and the few other places it has been made legal) involves treating a stop sign as a yield sign (NOT blowing through) and treating a red light as a stop sign (not as a yield sign) While there are many who do what you do, I would say the vast majority do "proper Idahos" and rarely do what you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I really have no problem with a cyclist who takes a whole lane, as long as there is another lane available to pass. If there is only one lane, then the cyclist should yield to cars that want to pass by riding either on the shoulder (if safe) or as far right as possible. Cyclists should never ride side by side, unless on a road with very light traffic, like a back country road.

And I do agree with the PP who drew a contrast between the "cyclist" in their lycra outfits vs. someone on a bike ride. The "cyclists" are really the problem here.

1. The rule I think in all local jurisdictions, is that cyclists may ride two abreast.

2. I see folks in ordinary clothes doing far more dangerous things on bikes than the lycra clad do - riding in the wrong direction, riding at dusk or later without lights, and riding on sidewalks that have pedestrians, when the street is a better choice. The lycra clad are in fact generally riding safely - just not as conveniently for you.

[Anonymous]

I have a cousin who is temporarily living in Germany. He is amazed at how nicely the Germans treat all cyclists. He is not looking forward to coming home because he enjoys his commute to his job by bike!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Different poster here, and I agree.

Drivers, for the most part, follow traffic laws.

Cyclists, for the most part, don't. Which is why I don't believe they should be on the road.

That is why they are so infuriating.

You must not drive anywhere in DC or nearby. The violations of even the most basic traffic laws (stopping at stop signs and red lights, yielding to pedestrians, running reds, speeding, illegal lane shifts, failure to signal) is rampant and the enforcement non-existent. This is not to justify cyclists' failure to abide by rules, but the suggestion than somehow drivers around here are saints is utter and complete BS. And I am driver and cyclist who fears drivers far more whether on my bike, in my car, or just walking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They do it because they can. They are making a point - I can "take the lane" and there is nothing you can do about it.

The point I make when I do it is "use a little caution when you pass", which motorists don't always do. And to give myself a bailout if one of them fails to - I'd rather have a few feet of shoulder to play with than just the granite curb.