Anonymous wrote:We had one in our community recently. Also windy, hilly, curvy roads - a very, very dangerous location in which to mix bikes and vehicles. The cyclists had the bald faced gall to call it a fundraising ride for a terrible disease. It's a calculated maneuver to legitimize the fact that they want to have a nice bike ride in a beautiful location and they don't give a rat's ass for the inconvenience they create for the locals. At best. In fact, I rounded a curve once to find an 18-wheeler barreling towards me ON MY LANE. Why was an 18-wheeler traveling in the wrong lane? Because the driver rounded a curve, encountered two idiots riding abreast of each other, and in an effort to avoid striking them, the driver quickly moved over to the wrong lane. I was forced to drive my car into a deep ditch to avoid a head-on crash with an 18-wheeler. Do you think the cyclists stopped and offered help? The same cyclists to earnestly state they're riding for a charity to end cancer? Not a chance.

It's time to call their bluff.

I hate to be the harbinger of bad news. If this could happen once it could happen again. A real collision of this kind could be the end of these races.

^^What I'm saying is, the cyclists created the road hazard, they should pay the price, not innocent folks.

The cyclists know exactly what they are doing. They don't care. They even got local governments to pass laws allowing them to ride abreast.

If I had been a distracted soccer mom on the way to a game with her kids and their friends, the results could have been disastrous. Do you think the cyclists would have taken responsibility for the resulting tragedy? Guarantee they would have hidden behind the law like the cowards they are.

Plenty of ire for the 18 wheeler. He should have taken out the cyclists. What if I had been a soccer mom with a bunch of kids in a van?

There is no excuse for the road hazards cyclists create. None whatsoever. To attach a charity to their fun ride is disingenuous. You know that perfectly well, but you're not about to change your behavior, are you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had one in our community recently. Also windy, hilly, curvy roads - a very, very dangerous location in which to mix bikes and vehicles. The cyclists had the bald faced gall to call it a fundraising ride for a terrible disease. It's a calculated maneuver to legitimize the fact that they want to have a nice bike ride in a beautiful location and they don't give a rat's ass for the inconvenience they create for the locals. At best. In fact, I rounded a curve once to find an 18-wheeler barreling towards me ON MY LANE. Why was an 18-wheeler traveling in the wrong lane? Because the driver rounded a curve, encountered two idiots riding abreast of each other, and in an effort to avoid striking them, the driver quickly moved over to the wrong lane. I was forced to drive my car into a deep ditch to avoid a head-on crash with an 18-wheeler. Do you think the cyclists stopped and offered help? The same cyclists to earnestly state they're riding for a charity to end cancer? Not a chance.

It's time to call their bluff.

Did you have cancer? This wasn’t a road safety charity or MADD.

Also, where is the ire to the 18 wheeler driver, who should not be barreling around corners and passing in incorrect lanes. It is their job to drive to road conditions and not make risky moves. You should have gotten his company information. Charity ride roads are marked, so he was not paying attention to the possible hazards.

Anonymous wrote:We had one in our community recently. Also windy, hilly, curvy roads - a very, very dangerous location in which to mix bikes and vehicles. The cyclists had the bald faced gall to call it a fundraising ride for a terrible disease. It's a calculated maneuver to legitimize the fact that they want to have a nice bike ride in a beautiful location and they don't give a rat's ass for the inconvenience they create for the locals. At best. In fact, I rounded a curve once to find an 18-wheeler barreling towards me ON MY LANE. Why was an 18-wheeler traveling in the wrong lane? Because the driver rounded a curve, encountered two idiots riding abreast of each other, and in an effort to avoid striking them, the driver quickly moved over to the wrong lane. I was forced to drive my car into a deep ditch to avoid a head-on crash with an 18-wheeler. Do you think the cyclists stopped and offered help? The same cyclists to earnestly state they're riding for a charity to end cancer? Not a chance.

It's time to call their bluff.

Did you have cancer? This wasn’t a road safety charity or MADD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bellringer.org/

Is it this one, OP?

Yes. And to answer the other question, when it's happened before, I could not even turn out of my neighborhood. The signs went up today but it's almost as if they are concealing what's going to happen--there's a tiny line on the sign with the group name and that's it. I am involved in community events/government and there is no effort to warn residents that there will be disruption.

Take a look at the image of the start on the website. It is a huge group and these are not the speedy cyclists who work out every weekend. This is a charity ride with lots of slow people.

The ride is raising money for cancer research. I can understand your frustration having to go slowly behind some cyclists for a few minutes leaving your neighborhood over something as silly as raising money for cancer research. It’s honestly worse than a Stalinist gulag.

And only a tiny amount of the money coerced from friends and families is actually given to the charity. most is claimed by the sponsors. That's the shameless part of these things.

As a current breast cancer patient at the Georgetown Lombardi Center, which is the beneficiary of this ride, I am grateful it exists. Says it was started in 2022 and has raised $4.3M for cancer research so far. Sign me up.

Roads do not only exist for cars, and the speed limit is just that - a limit - no one is entitled to travel unfettered and the limit at all times. You live in society and sometimes that means sharing.

Anonymous wrote:I would call the police non emergency number and make sure they have a permit.

This is one reason I hated working in a downtown area of a large city; every Saturday there would be some damn race and I would have to park a mile away.

NP. This, above. OP, it's after the fact now, but I'd talk to the police non emergency line and maybe ask to speak with a community liaison officer if they have one for your area (my town does have them). I'd point out that this happens repeatedly---it does, right? -- and that day-of-event notice increases the danger to cyclists and drivers alike.

When there's an event that closes or affects roads around me, it's publicized all over the place well in advance, and for one event that closes down my street each year, we get a letter a month ahead of time. I know, we're fortunate. And these aren't hilly, narrow, semi-country roads where the risk is much higher. I'd contact tha police liaison. You'll have better luck getting the police's interest, though, if you are sure to be very cool and calm and not bring up any extraneous stuff about whether it's a legit charity, or whether it's just slow "amateurs" blah blah as in some posts here. Stick to "This creates a hazard that seems to pop up without warning, and advance notice would increase safety," if you want the cops to take your concern seriously. Deal with what you can deal with, because you can't keep them off the roads entirely, but you can point out the hazards of their utter lack of notice and their lousy signage.

Anonymous wrote:Cyclists have to be the most entitled group of miscreants ever created. Imagine thinking you are so important that it's ok for you to impede traffic for your own amusement.

+100. The majority don't follow rules of the road or obey traffic signals.

This is an hour or two of your year?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bellringer.org/

Is it this one, OP?

Yes. And to answer the other question, when it's happened before, I could not even turn out of my neighborhood. The signs went up today but it's almost as if they are concealing what's going to happen--there's a tiny line on the sign with the group name and that's it. I am involved in community events/government and there is no effort to warn residents that there will be disruption.

Take a look at the image of the start on the website. It is a huge group and these are not the speedy cyclists who work out every weekend. This is a charity ride with lots of slow people.

The ride is raising money for cancer research. I can understand your frustration having to go slowly behind some cyclists for a few minutes leaving your neighborhood over something as silly as raising money for cancer research. It’s honestly worse than a Stalinist gulag.

It’s a vanity project so some people can get together and have fun. This is not how cancer treatments are developed.

You’re a lovely person. Do you hate babies too?

What a disingenuous and moronic comment. I agree with pp. These types of charities are vanity projects.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bellringer.org/

Is it this one, OP?

Yes. And to answer the other question, when it's happened before, I could not even turn out of my neighborhood. The signs went up today but it's almost as if they are concealing what's going to happen--there's a tiny line on the sign with the group name and that's it. I am involved in community events/government and there is no effort to warn residents that there will be disruption.

Take a look at the image of the start on the website. It is a huge group and these are not the speedy cyclists who work out every weekend. This is a charity ride with lots of slow people.

The ride is raising money for cancer research. I can understand your frustration having to go slowly behind some cyclists for a few minutes leaving your neighborhood over something as silly as raising money for cancer research. It’s honestly worse than a Stalinist gulag.

It’s a vanity project so some people can get together and have fun. This is not how cancer treatments are developed.

+100 This is so true.

Cyclists have to be the most entitled group of miscreants ever created. Imagine thinking you are so important that it's ok for you to impede traffic for your own amusement.

Who owns the streets in your neighborhood?

Anonymous wrote:Remove the signs or flip them.

^^^ THIS ^^^


Orr print your own. Hilarity ensues.