On Being called the "Spandex Menace"

[lgibster]

A letter to the editor of the Little Rock paper this week was titled "The Spandex Menace" referring to cyclists here in Little Rock. Since they won't list a link please bear with the long story, but I would like your opinions on how our cycling community should respond to people such as this. I both cycle, walk, drive and use all the roadways and multi-use paths in this city. We don't really have any dedicated "bikes only" paths they are almost all multiuse paths. We also have a few bike lanes.
The story reads:
"The Spandex Menace"
A plague has decended upon Little Rock and beyond. Not locusts or frogs, but the helmeted, multicolored, spandex-wearing, two-wheeled variety of pest, hundreds of which spill out of every park and back road and onto our major highways.
It would appear that the many miles of special cycleways so generously afforded them are not enough.
Entirely self-absorbed, they are concerned about no one's safety and comfort but their own, even though they are clearly at greater risk of death or injury than the more legitimate road users.
Of course, it would not occur to these selfish fools that their presence on major roads constitutes a grave hazard to motorists as well as to themselves. Driving is dangerous enough these days without adding swerving cyclists to the lethal mix.
I believe the law should demand that all cyclists confine themselves to the many designated cycle paths in the city and surrounding area and stay well away from motorways.
Many years ago, when fewer cars exhisted, it was relatively safe for cyclists to share the roads with the formerly much slower motorists. These days it is sheer madness.
Finally, I should add that cyclists are almost as much a menace to pedestrians as they are to motorists.

I won't put the gentleman's name that wrote that letter, but I hope he is never behind me on a road.

[Eden]

sigh.... there will always be folks who view bikes as toys and not as a legitimate means of transportation.. and even if it is recreational, should we then also demand that every motorist who is not on the road for a vital reason also stay home (or at least walk or take public transit for recreation) - forget going to a restaurant, the movies etc in your car cause you're just blocking it up for "legitimate" users..

Cyclists are not the menace.... we don't kill 30,000 some people every year... we *certainly* don't kill motorists... You'd be very hard pressed to find any reported accidents where the motorist was harmed by avoiding a cyclist...talk about a straw man....

[lgibster]

A couple of other ladies that ride our river trail system and I were discussing the article as we sat at one of the busiest spots on our river trail system...the Big Dam Bridge. We all agreed that this type of person clearly has never ridden a bike and only see us as a "menace" as he called us. We also agreed that we all know cyclist like this guy described....those who weave in and out of stopped cars, ignore stop signs, speed down hills and past pedestrians without so much as an "on your left". As well mannered cyclist we don't like them any better than he does, but that doesn't represent most cyclist here in our city. Most are careful on the river trail or avoid it at peak times. I never go on the bridge on Saturdays between 10 and 5 due to the heavy pedestrian traffic. However, our group also wished that more people would get on a bike and experience the hazards that we face every time we ride the trails. Some of the common problems we experience include, dogs on zip leashes that cross the entire path, kids without helmets riding their own bikes and weaving on both sides of the path, people with ipods so loud they can't hear your warnings, and most of all kids whose parents let them run wild down the path in both directions no caring that they are running out in front of bikes.

All of that being said we were wondering of other places offered events where kids and their parents can come and get proper safety instruction on how to ride and walk the trails safely. I think with effort on both sides improvements can be made. We recently had a safety program along our river trail system for everyone that uses the trails. Do other cities have education programs and if so we would love to hear about them.

[Irulan]

I'm going to be the devil's advocate here. Some cycling groups do create real problems and for some drivers it is intimidating and frightening.
My mom lives in Sonoma County, and use to live on a a very popular rural cycling route. It's windy, slow, and barely two lanes wide with no shoulder.
Cycle groups routine ride three and four abreast on this road, never dropping into single file so that vehicle can go around them - for miles. I view it as consciously obstructing traffic. For an elderly driver, or a driver lacking confidence to pass a group of cyclists on a most likely blind corner -you bet a group of cyclist can be viewed as a menace or other. Some cyclists do plenty to NOT serve improving the way they are viewed by the public.

[Pace]

Sounds like another great piece of literature coming out of central Arkansas. I would love to see what he would think of all the bicycle-friendly additions that are being made up here.

Like mentioned earlier, this guy probably had a bad experience with the wrong type of cyclist and has generalized that behavior to all cyclists. The article sounds like it was written as a means of venting after a negative experience. If he was dumb enough to sign his real name with that article he'll probably only be adding fuel to the fire that he has built it up to be.

[lgibster]

I'm going to be the devil's advocate here. Some cycling groups do create real problems and for some drivers it is intimidating and frightening.
My mom lives in Sonoma County, and use to live on a a very popular rural cycling route. It's windy, slow, and barely two lanes wide with no shoulder.
Cycle groups routine ride three and four abreast on this road, never dropping into single file so that vehicle can go around them - for miles. I view it as consciously obstructing traffic. For an elderly driver, or a driver lacking confidence to pass a group of cyclists on a most likely blind corner -you bet a group of cyclist can be viewed as a menace or other. Some cyclists do plenty to NOT serve improving the way they are viewed by the public.

I agree with you. Those are the cyclist the ladies and I were talking about while watching them negotiate traffic around the river trail. They don't care if they are 3 or 4 abreast. Maybe we need to educate our own cyclist on how to put forth a better perception to the public so we may all be able to ride safer and in a more friendly manner.

Pace..... I love what Fayetteville is doing and the entire way the trail system is looking up in NW Arkansas. I lived in Fayetteville for 7 years and wish the trail system had been that developed when I lived there. I am looking forward to riding those trails sometime maybe this fall.

[smittykitty]

I'm picturing him now, out of shape, limited cardio, maybe a bit of beer belly and definitely a RED neck!

[lgibster]

I'm picturing him now, out of shape, limited cardio, maybe a bit of beer belly and definitely a RED neck!

Lol. Or he could be a snooty sports car driver who himself is a menace darting in and out of traffic and zooming along only to get mad when he gets caught at a red light.

[Geonz]

Big group rides *can* be a menace. On the other hand, this guy *clearly* believes that just being on the road is not legitimate. When that kind of thing happens around here, we respond with a letter thanking the community for being such a generally good one wiht drivers who recognize that bicyclists are legitimate users of the road, and that roads are, after all, the paths constructed for the public to get to destinations and often the paths don't go there, and often they're not appropriate b/c they're multi-use paths (something tells me y'all don't have a network of buffered, protected bikeways that will get folks everywhere). I might throw in that we don't try to confine all drivers to the INterstate because some of them are speeders, and that when folks like this get as exercised about drivers exceeding the speed limit and being much more of a menace (35,000 traffic deaths a year), I'll consider listening to them.