Ugggh I so need to vent about the cyclists on/around my campus.

In Madison, WI, where I went for college, many streets went through the campus. Cyclists rode on the street, pedestrians were on the sidewalk... sure, plenty of people broke rules, blew stop signs, etc, but for the most part, cyclists seemed generally... aware.

Now, I'm at the University of Arizona for grad school, and rather than having mostly streets through the campus, there are a lot of wide sidewalks and bike paths, which are CLEARLY MARKED with icons for pedestrians or bicycles. All the time there are people walking in the bike lanes and biking in the pedestrian lanes (my favorite? walking a bike in the bike lane...).

Anyway, the paths through campus are an absolute nightmare during class-times, so I've taken to just riding on the streets. Because of the cycle/pedestrian 'segregation' in Madison, I feel much more in my element dealing with cars than pedestrians. So I merrily ride on the streets, signaling my turns (of course I'm not perfect at remembering but I do most of the time, especially at busy intersections), stopping at signals and stop signs (and getting passed by cyclists who have decided these silly things don't apply to them), yielding to pedestrians crossing, etc. But EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I see AT LEAST one person riding down the street while holding and talking on a cell phone. I even saw someone doing this once while riding AGAINST traffic on a street with no bike lane or shoulder!

I will admit to having talked on a cell phone while riding, once, in Madison. I answered my phone while I was biking on a path on a fairly non-busy side of town at a fairly non-busy time of day, ie I didn't encounter a single other human during the 30 seconds I was on the phone. HOWEVER. Riding down the street, completely ignoring traffic laws, and talking on a cellphone at 5pm in a busy campus area is just... so absurd.

Stuff like this almost makes me embarrassed to be a cyclist here, because I'm completely convinced motorists are probably somehow associating this foolishness with those of us who actually ride RESPONSIBLY and therefore holding some kind of grudge against me. I see dozens of cyclists around campus every day, but I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I've seen anyone, not including myself, signal a turn.

Things do seem generally better the farther you get from campus, as you tend to see less of the riff-raff and more serious commuters who tend to take traffic a little more seriously. But still.

ARGH UGH AAAAAAAAGH.

Ok, I'm better now.