Giving roadies a bad rep

[DeniseGoldberg]

I appear to be in the minority here because I usually do come to a full stop. I will admit that there are times when I don't put a foot down - that is, I do a kind of rolling stop - but that is only when it's a totally flat and clear intersection. I wish I could say that I never go through a red light - but there is one intersection on my travels that is always green for one of the roads unless a car approaches on the cross street. And I do mean a car - my bike will not trigger the light to change. If I come up to that intersection I come to a complete stop. I do cross on the red, but only when there are no vehicles in sight coming from either direction (and the speed limit there is 50 mph, so I don't head across unless there are no vehicles in sight!). Unfortunately, I believe that if I didn't do that I would be standing there waiting to cross until a car came up to cross the intersection...

Bicycles are considered vehicles (in the US, that is - per the motor vehicle code of all 50 states), and I believe that we need to be following the rules of the road.

I find for the most part that I am treated with respect by motor vehicles. Yes, there are the idiots out there who come to close, but I'd say there are more drivers who are respectful than not. And although I do not work (or ride) in a big city, the roads I take on my way to work are pretty heavy commuter roads. There is a section that I avoid because that section is driven as 4 lanes, the 4 lanes are tight with just the cars, and there is a curb rather than a shoulder. I prefer to avoid that section of road at rush hour, so I ride a couple of extra miles to get to the office.

--- Denise

[Veronica]

I was so p*ssed at myself our last day in Nova Scotia when I discovered partway through an intersection that I had run a red light. It was one of those T intersections. It was foggy and my I was wearing my glasses (stupid eye infection!) and they were fogged. I just could not see the light until I was midway through the intersection. I was perfectly safe, BUT I stop at stoplights - even those T ones - because we are vehicles.

V.

[SouthernBelle]

I think lots of us have had to go through reds after a stop. I was doing a charity ride this past spring and there were 8 of us in a left turn lane trying to get the light to change. We tried to get the car behind us to come up to change the light, but they were being nice to us, not understanding the problem. So we finally had to go when we got the chance.

[plantluvver]

I confess, I do not stop at every single stop sign. I do slow, and now I will usually stop if I think there is a car who sees me. I have always felt bad about this, but now that I've read that Idaho is allowing this, I figure it is reasonable behavior, even if not legal, and I have justification for it.

There is one traffic signal that I do not stop for, since it is a T and I don't receive cross-traffic, and there is a bike lane there. I do slow and watch, because you never know if a driver going too fast for a turn will stay in their lane. I rationalize this by thinking, it's not an intersection for me, because I don't think a bike would ever make a left hand turn at that particular spot. It is from Columbia Road Westbound, onto Portland Road. I am also going uphill at that point.

Last week, BF gave me a ride downtown in his pickup. (Bike was in the back, on it's way to get fixed ). He yelled at a cyclist, I didn't see anything wrong with what the cyclist did. But then, the guy came up between two lanes of cars lined up at a stop light. Having a cyclist come up from behind on my left side would spook me out. Now that I think about it, it could be there was a right hand turn lane (That"s the only RATIONAL reason for wanting to do that. )

Also, I have seen an increase in all kinds of people riding bikes. At first, I was glad to see them, but now many of them ride on the wrong side of the street, in a dedicated bike lane. There was one place that I USED to do this, for about 1/4 of a block. It just didn't make sense to me to cross the street twice in that distance to be on the right side. I no longer do this, because I don't want to be a model of bad cycling behavior for those "lowest common denominator'" newbies.

Mary

[tomgrrrl]

I always stop at red lights and am the dork who pushes the button for the pedestrian "walk" signal at some of them....as for stop signs, I don't stop if it's a four-way stop and I can see there is no traffic....although I do tend to slow down to insure that no one is coming. When cycling on single lane roads around tight corners with a car behind me, I also try to see ahead and signal for the car when it's ok for them to safely pass me.....when we respect the car drivers I think they respect us more....

[MomOnBike]

Actually, I'm having fun trying to make the lights change at an intersection near my house. I unclip both feet and "tap dance" on the metal lines in the road that sense the cars. I can generally get the light to change pretty quickly, too.


My daughter thinks I need to get a life. What does she know?

[caligurl]

i hate when riders think organized ride means take the whole lane and then some...

EVERY ride i've ever done tells riders to follow the rules of the road and ride single file.... now i can understand riding 2 across WHEN IT'S SAFE TO DO! and when they still stay to the far right.... but there are always those that take the whole freakin' lane!

stagecoach back in january was like that... 3 or 4 riders would ride across the lane.... and block the cars behind them.... granted... it wasn't a busy road... but that doesn't give us riders the right to block it like that!

this past saturday at palomar... i noticed the same thing.... several riders riding across the whole lane! there were times i wanted to pass (ya.... go figure! me passing others instead of getting passed! but i digress!) anyways... they'd be riding in the middle of the lane or 2-3 of them spread across an i practically had to go in the oncoming lane to pass the jerks!

there was one point i was behind 2 guys riding down the middle of the lane completely ignoring the truck that came up behind them blowing its horn.... UGH!

as for stop signs.... if i can see there are no cars coming... i slow down a bit and look very carefully both ways! we only have 2 red lights in out town... and i rarely go by them... if if i do... yes i stop for them... cuz both are busy intersections!

[Deanna]

If I come up to that intersection I come to a complete stop. I do cross on the red, but only when there are no vehicles in sight coming from either direction (and the speed limit there is 50 mph, so I don't head across unless there are no vehicles in sight!). Unfortunately, I believe that if I didn't do that I would be standing there waiting to cross until a car came up to cross the intersection...

Denise - I'm not sure about the rules in all states, but I recently took a bicycle safety class here in CA and was told that if a light won't change for a bicycle, it is considered defective and you can't be ticketed for going through it (if it's safe and there are no cars of course).

I obey all the traffic rules also, though do tend to commit a California stop in the stopsigns in subdivisions--I unclip though I may not put my foot down. In the same class mentioned above, our instructor, while not encouraging us to run the signs, pointed out that a lot of stopsigns, especially those on residential streets, are "political stopsigns" - the neighborhood felt cars were driving too fast and demanded a stop sign, when a yield sign would have been just as efficient. You just need to make sure you're ready to stop.