Giving roadies a bad rep

[CycleChic06]

There's nothing that bothers me more than roadies who have a complete disregard for the rules of the road. I am a roadie myself and I take great pains to follow the general rules of traffic. Stopping at red lights and stop signs, signalling before turns, and just as a safety thing I try to do everything I can to let the cars traveling around me know what I'm doing as I ride. As a driver, I have an extremely high tolerance for cyclists on the road, as I can sympathize with them in heavy traffic and busy roads.

But I just can't stand it when I see cyclists flying through stop signs, running red lights, pulling out in traffic with out looking and countless other careless acts. It not only puts them in danger, but can also cause major accidents! And moreover it gives the rest of us a bad name. The majority of us are law abiding roadies, but these few idiots make the rest of us look bad. It's no wonder that many drivers have little tolerance for cyclists on the road when some many out there ride the way they do!

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, but please ride smart and follow rules of the road. Remember you're not invincible and are required to comply with the same laws as cars do.

Emily

[KSH]

When riding on the road, I ride with a group 95% of the time.

On our last group ride, there was this newbie... who insisted on riding in the lane NEXT to everyone else. So, we are taking up the entire right lane, and he is blocking the lane where cars are suppose to have room to get around us.

It pissed just about everyone off.

I talked to him about it and said that we wanted to make sure he would be OK... and not get hit by a car, so it would be best for him to ride in the lane with us.

He said, that he rode in the lane by himself... because his theory is that the one who DOES NOT get HIT is the one who STICKS OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB. So, for some odd reason, he figured that a car would go to hit a group of 30 cyclists, instead of hitting the idiot blocking his lane.

DUH! Yea, he gave us all a bad name that day.

[snapdragen]

On the ride I did this weekend, there was a three way stop by a general store. I had stopped at the store, then ran across the road to take pix. There was a group of riders stopped and waiting for a car to pass, when another group of riders blew the sign. One of the stopped guys screams out "Hey! It's a stopsign *$&holes!"

[jobob]

That's why I'm not too keen on big group rides anymore* - there always seems to be a few that ignore the rules of the road. It's too stressful and irritating to be around people like that.

*except of course for rides with the TE gang since we're all good cycling citizens [insert angel smilie here].

[pooks]

Um, I run stop signs in the neighborhood when there are no cars around. (Not when driving, but when cycling.)

On the other hand, when there ARE cars, I come to a stop whether I have the right of way or not -- I don't trust them not to hit me!

How bad am I?

[salsabike]

Pooks, slow at the stop signs when no one's there, even if you don't stop--just safer. You don't have to put a foot down, but slow and look, and you'll be fine (as long as cops don't hang out around there).

One of the not so great things in the Seattle to Portland ride this weekend: a couple of people who live in the area posted messages to the Cascade Bicycle Club board complaining about some groups of riders blocking the lane and making driving a really scary event. I hope it opened some eyes for folks. Here's part of one of the posts:

"A week before the start I crashed and trashed my shoulder and arm...against my judgement we drove the course from Kent to about
Centralia. Oh do I ever regret doing that. I will ride far differently after having had to drive past several thousand bikes. Magnify the riders feelings about
danagerous riding behavior and you will have an idea of the drivers feelings. Pullouts without looking. Pullouts with looking. Straddling the white line.
Stopped bikes forceing riders to swerve. I was in the green suv and spent as much time as I could driving in the turn lane! I don't think a fraction
of the riders had a clue as to how incredibly lucky they were to not have been hit. Too many ipods. Not enough mirrors. I will pedal much differently next year..."

On a happier note, there was an STP finisher with one arm. No legs, and only one arm. How cool is that??