What's your opinion on Cyclists on the road?

[MTBikerTim]

I'm going to try not to rant on this but I would love to know what your opinions are on cyclists riding on the road? How do you approach them on the road? Do you approve of cyclist on the road or not?

[jnev]

When I drive they don't really bother me... so it doesn't really matter if they are there or not to me.

[BP-Revo]

Cyclist as in motorcyclist or bicyclist?

I'm assuming the later, and I don't really mind them, but some of them ride very close (and sometimes IN) the lanes, which bothers me.

[lincpimp]

I usually only cycle in neighborhoods, where traffic is much less. That being said, I have been hit twice in 14 years. My first time was due to an old lady speeding the wrong way in a school zone. I now have no child hood memories (absolutely nothing) due to a massive concussion (that happened at age 8) and I have a few damaged disks in my back. At age 22 I was hit again, this time by a woman who ran a stop sign. No where near as fast as the first, and I saw it coming. Took some skin off my back, but no head injuries!

Personally, most people who are driving are not paying attention (too busy being sheep, or a waste of sperm). Who knows how many accidents I have avoided while driving. I always pay attention, to cyclists, and everything else. I know the circustances when a 2 ton object hits you. It sucks. i would hate to kill or maim someone due to my own negligence.

i dont mind them , but i have seen many who ride 3 wide on hte edge of the road , even though there is a bike lane..........

and i really hate the ones who pedal through a 4 way stop and give you the finger cause you start into the intersection and they didnt want to stop, ill share the road if they obey the rules of the road

[FG101C]

When they are on the road they should follow traffic laws as if they were in a car. This is rarely the case.

[bdebde]

Originally Posted by entjoles

...ill share the road if they obey the rules of the road

Exactly! But so many don't!

[MTBikerTim]

I have to agree that there are a lot of cyclists on the road who have a death wish when it comes to not obeying the road rules. You can't stoop to their level though because they won't kill you but you can easily kill them if something goes wrong. I ride by myself mostly to and from work and the scariest thing is when I meet another cyclist as you have no idea how they will behave. They often decide to race and do incredibly stupid things like run red traffic lights.

The riding multiple people across the road is something even as a cyclist I disapprove of if not appropriate but there are times when it is. When there is a cycling lane available the cyclist should use it and at least here you are required to by law (unless there is a good reason you can't). One reason cyclists do ride multiple across instead of in a long line is that people will drive up beside the group of cyclists and turn right (for those who drive on the right) on top of them. It sounds silly but it happens to me all the time and I ride by myself mostly, in a group it gets far worse and becomes harder to avoid an accident. Sometimes it helps to ride in the middle of the road to stop cars attempting unsafe overtaking manoeuvres as well.

I am glad that everyone here seems to not be bothered by cyclist on the road. Really how much do they really slow you down even if you do have to wait for them. Normally far less then even a minute. You could easily waste more time scratching your ....

[MTBikerTim]

Originally Posted by bdebde

Exactly! But so many don't!

It's a problem and it probably annoys me more then most as I cop the flack for other cyclist doing the wrong thing. My friend and I have abused other cyclists who have run red lights or done something else stupid. What normally happens is that we will have overtaken them or caught them a few hundred metres before the lights. They then run the red to either get in front or to stay in front of us. We then catch them later down the road and tell them off as we pass them again.

[wallot]

for this purpose my car is equiped with the ultimate anti-cyclists weapon -> windshield washer along with headlight washer :)

[Hickoryhead]

Originally Posted by entjoles

ill share the road if they obey the rules of the road

Thats a problem in itself. I cyclist has to obey the same traffic rules as a motorist here in the US but how many motorists treat a cyclist like another motorist? This means no passing the cyclist no matter how much room you have. I agree with you all about the stupid cyclists that never ride in the Bike lanes because they think they are special. I love to pull in front of them and slam my brakes on then get next to them and explain the road. I was hit on my bike when some one was not paying attention to where he or she was driving. Ran me over and ran away.

[rchippie]

Originally Posted by lincpimp

I usually only cycle in neighborhoods, where traffic is much less. That being said, I have been hit twice in 14 years. My first time was due to an old lady speeding the wrong way in a school zone. I now have no child hood memories (absolutely nothing) due to a massive concussion (that happened at age 8) and I have a few damaged disks in my back. At age 22 I was hit again, this time by a woman who ran a stop sign. No where near as fast as the first, and I saw it coming. Took some skin off my back, but no head injuries!

Personally, most people who are driving are not paying attention (too busy being sheep, or a waste of sperm). Who knows how many accidents I have avoided while driving. I always pay attention, to cyclists, and everything else. I know the circustances when a 2 ton object hits you. It sucks. i would hate to kill or maim someone due to my own negligence.

I have been hit by a car while riding my bike also . I try & watch but what really ticks me off is when they ride the wrong way. The law dictates that while riding a bike they are supposed ride with the flow of traffic & not against it, like alot of them do.

[Serum]

I cycle a lot (not so much during winter, during this season i drive my atb around the other day for a 60 km trip. (roughly 3-4 times a week, In the summer i cycle more) i respect bikers on the road. I stop for them if they cross my path, since i know it can be frustrating to hit full brakes if your on a go.

Since i bike in the winter, it's mostly dark if i go out; i use some bright LED lights (about 420 lumen on full power) this helps a lot. I also drive through a piece of forrest with an overpopulation of wild hogs.. They are scary.. Two weeks ago i had a close encounter with a large hog.. Amazing how fast man can go..

I also drive a lot for my work (car), i drive about 95,000 km per year. I see both sides of the story.

I read in a book of Lance Armstrong that you guys have got allmost no special roads for cyclists. (And the lack of respect you guys get on the bike from fellow road users who drive a car.) We do have them, and a lot of them as well. I remember if a place/vilage in the US has a road for cyclists, they advertise with it.. This is hilarious IMO.. (can't remember the name of the place, it was in Vermont) it was just a simple tarmac route for cyclists.. Too funny..

in many circumstances, a cyclist here has the same rights like a car.
Though you guys seem to have more respect to other road users in cars than for cyclists.

I love to cycle, but would "never" do it on the road with cars cause people are talking and texting, blackberrying these days...so my life is not worth an idiots mistake cause they were not even looking ...these people scare me daily in my car let alone on a bike ..

There have been at least half dozen people killed riding bikes here in Houston in teh past 3 or 4 years and these are just the ones where the driver never stopped.

I'm with austinmaxx, its too dangerous. I am getting to where I don't even ride my motorcycle here anymore.