Rant Away.

Cyclists. Are they their own breed?

Recently decided to get an e-bike and use it to work. My impression of certain types of cyclists before I became one myself on a daily basis was that some of them are doing this is with their life on the line. I usually refer to them as wannabe Tour de France cyclists as they take the ride itself as a work out and have to go as fast as possible.

Initial impression after using a bike regularly for 2 weeks is just the same. It took 3 days before I saw the first cyclist on the side of the road, having crashed into a vehicle. Others had already stopped to help him as well as the driver of the vehicle itself so I simply went on my way. The place it happened it requires no effort to break the speed limit for cars on a bike. All experience I have so far is that every damn cyclist does this, with WTdF riders going fastest of them all.

A few days later another WTdF yells at me after nearly crashing into me. I was nearly standing still as I had just come around a corner with little visibility. Again in a place where the speed limit is only for vehicles and cycling on a smaller road with worse quality than the one for vehicles is the perfect place to break it. Why on earth do you have to go so fast in places not meant for high speed? It's like they are playing russian roulette.

Anything that makes your blood boil? Let the anger flow through your fingertips, onto the keyboard and tell us.

@horgen:

What is WTDF?

Lol i could comment a LOT on this topic. Chicagos a big cyclist city.

@heirren: I'm going to take a guess here. So, I think he means "what the duecing ****."

wannabe Tour de France

@Chutebox: Bingo.

@horgen:

Thats old school. Those people still exist but have been sort of pushed out by congestion, at least in chicago

It's the trendier thing to do here. A different form of midlife crisis I guess. The absolute lack of concern about their own safety and others make them dangerous. It hurts if you are hit by cyclist going 30-35 mph.

@horgen:

It was big in chicago around 10 years ago. What happened were the lanes became far more congested. People still do it in the more traditional places, but believe it or not it happens on regular streets, usually on the weekends.

Ive been in a bike on bike accident where i was cut off by one of the Lance Armstrongs. Those types of collisions are almost always really nasty.

I dont view it as a midlife crisis. Personally i find it inspiring when older folk are biking or running the lake path(so long as they dont have total disregard like you say). Many of these 60ish year olds are in better shape than the 30 somethings working downtown chicago.

Over where im at the dangers are more as a whole. Pedestrian/cyclist/car relationship. Nobody has any respect so its become rather unpredictable in that x has no idea what y might do because theyve seen x do everything, every which way.

Cyclists bring my blood to a boil. I can't stand them. I wish they were forced to use the sidewalks. It's easier for someone walking to step aside than it is for vehicle to dodge those bastards. The other day I was driving home and I was stuck behind a cyclist. Then when we made it to the intersection he waved his arms allowing me to take the rest of the lane. Thank you very much! I really appreciate the gesture. It's not like there's a lot of other cars that you're holding up. Cyclists are a selfish breed.

Cyclists are fine if they actually followed the rules of the road i.e. stopping at stop signs, signaling, using front/back lights, etc. It's pretty annoying to see since I grew up in a city where everyone biked and I learned the rules for biking when I was a kid. You'd think they'd be more cautious since they're the ones most likely to get seriously injured or die in an accident with a car.

@SOedipus:

Im not sure where youre from but in chicago the majority of cars do not even yield to pedestrians.

I say midlife crisis because many of these are in their late 30's to mid 50's. Now that the bikes has the same break mechanism as cars, and these are not shielded, they act as knives at higher speed when they hit flesh.

The relationship between cars and pedestrians here is pretty good. There are some unwritten rules that makes traffic flow for both. Cyclists wants to be counted as both while following none of the rules. F that.

@horgen:

Theyre not inherently evil people, theyre just oblivious that theyre being a-holes. I dont ever get riled up over things like that. What i worry about more is when i see younger kids riding wrecklessly just like i did. The majority of adults in traffic are just oblivious, and so are the riders, and so are the pedestrians, and so over here its me, me, me.

I agree about the majority having disregard for others. There are exceptions, and when they happen, the communication is usually that of surprise.

I like seeing older people pushing themselves. Thats a bold assumption to make about people.

@horgen said:

Cyclists. Are they their own breed?

Recently decided to get an e-bike and use it to work. My impression of certain types of cyclists before I became one myself on a daily basis was that some of them are doing this is with their life on the line. I usually refer to them as wannabe Tour de France cyclists as they take the ride itself as a work out and have to go as fast as possible.

Initial impression after using a bike regularly for 2 weeks is just the same. It took 3 days before I saw the first cyclist on the side of the road, having crashed into a vehicle. Others had already stopped to help him as well as the driver of the vehicle itself so I simply went on my way. The place it happened it requires no effort to break the speed limit for cars on a bike. All experience I have so far is that every damn cyclist does this, with WTdF riders going fastest of them all.

A few days later another WTdF yells at me after nearly crashing into me. I was nearly standing still as I had just come around a corner with little visibility. Again in a place where the speed limit is only for vehicles and cycling on a smaller road with worse quality than the one for vehicles is the perfect place to break it. Why on earth do you have to go so fast in places not meant for high speed? It's like they are playing russian roulette.

Anything that makes your blood boil? Let the anger flow through your fingertips, onto the keyboard and tell us.

• Social Media
• Selfies
• Smartphones
• Today's weak ass music I wouldn't even call it music at this point
• The fact that recreational Marijuana isn't legal in NY what a embarrassment my State NY suppose to be trend setting not backwards they make me sick so pathetic
• Today's wrestling no more bad asses just a bunch of nerds that do high spots so much cringe with modern wrestlers
• Today's movies are mostly horrible everything is a remake or a reboot and most of them suck
• Paid off Politicians that hurt the people
• quack doctors
• Dirty cops

I could go on forever so much shit to hate so little time.

Well for me, it would be people's total lack of regard for library orderliness. I can't stand people that pick books off the shelves and don't even attempt to put them back where they's supposed to go. The alphabet isn't hard. If it's nonfiction, it's numerical, even easier. I also can't stand, simply can't stand, parents that don't watch their kids at the library. We're a LIBRARY, not a daycare.

As a daily cyclist, what I'm getting from this thread is...

I NEED TO GET A FASTER BIKE!!

I like the sound of that.

@SOedipus:

Nah, thats uptight. Driving around with anxiety. Gotta feel bad for people like that.

The format of this forum is making my blood boil.

@warmblur: How do selfies annoy you?

And piss of more people?

I never said evil. If anything they are extremely egoistical and selfish.

My impression is that drivers are mostly angry at cyclists because they are afraid of hitting them. (myself included when I drive) They approach fast yet are small and difficult to notice in traffic as well as difficult to judge their pace.

The feeling is mutual, trust me. You people have almost killed me while I had the right of way. You have huge roads all to yourself and still you complain about the few little cyclists. You're the ones to complain about.

I find them obnoxious I see them as people trying to show off especially the ones taken in dangerous situations or places.

@ezekiel43:

Depends. What city are you riding in? I still dont whine or complain or get riled up over any of it.

@horgen:

Didnt mean to imply that you did. I just see a difference between the evil and the oblivious, but i suppose all evil people are oblivious by nature, anyways.

The difference between car and cyclist is the driver has scratches on the line, the cyclist has their life on the line. You have to remember that the cyclist has more to be aware of: pot holes, pedestrians, car doors, and cars not obeying the law.

Ah, cyclists. They are under the impression that the street is theirs. They think they're as fast as cars and slows down the traffic. When they don't warn you while coming from behind and almost hits you (on sidewalks without specific bike lanes), it's your fault for not knowing that they were there and moved out of their way. Confront them about it and you will be called retarded. I have no idea why they think there's no laws for them, and I have no idea why the police don't do anything about it.

I could go on, but I'm just gonna sum it up: Most cyclists are idiot assholes.

This list almost sounds like I wrote it myself.

Recreational marijuana should be legal everywhere on the planet.

Wrestling I've always found to be a dumb thing for dumb people. Grown ass men/women acting like they're fighting. Utterly ridiculous.

Old people, I don't like some old people. I meant old people who are maybe past 80 or 90. They are too much. They kind of hold you down because they pretty needy and you know, old. Also, you have to be careful around old people because society will think you as a bad person.

Maybe, that is why many of them are in nursing homes without any family visitors? I guess people get tired and too busy with their own lives that they forget.

@watercrack445:

Haters gonna hate.

I can understand that I can't really defend it because of how bad it is lol not all wrestling fans are dumb though but I can see why you would think that. I had the same mentality growing up but then I got hooked on it because a wrestling video game got me interested in it.

The height of wrestling.

Personally I hate downtown. I hate driving through it, I hate the stupid events they hold there half of the weekends in the Summer, and I hate that it's difficult to park and most of the parking spaces are taken. From a business' standpoint, why in the hell would you put your business in a place where it doesn't have its own parking lot? It's straight-up stupid.

I've lived in a city for four years, and every year I have less and less of an intention of ever doing anything in the city except passing through it. I get why everyone wants to live in the suburbs.

@heirren:

The Ultimate Warrior And Macho Man were amazing.

I have the kind of personality where I like to provoke people who I think behave like morons... Like WTDF-people for example. When I'm on my e-bike and see one of those sorry people pedaling up a slope, then I always take the opportunity to overtake them while looking as careless as possible ?

I'm cool with cyclists. I give them right of way. It's the obese car driving people that make my blood boil. Fat asses that wont give cyclists an inch on the road, because their diabetes makes them angry.

Dear cyclists,

I'm driving a vehicle that weighs two tons, traveling at a mile a minute. You're peddling a vehicle that weighs a few pounds, offers you precisely no protection from anything, and for a lot of you only achieves 15 miles an hour with gravity assist. If you want to live, don't run out in front of me without even looking when the light is green for me and has been red for you for over a minute; you can stop a lot easier and with a lot shorter distance than I can.

I am not even going to feel the least bit of remorse when I'm explaining to your family that you ended up paralyzed for life, if you're lucky, because you're a moron who failed to understand basic physics or traffic law.

Signed,

A law-abiding driver

Delivery vans on bike lanes because who gives a shit.

Moms with strollers on bike lanes because looking like an idiot is cool I guess.

Retirees crossing over without looking, and you can forget about using the bell, maybe a train horn would work.

Then there's these teenagers on roller blades with earbuds, same thing, bell doesn't work, but at least you can rip out their earbuds and give them a nice little scare.

And of course the car drivers that are yet to discover bike lanes. That's why I actually feel safer cycling on the road.

@baelnergal:

Its still wise to have some degree of awareness.

People text while driving and believe it or not, the cyclists do it too.

@sonicare: I dont mind them if they are following the traffic laws. But breaking so many laws and generally being so inconsiderate of others makes me hate them. Sure it is easier to stop and start again with a car than a bike, but again you are not alone on the road. It takes one person with the right of way and not seeing the cyclist to create an accident. Potentially fatal if that person comes in a car.

@horgen:

I get that and it is confusing for the driver. In fact id say it surprises the driver when the cyclist actually does follow the law.

Still, texting while driving is modern day DUI, imo. Now theres these scooters littered all over the city of chicago. No helmets, even the DIVY bikes dont supply helmets. Lawsuits incoming for sure.

What do you think of motor vehicles *using* the bike lane, like motorcycles motorbikes?

In chicago they arent even bike lanes, its more akin to "alternate mode of transportation" as there are bikes, electric skateboards, longboards, one-wheels, and now all these scooters.

@heirren: Imo helmets is a must have. I am seriously considering knee and elbow protection as well. It will probably look a little over the top in terms of protection for a regular cyclist, but given the increased speed due to some electrical help, the potential damage is higher as well.

If by motor you mean you need a license to drive it, I think they should stay out of the cycle lane. It is for slower moving “vehicles” that need no license.

@horgen:

Well i can tell you that i question the engine on some of these motorbikes as to whether they should be in there in the first place.

@heirren: Always a legit question.

The risk is very much not equal. If a car pulls out in front of me, usually they're risking totaled property, physical injury, and jail time. If a cyclist pulls out in front of me, they are always risking death.

And if a cyclist is stupid enough to be on their cell phone while going down the road, they are asking for a Darwin Award.

Yes, this seems harsh. But, this is a case where death comes very, very easily. The consequences of screwing up that monumentally are harsh.

@baelnergal:

Whats your point? Maybe you took the wrong impression from my post. Im confused.

I might have taken the wrong impression from it. I read it as kinda defending cyclists by pointing out a bad habit they share with cars. My point was that it's essentially suicide for them to have that habit.

I got another one. If you are driving in the left lane, go faster (unless queue in both lanes) than the cars in the right lane. How difficult is it?

I want a time machine I hate the preset take me back to the 90's this era is trash.

@horgen:

Thats how its meant to be, no?