Friday 3 January 2014

Cletus Asks Cyclists #6

What is your opinion of road cyclists?

i understand people do it as an exercise and a hobby, but many of them do not "share the road" like they are supposed to. it is very dangerous honestly.
...the ones in my area (a farm area) ride in the middle of the lanes and the cars have to slow down to 20 mph until the cyclists get out of the way. sometimes you have to beep because they are that stubborn.

My response. I must admit I lost my temper a bit with this moron:

What, do you really think that cyclists are just out there exercising and joyriding? I've been cycling for over 40 years and I've never done it "as an exercise and a hobby". I need to get to work, I need to get my daughter to school and I need to go grocery shopping, and the bicycle gets me all those places far more cheaply than a car ever could. A bicycle is a form of transportation. I mean, what sort of an idiot cannot see that a bike is a vehicle used for necessary commuting? Besides, even if it were not, why would that give cyclists any less right to use the road. The fact that you choose to drive a car does not give you special entitlement to the road. The road is for everyone to use as they see fit.

Cyclists are not supposed to move over so that you can squeeze by. "Share the road" doesn't mean that cyclists should move over. It means that motorists should stop bullying cyclists by passing too close. The phrase was supposed to be a slogan urging motorists to know their responsibilities to cyclists! Clearly it hasn't worked, because motorists, with their sense of entitlement, have skewed it to suit their bigoted worldview.

Cyclists are SUPPOSED to ride in the middle of the lane - that's where they are safest because that's where they are most visible. You are supposed to change lanes to pass. You are required BY LAW to slow down until it's safe to pass slow-moving vehicles. There is no right to any speed on the road - your speed is limited by the vehicle in front of you, to which you MUST YIELD until it's safe to pass. I mean, this is the very basis of road law.

Don't you people ever read your driver's manuals? I mean, jeez!

Go back to driving school. How do folks like you even pass your driving test?

2 comments:

  1. Actually, I'm glad the writer asked the question that way. In the future, if I think the motorist behind me is commuting or on an "essential trip", I'll try to move over if I can. If the motorist is someone travelling for recreation or hobby, I will treat them as a lower priority user and not give a rat's okole how they get around me.

    Howz that?

    ;-)

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  2. Where is "the middle of the lane" on a 1.5 lane road that has no lines? See http://dfwptp.blogspot.com/2010/08/lane-position-gone-wild.html I don't think Cletus was thinking of this, however. More likely he was driving a big red pickup with an "OU" sticker in the rear window. BTW, I do not recommend waving at any such AFTER being passed...

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