Bicycles

[prog]

It may seem strange, given the reasons for it, but recent events have led me to read, write, and think more about bicycling, and I've decided that it's now not entirely unlikely that I will obtain a bike sometime in the nearish future.

An increasing number of friends have taken up cycling as an urban commute alternative over the last couple of years. And I used to do this same thing, way back in Florida, biking to school and around town every day, and I always enjoyed it. When I returned to New England for college (and all that came after) I just never thought of it again, even though I wouldn't start driving for another three years. Your guess is as good as mine. At any rate, I've lately become increasingly aware of all the time I spend walking, and as much as I love walking it'd be nice to be able to go a little faster when I wanted to.

I've started paying more attention to the (many!) cyclists I see every day as I walk around. I responded with skepticism when karlvonl commented earlier that most cyclists ignore traffic signals, but now the anecdotal evidence does seem to be mounting up. The majority of the cyclists I see seem to act as if they're just speedy pedestrians, looking both ways at intersections but then crossing at opportunity, no matter what color the light. I've never really noticed before, and I wonder if this is because most people expect cyclists to act thus.

For the life of me, I can't remember how I myself treated traffic signals back in high school. (I do recall that I rocked the manual turn signals something fierce, and this too is something I see many cyclists not bothering with around here.) I assume that all this stuff may be technically illegal but seldom enforced. The page on the topic at massbike.org basically takes the attutude "Aw, c'mon guys, you really should," and cites silly reasons for stopping (It gives you a chance to rest! If you blow through reds on your bike, you'll start doing it in your car!!).

Anyway, this isn't anything I'm gonna start tomorrow, but it's something interesting.

Comments

[keimel.livejournal.com]

a bicyclist called out to me to watch out as he careened past the crosswalk in front of me in about the middle of the street and sped past a stop sign to make a right hand turn without slowing down.

one outstretched hand. Don't hit the bike, hit the body.

Personally, I don't care when a car comes to a complete slow at a stop sign. For the loss of momentum stopping, cars lose that much fuel. I've started doing this myself. I stop when I have to though. But cyclists, they gotta obey the rules too.

I remember being in the cambridge area one evening when the hundreds of cyclists were out taking a midnight ride. Hundreds. One woman with her child on the back was bitching at some person driving his car in some manner (no lights? Dunno) but then every single cyclist, including the whiny woman, completely blew through a red light and then two subsequent stop signs.

"Let us be powerful cyclists and take back the roads. We will flaunt all traffic laws which will really prove our point"

I'm all for cycling. We should encourage it. Bike lanes, bike paths, bike awareness, etc, but there's a good lot of cyclists who just ride like assholes out there. And yes, they do ruin it for the rest of the cyclists. Your own example proves that out.

I find the majority of a**hole cyclists use clips (pedal clips, or straps), the normal ones don't. Any cyclist without a helmet is immediately suspect and I usually think they're either a former driver who got a DUI or someone who has their skateboard in the repair shop. There's too much stupid (from cars, cycles and peds) to not wear a helmet.


If I were commuting by cycle, I'd be in neon yellow or orange and have red strobes all over, day or night. And a whistle. And a loud horn. And a sidearm ;)

(j/k on the sidearm)