Originally Posted by
turbo1889
Some of his threads have been VC specific (like this one) but others also were per-tenant to those riding FRAP as well, the one about freeway style roads that are not freeways with swooped in on/off-ramps that make problems for any cyclist trying to use the road VC or FRAP riding is one that should stay in the main forum.
As to, Bekologist, oh please, please NO !!! I'm pretty solid in my beliefs myself, but I at least have the intellectual honesty to admit when the other side has a valid point, and I have done so more then once in my posts on this forum. That guy is like me only with hardened opinions on steroids ten times over and never even listening to anything anyone else says and always posting his party line "sound bites" over and over and over like a broken record. There are others on this forum as hard headed or more so then I am including some I've had strong disagreements with but someone who does nothing more then say the same "sound bite talking points over and over and over with zero intellectual honesty and is as bad or worst then a top level politician can grate on ones nerves whether you agree with them or not. The OP of this thread does seem to have "talking points" of his own but at least he isn't posting every other post in almost every thread with the same talking points over and over and over and over and never even acknowledging any potential argument on the other side. I could be wrong but so far I haven't seen any outright intellectual dishonesty from him. I could be biased of course since I tend to agree with him a lot more then I do with Bekologist but I certainly wouldn't say we agree 100% and I didn't always dis-agree with Bekologist on everything either.
Well, then let me be the first to say, "you have some valid points here." But regarding bshanteau's posts. Let's not be naive. These are threads with an agenda. Basically, he comes onto BF, drops a "take the lane" propaganda bomb and leaves it to all of us to respond and bicker. This thread will probably run for a while with the usual back and forth and then he'll drop another. It's a political strategy that works like moving a piano an inch at a time. If you don't have the strength or numbers to move it all at once just keep coming back and give it a push once in a while.
I've been around bike advocacy since the 1970's and this "take the lane" issue has been the single most divisive point between cyclists. It got us nowhere in the 1970's and locked us down right through the turn of the century. It wasn't until less bike-centric organizations like Livable Streets, whose focus is on creating urban spaces for people first with an emphasis on alternatives to the automobile that some tangible progress has taken place.
I grew up in Rhode Island and when I was 15 my friends and I vowed to not get a drivers' license and ride a bike everywhere (though I eventually got my drivers license I'm the only one still riding everywhere 44 years later). One great thing about Rhode Island is that the entire state and virtually every road fits on one map. We decided we would ride on every road on the map and we would mark them as we rode them. It didn't take long before we discovered that there were some roads that sucked for riding, some that were okay and some that were fantastic. The fantastic ones we would ride again and again and the really bad ones never again. The consistent thing about the fantastic roads was either a great wide shoulder that kept us from cars or roads that had as few cars as possible.
Yes, in an ideal world all drivers would behave responsibly, drive legally, be courteous and act predictably. In reality we have to contend with some very dangerous situations whenever we are in close proximity to automobiles. Strategies of "blocking their path", "holding your lane" sound good as theories but the whole VC thing never took hold because reality eventually creeps into the mix. Dogmatic bike riding strategies go against one of the strengths of the bicycle as a mode of transport- flexibility.
I'm often accused in these threads of promoting a "ride like
I ride" philosophy and nothing could be further from the truth. I advocate for flexible riding that fits the rider to the particular road they are riding on. This can vary from region to region and vary greatly within regions. I never make recommendations on BF's as to how to ride roads that I have not ridden personally. A Google street view is insufficient for me to draw any conclusions. Ride your own ride and take all internet advice with a big grain of road salt.