mrblue

It's been unseasonably warm and sunny, in San Francisco these days!

Global warming? Maybe. What this means is, there are more cyclists commuting at any given moment in the City by The Bay. On the one hand, as a car-lite cyclist, I love the idea of more people getting out on their bikes and making it a part of their daily routines. However, on the other hand, this means the bike lanes are now jam-packed with cyclists. And there are more cyclists out there riding in ways that could be considered endangering toward their fellow cyclists, pedestrians, and even motorists.

I know I shouldn't let a few bad apples ruin the whole bushel, but I really get annoyed when I see another cyclist run red lights and almost hit pedestrians, or cutting off/riding too close to another cyclist in a way that puts them both in danger. And there's no apology from the offending riders. It's behavior like this that makes me really loathe other cyclists.

Sorry, just griping. Does anyone else feel this way sometimes, or am I just getting old and curmudgeonly?

modernjess

When I drive my car i frequently take alternate routes to avoid heavy traffic even if it takes more time. Same as on a bike, if you are annoyed by traffic take another route.

mrblue

That's probably a good idea. I've already done a couple of times in the last year, but I guess I'll do it again.

winston63 

I don't generally have this gripe, though during bike to work week things can get a little crazy. I try to maintain a positive attitude towards it though - more cyclists is a good thing overall despite some of the negatives you observe.

The one minor gripe I have is that many of the places I ride to haven't kept up with demand in terms of bike racks/places to lock your bike up. It's pretty clear that more and more people are riding now and I often have a hard time finding somewhere to lock up.

Currently we're experiencing a minor cold snap (nothing major, things are just hitting freezing at night and hovering above that during the day). But that's enough to keep a number of people off their bikes so I'm finding the roads and MUPs are fairly empty at the moment.

joeyduck

I also tend to find other side routes when the main east west route I use gets too busy on the nice days and bike to work week. Too many shoalers and weavers.

I feel comfortable to ride on busy roads so I have almost any route possible to me, only a select few road I would not ride on.

I was surprised to find so many people out yesterday actually. There were only a few today in contrast.

spare_wheel

I've been violating red lights almost every day for about 30 years and have never harmed a single soul.

mcours2006

Depends on the time of day and the situation. I know that motorist hate cyclist because many of them run red lights blatantly. My morning commute starts usually at 530AM. This early there is very little traffic, so when I come to red light I will slow down to check traffic. There is not a car in sight, I run the red light. If there are cars, there is usually just one or two. I wait for them to pass then I run the red light.

On the commute home I generally wait for a green light along with other motorists. There is more traffic and it's much harder to get a gap long enough to cross safely on a red light. I am not reckless when it comes to these things.

Fishmonger

I wish I saw another commuter now and then. Where I live, I only ever see roadies occasionally. I wave to them, but they usually ignore me because I'm wearing a shirt and tie instead of lycra.

mrblue

That's good that you've never hurt anyone, by running red lights. I hope you continue to stay safe.

mcours2006

Roadies can be commuters? No? I was one today.

Rick@OCRR

My commute starts at about the same time as yours but I stop at all red lights and even slow down a lot for stop signs (sometimes practice a track stand for a bit!). I agree that motorists hate cyclists because many of them run ride lights and I'm finding I'm feeling close to the same way more often.

Yesterday, actually on the ride home, there was a young fixed-gear rider ahead of me, running all the red lights and stop signs. Motorists were probably confused why fixie-guy blew threw them while I stopped . . . I did eventually catch and pass him on a long stretch without traffic signals (I could shift gears, hence my advantage).

But . . . I still found this scoff-law annoying, yet "hate" seems too strong a word to use. Kind of just pissed me off a bit, I guess.

Rick / OCRR

TransitBiker

Meh. The more the merrier, just gtfo my way.

- Andy

spare_wheel

So...they hate use because we run stop lights but not because we run stop signs.

Fascinating.

takenreasy

An alternate route is the way to go. Unit it gets cold, and even then, there are a lot more commuters on my long way to work. Luckily I like taking the shorter way which I see basically the same three to four diehards all year long. There are still baby strollers, runners and dog walkers on the short way until it gets cold though.

wolfchild

The same for me. When I leave early in the morning I can run through a lot of red lights without any problems. During afternoon rush hour it would be suicidal to even try riding through a red, way too much fast moving traffic.

chephy

I think internalized "misocycly" (hatred of cyclists) is a contributing factor.

When a certain group is not a "default" one, generalizations about that group are often made based on behaviour of a small handful of its representatives (usually ones that do something objectionable). Cyclists are not the default, therefore they will be judged more harshly and their poor behaviour generalized more readily to the whole cycling population. This post provides some morbid fascination with the parallels between cyclists, who are an oppressed road user group in North America, and groups opressed in the society at large.

Another possibility is that maybe I just need to go to bed. Tiiii-red. Strange ideas floating around my head. Except that the parallels are obvious, no really, aren't they?

LokiWolflord

I wear lycra and I wave at (almost) all cyclists (see point e below), no matter what they're wearing. I especially wave and smile at people who are dressed in street clothes and riding 40#, single speed cruisers. It takes balls to ride in California on any single speed bike, much less a crazy heavy bike like a cruiser. I commute 30 miles a day, 3 to 5 days a week, depending on my wife and son's schedules.

Around here, most cyclists do wave. I figure that the ones that don't wave back (or at least give the obligatory head nod) are:
a) Focused on their training regimen to the point that they don't notice other people
b) Generally not sociable
c) Not cycling for fun or transport, but because they are "serious cyclists"
d) Near sighted and are wearing non-prescription sunglasses because it's bright as hell around here
e) Talking to voices that cannot be heard by anyone else because they are crazy

It's best to identify the last ones before you wave or say "hi" because, you never know what will set them off.

By the way Fishmonger, I just got my 2015 Fantom Cross at the end of last week. I've put 200 miles on it already and I absolutely love it.

krobinson103

I don't go out of way to be sociable when riding unless I happen to be riding with people I know. Its just the way I am. I'm usually on a mission to go someplace far and know I have limited time to do it, or commuting thus time limited.

noglider 

It seems that lots of governments are noticing that more people want to move around on bikes than before. Some are putting in facilities. Some are starting to enforce laws. It's almost shocking here in NYC to see a few cyclists stop at red lights. That's a new thing.

Cycling against traffic causes more injuries than all other cycling violations combined. And it's rampant here. So many people think it's perfectly OK. Law enforcement has started to give citations to cyclists, but I wish they would just stop doing that except for wrong-way cycling. Get the word out. Maybe it will happen one day. Hey, a person can dream.

NYC is a pretty lawless place. The mass of pedestrians moves like flowing water, in all directions, wherever and whenever possible. A red light means don't walk or cycle if someone with right of way is coming. But if no one is coming, go right ahead. This is fine with me as long as people are considerate, they are too often not. My approach is to stop at red lights and wait and look. When my movement disrupts no one else's movement, I proceed. I even make sure not to make anyone nervous.

Motolegs

If you were wearing lycra, they'd still ignore ya!

Null66

NICE explanation of the human condition.

Funny how almost ever single driver speeds, then complains about others "getting away with" something they can't...

alan s 

Fewer and fewer around here every day as the weather turns cooler. The way I like it.

Fishmonger

Love it!

I'm going to be in Cali this week. I wanted to bring my bike with me to check out riding in a more cycling-friendly area, but I'm flying there, so it won't work out. Too bad. We could've waved at each other.

Archwhorides 

I'm sorry it's been so nice in SF that the roads are too cluttered. ;-) Beantown is wetter and colder right now with reduced ridership, and fewer scofflaws. :-)

I only run lights at locations where there is never cross-traffic, and where a light should not have been installed in the first place (in my opinion). When I do run a light, I'm sure to check for cross-traffic, pedestrians and Coppers first.

There is a special place in Hell for cyclists who run cross-walks with pedestrians in them.

cobrabyte

There's always walking...