Chalupa102

Last night i was coming back from music practice at my Church. Usually i take the bicycle, but there were T-storms in the area, and i also needed to fill up my car and get gas for the lawn mower. I was about 1/2 mile from home on my road and i saw 3 bicyclists ahead, probably from the campground down the road. They were riding like complete clowns; swerving all over the place and acting extremely unpredictable. When i got closer, they all got to the right side in a single-ish line still kinda swerving. I watched them very closely and passed with care. As soon as i was past, i saw them swerve back out into and all over the road in my mirrors. I parked my car in my driveway and as i was walking to my house, i heard someone honk their horn. I got in and my dad told me that he just saw 3 bicycles fooling around and guessed that the car was trying to go around them. We went outside and saw a car about 1/4 mile down the road stopped and the 3 bicyclists, who were having a conversation. Not sure if it was the same car who honked and not sure if there was any confrontation going on. We couldn't hear what was being said.

It makes me wonder if because of those 3 being idiots, if now that driver has a bad taste in his mouth or a negativity for bicycles. Also, is that person going to take any rage that they might have on the next bicycle they see, which might be me riding down the road?

I'm not gonna worry about it or lose any sleep over it. It just makes me wonder if bicyclists like that screw it up for the rest of us riding correctly and trying to follow the laws the best we can.

Mr IGH

I was drivng the other day and a motorist didn't stop for a stop-sign, then on the highway there was another driver that was tailgating and swerving all over the place trying to pass other cars in a very un-safe manner. Got off the highway, was on a rural road and a farm machine was hogging the entire lane and a bunch of the on-coming lane, I could hardly pass him, had to ignore the double yellow around a corner, I was in a hurry!

ghettocruiser

What will it take to give 20-yr old male drivers of black BMWs with tinted windows a bad name?

Seattle Forrest

So I think the handful of posts above mine have the right answer, expressed in the form of sarcasm. And I think sarcasm is the most natural way for people to express this idea ... because this comes up pretty often.

If the person got out of the car to have a conversation of some kind with the cyclists, they probably won't have any lasting rage from the incident. You didn't see any punches being thrown, or anything like that, so it's probably a level-headed individual, who probably told the cyclists more or less what you just told us.

But more to the point: there's no reason to think the goofiness you saw gave all drivers a hatred for cyclists. That one motorist has his or her opinion, which probably didn't change all that much today, but other drivers are different people, and have their own thoughts on the subject. On the same note, cyclists are individuals, too; hating all of them based on the behavior of a handful doesn't make sense, either. What's going on is something like the Hatfields and McCoys; Jeb insulted your sister, so you need to kill someone in his family. Anyone will do. Once we turn on that primitive us/them part of the brain, "them" stop being individuals. If those three cyclists can give me a bad name when I didn't even know they existed until today ... then oh well, I guess.

chipcom 

White guy robbed a bank yesterday. I hate when white guys give the rest of us white guys a bad name.

dynodonn 

Off topic: Chip, your poster of TLJ's sheriff character portrayal still has a lasting impression on me from his dark, sobering, and "not feel good" movie. Definitely not a movie for the Bruce Willis yippee ki yay crowd.

bhop

Good idea.

Chalupa102

I definitely see all of your points. I was originally thinking about this because there's so few cyclists in my area, which i'm sure would make no difference. I guess i should have worded it better than i did. I was kinda thinking irrationally at the time.

DArthurBrown

in Corvallis, we have bike lanes on both sides of the street. Everyday I see one joker biking in the wrong direction on the wrong side, pissing off cars and other cyclists.

Or even worse, the joker is on a skateboard, which are confined to the sidewalks.

Mr IGH

I always blame it on the bartender that over-served me

Digital_Cowboy

Don't worry about it too much or lose sleep over it, but I can't help but see how the motorist isn't going to come away from that encounter with anything but a negative view towards cyclists. Sadly it's human nature that if we can't take our frustrations out on the one who caused them that we are likely to take them out on the next person to cross our path.

And stop and think about it this way, why are there so many laws being put into place to limit where we can and cannot ride our bikes? It's because a person on a bike inconvenienced someone in a car. They got all upset (whether it was deserved or not doesn't matter) they circulated a petition to "get something done." Once they got enough signatures on their petition they presented it to their elected officials telling them "something needs to be done about this." S/he writes up a bill and presents it. It gets enough votes to pass and it is than given to the governor to sign, and the next thing you know there is a new law saying that bicyclists can't do this or they have to do this.

I think from what has been said that that is pretty much what has happened here in Fl in regards to bike lanes. And we now have a new mandatory bike lane law that goes into effect September first.

Someone saw some cyclists who were not using the bike lane and were riding in a manner that they didn't lik, approve of or was appropriate. And so they either got a petition started or they contacted some elected offical who agree with them that "something" needed to be done, and we now have a MBL in Fl. And sadly it won't matter to the person(s) who were "inconvenienced" if the person(s) on the bicycle(s) were acting in a legal and safe matter all that will matter is that they were "inconvenienced" and thought that what the cyclist(s) were doing was dangerous and that they need to "protected" from themselves. Especially if they aren't going to take their safety seriously.

We've seen it with LEO's, they think that just because they view the actions of a cyclist to be dangerous and unsafe that they must be and that the cyclist "needs" to be protected from themselves. Couple that with the fact that probably a lot of cops don't really fully understand the laws as they apply to cyclists and we really do have a dangerous situation.

I-Like-To-Bike

Oh the horror! Bet it really super duper works on nanny boys' panties getting bunched because the "joker" doesn't wear a helmet too, eh?

SunnyFlorida

Were the cyclist teens? If they were, would you think drivers would lump an experienced and/or adult rider with very, very young ones?

Not to say that being a young biker automatically makes you: unpredictable, immature and an inexperienced rider. But hell, the ones I usually see swerving all over the road - on purpose - are usually teens.

If a driver developed a gripe against cyclists because of that, then I would think the driver already had one in the making.

Dchiefransom

Hey, at least they singled up.

B. Carfree

Okay, I get annoyed at the folks who feel justified harassing cyclists because "they all break the law" when the fact is that damned near every motorist breaks the law on every trip. That said, this posting is just what I was thinking today. On a narrow cat. 3 hill I came upon an older cyclist (in his 60s) who was weaving a bit. As I approached him, I commented on his jersey; he didn't respond. As I went to pass him he weaved across the double yellow. I was already on his left, so I had to go to the middle of the oncoming lane to complete my pass. As I went by I said something in the way of a greeting (he was the first cyclist I had seen all day and this was mile 100). He almost fell off his bike. He was completely unaware of my presence (in spite of my loud comment on approach) because he had earbuds in. So, now every car that passes me will have passed him first and he's weaving all over the road, not paying any attention and can't hear approaching traffic. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I had several buzzings from passing motorists during the 10 miles I was on that road. I usually have at most one bad passing event on that stretch. Maybe it was just a bad day, but I wonder if the motorists weren't taking out their frustration at having to deal with a crappy cyclist on the next cyclist they encountered.

closetbiker

I wonder what the chances are of those 3 idiots on bikes hurting someone?

When motorists complain to me about cyclists breaking rules, I always point out

1) motorists break rules too

and,

2) cyclists rarely hurt people like motorists do when they break them

Roody

In this case, it sounds like the cyclists were swerving when no other traffic was present, then moving to the right to let cars pass.

I think the OP has very high standards for what he considers "acceptable" conduct. He needs to loosen up a bit, IMO, or at least quit imposing his own standards on everybody else.

closetbiker

it sounds like a lot of motorists who complain about cyclists who "break all the rules"

They too, seem to have high standards that they never apply to themselves.

Seattle Forrest

I hate having to pass a cyclist with earphones.

Digital_Cowboy

Roody,

Would you consider the same behavior to be acceptable if it was done by a motorist or person on a motorcycle or scooter? I mean hey IF no one else is on the road why not drive anywhere on it and in any way that one feels like?

Seattle Forrest

^ I think that's why people typically learn to drive in empty parking lots. No one else is there, so it's ok to mess up.

Mr Danw

God forbid three adults were having fun on bikes!

chipcom 

I never forbade any such thing. Say...are you a white man, per chance?

Rollfast

Rollfast

Why are we comparing Orange Krates and unleaded anyway?

Why is there always the implication that there is mortal sin involved in being human?

Why is there Entertainment Tonight when the skies have stars beyond measure?

Why AM I asking all these dumb questions?