Old 08-08-22, 10:53 AM
  #21  
chaadster
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Originally Posted by cyclezen
Trying to understand your post... but do agree on the point of 'our own worst enemies' - which I use for all humans, not necessarily just cyclists...
There is a fine balance between asserting our legal rights and obligations as roadway users, but un-thinking, un-caring motorists only takes 1...
I'm not shy in assertiveness, but because of this nature, I'm also trying hard to be thoughtful and NOT putting myself into a confrontational situation with a high likelihood of not turning out OK for me.
I don;t believe I/all cyclists are 'responsible' for poor motorists and their poor decisions, BUT...
Education, advocacy and infrastructure have made huge strides. And that improvement has come for riders who have survived for some time, most motorists who have learned to adapt, share, and even 'become' us. But all it takes is 1, and judicious use of shared resources increases your chances to ride another day.
Again, not an 'ethical' concern - if you're on a highly trafficed road, with tight lanes, no shoulder - what are your chances with a conga line of motor vehicles behind you, all going 15-20 mph?
Is being (at best) ridden off the road a good outcome? Are you willing to count on the 'goodwill' of motorists behind you? Most road with no shoulders also don;t have 15 ft wide main lanes...

It's not acquiescence, just sense.
Ride On
Yuri
EDIT: 'Salmoning', I took to mean what happens if one rides in loose dirt, off the roadway, with 'road' width tires and sometimes even mtb tires - I won't ride for much distance like that.
... how we 'position' on BF is often different from how we are in 'real life'..... LOL!
I’m not sure I follow what you’re asking about, so I’ll retiterate that if you take any premise of the OP, e.g. it’s reckless to ride on roads without shoulders, or any point the OP made, e.g. that cyclists are obstacles on the road, I simply disagree and think the entire perspective is wrong-headed. Further, with the irony that the OP finds it better to “salmon,” i.e. ride against the flow of traffic, in violation of road use laws in many, if not all states, underscores the OP’s wrong-headedness.

If maybe you’re asking me whether some roads are better to ride on than others because of traffic volume and road design, well yes, of course that’s true. As for drivers’ “good will,” I don’t think that’s at all to do with anything; is it good will that a driver doesn’t run down a pedestrian? It’s decency and sanity in my mind, and yeah, society works because we have some of both, which also give rise to laws and the general desire to abide by them.

In any case, I certainly don’t feel the rule of the double-yellow is any more inviolate than my right to cycle on the road, so yeah, sometimes both drivers and cyclist need to make concessions. That’s just how life works anyway, irrespective of whether a bicycle is involved.
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