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Large group ride holding up traffic

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Large group ride holding up traffic

Old 05-15-22, 03:18 PM
  #26  
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There is a larger group that is much nicer to traffic, but it mostly stays on wide streets and goes like 24 mph on rolling hills. The hill climb group is more organized and blocks traffic more
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Old 05-15-22, 04:52 PM
  #27  
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You want to start a fight with a motorist, don't use the F-bomb, just say W A I T !

If it were 75 of anything else larger than a bike, they'd suck it up.... There are no secondary citizens (or road users). There are only inconvenienced motor heads acting privileged....

Oh, cyclists aren't "holding up" traffic, they ARE traffic!!!

Last edited by Digger Goreman; 05-15-22 at 04:56 PM.
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Old 05-16-22, 07:32 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Digger Goreman
You want to start a fight with a motorist, don't use the F-bomb, just say W A I T !

If it were 75 of anything else larger than a bike, they'd suck it up.... There are no secondary citizens (or road users). There are only inconvenienced motor heads acting privileged....

Oh, cyclists aren't "holding up" traffic, they ARE traffic!!!

Well, unless you're stuck behind an invading army, parade or funeral procession, when the hell are you stuck behind 75 of anything but bicyclists?

No one automatically has the privilege of restraining the other traffic in order to keep a large assemblage intact. Generally, other vehicles would have to get permits to get the special accommodations needed to keep the group rolling together.

Please spare us the empty "they are traffic" rhetoric. No one disputes that cars and trucks are traffic, yet they can and are ticketed for impeding the flow of traffic unreasonably.

This is obviously cyclists acting as privileged. No one else would expect everyone else to yield so they can maintain an unreasonably large group of vehicles. Sorry, but I don't recognize "75 of us think it's fun to take a ride together down a hill" as a use of the road anyone else should be required to accommodate. Responsibly sized groups and single riders obeying applicable traffic laws, absolutely, but the size of this group is completely unreasonable for where they're riding and how.
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Old 05-16-22, 07:49 AM
  #29  
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We'll agree to disagree....
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Old 05-16-22, 09:07 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by Digger Goreman
We'll agree to disagree....

No. (Just kidding.)
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Old 05-16-22, 02:11 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
No one automatically has the privilege of restraining the other traffic in order to keep a large assemblage intact. Generally, other vehicles would have to get permits to get the special accommodations needed to keep the group rolling together.
Uh. Funeral processions for one. At least around here, no “permit” required.

Otherwise, around here, motor traffic is more than capable of self-corking. No matter how much paint there is on the box they aren’t supposed to block.

-mr. bill
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Old 05-16-22, 05:14 PM
  #32  
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permits and government oversight is lame
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Old 05-16-22, 06:50 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
There’s a member of this forum who has done more than one Cycle Oregon on either a SS or fixie, although I believe he can flip the wheel for a lower gear. I actually climbed for a bit with him during the day from Ft. Klamath up to (and around) the rim road of Crater Lake in 2021.
Respect!!
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Old 05-16-22, 08:19 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by mr_bill
Uh. Funeral processions for one. At least around here, no “permit” required.

Otherwise, around here, motor traffic is more than capable of self-corking. No matter how much paint there is on the box they aren’t supposed to block.

-mr. bill

Weird you took out the sentence before the quote where I specifically mentioned funeral processions. Here's the law in MA regarding funeral processions: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/Gener...r85/Section14A

You may not need a permit, but you do need a body. You also have to follow a lot of very specific rules.
Funeral processions are the exceptional case, and it's actually quite regulated.

​​​​

And you can't seriously be comparing a funeral procession to 75 cyclists routinely rolling together up and down a narrow winding hill, are you? I guess they could sacrifice a loved one each time to qualify as a funeral procession so they could legally block off the road, but that seems a little extreme.

Blocking off the street just forlarge group recreational purposes is not something anyone else gets to do without prior permission. People want to pretend this is the same thing as individuals' rights to cycle on the road, but it just isn't.
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Old 05-16-22, 08:23 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by LarrySellerz
permits and government oversight is lame

Yeah, let's get rid of all road regulation! I'm going to deliberately drive on the wrong side of the road all day tomorrow just to make the point. Freedom!
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Old 05-18-22, 03:40 PM
  #36  
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Bicyclists need to hug the side of the road, I always have when traffic dictates that.
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Old 05-18-22, 05:37 PM
  #37  
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75 does seem a bit much. Our local groups tend to top out at 30 or so.

Riding single file would be pointless. There are a few spots where you might be able to pass if they're clustered but you could never do it if they were single file. Cars have to get into the opposing lane to pass and you would never have enough room before a turn or hill.

If you can't get past them, you wait until they get to a main road. Not more than 3 to 4 miles at most and usually less. Doesn't really delay a motorist that much. A group of 75 wouldn't be much different in that regard.

I ride solo myself, but the groups always pass my house as I live in an area with great roads for biking.
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Old 05-18-22, 05:40 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Yeah, let's get rid of all road regulation! I'm going to deliberately drive on the wrong side of the road all day tomorrow just to make the point. Freedom!
Do it.
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Old 05-18-22, 06:26 PM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by DonkeyShow
Do it.

I did, but the three people I ran over didn't grasp the philosophical correctness.
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Old 05-18-22, 07:32 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by mr_bill
Uh. Funeral processions for one. At least around here, no “permit” required.

Otherwise, around here, motor traffic is more than capable of self-corking. No matter how much paint there is on the box they aren’t supposed to block.

-mr. bill
Funerals for sure. Folks know theres no choice, no problem, you just stay patient. NOBODY wants to be that way when its cyclists as they view it as a less then necessary activity. If it were Holland and everybody "looked" like they were biking to work or school, folks would be more understanding. The minute they see bright lycra, they get pissed,
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Old 05-19-22, 05:47 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by Steve B.
Funerals for sure. Folks know theres no choice, no problem, you just stay patient. NOBODY wants to be that way when its cyclists as they view it as a less then necessary activity. If it were Holland and everybody "looked" like they were biking to work or school, folks would be more understanding. The minute they see bright lycra, they get pissed,

Funeral processions are the exceptional case, and as I pointed out above, they are actually very regulated legally. There are very clear rules which must be followed for the solidarity of the group to be accommodated. This has FA to do with the imposition on other operators on the road of putting a group of 75 riders without respect of basic rules of the road. A poorly coordinated group of 75 riders rolling down a big hill is a clear safety threat to those riders, any other riders that happen to be on that road and pedestrians.

Citing the exceptional case is a logical fallacy, btw. I still say that no other type of vehicle is allowed to spontaneously operate in a group of 75. Funeral processions aren't really spontaneous, there's way too many rules and requirements to call them that.
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Old 05-19-22, 04:59 PM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
I still say that no other type of vehicle is allowed to spontaneously operate in a group of 75.
It is specifically illegal. 40 or 50 years ago when their numbers were larger, Angels and Bandidos used to ride in groups that size.
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Old 05-19-22, 06:10 PM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by jon c.
It is specifically illegal. 40 or 50 years ago when their numbers were larger, Angels and Bandidos used to ride in groups that size.
Yes, lycra clad cyclists are as threatening as motorcycle gangs in full patch.😒
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Old 05-20-22, 12:33 AM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by LarrySellerz
permits and government oversight is lame
No offense but your posts should require both
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Old 05-20-22, 04:38 AM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by downhillmaster
No offense but your posts should require both
260 lbs on a single speed, with bad brakes, in a group of 75 doing hill climbs. All of us replying to these threads are the real idiots...
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Old 05-20-22, 07:26 AM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by Daniel4
Yes, lycra clad cyclists are as threatening as motorcycle gangs in full patch.😒

If I'm a pedestrian or a cyclist, 75 cyclists barreling down a hill behind me is a major threat to my safety regardless of attire.
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Old 05-20-22, 07:44 AM
  #47  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
If I'm a pedestrian or a cyclist, 75 cyclists barreling down a hill behind me is a major threat to my safety regardless of attire.
If you're a pedestrian, any motor vehicle can be a threat anyways.

https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-safety/1251888-pedestrian-killed-tanker-truck.html
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Old 05-20-22, 07:55 AM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by Daniel4
If you're a pedestrian, any motor vehicle can be a threat anyways.

https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-...ker-truck.html

No, duh.

Whataboutism really isn't a valid form of argument. Cars and trucks being dangerous has nothing to do with the safety of cramming 75 riders on a narrow hilly winding road.

BTW, that thread got closed because it shouldn't have been in A&S in the first place, that's how irrelevant it was to cycling issues. Hilarious you'd put that in here as your shiny distracting object to cover that you have no valid argument.
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Old 05-20-22, 08:06 PM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by vespasianus
260 lbs on a single speed, with bad brakes, in a group of 75 doing hill climbs. All of us replying to these threads are the real idiots...
its a no drop ride, even though I had to walk up some of the hills they were waiting at the top (I told them not to wait for me, but there are other slow people.) As for the number, 75 is a lot, but ive seen more than 100 on that ride. What are they gonna do, turn people away? Splitting up into different groups doing the same route makes it so cars have to pass multiple big groups which is obnoxious. Splitting up and taking separate routes requires more organization than this ride is capable of.

Its not exactly my favorite ride, but it brings a ton of new cyclists and young blood out. Its a net boon for the local cycling community, very approachable for a newcomer compared to pack riding. Downhills suck but its whatever. People who get inconvenienced by us can cry me a river, they are upset than they are too poor to afford a cervelo
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Old 05-21-22, 12:41 AM
  #50  
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Originally Posted by Comfort is King
If traffic gets backed up more than several cars, I can pull off.
I've seen slow vehicles such as loaded trucks holding traffic, going off road just to let traffic through and then going back on the road again once the pile has passed. I'm not sure whether it's a driving rule or just driver courtesy but my uncle who taught me how to drive in another country told me the same thing if I'm driving too slow and backing up traffic to get off road and let them pass, but only if it's safe for me to do so like I won't do it in a super steep section.

Not every country on the planet observe this courtesy rule but on some two-lane mountain roads, the lane becomes three, especially on the uphill sections so that slow vehicles can be passed safely.

But for the OP's sake, 75 rider group would be impossible to move off the road to let the backed up traffic pass. The best advice is just don't do it, unless it's officially sanctioned and vehicle detours and support are in order.
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