Road Rant

[demnan]

Ok, I'm all for bicycles I think they're great and the people who ride them are definately in better physical shape than I am. However, their minds are flabby!!!!!

This morning while backing out of the parking lot at my complex a young woman on a bike (not a kid, not a teenager) came right up behind me and whizzed right through the small area between me and the car I was trying not to hit as I backed out. Geez! I hit my horn but what terrible decisions people on bikes make. They act like they own the road, they run red lights, they sqeeze in around cars and get in your blind spot, they have no consideration for or of anyone else. What a dangerous hobby! Now the children in my area show good sense on bikes, at least the ones with reasonably good parenting do. They know they live in an urban area and they watch out for themselves.

Look all you athletic assholes on bikes - why even bother to wear a helmet when you have nothing upstairs! If you really want to commit suicide ride the bike path out to the fucking Fourtheenth St. Bridge and throw your skinny ass off - don't do it under the tires of my car and give me a complex for the rest of my life.

[liberalmuse]

1. Many ride in the middle of the road...

around where I live. They ride in groups of 3 or more and therefore believe they have a right to the entire road. Granted, they are not burning oil, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't annoy me.

[short bus president]

2. same on the rural highways here

riding three abreast, filling an entire lane, they proceed to slow traffic to 15 or 20 miles per hour on the 2-lane country roads. Some consideration would be nice. I give them a wide berth when passing single-file riders, but when they fill an entire lane, the one riding closest to the center line cannot expect much in the way of courtesy distance from me.

[paradisiac]

3. please understand that

not all bicyclists ride like idiots. Don't lump us all into one group; most serious bicyclists understand that bicycles are required to follow all traffic regulations just like any other vehicle.

[Don_G]

4. In My Area

The serious cyclists follow all traffic regulations and ride sensibly. I'm more than happy to give them the respect they deserve and I wish the other drivers would too.

[boilerbabe]

5. Maybe they think you have better reflexes than they do?

I used to ride my bicycle a lot in heavy traffic in L.A. (my cars were always breaking down). so you forget that most people don't have video-game reaction times, or maybe the biker was just spacing out.

Do you remember being a kid and running just a hair in front of cars to cross the street? It's a feeling of indestructableness (did I just make up a word or mis-spell it?) anyway, do like i do...

Back up and don't even look. In my case, since for some reason, I have a really bad lack of talent for backing up vehicles (refer to bumper exhibits A and B...) Like screw it. I try to warn everyone in a 3-mile radius to get the hell out of the way...after the verbal warning, anything is fair game!!

Incidentally, when i was restricted to riding my bike all around L.A. due to 2 dead cars, someone threw a full 16 oz can of Bud at me for no reason (alcohol abuse) and clocked me in the back of the head. So I offer you that unrelated incident as closure for your run-in with the bicyclist who so offended you!!

Peace...and back up with your eyes Wide Shut!!

XXXOOO