Dreaded cyclists

[Spectre]

I only need 1 more Cyclist to qualify for a free mug!

How many experience points/cyclists do you need to get to upgrade to one of these?

 

[prizrak]

Sadly not fast enough

 

[Spectre]

Sadly not fast enough

Easily fast enough for some of the asshats I see deliberately holding up traffic in their 5mph Lycra Kommando.

 

[Hiro11]

So this has predictably degenerated into internet tough guys making jokes about killing cyclists. As a frequent cyclist who constantly deals with fat, goatee-sporting, macho assholes with douchebag "Fear This" stickers on their trucks who think it's funny to needlessly put my life at risk, I understandably fail to see the "humor" in this. You all should be banned.

 

[eizbaer]

huh, up until the last few posts, this was mostly a fairly reasonable discussion going on, imo. especially for a potentially loaded topic like this (the title rather suggests a bias, does it not), there was fairly little name calling... of couse there's a little "us" and "them" (riders and drivers), but in most cases nearly everybody usually agrees on whether the cyclist is the idiot in a particular situation (which, yes, often enough is the case) or a driver.
go back a few pages, you'll see there are plenty of cyclist around in this thread arguing the case that no, not all cyclists have to be killed or banned from the roads (but some many should certainly take a look at the rules). this also means you're not alone with your experience of inconsiderate jerks who needlessly endanger cyclists, those exist everywhere. if you cannot deal with the (in this case) overly obvious and exaggerated jokes, which, tbbh with a thread-title like this, should be expected, maybe you should not frequent this particular thread, but rather head over to the rather bicycle friendly "Bicycles!"-Thread or, even more fun, start your very own "Dreaded drivers" thread to mock, ridicule and abuse those who have wronged you on your bicycle there are sure to be enough cyclists here that would share a story or two... i know i would.

 

[Blind_Io]

He does have a point. The last few pages have turned into a bit of a circle-jerk.

Not all cyclists are douches, many follow the rules and are courteous. But there is a fine line between wishing for a group to be killed and mocking those who hurt themselves by doing idiotic things.

 

[Adamar]

This is a "dreaded-cyclists" thread, not an "idiots on bikes" thread.

What did you expect?

 

[prizrak]

To get back on topic, the other day saw one great one, dude goes through a red light then STOPs in the middle of the intersection to wait for a green and when the light turns green takes his sweet time moving again, we are talking I had the time to clutch in, put car in gear and turn behind him into the street I was going to and he was still stationary.... Oh it was also quite a bit after dark and he had no lights and dark clothing...

 

[eizbaer]

yeah i've seen people keep moving far too long (because coming to a complete stop and getting going again is too exhausting), even passing the lights (over here, they're on "your" side of the intersection, not the opposite side) so they're literally clueless as to when the light turns green again. usually they start going as soon as someone coming from the side stops (because they assume a red light there means they're good to go), which, occasionally turns into lots of near misses (not all intersection only know two light-states in total). it's ever so slightly dumb... and all to spare themselves the additional excercise that somehow seems to be a large part or even the whole point of the whole cycling thing (at least for me it usually is)

 

[prizrak]

I don't understand the point of stopping if you already went through a light... Mind you he wasn't in the crosswalk or anything he was smack down in the middle of the intersection, I had enough room to get between him and a parked car on the corner and while the Outtie isn't as wide as more modern stuff but still....

 

[JimCorrigan]

So this has predictably degenerated into internet tough guys making jokes about killing cyclists. As a frequent cyclist who constantly deals with fat, goatee-sporting, macho assholes with douchebag "Fear This" stickers on their trucks who think it's funny to needlessly put my life at risk, I understandably fail to see the "humor" in this. You all should be banned.

As an avid cyclist myself who knows how to follow traffic rules and not act like the entitled assholes we are describing in these posts, I think you should wipe the sand out of your vagina.

 

[Cowboy]

So this has predictably degenerated into internet tough guys making jokes about killing cyclists. As a frequent cyclist who constantly deals with fat, goatee-sporting, macho assholes with douchebag "Fear This" stickers on their trucks who think it's funny to needlessly put my life at risk, I understandably fail to see the "humor" in this. You all should be banned.

I take offense to this, I do not, nor have I ever, sported a goatee.

 

[Blind_Io]

I take offense as well.

I do not have a "FEAR THIS" vinyl on my 4x4.

 

[Spectre]

So this has predictably degenerated into internet tough guys making jokes about killing cyclists. As a frequent cyclist who constantly deals with fat, goatee-sporting, macho assholes with douchebag "Fear This" stickers on their trucks who think it's funny to needlessly put my life at risk, I understandably fail to see the "humor" in this. You all should be banned.

I am also offended by this. I don't think it's funny to needlessly put your life at risk. I think it's funny that you needlessly put your own life at risk by wobbling into my lane and expecting me to somehow stop 7000lbs of truck in three feet or go into oncoming traffic and kill everyone in an oncoming car, then complain about how 'inconsiderate' I am. Guess what - if I have to choose between obliterating a family in a minivan or squeegeeing a Lycra clad idiot who doesn't understand physics and can't be bothered to retain proper control of his vehicle off the front end of my truck, I know which one I'm choosing. And it's not obliterating the family.

Gee, you think I may have had an incident with the Lycra Kommando this morning?

 

[prizrak]

I take offense as well, I don't drive a pick OR grow facial hair.

 

[Spectre]

From the Squid Channel: Bicyclist rolling down The Snake (Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles), purposely rides in oncoming traffic lane because he's a special little snowflake, karma shows up seconds later. Contains pictures of injuries including roadrashed naked butt, so spoilered for NSFW purposes.

Spoiler

As the videographer puts it:

Someone needs to invent riding gear for cyclists. Always severe injuries when they go down. Rider was probably going around 30 mph

So, cyclists, does it somehow hurt less when you fall off your bicycle and hit the pavement at 30mph than when I fall off my motorcycle and hit the pavement at 30mph? If not, then you should be wearing real riding gear instead of the completely non-protective Lycra crap.

 

[47]

From the Squid Channel: Bicyclist rolling down The Snake (Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles), purposely rides in oncoming traffic lane because he's a special little snowflake, karma shows up seconds later. Contains pictures of injuries including roadrashed naked butt, so spoilered for NSFW purposes.

Spoiler

As the videographer puts it:



So, cyclists, does it somehow hurt less when you fall off your bicycle and hit the pavement at 30mph than when I fall off my motorcycle and hit the pavement at 30mph? If not, then you should be wearing real riding gear instead of the completely non-protective Lycra crap.

No, it does not hurt less. But I bet everyone would just be dying to buy padded cycling gear with knee protectors and whatnot, those wouldn't limit movement at all.
There is protective gear for cyclists but it's used mainly for downhill and tricks, where there is a much greater chance of falling and getting hurt.
This guy's problem was probably coming in too hot and the thin tyres couldn't provide enough traction.

For reference, see profesional road cyclists, who ride at around 40kph normally, much more when going downhill, with only a helmet.
No one says it's the smartest or the safest thing, but they are equipped for lightness and performance. Crashes happen but that's an occupational hazard.

 

[narf]

From the Squid Channel: Bicyclist rolling down The Snake (Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles), purposely rides in oncoming traffic lane because he's a special little snowflake, karma shows up seconds later. Contains pictures of injuries including roadrashed naked butt, so spoilered for NSFW purposes.

So, cyclists, does it somehow hurt less when you fall off your bicycle and hit the pavement at 30mph than when I fall off my motorcycle and hit the pavement at 30mph? If not, then you should be wearing real riding gear instead of the completely non-protective Lycra crap.

Go way too fast for the corner, have a crash works for all modes of transportation, bicycle, motorbike, car, train, ...

Also, who are you to tell them what to wear? Let them wear all the Lycra they like...ra.





Meanwhile, I've just spent a week amongst hundreds if not thousands of pro cyclists, and I've found the vast majority to be quite sensible. Here's a random excerpt from The Snake (Coll dels Reis in Spain):

In case the vimeo embed is broken for you: https://vimeo.com/121064637

[video=youtube;twv-hi-kQ70]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twv-hi-kQ70[/video]

They stay in their lane, mostly on the side of the lane as well, give you signals when they can see past a turn whether you can pass or not, rarely ride in parallel on narrow bits, and most importantly have quite some fast pace to not be too annoying when stuck behind them for some blind turns.
Haven't sifted through all the footage yet, so there may be better examples in a while...

 

[Mitchi]

Narf, that video doesn't show up for me, and if I manually enter the link, it says it doesn't exist?

 

[narf]

Narf, that video doesn't show up for me, and if I manually enter the link, it says it doesn't exist?

Odd, both work for me. I've included a backup link, do try that.


Edit: Interesting, that link has turned into a second embed
Also, HD seems to be broken


Added a youtube version:

[video=youtube;twv-hi-kQ70]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twv-hi-kQ70[/video]