Now mind you I have been a cyclist since I was 13 (28 years ouch) and a triathlete for the past 21 years. I love to ride, but...WHY DO SO MANY CYCLISTS THINK THAT THE LAWS OF THE LAND DON'T APPLY TO THEM.
I live in Boulder, Colorado, a town that has a boatload of cyclists. Often times I will be riding up to a 4 way stop sign, with cars in all directions, and a fellow cyclist will look both ways and blow through the stop signs. Cyclists will often blow through red lights if no one is coming. Worse though is the pack mentality. The Tuesday Pro Peloton ride often attracts 60+ hard core cyclists. They will ride down rural roads 5-6 abreast, doing their best TdF Peloton imitation. When a car honks at them they respond to the motorist with lovely gestures and ideas on how to gratify themselves. I recently did the MS150 bike tour from Conifer to Colorado Springs, it was embarassing how many people ignored the motorists by riding in the middle of the lane and blowing though the little red lights. Plus, it makes the rest of us look bad.
A Us vs. Them mentality has developed. Why? Is it so hard to click out put your foot down for a few seconds. Are you on some personal time trial. If we keep it up sooner or later more and more people like those in Wisconson will rebel against cyclists. I don't want to get run off the road someday because some egocentric cyclist pissed him off earlier by ignoring the laws that apply to all of us.
Paul Karlsson
Boulder, CO
Race Director
Boulder Peak Triathlon
Beer Taster - any brand you're buying
Paul Karlsson
Race Director
Dig Deep Sports, LLC