Last night driving home from work along a very busy stretch of road but has a nice wide shoulder. A popular commuter route for cyclists. I notice two cyclists in particular - one is a commuter (laptop/bag/backpack thing) and the other appears to be a roadie (no extra gear, very lean with his local team jersey to show “I ride for a team, therefore I’m a stud”). Commuter guy is riding even pace, paying attention to traffic, staying a bit to the right of the while line. Roadie appears to be out of control - has that look like he’s doing VO2 Max intervals or sprints, very sporadic riding style.
Violations Observed:
Roadie boy rides up to Commuter Joe and overtakes him on the right hand side while cruising through the intersection. Son-of-a-bitch…I couldn’t look.
Roadie then jumps out INTO TRAFFIC (as in right in front of cars who have to slow for him) several times to go around some road construction signs and cones.
This is the best/worst - Roadie jumps out into traffic again (mind you, traffic is going about 25 mph) and DRAFTS behind a car (blocking a car behind him) for about 100 meters before going back to the shoulder to ride.
Roadie in the process of making right turn up a back road swings way the hell out into the right lane of traffic to get a sweeping TDF-style turn up into his neighborhood. His team would be proud but he didn’t hold his line.
No wonder there’s no love between motorists and cyclists. Some of these riders are idiots.
This is the best/worst - Roadie jumps out into traffic again (mind you, traffic is going about 25 mph) and DRAFTS behind a car (blocking a car behind him) for about 100 meters before going back to the shoulder to ride.
Wait, if he was drafting the car in front of him, how was he blocking a car behind him? At 25 mph, the following car shouldn’t be close enough to the leading car to have the 3-4 ft of space the cyclist takes up bother him…assuming the cyclist is actually close enough to draft well.
PS: I’m not condoning what he did, just trying to understand.
I agree that lots of cyclists are idiots, that includes roadies, triathletes, commuters, etc. We should all ride safely and the guy the original poster is talking about is likely an irresponsible idiot. But if I quote the original poster, he said: “another roadie is giving cyclists a bad name”. Seems to me like he thinks roadies are the ones giving cyclists a bad name when it’s just idiots on bikes that are the problem.
1: so what
2: legal
3: drafting means he was traveling about the same speed as traffic; legal
4: dumb but whatever.
maybe you wish you had a cool team jersey.
I’d put it this way:
1: perhaps not the safest thing, but definitely not illegal, and in any case why should those in their cars care?
2: perfectly legal.
3: again, perhaps not the safest thing, but only illegal if you consider the assured clear distance law, and/or if he cut off following cars.
4: this might be the most egregious behavior. You’re allowed to hold up traffic to avoid obstacles on the right, and/or if you’re turning left, but swinging out into the lane before turning right may represent a violation the requirement to stay as far right as practicable so as to not obstruct the normal and reasonable flow of traffic. However, if no one had to brake for him, then no harm, no foul.
I think it must have been the “flash” jersey (do people get especially pissed off when someone wearing the colors of their favorite football team cut in line in front of them at, say, a movie theater?).
First of all, you apologists for idiot cyclists are making a lot of assumptions about legality. You’re positive, for example, that it’s perfectly legal to swing out into traffic repeatedly to avoid traffic cones, and so on. It’s legal to ride away from the obstruction, sure- but if you’re not maintaining a line, and you’re jumping out in front of cars, you might be in violation of the law.
More to the point, it’s just a stupid, irresponsible thing to do. It’s dangerous, it justifiably pisses off motorists, and it gives cyclists a bad rep.
But by all means, continue the impassioned defense of the idiot’s right to wear his team jersey.
What the cyclist should have done was move out into the lane far enough to avoid the traffic cones and other obstructions and stayed there until he was clear of the obstructions.
First of all, you apologists for idiot cyclists are making a lot of assumptions about legality. You’re positive, for example, that it’s perfectly legal to swing out into traffic repeatedly to avoid traffic cones, and so on. It’s legal to ride away from the obstruction, sure- but if you’re not maintaining a line, and you’re jumping out in front of cars, you might be in violation of the law.
Sorry, but you’re simply wrong. It is true, as I stated, that a cyclist is required to ride as far to the right as practicable so as to not obstruct the normal and reasonable flow of traffic. However, numerous court cases have established that it is up to the cyclist to decide what is “practicable”, and if your path on the far right is blocked by some hazard or obstruction, you have the right to use as much of the lane as needed, when needed. (Indeed, if you’re keeping up with the normal flow of traffic, you have no obligation to stay right at all…and often the safest thing to do in such situations is to claim the whole lane, so as to not get squeezed over into, e.g., a jersey barrier.)
What the cyclist should have done was move out into the lane far enough to avoid the traffic cones and other obstructions and stayed there until he was clear of the obstructions.
That’s just common sense.
Agreed. However, based on Ironmoss’s description, that could very well have been what he was doing. (Since traffic was reportedly travelling rather slowly, presumably Ironmoss had the cyclist in sight for quite a while.)
i believe san francisco along with a handful of other cities have encouraged bikers to take the whole lane when they are in city settings. it is certainly safer when traffic is 25mph or less.