Insane cycle race

Insane indeed ....

Now I want one of those cameras .... dammit!!

So the point of this "race" was to break as many traffic laws as possible, [censored]/scare as many people as you can, and to give cyclist as bad a name as possible? If so, it was awesome....

Lonnie Utah said:

So the point of this "race" was to break as many traffic laws as possible, [censored]/scare as many people as you can, and to give cyclist as bad a name as possible? If so, it was awesome....

Who gives a damn what New Yoik office workers think of cyclists. POWER TO THE RULE BENDERS!!

ScottishDan said:

Check out the bike race video in New York (50Mb but highly entertaining)
digave.commain.htmOpen ↗

P.S Does anyone know if the critical-mass ride is on in Edinburgh this Friday?

Heheheh. Nice one Dan. Reminds me what it was like to live in the city. (and don't anybody point out there's a small difference between NY and Lessta - such differences exist only in the minds of the uninebriated)

Re. CM Edinburgh - just go along and see. If there's no-one there but you, then you're it. Try and be massive. 😄

Edinburgh last Fri 5.30pm corner of Charlotte Square nearest Queensferry Street.
www.edinburgh-critical-mass.org.uk

The site appears to be down at present, or gone for good. I'm not sure which.

Critical mass does nothing but make the situation for cyclists worse. We have a critical mass group around here that sees fit to block traffic and cause drivers problems. I wonder how many lone cyclists have been hit/things thrown at them/etc. because some driver was caught up by critical mass. The best thing critical mass can do for cycling is to disband and each of it's members ride respectfully and within the law.

-Matt

mattjf said:

Critical mass does nothing but make the situation for cyclists worse. We have a critical mass group around here that sees fit to block traffic and cause drivers problems. I wonder how many lone cyclists have been hit/things thrown at them/etc. because some driver was caught up by critical mass. The best thing critical mass can do for cycling is to disband and each of it's members ride respectfully and within the law.

-Matt

Hey, at the CM's I've been do we do "ride respectfully and within the law." It just so happens that there are quite a few of us.

It's not organised so there's nothing to disband. And if car drivers get angry why should that be the fault of cyclists - they should look within to find the real source of their anger. I suggest that they're really upset because their form of transport doesn't provide the same sense of enjoyment and community that ours does. I mean - this is a cycling forum right - no particular bias against any type of cyclist - would you get a car-drivers' forum along the same lines? I very much doubt it.

We are traffic too you know. 🙂

mattjf said:

Critical mass does nothing but make the situation for cyclists worse. We have a critical mass group around here that sees fit to block traffic and cause drivers problems. I wonder how many lone cyclists have been hit/things thrown at them/etc. because some driver was caught up by critical mass. The best thing critical mass can do for cycling is to disband and each of it's members ride respectfully and within the law.

-Matt

These guys should be heros to all of us. The guys in those videos weren't riding any more dangerously than most drivers drive. Maybe if we all rode our rigs that way, not so many of us would be injured or killed, drivers would think twice about making stupid manouvers (which they frequently do!) for fear of their nice new shiny paintwork being fu<ked up!🙂

I was mostly commenting on the CM rides around here. There have been a couple rides in which they try and block as many lanes of traffic as possible.

As for "searching for the anger within", if I were in a car and I had a bunch of jerk cyclists trying to hold me up, I would be angry also. There's no difference between the ones that block traffic on bikes and the ones that block traffic for any other protest. Cyclists that block traffic on purpose are just like the farmers that block the TdF or the pro-lifers that lay down in traffic near the White House.

-Matt

wheelist said:

We are traffic too you know. 🙂

Yes. And we should act like it. Why is anybody above the law, no matter what they use to get from Point A to Point B. It's not about anger, it's about respect. And respect is not given, it's earned.

Dude-

those guys in the video are totally whacked. It was sweet to watch, but I wouldn't do that [censored]. Glad I live in a bike friendly area.

Lonnie Utah said:

Yes. And we should act like it. Why is anybody above the law, no matter what they use to get from Point A to Point B. It's not about anger, it's about respect. And respect is not given, it's earned.

Lonnie, please read my post again - I didn't condone the behaviour of the guys in the vids - I was merely responding to the comments about CM:

wheelist said:

Hey, at the CM's I've been do we do "ride respectfully and within the law." It just so happens that there are quite a few of us.

Like I said - We are traffic too.

mattjf - car drivers cause jams all the time, without any help from cyclists. It's caused by too many cars on the road - as far as I'm aware the aim of CM is to raise awareness of this point and highlight the fact that if more people used bicycles the cities would be less congested as a result.

Keep on pedalling folks. 🙂

wheelist said:

Like I said - We are traffic too.

It's cool, I was just agreeing with that part of you're previous post and expounding upon it relative to the other post in the thread.

L

wheelist said:

mattjf - car drivers cause jams all the time, without any help from cyclists. It's caused by too many cars on the road - as far as I'm aware the aim of CM is to raise awareness of this point and highlight the fact that if more people used bicycles the cities would be less congested as a result.

There is a difference though. Car jams due to cars are usually not intentional. I agree there are far too many cars on the road, and I'd love it if more people biked, more people were cyclist aware, more bike lanes, etc. With the amount I spend on my bike, and my love of riding, you won't get any arguments from me in this regard. I just think things like that are the wrong way to go about raising awareness. I don't know if all CM rides are like that, but I can only comment on what I see where I live.

-Matt

mattjf said:

There is a difference though. Car jams due to cars are usually not intentional. I agree there are far too many cars on the road, and I'd love it if more people biked, more people were cyclist aware, more bike lanes, etc. With the amount I spend on my bike, and my love of riding, you won't get any arguments from me in this regard. I just think things like that are the wrong way to go about raising awareness. I don't know if all CM rides are like that, but I can only comment on what I see where I live.

-Matt

I know what you mean - there can be a mentalist element just out to cause trouble, irrespective of the issues, cause, or law - same as all protests I believe.

I'm always interested in ways of raising the issue of cycles vs cars, and how best to promote the use of bikes (check my site). One way I quite like (and you're probably not gonna approve of this either is stickering cars. There are two methods I often use - sticky stickers on windscreens, and paper tickets under the windscreen wipers. Mind you, I reserve these tactics only for the 4x4s (SUVs) as these are the vehicles that pose the most danger to the cyclist.

I figure one of the best ways to change anything is to guide it from the inside - join your CM and encourage them to ride with respect! (Oh, but don;t expect me to apply this principle myself by buying a large off-road vehicle!! 😄😄)

Happy cycling!

Here's one from my local paper, just yesterday. I post it for no other reason than to spark further debate. On a side note, just last year, Utah passed a 3 foot rule that says cars must give cyclists 3 feet clearance (with a few exceptions...)

sltrib.comci 3065199Open ↗

L

ScottishDan said:

Check out the bike race video in New York (50Mb but highly entertaining)
digave.commain.htmOpen ↗

P.S Does anyone know if the critical-mass ride is on in Edinburgh this Friday?

That's just like riding in Kuala Lumpur is, except KL has a lot more traffic, bugger-all other cyclists, [censored]-loads of motorbikes, there are no rules for anyone...and KL is a lot warmer 😄 . When you jump the lights in KL, there're about 50 cars, trucks & motorbikes doing it at the same time (safety in numbers). Good to see the fixie's doing what they do best (I've never even thought about pulling my feet out on the downhills).

EoinC said:

That's just like riding in Kuala Lumpur is, except KL has a lot more traffic, bugger-all other cyclists, [censored]-loads of motorbikes, there are no rules for anyone...and KL is a lot warmer 😄 . When you jump the lights in KL, there're about 50 cars, trucks & motorbikes doing it at the same time (safety in numbers). Good to see the fixie's doing what they do best (I've never even thought about pulling my feet out on the downhills).

Yeah I didn't see what the big deal was, I mean it looks like a normal ride in São Paulo, except with lighter traffic and minus the ubiquitous kamikaze motobikes

IME all urban riding is like that, with the exception I usually don't stop traffic when I blow through red lights, if that is the case I will go ahead and stop because I am very courteous 😉 Oh and while I hitch rides, I only use the draft, little too parasite-like to actually grab on to the vehicle IMO.

Oh and I agree the guys on fixies do get extra points. 😎

Oh and how about on "rumble through the bronx" when the guy gets hit and the old lady is pooping in her depends and the cyclist is like "I am totally fine, I apoligize for being hit"... classic.

wilmar13 said:

Oh and how about on "rumble through the bronx" when the guy gets hit and the old lady is pooping in her depends and the cyclist is like "I am totally fine, I apoligize for being hit"... classic.

I didn't see that one. Must review. I did manage once to collect a bloke who was disembarking a bus. It would have been clear sailing, but he decided to do a Fred Astaire leap across the footpath (naughty me) and folded over my handlebars on the way through. Oh, how we laughed....