In article <[email hidden]>, "Mike Kruger"
Quoted message said:"D.Putnam" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Careful, this group doesn't like the distinction.
Quoted message said:Exactly. How many "serious" cycllists are among the fatalies every year?
I mean cyclists not people on bikes.
Quoted message said:
Useful definitions: Casual cyclist / person on bike (POB) -- one who rides fewer miles than you
do.Serious cyclist -- you, and perhaps your favorite riding buddies. Obsessive cyclist -- one who
rides more miles than you do.
That said, Poulos has a point. Riding at night, for example, is more dangerous according to all
the statistics. But I see a lot of idiots riding very poorly at night without lights on poorly
designed roads. I figure that throws the statistics off enough so that riding with lights, on a
familiar commute route, with good safety technique is probably not all than dangerous.
We call those folks "organ donors". I see them a lot around here- often riding against the traffic,
on beat up bikes, no reflectors, no helmets. I think they figure because they aren't going very
fast, they're somehow safe.
Lately I've become very aware of how dangerous some people are on bikes- meaning POBs. Roadies I
don't worry about, but I can't believe the way POBs ride their bikes especially on bike paths. I
can't believe how many near- misses I've recently had with idiots on bikes who don't seem to be able
to ride in a straight line, don't bother to look around them or don't seem to be aware of anything
at all. Sometimes I'm in fear for my life! Examples:
People who will be stopped on the side and about to get back onto the path, with their bikes, and do
so without even looking! Kids especially, just wobble right into the path. I can't believe that
people don't even look where they're going. What, they think that if you collide with another
cyclist it won't hurt because it's not a car?? I nearly creamed a kid the other day but yelled at
him in time.
People who look off to the side, behind them, or anywhere but ahead, while they wobble right into
the opposite lane! duhhh....
YOu wonder what some of these people are like in cars. It's for that reason that, especially on
weekends, I get off the bike path as soon as possible! At one point, the bike path parallels a
highway, so it's not a viable option to take the road, but as soon as it is, I'm outta there! The
problem is that many people just don't have bike handling skills. Let them risk their asses, I'm not
going to risk mine!
