disrespectful cyclists...

I am getting close to being an older cyclist and I hope I don't fall into this catagory. I have noticed that the most inconsiderate cyclists that I encounter tend to be the older ones. I usually don't have much trouble with the younger ones. If they seem inconsiderate, it is usually because they don't realize that I am there (quiet bike). The older ones that seem inconsiderate tend to beleive highly in "respect your elders and let them do whatever the hell they want to do!" Now this is not every older cyclist, and there are some downright inconsiderate younger ones, but most of the inconsiderate ones that I encounter tend to be the older cyclists.

kdelong said:

I am getting close to being an older cyclist and I hope I don't fall into this catagory. I have noticed that the most inconsiderate cyclists that I encounter tend to be the older ones. I usually don't have much trouble with the younger ones. If they seem inconsiderate, it is usually because they don't realize that I am there (quiet bike). The older ones that seem inconsiderate tend to beleive highly in "respect your elders and let them do whatever the hell they want to do!" Now this is not every older cyclist, and there are some downright inconsiderate younger ones, but most of the inconsiderate ones that I encounter tend to be the older cyclists.

umm...re-read what i wrote lol. Nothing against older cyclists, or older anyone (I was brought up right). I just noticed most were probably 50 or slightly older. I could be wrong...

i was saying that i was Driving a car, and they did not move over like NY law tells them they should...I was just dumbfounded and now realize why so many motorists dont like cyclists. what i was most amazed by was the fact that they were riding all the way into MY lane and seemed not to care if i hit them or not. Maybe they escaped the psych ward too...🙄

didnt mean to sound like i had anything against older cyclists, in fact quite the opposite, ANYONE thats out cycling (especially the umm "elderly"?) puts a smile on my face, but there are laws, and 'Share the road' goes both ways, not just for cars.

Y'all take care, and keep right when traffic is behind you 🙂

mongooseboy said:

Ok, I know most of us on here keep out of the way of normal road traffic (cars...), but today I surely wished i had it in me to run people over. On the way home from my girlfriends house, after a nice long bike ride on the canal pathway 🙂, I encountered a whole group of cyclists, mostly older cyclists out pedaling for fun (nothing serious looking). Noticing they almost all had mirrors and helmets I thought, good they will move over to the right and I can get by them no problems.

WRONG 😠

Most all of them, after seeing me in their mirrors or turning their head and looking at me, even after flashing my highbeams quick (thought it would let them know I was there), would swerve out into MY lane. Not just a few feet, I mean almost all the way to the yellow line. They were even passing eachother while i was trying to get around them all. Now im a very considerate person, I do what I can because Im a cyclist too, but this was outrageous. They KNEW I was there, and yet didnt follow NY state law, and keep to the right. One cyclist doing this isnt that bad, but a whole group (there was about 10 maybe more) kinda irritated me... Like I previously stated, sometimes I just wish I wasnt as courteous as I am. But I dont need a criminal record either, I love my freedom here in America! 🙂

Sorry for the rant, but I was really really dissapointed to see people that were obviously cyclists (not just people riding bikes) act so DUMB.

Of course they probably thought I was just a typical mid-20s guy tryin to speed around them, but I was just trying to get around them before one decided to swerve out in front of me.

OK, Im done...anyone else encounter this???

how many lanes did the road have? was it a no passing zone (i.e. double center line)? was it a busy road?

It could be that they were trying to take the lane because it wasn't safe to pass due to a minimal shoulder or that another car was coming...

e0richt said:

how many lanes did the road have? was it a no passing zone (i.e. double center line)? was it a busy road?

It could be that they were trying to take the lane because it wasn't safe to pass due to a minimal shoulder or that another car was coming...

2 lanes (opposing directions), no passing for most of it (curvy section) and yes, other cars were coming as well towards us. while there wasnt much shoulder, they were all they way out at least halfway into my lane. I have no problems riding on such road conditions and staying out of the way of other vehicles. There was NO reason they had to take up half my lane and not even try to give me room.

Oh well, ill probably never encounter something like that again. Had it been a charity ride, i wouldnt have had a problem either, but these were just a few people out taking up the backroads ignoring state traffic laws...

mongooseboy said:

2 lanes (opposing directions), no passing for most of it (curvy section) and yes, other cars were coming as well towards us. while there wasnt much shoulder, they were all they way out at least halfway into my lane. I have no problems riding on such road conditions and staying out of the way of other vehicles. There was NO reason they had to take up half my lane and not even try to give me room.

Oh well, ill probably never encounter something like that again. Had it been a charity ride, i wouldnt have had a problem either, but these were just a few people out taking up the backroads ignoring state traffic laws...

well, I know in jersey that there are exceptions to the "ride to the right as far as practicable", but even if that were the case, riders are not supposed to ride more than two abreast. the question is whether there was enough room to allow you, an oncoming car and the cyclists at the same time... if not then they should take the lane and you have to wait to get around, at least here in jersey... if there were a few cars backed up behind them then they should pull over and stop to let them through before getting back into the road...

e0richt said:

well, I know in jersey that there are exceptions to the "ride to the right as far as practicable", but even if that were the case, riders are not supposed to ride more than two abreast. the question is whether there was enough room to allow you, an oncoming car and the cyclists at the same time... if not then they should take the lane and you have to wait to get around, at least here in jersey... if there were a few cars backed up behind them then they should pull over and stop to let them through before getting back into the road...

I live in New Jersey and I would never take up the lane no matter what the law says. If the shoulder is too small to pass or, as usual, has an obstacle then I stop and wait till traffic is clear and then continue on.

Better to slow up or stop than get plowed under by some putz in a 50 ton SUV that is driving, talking on a cell phone, eating and pulling on his pud all at the same time.

I take up the whole lane while crossing bridges or about 50 to 60 yards from where I will be turning left at an intersection...the reason I do this on the bridge is if someone passes I don't want to be pinched against the wall if they decide they can't make it for some odd reason...yesterday...3 cars passed me on that bridge on the wrong side of the road...its about a 150 feet long...and there is no passing allowed on a bridge period...

When I encounter a "group" like this I use it as an educational opportunity for my fellow cyclists. I gently remind folk that to get respect you have to give respect. I think it also helps that I have 4 bike racks on the top of my car....

If they had singled up, would you have had room to pass them in THEIR lane while still allowing them 5 feet or so of road for safe maneuvering and clearance? A single file line would be longer and would take longer to pass; would that have presented other problems?

DrunkenBiker said:

I live in New Jersey and I would never take up the lane no matter what the law says. If the shoulder is too small to pass or, as usual, has an obstacle then I stop and wait till traffic is clear and then continue on.

Better to slow up or stop than get plowed under by some putz in a 50 ton SUV that is driving, talking on a cell phone, eating and pulling on his pud all at the same time.

yeah, I would too, if I tended to have those problems... but I don't.

DrunkenBiker said:

I live in New Jersey and I would never take up the lane no matter what the law says. If the shoulder is too small to pass or, as usual, has an obstacle then I stop and wait till traffic is clear and then continue on.

Better to slow up or stop than get plowed under by some putz in a 50 ton SUV that is driving, talking on a cell phone, eating and pulling on his pud all at the same time.

actually, if you never "take the lane" then how do you handle an intersection?... I find that in order to NOT get run over from right or left hooks, you have to be in the lane. not even mentioning the fact that a good share of drivers don't really pay attention to whats happening on the shoulder of a road... I guess the alternative is to stop all the time (that also causes confusion for motorists by the way...)

Lonnie Utah said:

When I encounter a "group" like this I use it as an educational opportunity for my fellow cyclists. I gently remind folk that to get respect you have to give respect. I think it also helps that I have 4 bike racks on the top of my car....

ok, I'll bite... whats the educational opportunity here? I still haven't been able to figure out completely who is really wrong here... the cyclists should have gone to single file but if it was unsafe to allow the OP to try to squeeze in then they should have taken the lane so that the motorist knows that he has to go around to pass...

e0richt said:

actually, if you never "take the lane" then how do you handle an intersection?... I find that in order to NOT get run over from right or left hooks, you have to be in the lane. not even mentioning the fact that a good share of drivers don't really pay attention to whats happening on the shoulder of a road... I guess the alternative is to stop all the time (that also causes confusion for motorists by the way...)

I rarely stop. 24 mile ride yesterday and I stopped once for this reason. Some putz threw an empty case out the window and the shoulder was a sea of broken beer bottles. I could hear cars coming so I stopped and waited for it to clear.

There is a decent enough shoulder on most major roads and the local country roads are quiet enough during the times I ride that passing cars have no problem. If I sense a problem(obstacle, blind curve or especially narrow road) I'll pull over for a few seconds.

There's a short section of Route 206 I ride that splits to two lanes with the right lane turning off to Route 94. An off ramp basically. The shoulder is huge there so no problem in that respect. And 75% of the time I can just glance back and see it's clear and take the right lane for a few seconds to continue on 206.

But if it's not clear, there is no way in hell I'm just sliding over and taking up the lane. I'll stop and wait for my chance to go.

I guess it comes down to this. I don't believe a bicycle has the right to take a lane. Notice I didn't say it wasn't legal, so I'm not interested in some governmant code that says I can take the lane under certain circumstances. I just believe that right of way between a 4000 pound car and a 180 pound schmuck on a bike, the choice is easy. The car goes first.

DrunkenBiker said:

I rarely stop. 24 mile ride yesterday and I stopped once for this reason. Some putz threw an empty case out the window and the shoulder was a sea of broken beer bottles. I could hear cars coming so I stopped and waited for it to clear.

There is a decent enough shoulder on most major roads and the local country roads are quiet enough during the times I ride that passing cars have no problem. If I sense a problem(obstacle, blind curve or especially narrow road) I'll pull over for a few seconds.

There's a short section of Route 206 I ride that splits to two lanes with the right lane turning off to Route 94. An off ramp basically. The shoulder is huge there so no problem in that respect. And 75% of the time I can just glance back and see it's clear and take the right lane for a few seconds to continue on 206.

But if it's not clear, there is no way in hell I'm just sliding over and taking up the lane. I'll stop and wait for my chance to go.

I guess it comes down to this. I don't believe a bicycle has the right to take a lane. Notice I didn't say it wasn't legal, so I'm not interested in some governmant code that says I can take the lane under certain circumstances. I just believe that right of way between a 4000 pound car and a 180 pound schmuck on a bike, the choice is easy. The car goes first.

thats fine, its not like I care how you ride... but this thread was supposedly about "disrespectful" bikers and there are instances where its not being disrespectful but considered to be a legal course of action.

mongooseboy said:

OK, Im done...anyone else encounter this???

Yes, all the time. Wierd it is older riders for us too (unless you are with my brother in law - who meanders all over the road and drives me crazy)- country roads, no passing, they are riding abreast of each other instead of single file. See you coming, don't even budge. Cars coming the other way ? no problem, they still don't move. So do I crawl up on their butt and lay on the horn ? No.. I wait until I can safely pass and think about stopping to give them a lecture about riding single file... I just move on... takes me an extra 20 seconds or so to get by, but I too am thinking "what the hell?"... most people don't even know there are laws for bikes as well too (I also live in New York State)

Some day a big truck is going to come by and just scare the hell out of them and maybe they will think about moving over...
A couple years ago a club rider ran head first into an oncoming car because he was hotdogging down a curvey road -- in the middle of a road and got pretty smashed up -- my kids got to see him all sprawled out in the road bleeding from the school bus stuck in traffic until he as taken away by ambulance. I hear from the other club members he still doesn't respect 3-5K lb cars and maybe will get killed next time. Such stupidity...

George

e0richt said:

thats fine, its not like I care how you ride... but this thread was supposedly about "disrespectful" bikers and there are instances where its not being disrespectful but considered to be a legal course of action.

Yes. Disrespectful riders.

As in any nit-wit who takes up a lane simply because of some code somewhere that gives him this false sense of security.

I can see you taking up a lane, waving some piece of paper yelling out, "Wahooo. Look at me. I'm legally taking up this whole lane".

At which point I hope someone runs your ass over.

As to the OP. I would have done the same thing with those riders that I do with a tailgater. Slam on the brakes, make the tires squeal and scare the [censored] out of them.

geoinmillbrook said:

Yes, all the time. Wierd it is older riders for us too (unless you are with my brother in law - who meanders all over the road and drives me crazy)- country roads, no passing, they are riding abreast of each other instead of single file. See you coming, don't even budge. Cars coming the other way ? no problem, they still don't move. So do I crawl up on their butt and lay on the horn ? No.. I wait until I can safely pass and think about stopping to give them a lecture about riding single file... I just move on... takes me an extra 20 seconds or so to get by, but I too am thinking "what the hell?"... most people don't even know there are laws for bikes as well too (I also live in New York State)

Some day a big truck is going to come by and just scare the hell out of them and maybe they will think about moving over...
A couple years ago a club rider ran head first into an oncoming car because he was hotdogging down a curvey road -- in the middle of a road and got pretty smashed up -- my kids got to see him all sprawled out in the road bleeding from the school bus stuck in traffic until he as taken away by ambulance. I hear from the other club members he still doesn't respect 3-5K lb cars and maybe will get killed next time. Such stupidity...

George

Thanks, George, your the ONLY person so far that has actually read and understood what i was saying. I was courteous and waited till i could get around the cyclists, as i dont want to cause an accident or make any cyclists hate cars (because i dont wanna get run off the road either). i didnt lay on my horn or anything in fact i gave them all the room i could. Just irritates me they couldnt have the same decency that about 99% of cyclists i come across have. i bet if i was riding a bike they woulda all moved right over out of our way 🙄

and to the rest of you, quit fighting i was just asking how many people see this day to day. the only time im not as likely to move is when they are riding on the left (coming towards me) or kids on bmx bikes weaving in and out of traffic. because that IS illegal 🙂

mongooseboy said:

Thanks, George, your the ONLY person so far that has actually read and understood what i was saying. I was courteous and waited till i could get around the cyclists, as i dont want to cause an accident or make any cyclists hate cars (because i dont wanna get run off the road either). i didnt lay on my horn or anything in fact i gave them all the room i could. Just irritates me they couldnt have the same decency that about 99% of cyclists i come across have. i bet if i was riding a bike they woulda all moved right over out of our way 🙄

and to the rest of you, quit fighting i was just asking how many people see this day to day. the only time im not as likely to move is when they are riding on the left (coming towards me) or kids on bmx bikes weaving in and out of traffic. because that IS illegal 🙂

actually, it was a discussion... I don't think it was fighting... and furthermore, even if it was.... who made you king of the forum?

Dunno... a woman at the local watering hole was telling me she'd had trouble getting around a group riding 2 or 3 abreast on a 2 lane road with a 70 mph speed limit.

I explained that they were in the wrong according to state law, but reminded her that biker's need some consideration, too: she might be late for work, but if she passes too close, I might be dead.

But sometimes I think the only person who can define 'practicable' is the one on the bike. I try to ride right, but if the wind is really strong and gusty, I need a safety zone. If the shoulder is gravely, or covered with glass, or deeply potholed, or rumble stripped, I'm not using it.

The person whose life is on the line deserves to make the call, and deserves the benefit of the doubt in those situations where there is any doubt...