Bike people are the worst

I would guess that most cyclists think carefully about their routes. There is a beautiful road near here that I won't ride because there are stretches without a shoulder and too much traffic to ride in the lane with any sense of comfort. I imagine a lot of cyclists "share the road" by giving certain roads over entirely to cars.

 

If there was an extensive network of trails, that would be great. But in a lot of places - even big cities! - there aren't. And out here in flyover country, in a city of 90k, the infrastructure isn't there and will never be there.

So what's a cyclist or pedestrian to do? How are the busboy at the restaurant or the second-shifter at the factory or the janitor at the retirement home who can't afford cars going to get to work? How are the kids whose parents have to work early going to get to school? How are the food deliverymen going to get that order of Jimmy John's to the downtown law firm?

What are the folks - like me - training for century rides or triathlons supposed to do? Put in repetitive laps on a 10-mile stretch of mixed-use paved trail - while having to stay at 10 mph so we can avoid runners, walkers, parents pushing strollers, kids running around and dogs off their leashes?

 

As a former ride leader for the club, that's exactly the case. We pick and choose routes very carefully to avoid bad situations. But that doesn't matter when a driver isn't paying attention or speeding or texting.

For example, I live in a historic neighborhood. My street has eight houses on side of the road and seven on the other. From one stop sign to the next, it's about 7,500 feet. But on Sunday night, a Domino's delivery driver decided to cut through our street in excess of 55 mph.

 

If a high school bordered it’s property with a one-mike bike loop, would you use it?

 

IW, I'm sorry for your loss. So senseless and unnecessary.

Yup. One of the places I rode in South Carolina had a narrow spot over a railroad overpass with no shoulder to speak of.

I rolled over it a couple of times because there was a really neat park with all sorts of areas which could be explored on a bicycle. Let's just say I made those trips count ... that overpass was not exactly a safe haven.

 

Not much. It would likely be flat and I need hills - big hills - to climb to prepare for the 5-mile climb at mile 80 of the century ride. (And there's a 10-mile climb on another, shorter ride I'm registered for next month.) How am I going to adequately prepare for a day of climbing 5,000 feet on a one-mile loop that might have two feet of elevation change per lap?

Basically, what you're suggesting, would be the end to the big charity bike rides like RAGBRAI (happening now in Iowa), the Hotter 'N Hell 100 and Bo Bikes Bama and the thousands of other smaller local events.

 

The only time I've come close to getting hit was when I was riding where I was supposed to, three feet from parked cars, and set to go through a green light at an intersection. As I'm going, a car that wants to turn right at the intersection pulls in front of me at speed to make the turn, nearly causing me to crash. That's the sort of impatient shit that is getting people killed. Some drivers do not understand nor are willing to accept that bicycles are vehicles and not "nuisances." As we've repeated in this thread, there are plenty of cyclists who don't ride the right way .... helmetless, no lights at night, cutting down the middle of streets, blowing through stop signs/red lights without looking. But you can do everything right and still nearly get crushed.

 

A one-mile bike loop would be useless to anything other than small kids. I'd do short runs on it - anything five miles or less. Riding a bike on a one-mile loop would be like running on a track. I don't run on a track because it gets really repetitive really quick.

 

At least in my area, the biggest conflict between runners/cyclists and people in cars comes from fat, smoking, McDonald's grubbing, heart attacks waiting to happen who can't understand why anyone would be out exercising.

 

I'm curious about this. Were you and the car going in the same direction and he was turning right and you were continuing straight?
I ask because once I was driving down a typical small town street with commercial buildings/retail stores and parallel street parking. I slowed downed and signaled to parallel park when a bike rider coming up on the right started yelling and I stopped. I was doing nothing wrong and no car would have had the right of way when I was pulling in to a parking spot. Why did this bike rider not react to my slowing down and signalling but instead bitched at me?
I look before opening my door to avoid bike riders, but why should I have to check to see if they are coming up on me when I am doing a legal maneuver?

 

I almost bit it last night when a pickup truck came around a bend on a quiet road and took it so wide he ended up in the outside lane, which happened to be mine. Both had to swerve to avoid a head-on and he glared at me as though I'd done something wrong. A little later on the same ride, a kid in the passenger seat of his mum's car gave me the finger when they passed. Didn't do much for my feelings about humanity.

It was a gorgeous night though.

 

I'm far from an expert on this, but I don't see that you did anything wrong, so long as you gave him enough time to stop and didn't just jam your breaks when you saw a spot. Were you sitting on the bike lane? Some cyclists—I can be one of them—are a little sensitive about the sanctity of bike lanes, because so often people just stop on them to unload or wait for whatever they are waiting for. But he has to obey the same laws as any other vehicle. He either waits for you to park or goes around you on the left if it's clear.