Look at this KATU story of the naked loons riding their Bikes through Portland the other night. A whole thousand!
These self-righteous fools think they are calling attention to important causes and that soon everyone will be commuting by bicycle. They act in a generally activist and lawless manner as they take to the streets in naked bike rides, critical mass rides, always running stop signs and lights the whole way along, they are in your face, and proud of it. They are the Portland Chic. Hipsters, Edgy, The "In Crowd," in the Portland and Seattle culture, lifestyle features, representative photographic scenes, etc. They want to end dependence on foreign oil, but they don't stop to consider that you can't get your couch home via a bicycle. Or that nuclear energy holds far more promise in eliminating oil than does the hip-as-a-nude-ride, and equally useless and minuscule wind and solar industry.
Real cyclists obey the rules of the road. They share the road with autos and understand they need to come to a stop at stop signs, and nurture a culture of tolerance and not a circus mentality that further marginalizes and ostracizes bicycles in the eyes of the vast majority who don't ride. Real cyclists do sensible things like wearing protective clothing while biking, and are capable of climbing steep mountain passes and riding on bicycles for hours on end in races and popular touring rides. Real cyclists are also able to put aside their bikes at the end of their rides, not allowing themselves to be defined by a form of transportation or a sport they enjoy.
Each and every spectacle of critical mass rides or bicycle nudism with police escorts undoubtedly assures that many more aggressive and thoughtless drivers become set in an anti-bicycle mentality that will end in a tragedy.
If you are a real cyclist and you want to do something for cycling, wear bright colors, stop and stop signs, obey the other rules of the road, and think of yourself as just another vehicle and not a special class deserving of frequent parade spectacle and in need of freakish self adulation.
Posted by JeffB. at June 16, 2009 07:42 AM | Email ThisNo bicycles on arterials during rush hour, unless they are in a marked bicycle lane.
No bicycle lanes can be marked if they remove a lane of traffic or a lane of parking.
Any construction to widen lanes to accommodate a marked bicycle lane shall be paid for through a tax on bicycles.
Getcher damn toys off the road. The real people have places to go.
Hairy
Posted by: Hairy Buddah on June 16, 2009 07:20 PMI take care not to ride the arterials as much as possible. Not only is it more dangerous, but I recognize the difficulty it poses for drivers. Typically, there is a better alternate route for bikes, that is more enjoyable. That said, "Getcher damn toys off the road." does not help. Smarter cyclists realize though that there are going to be drivers out there with that bad attitude, and that in a head to head between bike and car, the bike loses every time. Best not to get in to those situations in the first place.
I do wonder though if the nude bicycle rides and other biketivist spectacles make you as a driver more weary of cyclists in general?
And Michele, I agree, some of the behavior I see from cyclists is appalling. Many take a chip on the shoulder attitude. Those are the ones that I as a cyclist hate as much as you do, because they give cycling a bad name, and create worse drivers. That said, there are some really bad motorists out there as well. Michele, what's your take on Biketivists and their spectacles nude parades, etc.?
Posted by: Jeff B. on June 17, 2009 07:07 AMWhat percentage of car/bike altercations result in lawsuits against the driver?
What percentage of car/bike injuries result in criminal prosecution of the driver?
The cyclists aren't just risking themselves. I don't know the answers to the above questions, and I bet they don't keep track of it. The bike lobby isn't interested in the statistics.
Stop risking my life and freedom with your toys.
Hairy
Posted by: Hairy Buddah on June 17, 2009 09:50 PMTry being a pedestrian on Burke-Gilman.
Biketivists like to complain about how drivers treat them, but then they do the same or worse to pedestrians. They do not yield to pedestrians, they expect them to move. They do not slow down for pedestrians - they try to maintain their speed and weave in and out and around pedestrians.
When the cyclist does slow, or announce their presence, my wife and I make sure to thank them, but it is few and far between any more.
In attentive drivers scare me. Inattentive cyclists scare me. Arrogant people - the ones that believe their rights always trump my rights - make me mad and unsympathetic to their viewpoint.
Posted by: SouthernRoots on June 18, 2009 07:38 AMBut if you don't understand that bikes are on the road and have a right to the road, and you can't safely handle coexistence with them, then that speaks more to your own inability to drive and your ignorance.
Roots, and yeah, I know what you mean on pedestrian/ bike trails. I typically slow down for pedestrians if I am going the same direction as they are and thus they can't see me coming. It's really all about competence and personal responsibility. There's no reason why peds, bikes, cars can't exist except for the growing lack of common sense and personal responsibility that prevents many from engaging in civil behavior with their fellow man.
Posted by: Jeff B. on June 18, 2009 12:18 PMFor example, I am a member of my town's local bicycle advisory board appointed by the mayor. I made some comments about how I thought painting bike lanes on certain major arteries was not a good idea, and that it could give novice bicyclists a false notion of safety.
Well, this caused all manner of heck to break loose as a I was lambasted in the Cascade Bicycle Forums by "Biketivists" because I had broken one of their cardinal rules that we should paint bike lanes any time, any where, even if it's in the left lane of I-5 !
You're analysis is correct thought. These Biketivists have lost touch with simple bicycling and turned it into a political movement that doesn't want to make rational decisions for the general public (Gee, where have I heard that before ?!).
Posted by: John Bailo on June 22, 2009 04:55 AMI was driving in downtown Portland last summer. Suddenly a group of Biketivists stopped traffic on a one way street. Bikes and Skateboards rode back and forth in front of the cars for about 3 minutes before relenting and letting traffic flow again. This is about flexing the muscle of power, and not about educating people to share the road. I'm guessing most non-cyclists who were driving that day and witnessed that spectacle are much more likely to hate cyclists in general not making the distinction between normal people who ride bikes, and Biketivists who are activists on bicycles. This post is to show the drivers that there is a difference between the nuts, and the normal people.
I had a similar experience "discussing" safety issues with a Biketivist. He didn't want to hear any of it, he just wanted authority over the roads and those who make decisions about the roads.
And this is what Liberal Fascism is all about. A new in your face ideology that challenges you to even question it at all.
Posted by: Jeff B. on June 22, 2009 08:40 AM