RkFast

http://www.velonews.com/article/99537/pros...fense-will-call Cyclists +2

Its lycra, not spandex. Lycra is what cyclists use. Spandex is what fat chicks wear to clubs. And they both make people look goofy as ****.

No I wont becuase you know if you even TRY, you will be in jail for a very very long time, and your familes in the poor house (and mine supremely wealthy). And I can handle a 15% hill with switchbacks at 45 MPH...you think I cant dodge out of YOUR way? LOL. Thats the best part here...all you cowards talking about "taking out" a cyclist? No you wont...and that the best part of this. For all your tough talk, you, for some reason, place value on your fat, pathetic lives that have this jealousy for people like me who actually have the motivation to get OFF our asses and DO SOMETHING with ourselves besides park at the bar and down two dozen wings. So I WILL make you slow down and do what I want....and you pathetic fat losers cant do a thing about it. You arent hitting ANYONE with your cars. Or even making a false move. Becuase you know if you even try, Ill be on the celly forwarding a picture of your plate, or even your silly mugs to the cops within about ten seconds. I swear...this is too good. The more I see all of you getting your panties in a wad over an itty bitty bicycle getting between you and your Big Macs, the more Im motivated to just move on over to the left and make you wait longer to get to it. Becuase...ya know...if Im gonna obey dem traffic laws, Im entitled to that lane! So sit back there and slow down, tubby(s).

Its becuase, Jim...here is the REAL truth......bikes DONT have to follow the rules. I have to admit to something. I lied. I really dont follow the traffic laws EVER. I was just trying to make a good case. If you and your ilk dont like me blocking your lane, or blowing through a light, too !@#$ing bad. And if you come within an ants dick of me or worse, hit me, Ill get so lawyered up and sue your ass so bad, youd never know what hit you. Andf the best part? Even though I was the one who was the how-you-say? Smug !@#$? Ill win the lawsuit. Heck, at the WORST, youll be financing my NEW bike. For example, one of my buds go hit by some "perfect law abiding driver" a few months back...now hes riding a brand new $8,000 Tarmac. Come to think of it, I WANT you to hit me...my Madone's getting a little long in the tooth and I got a C50 I got my eye on. Would be SWEET if YOU paid for it!

Tommy...if there is ONE thing on this !@#$ing mudball of Earth Im POSITIVE I know more about than you, its this topic. So step aside. And Jimmy....I NEVER said I may skip out on following traffic laws WHEN ITS "CONVENIENT." "Convenience" NEVER entered into this discussion. Ever. And you now show me this letter about cyclists going the wrong way and riding on sidewalks???!!?? How many !@#$ing times to I have to drill it into your thick !@#$ing skull that I DO NOT advocate or excuse this type of riding??!!?? Holy ****, youre in BF territory with your inability to understand what Im spelling out here. Ive said about FIVE times in this thread that this type of cycling and flouting of laws is INEXCUSABLE. Im AGREEING WITH YOU on that. The ONLY place I part with you on these issues is where you think that cylists should obey traffic laws to the letter vis a vis stop signs and lights. And even there, I ONLY advocate for the cylcists being given leeway on those specific rules when road and traffic conditions make it acceptable and permissible for the cyclists to have it, like allowing cyclusts to forego making full stops for lights and stop signs when there is no auto or pedestrian traffic present. A bit of MORE reading for you: http://washcycle.typepad.com/home/2008/07/...yth-of-the.html Now preach to me some more about who obeys laws and when. Becuase unless youre out there in your car counting 1,2,3 at stop signs and holding it to 55 MPH, youre a FOS hypocrite.

I agree with this thread. Next game Im gooing to look HARD for two things: 1. How much TO is either smiling or yelling on the sidelines. 2. How "hard" he is running when he jogs up to the line. THAT will tell the tale as to how much he "cares."

No, but it sure looks "cool" to see a screamer on your sideline, doesnt it?

Yes.... except for rules that "can have no reasonable application to a bicycle operator." Presumably, this refers to laws governing highways, some sidewalks, and other non-bicycle-friendly turf. It doesn't apply to the stop-sign scenario, even though some bicycle advocates argue that stop signs "have no reasonable application to a bicycle operator." While were on the subject of laws, Id like you to post for the audience how you approach complainace with food handling and health code laws in your kitchen. It would also be beneficial if you post the most recent inspection report your kitchen recevied. You ARE a pro chef, right?

Im "outnumbered" only becuase the majority of people posting on this thread havent been on a bike in about a decade. From the get-go Ive stated that my opinion and manner in which I operate any one of my bikes has been one that follows TO THE LETTER how the original article spells it out. Direct from the article: Bikes occupy a gray area of the law. They're neither cars nor pedestrians. Most states do carve out special laws for bikes, but not enough to avoid confusion. Take this scenario: I'm approaching a stop sign on my bike. There are clearly no cars coming from either direction. Do I come to a complete stop? Can I cautiously slide through? The traffic laws say full stop. But in practice, few bikers hit the brake, put their foot on the ground, and then start pedaling again. Are they criminals? The D.C. Code recognizes the special status of bikes. Bikes shall follow all traffic laws, the code says, except for rules that "can have no reasonable application to a bicycle operator." Presumably, this refers to laws governing highways, some sidewalks, and other non-bicycle-friendly turf. It doesn't apply to the stop-sign scenario, even though some bicycle advocates argue that stop signs "have no reasonable application to a bicycle operator." The stop sign scenario above matches perfectly the one I described in my own experiences, too. Based on speaking to and following the lead of many fellow cyclists I ride often with, some as advanced and experienced as having rode under their home Country's National flag in the Olympics and Cycling National Championships, and having read this, and many many articles on the subject, and having logged close to 4,000 miles/year on my own, Im comfortable that how I operate anby of my bikes, on the road or off it is in line with A) traffic law as it is currently intepreted and enforced and B) with keeping my safety and the safety of others in mind and C) common courtesy. Ive NEVER in this thread advocated or excused stupid wrong-way riding, riding on sidewalks or ANY behavior that puts either the cyclists, the pedestrians or the driver's safety in ANY kind of jeopardy. Not once. The CLOSEST I came to that is tell inkman that he probably should of waited for the cyclist to pass him and even there, said that only becuase it was the cyclist, not inkman that was a selfish moron. If thats not good enough for ya, theres nothing I can do.

Let me get this right....I carefully watch where Im going, use proper signals, yield to traffic, etc...but becuase I run a red light or go through a stop sign ONLY after slowing and looking both ways and only at six in the morning and/or when there isnt a car or pedestrian around for miles, you cant stand my attitude and Im a "smug mother !@#$er." Youre either completely mindless...or pulling my leg. Which?

You come here not knowing **** about rules of the road of cycling..me, as someone who bikes THOUSANDS of miles a year is DESPERATLEY (and politely) trying to tell you how it all works and in response you write the above? And you call ME a "smug MFer"? You got !@#$ing nerve. Go !@#$ing read up and learn something for which youre spouting off about and then get back to me.

Youre right. They dont. They should in the right lane of traffic, off to the side as much as they can without going into the shoulder. On two lane roads, bikes, espeically groups larger than five, can (and should) take a full lane a lane of traffic and move to the side as needed to allow faster cars to pass as traffic and conditions permit.

DO NOT lump those morons in with legit cyclists. Please.

Now youre losing me. You implied that the mass of your truck somehow comes into play here and im trying to tell you that might not be the case. Ive been way over to the right, riding along, using my blinky, hand signals and making gramma Edie blush with how carefully Im obeying the rules, only to slide right into the back of a few backward hat wearing, trucknut hanging dipshits who decided to stop RIGHT NOW and hang a quick right into a fast food drivethru. So again...it plays both ways. Yield and play nice and nobody gets hurt. Drive and/or ride along like a selfish ass and everybody else caters to "ME", and there will be blood.

You just illustrated my point. You assumed "the other guy" was the one who needed to do the yielding. No, you werent wrong, per se..but you were not driving defensively. And not for nothing...a bike moving at 20MPH on tires with a half inch contact patch doesnt exactly stop on a dime. You lock up a road bike's rear wheel and you might as well be on roller skates. Again...you werent "wrong"....you just assumed that the other nimrod knew what he was doing. First rule of driving, right? Dont assume the other !@#$ isnt an !@#$.

What you did wrong was assume he was going to stop. You did have the ROW, but since you both got to the intersection at the same exact time, you, as well as the cyclist, assumed "the other guy" was going to yield.

Cycling and traffic laws are a weird dynamic. Cyclists do have to obey the rules, but UNLIKE when driving a car, to the extend you obey them is MUCH more dependenent on conditions and time of day. To use Tone's example, if youre riding through a nice quiet neigborhood on your way home, a cyclist is NOT going to come to a full stop for every stop sign. That would be pointless. A good cyclist will come to an intersection like this, look both ways, determine that the road is clear and keep going. If there is a car there, s/he may slow down and yield or keep going, depending on the action of the car. Its actually the same with red lights. Youll come to a light, slow down, look both ways and if traffic permits, go through it and if traffic doesnt permit, stop. To illustrate this...I go down a VERY busy road on my morning rides. At 530AM on my way out when the road is very very quiet, I wont stop for lights or stopsigns...just as I approach, make sure traffic is clear and keep right on going. But on the way back at 830AM in the middle of rush hour, its a whole different ballgame and Im MUCH more in tune with the cars and stop lights and Im very careful to "follow the traffic signal rules" and what not. I cant speak for the fools who ride on sidewalks, against traffic or just blow through lights without looking. Obviously, there is no place for that. But cyclist's rode rules are governed MUCH more by traffic conditions at the time and not as much by the rules automobiles are governed by. One thing thats a peeve of mine...this notion by cars that I have to get to the shoulder. No....share the road. I dont see you driving your car in the shoulder, dodging roadkill, tree blowdown, dirt and garbage. Dont expect me ride my bike in that crap.

Happy Birfday Ralph. SELL THE TEAM NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rot inb hell you redneck POS, Coleman....DIE.

How about this..... JUST GIVE IT TO THEM

Give me a fugging breaki...thats a damned catch

Im a forgiving Christian man and all, but if Walt Coleman was ass raped by a bull and then run over by a steamroller...I wouldnt shed a single !@#$ing tear.

Wow...they missed it...what a shock

I think the ONE saving grace in this whole mess is the fact that although the team stinks to high hell and has for a while, it STILL sells so many tickets each week. This blows the whole "WNY cant support a team" line of reasoning right out of the water.