I have nothing against avid bikers, beginner bikers, packs of bikers, single bikers or even bikes! I understand not all bikers do this but I feel like the majority of them do in California. What I cannot stand is when a single biker or a pack of bikers take up the whole road not letting cars pass. Thousands of times I have been stuck behind groups of bikers on a nice Saturday morning on a one lane street as the bikers just cruise along as if they aren't doing anything wrong. They are doing something wrong. The law says that they are allowed only in the center of the lane if they are keeping up with traffic... if not they must ride on the bike lane or on the sidewalk. So technically they are breaking the law but they always seem to get away with it. Somehow over the course of many years bikers slowly started taking over the road! Not many things in the world bother me but this does! Why can't they at least acknowledge that 25 cars are backed up behind them and move as far over to the right as possible instead of lingering in the middle of the lane. Just because they are in a pack of bikes doesn't mean they can do whatever they want. I just hope one day an angry driver like me doesn't ram them down. In regards to single cyclists, the only time they get under my skin is when they ride on the right side of the lane but still not in the bike lane. So you have 3/4 road to go past them and as you do they don't even slightly move over. I don't know why they do this but they do! I still like bikers but my respect for them goes up and down on a daily basis.
Once a man like me took his anger out on a cyclist by slamming on his brakes right in front of the biker. The biker was seriously injured. I would never do something like that. But at least I know I am not the only one with the pet peeve of bikers in the road.
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I am all for people wanting to get in shape or stay in shape by biking and in Washington there really big on sharing the road with bikers, but i totally agree that when they start to slow down traffic they should get off the road.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that biking is a good form of exercise, but that bikers themselves can be a hazard to the flow of traffic. I really wish police would enforce the laws against bikers as they are written in the book. I have seen bikers run red lights and stop signs like they own the road. If I did any of the many things that bikers do all the time on the road in my car, I would be ticketed and in some cases have my license suspended. There needs to be more equal enforcement of the law.
ReplyDeleteI remember one time on the way back from a scout trip we were driving and ran into a group of said bikers....they got mad that we were passing them so close so they gave us some less than flattering hand gestures. My scout leader had a big diesel truck that blows out black smoke when you accelerate...and yeah, we got 'em
ReplyDeleteBikers need to learn that roads are primarily for cars and just because bikes are the minority on the road doesn't mean they deserve special treatment. I know I would never hurt a biker either, but I sure want to give some of them a piece of my mind!
ReplyDeleteSince everyone has agreed with you, I'll just point out the other side--there are many roads that don't have bike lanes--for instance, up American Fork and Provo canyons. This is still a popular place for biking, and many times bikers do take up the road, but this is because there literally isn't room for them to go clear to the side--they would be in danger of tipping over. So they end up slowing down traffic until a car is able to pass, but in that case I don't see it as necessarily their fault. Now, I do agree with you that if there is a bike lane and the bike lane is not being used, there is no excuse.
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