TarponChaser said:
David_Puddy said:
I used to be an anti cyclist guy like many of you. My opinion changed when I bought my bike right when the pandemic started. Almost all of the people on bikes are following the law and most of them are riding on the trails anyway. The people complaining/honking/etc are usually fat f-cks that don't ever exercise to begin with.
That said, screw Critical Mass.......that is a gigantic clusterf-ck and I wish someone would put a stop to it.
Not a cyclist but I agree with you.
A little common courtesy both ways. If you're in a vehicle, be safe, courteous, and let cyclists do their thing. However, I've also seen a lot of cyclists insist on riding multiple riders abreast of each other and backing up traffic behind them- show a little courtesy and move to single file until the traffic passes.
But, 1000%- fck Critical Mass right in their suckholes.
Yeah, there are alot of factors that go into when it is appropriate to ride single file or in a double line, on the shoulder, in the lane, etc. I really wish the folks who are so hardcore anti-cyclist could come out and ride in a group ride just once to see how much most of them try to avoid being a nuisance to traffic, and try to ride in a way that is safest for the riders, while being as considerate as possible for the drivers around them.
One example is the NW Cycling Club rides that go out of Zube Park in Waller. They break themselves into groups by speed, and in the past, it was not uncommon for one group to have 40+ riders in it. In Waller, given many of the narrow two lane roads, it is generally not safe for a car to try to pass a cyclist without having to move over into the oncoming lane. So if all the cyclists in a 40+ person group were riding single file along the far right side of the road, they would do one of two things. Ether the line would be so long, it would be impossible for the car to see far enough ahead to move over and pass safely, or they would be tempted to try to stay within the same lane as the riders and pass them in an unsafe manner. So the NWCC rides generally ride as a double paceline taking most of the lane. This does two things...it cuts the length of the line the cars have to pass in half to make it easier for them to see and get past the line of riders, and it occupies enough of the lane that a motorist is not tempted to pass in a way that is unsafe.
Same thing when it comes to stop signs. If every single rider in a group stopped at the stop sign individually in a single file line and put their foot on the ground before proceeding, one after the other, any car stuck behind them would lose their mind with how long it would take to get through the stop sign. But if the group rides up and lets the leaders call out whether it is clear to proceed and most of the cyclists roll through behind them if it is clear, it is quicker for anybody stuck behind the group. But anybody seeing it would likely be running to Texags to post about the group of 40 cyclists they saw blow through a stop sign.
I am with the previous poster in that I despise Critical Mass. They are a blight on the cycling community and do nothing but generate animosity between cyclists and drivers. I wish those who lump all cyclists into one basket could see how many times many of us are out there yelling at the one or two idiots to move over and let cars pass, or "share the road". It really is a fairly small subset of riders that give most of us the bad image in the eyes of those prone to hating on cyclists, but at some point, there is very little we can do as a cycling community to force individuals to ride the way most of us do.
The one thing I would wish for is that every parent who is among the anti-cyclist crew would control themselves in how they express that when their kids are around. I get that alot of it is just trolling or typical Texags schtick for laughs, and I am fine with that. But as adults, you presumably recognize that expressing yourselves like that on a message board is different than harassing cyclists at high speed while driving a several thousand pound vehicle. I say that because this 16 year old kid in Waller didn't just decide to do this on his own. He learned his scorn for cyclists and the desire to harass them repeatedly from somebody. As a 16 year old, he didn't have the emotional control to hold back his desire to do it, and it ended in tragedy and now his life will likely never be the same. Even if his city council relative manages to get him off from any serious consequences from the PD, they likely won't be able to shield his family from serious financial consequences when the rider's attorneys get through suing them. And it all could have been avoided if he had been taught to view cyclists as people with families and kids instead of objects of scorn.
