My guess...it went something like this:

OPs friends: Don't you know how to ride a bike?
OP: of course I do. My dad taught me when I was four years old.
Friend: Prove it.

OP starts taking off his clothes.

Friend: Uh...wtf are you doing??
OP: This is how my daddy taught me.
Friends: Dude...

OP calls dad in prison to ask 'wtf' then goes to bedroom and logs into EvE Forums.

Note to Self: Don't put Jada Maroo in charge of issuing Parade Permits.

It is the whole two and three minutes that the OP had to wait which amused me.

Yes, i do use a bicycle. Makes sense going to/from the pub and, not only that, in summer when the grockles flock to the local area it's the fastest way to get into town, shop and get out again. And, yes, I can get over a dozen bottles of wine in my back pack and panniers.

This is simple Newtonian physics. My vehicle has more mass and acceleration than your bicycle. Therefore I win. The laws of the universe say that car/truck > bicycle every time they exchange forces in a collision.

I cycle. Usually in jeans and fleecy because Scotland is too frakking cold for lycra as far as I'm concerned.

I have a special little place in my dark heart for my hatred of bicyclists, but to play devils advocate, bicycles are considered motor vehicles by law and in most places you are actually prohibited from riding them on sidewalks.

OP has the right idea. I can't speak for the rest of Europe but in Italy bicyclists act like they own the road. They've created bike paths alongside the road for them, but that's not good enough so they ride on the road anyway. It's always said spandex-wearing tools as well.

Fortunately, they've begun new laws stating that if you're caught riding on the road when there's a bike path for you, you'll be fined. Finally.

I also don't like people who grocery shop with canvas bags (hemp based of course).

Dear OP, **** you. Get a hobby of your own and gain understanding of others who have a hobby. Again, **** you.

My guess...it went something like this:

OPs friends: Don't you know how to ride a bike?
OP: of course I do. My dad taught me when I was four years old.
Friend: Prove it.

OP starts taking off his clothes.

Friend: Uh...wtf are you doing??
OP: This is how my daddy taught me.
Friends: Dude...

OP calls dad in prison to ask 'wtf' then goes to bedroom and logs into EvE Forums.

I also don't like people who grocery shop with canvas bags (hemp based of course).

I need to start a blog on this.

I also don't like people who grocery shop with canvas bags (hemp based of course).

I need to start a blog on this.

I also don't like people who grocery shop with canvas bags (hemp based of course).

I need to start a blog on this.

original post 2/10

add the parade 4/10

moseying on through into ccp participatory agreement with original sentiment 6/10

into hemp bag loving/patchouli sweating/bike riding/neckbearded tree huggers 8/10

still doing it all with a straight face puts us at 9/10.

/applauds

If you don't like them, leave your vehicle and hand your keys to them. Or give them a lift and put their bikes on your trunk. Otherwise stfu and keep driving.

Or waiting until we are through.

She openly carries her handgun (which is not only permissible in my state, but freemen openly bearing arms goes back to English common law).

either Prius-driving, bike riding, canvas-bag-to-Whole Foods (that's a health store for those of your out of the US) snarky liberal democrat types

And then cyclists complain that people don't like them. Considering ANYTHING on the road is faster then you, including 50CC vespa scooters, you don't really have any right to the arrogance you display. You are a liability and a danger to everyone around you.

And, as a cyclist, if i could afford anything faster i would. So unless you want to give me something faster, stfu and keep drinving.

Dude... Which state are you talking about? Just wanna make sure i never visit it.

God, I hate Priuses... they're alright when they're in the city but on the highway they always mess up traffic because people driving them seem to not want to go more than 55mph in a 75mph zone (because they don't want to wreck their "perfect" fuel economy...)


Anyways, that's OT.

I slightly agree with the OP. Every year where I live, in the summertime, there are a bunch of bike-riding retards (I say retards, because there are NO bike lanes here, lots of curves and steep hills, narrow roads, and they ride on the highway). The result is that nobody around here likes cyclists (more out of concern for their physical health and curiosity concerning their mental well-being or doing something like that in the area I live in) and that everyone thinks they look funny because they can't do anything to make themselves safer except wear bright neon-colored spankypants...

So, every time I drive by one of them on the highway, all I can think of is "haha, look at that ****** wearing bright pink underwear as clothes"

This is simple Newtonian physics. My vehicle has more mass and acceleration than your bicycle. Therefore I win. The laws of the universe say that car/truck > bicycle every time they exchange forces in a collision.

So Newton is your excuse to be a fat guy?

That you can bulldoze us "crazy" people down at the next (free) buffet?

but idiots in inappropriate sized cars who can't pass another oncomng vehichle without having a hissy-fit that thir supposed rufty-tufty Chelsea Tractor may actually have to get onto a grass verge by six inches or so.

The britishness of this sentence cause a top hat to spontaneously appear on the top of my head.

People who can't drive and people who drive cars inappropriate for city driving are a problem, but my concern for cyclists doesn't stem from the fact that their vehicles are inappropriate for the roads. I can deal with that. It stems from the fact that their attitudes are inappropriate for the road.

If you acknowledge that your vehicle puts you at a disadvantage to everyone on the road, and ride in a manner appropriate to that fact, the problem would vanish.

But cyclists inexplicably ride as if they are kings of the road, when in reality, they are the most vulnerable and the least trained. Here in Australia, there is no required training for riding a bike on the road. Everyone else gets shown how to control their vehicle and what the road rules are, and is required to pass a fairly stringent (although not perfect) test to demonstrate they at least grasp the basics.

Its par for the course for cyclists to ignore road rules. Just the other day I saw a learner in the turn left lane at a red light with a left arrow (also red). He had two cyclists on his left side. The turn left arrow went green, and he and the cyclists started moving. He went to turn the corner, but they went straight ahead, flagrantly ignoring the red light and almost went under his wheels.

I can count on one hand the number of times in my whole life I have seen a cyclist indicate by sticking his hand out. Its law to indicate that way over here, because otherwise how can you tell what they are about to do?

But none of them do it.

And you want motor vehicle users to respect your right to the road? **** off.

Cyclists are, almost to a man, unpredictable, roaming driving hazards, as surely as if someone put knee high cement blocks on powered skate boards and set them loose.

Display some internal community solidarity against cyclists breaking road rules, create community oriented measures to educate poor cyclists, and maybe we'll start respecting you. Until then, we shall treat you how you act: As a bunch of arrogant, stupid and dangerous children who either don't realise or don't care how much trouble they put us adults through.

there is not a lot I can disagree with there. I cycle a lot and I drive a lot.

What I never do is not indicate when cycling. Well, tell a lie, if there's no-one around I don't indcate.

As a cyclist I sit at red lights; they are for all traffic users and not optional indicators. I don't have time for cyclists who ride two, or more, abreast on busy roads.

As a motorist I know that it's essential to keep the flow of the traffic going. It the Sunday drivers and grockles who don't keep to the speed limit which are the worst drivers. of course, cyclists aren't going to be doing 60mph down the A470 but they can jolly well stay in single file so that the traffic can more.

I mentioned Sunday drivers and Grockles. The former are usually unsafe to drive and the latter are the twats who think "I am on holiday in thie lovely part of the world so I will go at thirty on a road which could be done safely at fifty and not care about the traffic building up behind me."

As for the Original Poster saying that they had to wait whole minutes I wonder if he or she had never been in a queue caused by other motorists. Most of the time the road works for users who know how to use the damned things. It's those, motorists, cyclists and whomever who don't which are the issue. There's nothing wrong with cyclists who know how the road works.

People who drive cars are arrogant nobheads.

Cost is a terrible justification. Perhaps its truly a problem for you, but its not for most cyclists where I live. Most of them have spent at least $4000 on their gear. On the other hand, I bought a brand new Sach Express 150 for $2200 including on roads, and another k for the gear, $800 less.

I'm a student, with a casual job. I don't even have a dependable income, and I can afford that much.

If you buy second hand, you can get a honda CT110 for less then $1000, and those things are the most reliable vehicle on the planet. Either of these bikes will set you back less then $10 a week in petrol, and at most $400 a year in maintenance unless you are an idiot. Provided your insurance slate is clean, you can insure the sach for $300 annually, and thats full comprehensive.

If those kinds of costs are too high for you, then you should consider bus tickets.

Pushbikes are not a defensible form of transport, there are better forms of transport all around you. If you want to ride a pushbike because its fun or because its good for you, fair enough. But don't pretend you are playing on the same level as the rest of traffic, you are a kid with a potato gun at a rifle range. Every single person on the road, from motorcycles to trucks, has a superior form of transport, and could kill you by accident. Respect that, don't do stupid things around serious machines, and for the love of god don't antagonize real shooters with your potato gun.

but i don't have driving licenses for either a car or a bike

...

And i won't pay a bus ticket to go a distance i can go in my bicycle

and this thread here is why I keep wishing a meteor comes crash into us, because A) lots of bike riders act like they own the road, and B) lots of car owners act like they own the road.

The britishness of this sentence cause a top hat to spontaneously appear on the top of my head.

People who can't drive and people who drive cars inappropriate for city driving are a problem, but my concern for cyclists doesn't stem from the fact that their vehicles are inappropriate for the roads. I can deal with that. It stems from the fact that their attitudes are inappropriate for the road.

If you acknowledge that your vehicle puts you at a disadvantage to everyone on the road, and ride in a manner appropriate to that fact, the problem would vanish.

But cyclists inexplicably ride as if they are kings of the road, when in reality, they are the most vulnerable and the least trained. Here in Australia, there is no required training for riding a bike on the road. Everyone else gets shown how to control their vehicle and what the road rules are, and is required to pass a fairly stringent (although not perfect) test to demonstrate they at least grasp the basics.

Its par for the course for cyclists to ignore road rules. Just the other day I saw a learner in the turn left lane at a red light with a left arrow (also red). He had two cyclists on his left side. The turn left arrow went green, and he and the cyclists started moving. He went to turn the corner, but they went straight ahead, flagrantly ignoring the red light and almost went under his wheels.

I can count on one hand the number of times in my whole life I have seen a cyclist indicate by sticking his hand out. Its law to indicate that way over here, because otherwise how can you tell what they are about to do?

But none of them do it.

And you want motor vehicle users to respect your right to the road? **** off.

Cyclists are, almost to a man, unpredictable, roaming driving hazards, as surely as if someone put knee high cement blocks on powered skate boards and set them loose.

Display some internal community solidarity against cyclists breaking road rules, create community oriented measures to educate poor cyclists, and maybe we'll start respecting you. Until then, we shall treat you how you act: As a bunch of arrogant, stupid and dangerous children who either don't realise or don't care how much trouble they put us adults through.

Perhaps you should. Since you've never been trained, you have no idea about how to safely (not just safely for yourself but safely for others as well) navigate the road.

Get trained at text reading. I didn't said i didn't get training i said i don't have a license. Those are two somewhat related but different things.

if YOU gentlemen would stop using your cars and bikes to go on the grocery store two blocks away and either go on foot or ride a bicycle yourselves, you wouldn't be so stressed out and gas prices wouldnt be so high.

How would I get 2 weeks of groceries home on a bicycle? I suppose I could steal a shopping cart and attach it to my bike like a sidecar....

How would I get 2 weeks of groceries home on a bicycle? I suppose I could steal a shopping cart and attach it to my bike like a sidecar....

I'm gonna choose to believe the first one because I have noticed on other forums and in other venues that this particular group (lycra wearing bicycle riders) are wonderfully sensitive to criticism, are full of arrogance, possess an obnoxious sense of entitlement (to roads), and are, in general, vile but hilarious when provoked.

When you point out that they don't belong on roads.

People who ride offroad bikes are fine. I have a trail bike myself. Bikes are superior on trails, after all, and cars don't belong on trails. The only things that belong on trails are bikes, motorcycles, four wheelers, rapists, dead bodies (to the side), and Mexicans.

People who "hike" -- I don't trust those people. I've never met a normal person who hikes. The common nexus between "hikers" and their lycra wearing brethren on roads seems to be Whole Foods.

Ladies and gentlemen, 3000+ years of survival of the fittest being made redundant, and we arrive here, at people who think its ok to ride a pushbike in front of a truck because of principal.

Looks like natures catching up, and some of these people are imminently going to go full darwin on their own arses. Can I get a hallelujah?

To think all the health care costs that could be avoided if fat asses got their lazy bums out of their car seats and propelled themselves in a fashion more suitable for their health.


Slade

To OP.

I agree with you, and am amazed that 90% of the replies are Pro-biker.

I grew up until 16, in, and still regularly visit Maryland and DC in the USA. And I have never seen more of these ass hats in my life anywhere else.

It really drives me nuts.

I'm 22 now, And I will still get on a BMX bike and floor it down the road, But I know I am not a car.

I bike down the sidewalk, Where non-car-vehicles belong.

I hate running up on a mf trying to ride a bike down a road with a speed limit of 45mph. I hate thinking about all the horrible accidents they could cause, Simply by getting their shoe laces caught up in the gears I've done it as a kid, If a car had been behind me, I probably wouldn't be here today.

Even bike lanes **** me off, Because of those I had my license plate removed from my car once by a college police officer. (Passed a car in the bike lane as said car made a left, upon being pulled over 3 cars do the same exact thing I did.) Apparently people were getting hurt too often by cars running them over in the biking lane, ON THE BIGGEST COLLEGE STREET IN THE CITY. I was actually drinking a 40 ounce beer standing outside a house one night on this street, and I saw a moped get nailed crossing the street by a car doing about 20 pulling a left onto a side street, IN THE BIKE LANE.

I wouldn't EVER bike down that road, Knowing how many drunk and inebriated college students drive up it every day.

I'm gonna stop ranting, but omfg I am with you my friend. I am with you.

There's a difference between a biker and a cyclist, please don't lump me in with those hippies that are afraid to use engines

There's a difference between a biker and a cyclist, please don't lump me in with those hippies that are afraid to use engines

What are you trying to compensate for?

What are you trying to compensate for?

2. he thought I was serious in my suggestion that people with older vehicles should take it for the team and run over people on bikes wearing lycra

At least he's got something between his legs to compensate for.

i'll just leave this here for the OP: taking one for the team

me tiptoes out...

That's terrible. I hope that car is okay.

That's the critical mass event. Frankly, they got what they deserved.

So even tho it was a bike event monitored by the police and not some random deal to block traffic you still rage?

Critical mass is not a police approved event.

See the section about corking for more information on how critical mass riders deliberately ignore traffic lights and obstruct traffic.

Haha silly Americans!

Kinda sad how demographics - and possibly politics - get worked into vehicle choice and exercise.

Don't like it much.

You are either a spandex-wearing granola-munching welfaremongering liberal democrat on a bike or a big fat burger-eating warmongering conservative in an SUV.

I'd ride a bike if I felt the need but I prefer to run 6 miles every other day. I like burgers too, and Subarus are nice cars but would prefer an SUV since I use an old diesel Mercedes to get around anyway. I won't touch a burger that didn't come from the food co-op I get my food at - yes I said Co-op and I open carry my gun there too and even the women with the hairy armpits aren't bothered by that.

Once I got stopped by a cop during my 6 mile run in the backroads. I was wearing a sweatshirt, plain running shoes, and army BDU pants desert camo. Got stopped because I didn't look like someone who was out for exercise.

Good thing I didn't wear my old combat boots too then?

So I gotta wear spandex and look like a stupid yuppie from Seattle or not exercise at all and be a big fat neocon instead in order to be left alone?

I would like to wish there was a place for people like me, but I am afraid that both sides of the unitary power bloc that runs things and pretends to be against each other already has a place for me - complete with towers and dogs.

If an event is unsanctioned and they are not following common traffic law, take it up with your local law enforcement. hell you do not even need ot go home to call the police today. You can call them from the spot, you can film them breaking the law, you can report the agency, all from the palm of your hand.

Law enforcement clearly isn't doing its job. In some cities, these rides are done monthly. I firmly believe that in any situation where the police should intervene but don't, it is the DUTY of a citizen to intervene in their place.

I personally would choose two people either side of a road with some barbed wire at strung at chest height running in the opposite direction to the movement, but a car is fine too.

I ride my bike to my college. I always folllow the law so I won't get hurt, but I had several mother ******* car drivers isn't following the law, especially obstructing the pedestrian path to the other side on traffic lights. Even got one car speeding away to get in front of me to make a right turn, and i say "very ******* close" to me, then suddenly stopping in front of me. I went to kick the car, but I missed because the ****** made the turn and got away.

Made me hate car drivers more and more, but there are nice drivers that i did encounter, but the bad ones outnumber those... Thats why I prefer motocylce over cars, **** them.

Try it with a horse and you would wish you could call in air strikes.

Law enforcement clearly isn't doing its job. In some cities, these rides are done monthly. I firmly believe that in any situation where the police should intervene but don't, it is the DUTY of a citizen to intervene in their place.

I personally would choose two people either side of a road with some barbed wire at strung at chest height running in the opposite direction to the movement, but a car is fine too.

Remember the police are not really there to [s]enforce the law[s] prevent criminal activity

The police have the authority to act independently to enforce the laws. That's their whole purpose. When criminal activity occurs right infront of their noses on a monthly basis, and they ignore it, they are not doing their jobs.

Here is the policemans oath from the UK:

"I, ... of ... do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that I will well and truly serve the Queen in the office of constable, with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, upholding fundamental human rights and according equal respect to all people; and that I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserved and prevent all offences against people and property; and that while I continue to hold the said office I will to the best of my skill and knowledge discharge all the duties thereof faithfully according to law."

Here is the new zealand one:

GÇ£I, [name], swear that I will faithfully and diligently serve Her (or His) Majesty [specify the name of the reigning Sovereign], Queen (or King) of New Zealand, her (or his) heirs and successors, without favour or affection, malice or ill-will. While a constable I will, to the best of my power, keep the peace and prevent offences against the peace, and will, to the best of my skill and knowledge, perform all the duties of the office of constable according to law. So help me God.

Maryland police deparment oath:

GÇ£I swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the State of Maryland and support the Constitution and laws thereof; and that I will, to the best of my skill and judgment diligently and faithfully, without partiality or prejudice, execute the office of police officer according to the Constitution and laws of this State.GÇ¥


note: refusal to intervent with cyclists because of political correctness is prejudice

I bolded the bit that you didn't seem to understand.

What part of "lawless police state" are you having trouble with?

I bolded the bit that you didn't seem to understand.