BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Chill the Eff Out. No matter how much of a hurry you are in, you're not really going to get there that much faster by driving/biking like an idiot.

I am real big on what bike you buy, IE, spend a little extra to not buy a bike from many of the big box stores or use that money on an older used bike.

That there's nothing wrong with buying a bike from a big box store if it means the difference of riding or not riding. :p

@Orionz, not everyone has the ability to pick up a used bike and have it running optimally. Although, I do push used-bikes on friends who are shopping around, but that always includes the promise of free tune-ups by me if they go that route.

It's not like someone who's been riding a while is going to go to a big-box, they only sale intro level bikes and those bikes are fine and have plenty of room for upgrades (if they have a size that fits).

If approaching an intersection and another cyclist is already stopped, be courteous and yield to their right of way.

Orionz06 has an excellent point. Look at craigslist or better yet look in people's basements, sheds, and garages. You'll see tons of big box store bikes that people used briefly and then abandoned. Ask them and they'll tell you about gears not shifting or this breaking or that breaking just weeks or months after purchase. Or this hurting or that hurting. Much of this can be traced to cheap components/faulty assembly, poor fitting, stores not servicing what they sell, etc. Plenty of blame goes to the consumers (look at all the exercise equipment that gets bought and then collects dust) who don't feel the need to fix or pay to have fixed what seems to them as simply another cheap and disposable good. Cheap new bicycles also stop the idea of a quality used bicycle from being considered a serious option by the average consumer. This creates more waste and keeps shops from offering used bikes at a reasonable price. There's not much market for $100-$300 used bikes if most people would rather have some shiny junk for that price.

OTOH, if you pay a more significant amount for a decent bike from a shop that usually agrees to give you a free tune-up the first year, there seems to be some further reason to treat that bike as a long term thing, not disposable. There tends to be a more careful consideration of value, as well as cost. If we curbed the buying of cheap bikes it could make a large difference in both the availability of quality bikes (and bike shops) and reduce the massive waste.

What Lyle said. Impatience is the source of the vast majority of shitty driver and cyclist behavior.

I'm with Rina. Yes, we cyclists do belong on the street, and occasionally nay often taking the lane. Then I explain to them about door zone bike lanes, dead animals, drain grates, pot holes, gravel, branches, etc. I tend to take no prisoners; I am not worried about being popular, I am worried about being alive. So far, nobody has not invited me back to a social gathering based on conversations such as these.

Also, commit this page to memory before going anywhere the topic might come up.

I would like others to realize that cyclists are regular people going the same mundane places as everybody else (work, grocery store, bank, etc.)

Often cyclists are dismissed as people who don't have kids or jobs or any other sort of responsibility in life. From there it's easy to say that cyclists contribute nothing, so why should I yield/ give them space/ support a bike lane?

@Stu!

Section 3509 B 1 and 2 says bikes may be parked within the roadway at a parking space. That is, OTB can legally park a "bike" in the parking space fronting the bar and others can park beside it.

I think we all know that there is a whole continuum of teachable points that we'd like to share. My current response is that I would teach/remind pedestrians that a person on a bike has certain limitations when it comes to maneauverability and stopping distance, so that when stepping into a street or a crosswalk, it is a good idea to give a cyclist a little more space than you would another pedestrian. Not talking about the people who disregard the fact that there is ANYONE in the intersection or crosswalk that they might want to be concerned about. Just the folks who seem to think that stepping in front of a cyclist is roughly the same as stepping in front of an oncoming pedestrian. They are more teachable.....!

Only one...

It would be that 3000 pounds of steel traveling at 25+ miles per hour is a tool, not a toy, and that tool can be lethal if for one second attention is diverted from the real task at hand: respectfully and carefully getting from A to B. The laws are there to keep us safe, not to be broken, and not to keep other people out of our way.

So I guess respect for the laws of physics, each other, and themselves would be the one thing I'd educate people about. Unless that's three things, in which case I refuse to choose.

To everyone (cyclists and non-): What Lyle said.

To cyclists:

1. The roads and sidewalks are not a big obstacle course--don't jump on and off the sidewalks to get around traffic/pedestrians/other cyclists.

2. Strive to be predictable! Take the lane. Stop when you are supposed to. Act like you expect the other road users to act.