I am courteous on the road. I ride safe.

I had someone with your apparent mentality swerve at me once…just because I want to live well and enjoy travelling on the roads that I helped pay for?… Can’t you spare 20 seconds for a fellow human being?

Maybe someone who can’t is a little too spazzed out and self-absorbed?

Scolai

First rule of the road is first-come-first-served. If you’re behind me, you’re just going to have to wait until there’s room to safely pass. Sorry for your delay, but trust me when I say I’d wait for you if I were overtaking you.

Hope you don’t take this stuff too seriously, because after all we’re both just trying to get somewhere. Enjoy life. That’s what I’m doing, anyway.

To fully answer your previous question, I’ve seen multiple accidents on bike paths and uncountable near misses where the cyclist was usually not the one at fault.

I’ve been fortunate and only been on the ground once while riding the road (not including when I raced), and it was at least 50% my fault. A joker in a pickup (sorry for the stereotype) followed me too closely for a fairly long time (he had several opportunities to pass) and then laid on the horn just a few feet behind me. Even though I knew he was there and thought it was fishy he didn’t pass, it still scared the **** out of me and I ended up taking the ditch/over the bars/onto my face. Funny guy.

First, I need to qualify the bike paths I deal with. I live outside Des Moines, Iowa. The bike paths I’ve tried to ride are not bike lanes that many major cities now have that are well maintained and used nearly exclusively by cyclist. I deal with true bike paths that developers add to neighborhoods. Typically they are not well maintained, have curves/corners that are too tight to take at more than 7 or 8 MPH. For many homeowners (myself included), these are the perfect place to go for a stroll in the evenings, teach junior how to ride his bike/rollerblades/push the new baby in the stroller, etc.

When I train I typically try (emphasize try) to keep my heart rate consistently in a zone that translates to somewhere between 16 to 24 MPH (depending on terrain) for over an hour. It’s just not possible to do that on our bike paths when I’m braking/shifting/swerving to avoid other users. I witnessed an accident where a cyclist riding at full tilt hit a small child on roller blades and have never ridden our paths since. For the record, our paths are officially designated “multi-use”.

So I take it to the road, knowing full well that most motorists see me as I see small kids on bike paths. They’re not sure if I’m going to swerve out in front of them at the last second or maybe I’ll just plain stop.

When I ride on the road I accept that there are risks. With a few exceptions, I assume that those driving are reasonably alert and will pass giving me as much room as is safe for them. In turn, I take up as little lane space as is safe for me, wear bright, neon clothes just in case you’re on your cell phone and need a retina “jolt” to register my existence, etc. etc.

So for me, even though the risks may be greater on the road, drivers are much more consistent than those folks on our bike paths.

are you trying to imply something with the pink comments? are you trying to question my manhood? keep coming, keep demonstrating your ignorance. what’s your deal with that inference and the previous reference to the gay pride refugees? what you think you can only be manly in your wife beater tank top, jean shorts and baseball hat? just another piece of trash littering the road…and a big motorcycle badass to boot…you’re a freaking joke.

“OK. . .you see these guys. Racing hard around some corner in France I believe. Anyway, look at this picture. Look closer. . . closer. . . closer. . . it’s obvious what you do see.”

Have you ever been outside of Tennessee? Look closer. . . closer. . . closer. . . it’s obvious what you do see. The roads in France aren’t marked that way. Those are good ol’ US roads. My guess is one of the city finishes to the Tour of California.

Hope you look closer at things when you are driving your car…