A run-in with a cyclist

[Smallpotatoes]

He had no business riding in the middle of the road two or three abreast and I thought I did enough to avoid him.
No harm, no foul, right?
What business did he have confronting me?
Before you say "He probably thought you were going to hit him" remember one thing:
I didn't hit him.
He also had no business being in the middle of the road.

Depending on the local laws, cyclists do have as much right to the middle of the lane as an automobile. How close were you to them? Most states require you give cyclists three feet when you pass them.

On our group rides (21-30 of us), we ride three abreast. It's actually safer that way than riding single file. It forces drivers to wait until they can safely pass all of us at once. You ride single file with that many people and you get drivers who start to pass the group, get caught by an oncoming car and squeeze the cyclists off the road.

How fast are you going, what type of road are you on and what time of day is it? All are factors in the douchebaggery level.
If it's a two-lane road where the speed limit is 45 or 55 mph (or even 25-35 mph) and you ride like that, then it's the pack of cyclists who are being the assholes for holding up traffic and creating a hazard. Cyclists have a right to the road, but they should also yield to faster vehicles and use common sense.

It was around 11 a.m. on a suburban main road, about a 1/4 mile before it crosses a divided state highway.
I was going 25 at most when passing them. I thought I was being as careful as possible.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

He had no business riding in the middle of the road two or three abreast and I thought I did enough to avoid him.
No harm, no foul, right?
What business did he have confronting me?
Before you say "He probably thought you were going to hit him" remember one thing:
I didn't hit him.
He also had no business being in the middle of the road.

Depending on the local laws, cyclists do have as much right to the middle of the lane as an automobile. How close were you to them? Most states require you give cyclists three feet when you pass them.

On our group rides (21-30 of us), we ride three abreast. It's actually safer that way than riding single file. It forces drivers to wait until they can safely pass all of us at once. You ride single file with that many people and you get drivers who start to pass the group, get caught by an oncoming car and squeeze the cyclists off the road.

Here cyclist's can ride two abreast - no more than two abreast - on the side of the road (not the shoulder). They have no claim to the middle.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

I'm shocked you have a car that works long enough to pass someone on a bicycle.

 

[BDC99]

21-30 cyclisits riding three abreast should be illegal

Why? It's much safer than riding single file. Much. And I haven't ridden a bike in a few years.

we've got a ton of riders around here, and those giant pelatons hold up traffic

i've got nothing against cycling. i used to ride my bike all the time several years ago. i just don't like those giant groups holidng me up when i'm driving

I don't like it either, but it is legal in most places. And like I said, it's a safety thing for the riders when you have more than a few. If it happened a lot, it would be one thing, but I have never even seen one like that unless there's a race. Maybe I'm not the one to weight in on this.

 

[old_tony]

Next time a cyclist knocks on your window and ******* about you passing him, let him go ahead of you and then run him over.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

I'm shocked you have a car that works long enough to pass someone on a bicycle.

Was wondering when that was going to come up.
Other than someone stealing the Toyota logo off the front of my car, no problems with this one.

 

[spikechiquet]

I got to the "three abreast" part of the story and wandered off to look at JLaw's bewbs again.

Sorry, where were we?

 

[Inky_Wretch]

21-30 cyclisits riding three abreast should be illegal

As I said, it's safer for cyclists and the drivers to do it that way.

And on some of our charity rides, when the peloton tops 200, there's really no other option.

 

[Batman]

I got to the "three abreast" part of the story and wandered off to look at JLaw's bewbs again.

Sorry, where were we?

 

[Vombatus]

OMG. Fap fap fap. Two canyons to titty****. Only decision is to aim for the left or right eye.

 

[BDC99]

What's wrong with the grille?

 

[LongTimeListener]

Thread-jacking from the triple boob ...

New California law requires drivers to leave three feet of space around a cyclist. I can tell you there are many places where this is flat impossible -- you can't drive your car safely. And this writer focuses on the part of the bill that still prevents passing on a double yellow to get around cyclists, who are common on two-lane back roads. If you get stuck on an uphill behind three cyclists who feel like they don't want to move over, I guess you're just going to have to go 5 mph until you get to a dotted line again.

http://blog.sfgate.com/stienstra/2014/09/08/bikes-vs-cars-3-foot-rule-to-take-effect-with-a-twist/

 

[Madhavok]

There are roads, especially where I live in Colorado where the cyclist is entitled to all of the lane. Doesn't mean we use the entire lane or go three abreast. Maybe it was one of those cases?

And I'm an avid cyclist. However, there are some out there that come off as elitist snobs and ruin it for everyone else. I'll ride two abreast with my friend but when there is a car back, we go to single file and let the car(s) past. Thankfully I live in an area where I seldom see vehicles in my routes and the main roads all have bike lanes or rec paths.