Bicyclists on 30A

[soappedaler]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tozCu1BBaWE&feature=related"]YouTube- The guy from Cycle Chic[/ame]

click this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4tfh4_a5gs&feature=player_embedded#

 

[Desso]

I think much of the animosity and rudeness between Cars vs. Bikes is because each party feels they are put in unsafe conditions when sometimes encountering each other on the road. I wouldn't personally put myself in jeopardy riding a bike on many of the public streets in Walton. It's dangerous enough these days on the road in a car. I don't have the trust many of you have in others when it comes to road safety. It's hard to argue your rights with a car bumper going 40 miles per hour and an idiot behind the wheel. And as far as the clothing, I rode for many years and never found the need for an "outfit", but then again we also didn't wear helmets. Happy and safe cycling to all.

 

[Minnie]

Absolutely, I agree.
Let’s corner those cyclists who are already in oxygen debt and close to spontaneous combustion in the Florida heat between your noxious exhaust and my super-heated radiator while we relax in our air conditioned comfort.
By removing the slight cooling effect of the breeze they experience while in motion they may fall prey to heat stroke and with any luck collapse to the side of the road thereby saving us 5 seconds at the stop sign.

Be warned, once you start believing you should enforce the rules of the road on others you start down that slippery slope to aggressive driving and road rage.

But do not despair there is hope. The first step is admitting you have a problem. Recite the following:

Hello, my name is (insert name) and I am an aggressive driver. It has been (insert number) days since I last cursed/buzzed a cyclist on 30A.
I shall not cause any portion of my motor vehicle to enter the bike path without first coming to a complete stop.
I shall not pass my two wheeled brethren without allowing the prescribed 3 Ft safety margin.

Feel the anger subsiding?

As for me, of late I feel mysteriously drawn to the Dark Side. I must resist beachsteeler’s lament of “staying on the road since it pisses off so many people”.

But I WILL not give in.

Hello, my name is pennstater and I am a habitual cyclist. It has been 63 days since I last cursed/flipped off a motorist on 30A.
(Editor’s note: The writer has not actually been on 30A in 63 days. Please read 5 minutes in lieu of the misleading 63 days above)
I shall not “blow” or roll through any stop signs.
I shall not abridge the right of way of any behemoth SUV or their smaller kind.
I shall relegate myself to the lowly bike path forever doomed to circumnavigate the clueless, ipod equipped pedestrians who fail to heed even my loudest cries of “passing on your left”.

There, I said it and I do feel better.

If I have offended any please accept my heartfelt apologies. Clearly this northeastern shut-in suffers from a severe case of seasonal affective disorder exacerbated by a prolonged absence from the healing waters of the Emerald Coast.

Ah the angst. Where’s a black pick'em-up truck bedecked with confederate flags and a gun rack with you most need it?

Happy New Year

Oh good grief, no where did I say or imply I was an aggressive driver. I taught Driver's Ed for years and probably am one of the most courteous drivers on the road and definitely one of the most law abiding.

Please do not apply your stereotypes onto someone you know nothing about.

I asked a simple question as to why cyclists want to ride in the road and not move over to let vehicles pass and yet they also want to go to the head of the line at stop signs.

It was a simple question which could have been answered with a simple answer but your repsonse tells me so much more.

 

[RiverOtter]

This fits the description of some Neanderthal that made eye contact with me while I was cycling on the bike path in Blue Mountain Beach, then intentionally pulled out of a side street not ten feet in front of me while communicating with an obscene gesture as I maneuvered to avoid a collision.

He must be very brave driving around in his 2+ tons of steel.

I cycle across Manhattan (in rush hour). Rarely am I exposed to the aggressive driving and outright harassment I routinely experience on 30A on and off the bike path.

I live the Nooga and have never been harassed as much as I have in SoWal

Let me be a little pot stirrer too!

I would prefer that any bike riders that are on exercise missions to stick to the road and please leave the bike path to walkers, joggers, children, and people moseying along on beach cruiser bikes, or in my mom's case, big trikes. By the time you Riverotter* types ring your bell or shout "on your left", you have already blown past us, and I have lost count of how many times I have almost been taken out on the 30A bike path by bike riders pretending be in training for the Tour de France. I am starting to think that the bike path is more dangerous that the road!

*RO- you are now the Lance Armstrong of 30A. Represent your team well.

Great... :angry: Now I have to actually ride fast

 

[scooterbug44]

One thing I noticed when riding my bike in other countries is that the drivers are much nicer/more patient with bikers. The reason - most people there also ride bikes!

The fact that the bikers SHARE, not hog the road and obey the posted signs/traffic laws is also a big factor.

 

[RiverOtter]

I can't help but chime in on the discussion here. I am a biker who loves to take my hybrid out every day. I come out from Seagrove 395 and onto 30-A. If I head towards Seaside I ride on 30-A until I cross Watercolor then jump on the bike path and travel as far as my legs will take me that day. I am on 30-A till I cross Watercolor because to be on the bike path earlier than that is in my mind more unsafe for the walkers and joggers and casual cycylists. I stay to the far right on the white line, stop at all stop signs but do admit to rolling "slowly" through the stop sign in Seaside this time of year since it is so quiet. When I head the other way towards Rosemary I am on 30-A until I pass all the entrances to the condos and develpments. The bike path to that point is rough and I have almost been hit more times than I care to remember as folks pull right out onto the bike path from their condos without even looking. They then stop right in the path and block it and as I slam on my brakes so I do not flip over the car they just stare at you as if they have no idea! Which of course they have NO IDEA! Thank goodness I am not a small child on a bike. I don't flip them off or yell at them, just look at them with the same blank stare as they look at me. Not worth the fight.
Anyway, I practice safe defensive biking, am courteous to EVERYONE even though the drivers are sometimes not courteous to me. I don't flip anyone off as I am thankful to have such a beautiful environment to bike and appreciate the beauty of 30-A.
When the pedal is on the other foot and I am driving my car I am in defensive mode and yield to bikers, give plenty of right of way when passing. My guess is 95% of everyone out there feels the same way too. Those folks who feel the need to flip off bikers and get mad because they think every bike should be on the bike path and every biker is rude should move out of Paradise, because if living or visitng down here causes this much stress then I can only imagine what everyday life does to you.
My suggestion is we take the 5% who can't seem to get along with others here in paradise and ship them over to Tupelo street to join forces with that gang! At least we would know where NOT to ride our bikes!
Let's all be thankful for what we have and where we live and make 2010 a new start!

Been there

 

[Jdarg]

Great... :angry: Now I have to actually ride fast

And wear your hottest looking bike outfit!

 

[RiverOtter]

And wear your hottest looking bike outfit!

That's real freakin funny right there :angry:
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If you ever do see someone looking "Hot" in a cycling get up.... then they must really be hot! Cycling gear is not the most flattering sportswear

 

[Jdarg]

That's real freakin funny right there :angry:
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If you ever do see someone looking "Hot" in a cycling get up.... then they must really be hot! Cycling gear is not the most flattering sportswear

I think Kurt should sponsor the SoWal bike team. SoWal logo on backs (or butts?) and helmets and those cute little shoe covers I saw on a guy the other day. You could be captain, with a laptop mounted on your handlebars. Skunky can drive behind you with his bad a$$ airsoft rifle and protect you from road raging drivers.

 

[RiverOtter]

I think Kurt should sponsor the SoWal bike team. SoWal logo on backs (or butts?) and helmets and those cute little shoe covers I saw on a guy the other day. You could be captain, with a laptop mounted on your handlebars. Skunky can drive behind you with his bad a$$ airsoft rifle and protect you from road raging drivers.

I did a triathlon with the a SoWal sticker on my helmet. Trust me, I would love to have Skunky covering with the airsoft riffle