[[obvious smells-like-socialism gag]]

aniola: I was JUST reading this before I popped into MeCha.

I know this will likely get me flamed by fellow cyclists / bike commuters in-thread, but I am (surprise, surprise) firmly in the camp of "if it's a vehicle OF ANY KIND, and you're riding it in the road, then you need to take a course and pay for an operator's permit to do so". This means EVERYONE, including (*gasp*) bicycles, mopeds and scooters, too!

The reason I say this is that most of the really egregious shit I see cyclists do is done by either clueless recreational riders or terrified casual riders who have never been required to learn the rules of biking in traffic.

These individuals typically come in 2 forms:

#1: Joe and Jane Casual / Urban Cyclist, who are often your friendly neighbourhood hospitality workers / starvation wage blue collar folk who can't afford a car and are just trying to get to work in the shortest distance possible. Said individual likely isn't even aware that it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk / the wrong way up the bike lane (much as I'd like to kick them in the shins for doing this, I do kind of get it... tho I heartily wish they'd get a fucking clue already).

#2: (and by far the bigger problem) are the selfimportant recreational poseur wannabe types who blow through lights in spandex and ride clogging up the roadways in packs because they are Too Goddamned Stupid / Clueless / Selfimportant to Abide By Traffic Laws (these are the same jackasses who ride Far Too Goddamn Fast on the Bike Path / MUT, which for a myriad of reasons is as asinine a place to attempt to "train" as one could possibly find). These are the guys with a pot belly hanging out of their replica Division 1 pro teamkit, sat on a $6000 carbon fibre bike. And lest you doubt me, know this: 99% of REAL local amateur racers are far too terrified of incurring sponsor wrath to wilfully draw attention / ire of the public by pulling stupid tricks like this. Also: if our racing club / federation gets wind of any Stupid Racer Tricks incurred on public byways, then the offenders can (and do) get kicked off their club and lose their racing licence. Which leads to the general fact that those of us who DO pin numbers on every weekend adhere to at least minimum standards of skill and decorum, because we're required to know what the F we're doing when we're out on the road.

and THAT is why I'm in favour of mandatory licensing / skills courses for vehicles, including cyclists. I (seriously!) pay about $150 a year in licensing and club fees, which maybe a little steep, but I think a minimum standard of "operator proficiency" requirements and permit fees really should be enforced, even for bikes.

“This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized."

Until a new Transportation Secretary makes one form of transportation more equal.

Lonefrontranger, I agree with you that there are a lot of bicyclists out there who need to be educated as to the rules of the road. I see people riding the wrong way down a major road 'round here all the time. It drives me nuts, too, because I know it makes the bike lane (I live in a town with bike lanes, hurray!) less safe for everyone. This is at least partly because we live in a car-oriented society, and the current infrastructure doesn’t support bicyclists very well.

It would be nice to see more bicycle and pedestrian education in the schools, taking up as much time as driver's ed does. I find myself more interested in seeing the sort of infrastructure that supports getting more people out on bicycles than any sort of punitive emphasis. There are all sorts of positive ways we can direct our energy. My city is starting to do “bike buses.” A bunch of little kids meet at a certain location at a certain time, and they all bike with an adult to school.

Right now our city pays for two bicycle police and one bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. It's wonderful that we get to have a bike/ped coordinator at all, and also awesome that we have two bike cops (they try to focus more on education than ticketing: our bicyclists are well-trained to stop at the many stops signs downtown). We could do more, and I would love to see more of the emphasis being put on encouraging people to bicycle by making our cities far more bike- (and pedestrian-!) friendly (more bike parking, more bike lights, lanes, paths, routes, etc.) than they are right now.

Have a good week, y'all! Maybe enjoy this lovely spring weather with a nice walk or bike ride in celebration. (:

I feel for cyclists, I really do. (I'm a car person, since riding bikes scares the piss out of me.) I try to give them space and not be a jackass, but I hate it when they give me dirty looks.

Plus, I worry every time I see this one dude who rides a bike with NO HELMET on route 29 (a 55 MPH 4-6 lane highway). Against traffic.

We don't have many #2s in my backwater (despite being in Wisconsin!). But plenty of #1s. I'll also add #3s which are the ghetto bikers, for whom a bike is not so much a possession as a lucky find, and whose respect for the rules of the road matches their respect for other limitations that society places on individual action -- that is to say, they spread out in a crew in the whole damn street when walking, and they sure as heck gonna do the same when biking. Special bonus: wearing black, riding bikes with trashed reflectors.

Then you have the curiosities, such as the mature professional amateur in my cycling club who prefers to ride contraflow in a bike lane marked for the opposite direction against one-way traffic, because he "likes to see what's coming for him". The fact that he's adding 15mph to whatever kinetic energy is coming at him ... well, he doesn't think about that. I grew up riding in traffic even on busy streets so a truck whooshing past doesn't bother me as long as it's in the same direction I'm going. Some others are utterly freaked out by this.

Anyway, I worry about the bike/pedestrian conflicts. I think a clearly marked "bike trail" should be somewhere I can ... well, I don't call it training, but I don't see why I should be dissed for going at cardio speed. Not so much pedestrians at-their-own-risk as there should be rules of the road that both groups understand. I'll use my bell, I'll say "on your left", and I hope you have sense enough not to shift to your left.

LFR, while I'm not quite ready to support mandatory licensing & the attendant fee requirements, I otherwise agree with your point. Around here it's "fixie culture" kids who are generally the worst offenders, but San Francisco cyclists can be our own worst enemies sometimes... and I say that as someone who has ridden CM on and off since 1994.

Also, can I bitch for a short moment about the graphic that Wired used in the article? The Spandex Warrior stereotype is exactly what "the public" thinks of when they think of cycling, and why Joe Sixpack doesn't think about trying cycling. Few folks identify with a guy in $300 of silly clothing, wearing $300 silly shoes, on a (literally unimaginably) expensive silly bike. Nothing about that says "Join Us!" - The photo depicts a wealthy recreational cyclist out for fun, not an everyday transportation cyclist, just trying to get home from work. I will believe we're making real progress when Wired starts using photos from Copenhagen Cycle Chic instead of the Excel Sports Boulder catalog outtakes.

an everyday transportation cyclist, just trying to get home from work.

Oh... you meant like this?
≡ Click to see image ≡ ≡ Click to see image ≡ ≡ Click to see image ≡

As for mandatory licensing for cyclists, I think a good first step would be to ticket cyclists who are riding dangerous in violation of the law, and as part of their sentence, make them take a bicycle safety course. Also, any motorist that has a bicycle-related infraction (i.e., hits a cyclist, etc.), should be made to take a course that explains cyclist rights on the road.

There's a fellow bike commuter and blogger here in Texas that's being ticketed by his local cops simply for riding in the road. That's kind of nuts.

I think a clearly marked "bike trail" should be somewhere I can ... well, I don't call it training, but I don't see why I should be dissed for going at cardio speed.

the problem with that dhartung is that those are not necessarily "bike trails" but "multi user trails" replete with strollers, dog walkers, roller bladers and pedestrians, joggers zoned out on iPods and little kids on trikes and training wheels meandering randomly about. And they're often narrow, with tight radius low speed corners and various hazards like kerbs and centre bollards at road crossings. What all this means is that it's questionably safe to ride a bike at really any speed at all on them, much less "cardio speed" whatever that is. And typically these kinds of multi user trails also carry mandatory speed limits, whether or not you realise it (often they're not clearly posted). I know the ones in Boulder have a 10mph / 15mph speed limit on them dependent on the area and density of traffic, and on random nice days in summer, when the paths get crowded, the bike cops will patrol them handing out tickets for speeding (and it's a $60 ticket for a first offence).

Bottom line: if you're training for anything, or even just trying to get a workout in, use quiet roads instead. Public "bike paths" are not really designed for going fast on, in any manifestation that I've ever seen.

As for mandatory licensing for cyclists, I think a good first step would be to ticket cyclists who are riding dangerous in violation of the law, and as part of their sentence, make them take a bicycle safety course. Also, any motorist that has a bicycle-related infraction (i.e., hits a cyclist, etc.), should be made to take a course that explains cyclist rights on the road

THIS. times one million!

Doohickie - Exactly! I've been meaning to do some pandas myself! Now you've inspired me to get off my good intentions. Tomorrow's ride, I promise.

Re: Infractions - While we're at it, let's do something about all the suicidal fools listening to earphones while they ride. As if traffic wasn't dangerous enough already.

My singlespeed mtb has a 33/20 gear ratio. Cardio speed is pretty slow.

As promised.