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I have this same theory with road cyclists. I have no problem with someone bicycling to get to work but there are many other types of exercise that don't involv

I have this same theory with road cyclists. I have no problem with someone bicycling to get to work but there are many other types of exercise that don't involve blocking traffic by making other drivers terrified to hit you. It's like doing jumping jacks at a gun range. There must be a dominance factor at play.

vincentpants 5y ago
Homie, it has nothing to do with you or your work commute. Cyclists have every legal right to be on the road as a car and if a shoulder lane isn’t safe enough to cycle on then it’s safest and recommended and the law to take up a whole lane to ensure assholes like you don’t risk their safety/lives by trying to squeeze past them in the same lane. Best to just treat them as a car and try to practice patience.
- tobesure 5y ago
  >Cyclists have every legal right to be on the road as a car and if a shoulder lane isn’t safe enough to cycle on then it’s safest How many man hours are wasted by cyclists who take up the road and drive at half or less the speed limit? Isn't that sort of selfish, asshole behavior? Why should their desire to exercise in public supercede that of everyday people trying to go about their lives? Sure, it may only be a couple of minutes of inconvenience for the driver stuck behind a bicyclist, but collectively there is a significant externalized cost and I think people have every right to be infuriated by the selfishness.
- russellendicott 5y ago
  But why would someone choose road cycling for exercise over running on a sidewalk? Road cycling is very expensive and inconveniences people.
  - pmontra 5y ago
    Cars are usually more expensive than bycicles and inconvenience people too. Don't get me wrong, I've got both a car and a bicycle, not 100% for road cycling but count it as if it was (it's a gravel bike.) For me cycling beats running 100-0. I can easily pedal 100+ km but I can't run 100 meters, too tiresome. Furthermore I see 100 km of the world vs a small area around my home. Ultimately it's all subjective. Each of us likes something different and it's OK.
  - 1-more 5y ago
    Running on the sidewalk inconveniences people too.
- seneca 5y ago
  > assholes like you Less of this, please.
  - vincentpants 5y ago
    Seconded, and thank you for pointing that out. Apologies for the terrible juju to everybody who read that. Nothing good comes out of outbursts like that, especially on the internet.
texasbigdata 5y ago
Also...car? 1 person in it. Bike? 1 person on it. Why do you assume you take precedence?
tasty_freeze 5y ago
"There must be a dominance factor at play." It is fine to speculate, but "must" is a strong assumption. Your analogy is also based on flawed data. Yes, when riding on streets there is a chance of getting killed, but getting regular exercise reduces your chance of dying for other reasons. There are many studies that demonstrate this. Here is one: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237214-why-the-health-benefits-of-cycling-to-work-outweigh-the-risk-of-injury/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237214-why-the-health-... https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j1456 https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j1456 Tell me what you think the benefit:risk ratio is of doing jumping jacks at a gun range. I have worked from home for a long time, but 15+ years ago I commuted by bike about 12 miles each way three times a week when the weather was good. Dominance had nothing to do with my choice to bike there. I could ride there by bike in 45 minutes, or I could drive there in 25 minutes (lots of stop and go). Same on the return trip. My mental calculus was I got 90 minutes of exercise for an incremental time expense of 40 minutes. That I was also not polluting was a bonus. The nearest accident I had ever was one day when I was on connector road that had recently been widened and hadn't yet picked up a lot of use. Despite there being no traffic at that moment, I've always 100% obeyed traffic laws, so I stood over my bike waiting for the red light to change. About 20 seconds into it a pickup truck came screeching to a stop just about five feet behind me - he literally locked the tires and left skid marks. Guess what his reaction was: to shout and scream to the point of spitting that I was lucky to be alive and that I wan an asshole for biking on the road. I still don't know if he saw me all along and it was a calculated dominance display, or if he was daydreaming and really did nearly cream me.
- russellendicott 5y ago
  I know my opinion is unpopular. I just don't trust drivers enough to pay attention when they have 3-5k lbs more weight than I do. Much safer to run on the sidewalk and I don't bother anyone.

vincentpants 5y ago

Homie, it has nothing to do with you or your work commute. Cyclists have every legal right to be on the road as a car and if a shoulder lane isn’t safe enough to cycle on then it’s safest and recommended and the law to take up a whole lane to ensure assholes like you don’t risk their safety/lives by trying to squeeze past them in the same lane. Best to just treat them as a car and try to practice patience.

tobesure 5y ago
>Cyclists have every legal right to be on the road as a car and if a shoulder lane isn’t safe enough to cycle on then it’s safest How many man hours are wasted by cyclists who take up the road and drive at half or less the speed limit? Isn't that sort of selfish, asshole behavior? Why should their desire to exercise in public supercede that of everyday people trying to go about their lives? Sure, it may only be a couple of minutes of inconvenience for the driver stuck behind a bicyclist, but collectively there is a significant externalized cost and I think people have every right to be infuriated by the selfishness.
russellendicott 5y ago
But why would someone choose road cycling for exercise over running on a sidewalk? Road cycling is very expensive and inconveniences people.
- pmontra 5y ago
  Cars are usually more expensive than bycicles and inconvenience people too. Don't get me wrong, I've got both a car and a bicycle, not 100% for road cycling but count it as if it was (it's a gravel bike.) For me cycling beats running 100-0. I can easily pedal 100+ km but I can't run 100 meters, too tiresome. Furthermore I see 100 km of the world vs a small area around my home. Ultimately it's all subjective. Each of us likes something different and it's OK.
- 1-more 5y ago
  Running on the sidewalk inconveniences people too.
seneca 5y ago
> assholes like you Less of this, please.
- vincentpants 5y ago
  Seconded, and thank you for pointing that out. Apologies for the terrible juju to everybody who read that. Nothing good comes out of outbursts like that, especially on the internet.

texasbigdata 5y ago

Also...car? 1 person in it. Bike? 1 person on it. Why do you assume you take precedence?

tasty_freeze 5y ago

"There must be a dominance factor at play." It is fine to speculate, but "must" is a strong assumption. Your analogy is also based on flawed data. Yes, when riding on streets there is a chance of getting killed, but getting regular exercise reduces your chance of dying for other reasons. There are many studies that demonstrate this. Here is one: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237214-why-the-health-benefits-of-cycling-to-work-outweigh-the-risk-of-injury/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237214-why-the-health-... https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j1456 https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j1456 Tell me what you think the benefit:risk ratio is of doing jumping jacks at a gun range. I have worked from home for a long time, but 15+ years ago I commuted by bike about 12 miles each way three times a week when the weather was good. Dominance had nothing to do with my choice to bike there. I could ride there by bike in 45 minutes, or I could drive there in 25 minutes (lots of stop and go). Same on the return trip. My mental calculus was I got 90 minutes of exercise for an incremental time expense of 40 minutes. That I was also not polluting was a bonus. The nearest accident I had ever was one day when I was on connector road that had recently been widened and hadn't yet picked up a lot of use. Despite there being no traffic at that moment, I've always 100% obeyed traffic laws, so I stood over my bike waiting for the red light to change. About 20 seconds into it a pickup truck came screeching to a stop just about five feet behind me - he literally locked the tires and left skid marks. Guess what his reaction was: to shout and scream to the point of spitting that I was lucky to be alive and that I wan an asshole for biking on the road. I still don't know if he saw me all along and it was a calculated dominance display, or if he was daydreaming and really did nearly cream me.

russellendicott 5y ago
I know my opinion is unpopular. I just don't trust drivers enough to pay attention when they have 3-5k lbs more weight than I do. Much safer to run on the sidewalk and I don't bother anyone.