Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads!

Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads!

06/11/2003

Columnn By Jeff Edelstein

Rush hour, any delightful summer day.

You're cruising down Route 206, or maybe Princeton Pike, or some other busy little two-lane road.

Everything is going smoothly.

You're looking forward to a little dinner, maybe a beer, catch a ball game on the ol' boob tube.

And then: Red brake lights ahead.

Things crawling to a stop.

You crane your neck to look ahead.

Accident?

No.

Funeral procession?

Nuh-uh.

Impromptu Britney Spears concert?

You should be so lucky, but no.

So what's the problem?

It's them.

A whole mess of them.

A whole mess of Spandex-clad bicyclists gumming up the works.

A dozen, maybe more, sucking up nearly an entire lane of traffic. (snip)

Is part of the sport of bicycling stopping traffic cold?

Before angry bicyclists pound my e-mail box, yes, yes, Lance Armstrong, blah blah blah.

I agree: Competitive cycling is a sport.

Riding a Schwinn down Route 206 is dangerous.

Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian and can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...id=44551&rfi=6

--

alan

Anyone who believes in a liberal media has never read the "Daily Oklahoman."

>Subject: Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads! From: "alan"

>Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads!

Hey Alan-get off your tired saggy ass, and get some exercise. Same for you, Jeff Edelstein.

4 lane highway eh?

alan <news2@alansmithee.mailshell.com> wrote:
: Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads!

: A whole mess of them.

: A whole mess of Spandex-clad bicyclists gumming up the works.

: A dozen, maybe more, sucking up nearly an entire lane of traffic. (snip)

: Is part of the sport of bicycling stopping traffic cold?

The law in California requires that slow moving traffic yield to backed up traffic when 5 or more
cars are in back of you.

--------------------------------
Bob Masse' kh6zv9@PE.NET
--------------------------------

In article <20030611105702.24729.00000382@mb-m04.aol.com>, papayahed1@aol.com (Papayahed1) wrote:

> >Subject: Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads! From: "alan"
>
> >Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads!
>
> Hey Alan-get off your tired saggy ass, and get some exercise. Same for you, Jeff Edelstein.
>
> 4 lane highway eh?

Who'd ride their bike on a busy highway anyways? You'd have to be mazzo, especially at rush hour.

However,someone should point out to this shlub that it's the cars clogging up the highways, not
the bikes.

Clarification : (quoting the CMVC)
"21656. On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, a slow-moving vehicle, including a passenger vehicle, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in line, shall turn off the roadway at the nearest place designated as a turnout by signs erected by the authority having jurisdiction over the highway, or wherever sufficient area for a safe turnout exists, in order to permit the vehicles following it to proceed. As used in this section a slow-moving vehicle is one which is proceeding at a rate of speed less than the normal flow of traffic at the particular time and place."

So it may be completely acceptable from legal and safety perspectives for a group of cyclists to take the whole lane of a California road for a given stretch of road. The cyclists should be the ones who decide whether a safe turnout exists.

The only people who complain about traffic are the ones that are causing the problem.

From: kh6zv9@pe.net Date: 6/11/03 11:25 AM Eastern

>
>The law in California requires that slow moving traffic yield to backed up traffic when 5 or more
>cars are in back of you.
>

How about New Jersey where this scenario played out? Anyone know?

<kh6zv9@pe.net> wrote in message news:veeifrqa2fgr69@corp.supernews.com...

> The law in California requires that slow moving traffic yield to backed up traffic when 5 or more
> cars are in back of you.

Yup, you're supposed to pull over at the next turnout or wide shoulder. :-)

Matt O.

papayahed1@aol.com (Papayahed1) wrote in message
news:<20030611105702.24729.00000382@mb-m04.aol.com>...
> >Subject: Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads! From: "alan"
>
> >Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads!
>
> Hey Alan-get off your tired saggy <snip>

Nothing like shooting the messenger.

Austin

"alan" <news2@alansmithee.mailshell.com> wrote in message
news:eEEFa.1269$3o3.106184@bgtnsc05-...rldnet.att.net...

> Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads!

> Columnn By Jeff Edelstein

> You're looking forward to a little dinner, maybe a beer, catch a ball game on the ol' boob tube.

Being worried about missing the "boob tube," or having to wait for his beer says it all.

> Riding a Schwinn down Route 206 is dangerous.

Well, I guess it is, with people of that attitude on the road.

I guess Canada has its share of dumb**** flame-baiting columnists too. Unfortunately, this stuff
sells papers, just as making fart noises in a 3rd grade classroom gets attention.

Matt O.

> Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian and can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com.
>
> http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...61&dept_id=445 51&rfi=6

Apparently this is a story originates from Philadelphia. Comments on traffic laws from that region
would be more helpful that quoting California law.

I was in a hurry to get that off before I rode to work this morning. Perhaps he was confused.

--

alan

Anyone who believes in a liberal media has never read the "Daily Oklahoman."

"AustinBoston" <tacooper260@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c5d74bfc.0306111142.2938bb6c@posting.google.com...
> papayahed1@aol.com (Papayahed1) wrote in message
news:<20030611105702.24729.00000382@mb-m04.aol.com>...
>> Nothing like shooting the messenger.
>
> Austin

"alan" <news2@alansmithee.mailshell.com> wrote in message
news:eEEFa.1269$3o3.106184@bgtnsc05-...rldnet.att.net...
> Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads!

Oops! Sorry. Won't happen again.

No problem. Normally I'd post some sarcastic commentary, but I was pressed for time this morning. I
heard later in the day though, that the journalist's in-box was no longer accepting mail. Tomorrow
morning I'll find the e-mail address for his editor.

--

alan

Anyone who believes in a liberal media has never read the "Daily Oklahoman."

"James Messick" <connect@jamesmessick.com> wrote in message
news:QKQFa.62820$_w.2457423@twister.southeast.rr.com...
>
> "alan" <news2@alansmithee.mailshell.com> wrote in message
> news:eEEFa.1269$3o3.106184@bgtnsc05-...rldnet.att.net...
> > Hey cyclists, stop clogging up the roads!
>
> Oops! Sorry. Won't happen again.

"alan" <news2@alansmithee.mailshell.com> wrote in message
news:<eEEFa.1269$3o3.106184@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>...

> A whole mess of Spandex-clad bicyclists gumming up the works.
>
> A dozen, maybe more, sucking up nearly an entire lane of traffic. (snip)
>
> Is part of the sport of bicycling stopping traffic cold?

An amusing mental exercise to is replace the dozen Spandex-clad bicyclists with the same dozen
people whose hobby, rather than bicycling, in RVing.

So now, instead of a dozen bicyclists taking up "almost" an entire lane, you've got a convoy of a
dozen humongous, pastel-colored RVs, each about as long as a football field, as wide as a sherman
tank, as underpowered as a Toyota Tercel towing a housebout, driven by a herd of incompetent
nincompoops whose idea of a "big" vehicle is a Cadillac Coupe de Ville and who last checked their
rear-view mirror in 1942.

NOW you can start talking about traffic slowdowns.

(Although exactly where the "danger" comes in, is still an open question. Maybe this guy needs to
get his brakes--or brain--checked .
. . )

--Brent bhugh [at] mwsc.edu

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Missouri Western St College Dept of Music, St. Joseph, MO +
+ Missouri Bicycle Federation: http://www.MoBikeFed.org +
+ Piano Home Page : http://staff.mwsc.edu/~bhugh +
+ Music IQ Songs : http://mp3.com/MusicIQ + ++ Music of the Human Genome :
http://mp3.com/brent_d_hugh ++++

> Well, I guess it is, with people of that attitude on the road.
>
> I guess Canada has its share of dumb**** flame-baiting columnists too. Unfortunately, this stuff
> sells papers, just as making fart noises in a 3rd grade classroom gets attention.

...Not only does it sell papers, but it sells people to hate cyclists. I always wondered about the
mindset of those who cut right in front of me to pull into a parking lot driveway. I'm sure part of
it is due to this kind of reporting.

On the flip side, we all must ride well within the bike lanes so as not to upset those rushing home
to their couches to pop open a frosty. Heck, I'm sure lots of them stop at 7-eleven and sip on one
before they even get home; scary thought.

Michael