OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

[Oliver Brown]

Haha sweet bike all the same

Anyone in here got any big downhill/free-ride rigs?

I used to ride and had a bad injury, still like to see whats new though.

[aqua_tek]

http://www.break.com/index/one-man-tour ... prank.html

I LOL'd

[Tone Deft]

funny. always great to see white hairs doing the hills.

sick sick sick sick BMX video
http://www.vimeo.com/5123397

[bosonHavoc]

harvest moon ride is tonight in Austin texas
http://www.atxbs.com/?q=taxonomy/term/300

i can't go because my ass is toast from 12 hours of pedicab riding..
bummer thing is i missed out on a few hundred dollars because my ass is way to chaffed to finish out my work night.
o well.. i still made some descent money today.
all my rides wanted to go up hill today too...
sucker nut..

[8O]

harvest moon ride is tonight in Austin texas
http://www.atxbs.com/?q=taxonomy/term/300

Hmmm... I get this impression that there's a relatively high amount of hostility towards cyclists in the US. Relative to every other country. And hostility as in physical violence. Is this a correct impression?
I find it crazy, I mean, riding 1000s of miles in Europe, I've never, not once, had any malicious action against me. I've had stupid drivers cut me up, but only because they're stupid and didn't look properly... never anything premeditated...


And, on a related note, this book...

...is an interesting read. As they cycle the length of Africa on a "trandem", they come across a large variation in reactions to bicycles, but the worst was Egypt where children in the villages came out and threw stones at them! This was in the 80s, so maybe things are better now... Anyway, worthwhile read if you're interested...

[formatk]

I love bikes! Here's me cycling backwards on me Pinerello fixie.

[bosonHavoc]

Hmmm... I get this impression that there's a relatively high amount of hostility towards cyclists in the US. Relative to every other country. And hostility as in physical violence. Is this a correct impression?
I find it crazy, I mean, riding 1000s of miles in Europe, I've never, not once, had any malicious action against me. I've had stupid drivers cut me up, but only because they're stupid and didn't look properly... never anything premeditated...

well we have these things in texas called red necks or kickers and they hate everything that is different from them. heh

as for the rest of the U.S. the term "stupid American" was coined for a reason.

twice in the last month cars tried to run me down while i had passengers in my pedicab.
they think it is funny.. but if i would not have maneuvered out of the way quickly, all parties involved would be having serious life issues.


but i have to say their are just as many stupid bikers too.
i think the attitude of "i'm on a bike so i have the right of way" is retarded.

if a car hits you no matter who is at fault you loose.
ya sure you may get paid but you may die.. or not be able to walk again.


that is why i quit early last night
i could have dealt with the pain or just stood up the whole time but i was worried about safety. I could not focus on my surroundings because my butt. so rather than risking my life, job, and other peoples. i quit for the night.
heck the whole pedicab community in America suffers when their is a major wreck.
this incident in Seattle http://www.seattlepi.com/local/374131_pedicab08.html
ended up raising my insurance and i'm sure it hurts my business when people hear about that then go downtown.


edit..

@formatk
that is a pretty dope picture

[Tone Deft]

Hmmm... I get this impression that there's a relatively high amount of hostility towards cyclists in the US. Relative to every other country. And hostility as in physical violence. Is this a correct impression?

TBH the massive get together rides cyclists organise have a few reasons behind them
1 - have fun
2 - promote cycling/raise awareness
3 - piss off cars
so, lots of riders are asking for it.

as for someone chasing a pedicab in Texas, I'd subscribe to the redneck theory. they love their big ass trucks.

usually they start at 1 and progress towards #3 as the self righteousness kicks in. I don't really know how to compare that to Europe as I've never been or lived there. maybe biking as a daily form of transportation has been more common in Europe for longer. it occurs to me that maybe the US is generally MUCH warmer than the US so it's less comfortable to ride. maybe the US being a culture of excess we were raised to buy cars rather than ride bikes to transportation.


formatk - HEY HIPSTER!! YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. YOUR FEET GO IN THE FOOTSTRAPS!!! I've seen a hundred guys that look just like you doing the same thing. no offense, surely you know exactly what I mean.

[8O]

^ ok, so some city cyclists can be arseholes (assholes ) too, but I really thought there were lots of cases of ordinary cyclists just cycling along in the countryside, being run off the road for fun... do I have a roughly correct picture of what it's like to cycle in the US?

Yeah, biking as a mode of transport is really popular in Germany. Berlin has only 317 cars per 1000 people, the lowest proportion in Germany.

[8O]

I love bikes! Here's me cycling backwards on me Pinerello fixie.

You have seen this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4 already, right?

[Tone Deft]

^ ok, so some city cyclists can be arseholes (assholes ) too, but I really thought there were lots of cases of ordinary cyclists just cycling along in the countryside, being run off the road for fun... do I have a roughly correct picture of what it's like to cycle in the US.

it's not like it's a daily occurrence. I've heard of motorcyclists being dicks out on highway 1 (the coastal highway Hitchcock used in his movies.) but I'd bet I'd have to ride on that road for a few years for that to happen. there aren't LOTS of cases. Europeans seem to love to bash Americans for being insane with blood lust.

OK, here's a list of cycling incidents in the Bay Area, including ones like mom's running over their own kids, not just road accidents.
http://www.mapreport.com/na/west/ba/new ... ident.html
I've also seen lots of really dumb cyclists wearing headphones, no helmet, no hand signals, no bright clothing, riding too close to cars, pushing their luck. Darwin road a bike.

[8O]

OK, here's a list of cycling incidents in the Bay Area, including ones like mom's running over their own kids, not just road accidents.
http://www.mapreport.com/na/west/ba/new ... ident.html

That makes for very sad reading...

I had no idea what the stats are in Berlin for comparison, so I had a search around and found the official Berlin police report stats for 2008...

Makes for educational reading:

Total of 7672 accidents involving a bicycle, of which 12 deaths, 584 severe injuries, 5307 light injuries.

Of those 12 deaths, 11 were cyclists, 1 was a pedestrian.

The police listed it also according to the reported causer of the accident: 51% of the time it was the cyclist, 40% car driver. Of the cyclist-caused accidents the majority were caused by wrong or illegal use of the roads or paths.

With car-caused bike accidents, it was cutting up cyclists without seeing them and not giving way to them when the cyclist had right of way.

I've also seen lots of really dumb cyclists wearing headphones, no helmet, no hand signals, no bright clothing, riding too close to cars, pushing their luck. Darwin road a bike.

Ha, you'd be horrified here: helmets are a rarity in the city, headphones, no lights at night, no signals, balancing bags of shopping on their handlebars. The police do run spot checks and have fines if they catch you, but honestly, looking the stats, I think I agree with you about Darwin...

[v76]

No offense to anyone here... but am I the only one to find the "hey-my-handlebars-are-even-shorter-than-yours-at-a-whopping-2-centimeters" trend insanely stupid? I know about the messenger (sigh) thing but even my messenger friends find them stupid. "But it's so siiiiimmpplllle it's beeeauuutifullll" STFU! "But it's so EASIER to ride in traffic, like!" STFU! Rant over...


MY OWNER IS STUPID!

[shuutobi]

'06? Specialized Expedition Sport...


I've only rode on it 2 times... I need to sell it as I prefer to walk for Cardio.

[contakt321]

No offense to anyone here... but am I the only one to find the "hey-my-handlebars-are-even-shorter-than-yours-at-a-whopping-2-centimeters" trend insanely stupid? I know about the messenger (sigh) thing but even my messenger friends find them stupid. "But it's so siiiiimmpplllle it's beeeauuutifullll" STFU! "But it's so EASIER to ride in traffic, like!" STFU! Rant over...


MY OWNER IS STUPID!

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