What?! Where's the love/hate for Studebakers?

I'm more interested in the ratio of miles ridden to cost of the bike. I contend that a number less than zero is indicative of dickdom. But what does a very high number mean?

indickitive of dickdom.
giggle.

Bicycles are vehicles and belong in the road. As someone who rides a bicycle you should know that the bike path is hardly the best choice 100% of the time.

What you have to do is forgive and make room for error. My mom is a little old lady who drives slow, and is careful, but cannot react quickly. My dad is a little old man who does not realize that his vision is no longer perfect, and his reflexes are terrible. My sister is now a good driver, but used to scare the bejeebers out of me with her carelessness. My brother is an aggressive goofball at the wheel. Every bad driver I see falls into one of those categories, and if it was my family, I would forgive them, so I try to do it for all. I also try to ride in a manner that allows me an escape if possible, as there is no way of knowing what kind of driver is behind the wheel of any given car.

Brand makes little difference (I know some very bike friendly BMW drivers), cost of car makes little (my car ain't cheap, my daughter's friend's is, and I know bike friendly people who drive all values of cars), color is not a difference maker either. It is all on getting drivers to accept that we are too part of traffic at times - and I hope I make a decent impression on the drivers I come across. If one gives me a load, I can either ride away or just pull out my cell phone and start streaming video to the cops.

Paraphrasing my mom - "I did not grow up with bikes being more than children's toys, and your father was the only adult I knew who rode bikes. Now you and your friends ride all the time as adults, and your adult children ride too, but I still struggle to remember you are out there". Many drivers just do not cognate that we are out there, and many do not realize that their friends are riding. Very few people really have bad intentions about us. And most of the cars are just trying to get around town, and are just careless about things at times.

The title of the thread is imo unhelpful.

I do think some vehicles are worth paying special attention to, though, not judging the drivers, just the circumstances:

--any rental truck, especially the home depot ones and the uhauls around the end of the month. The drivers are likely not experienced with big vehicles, they may be from out of town, and they're not familiar with the characteristics of the vehicle they're driving. And thy're stressed from moving--cut them some slack.

--Ditto rental trailers

--cars entering and leaving church parking lots on Saturday afternoons. The occupants are thinking about the wedding

--any big rig on a residential street. They're lost, and distracted.

--utlity company bucket trucks moving slower than usual. Their drivers may be looking up at the wires, not down at the roads

--anyone leaving a fast food parking lot, especially from the drive-through lane. Their vision is blocked by their big gulp, burger, or fries.

--any car with a pizza sign or other "we deliver" establishment's sign on the roof. They're looking for house numbers, not bicycles.

--every car on the road if it is raining hard

--every car at night if you aren't using lights

I bet we can add more and perhaps have some fun at the same time.

As for bicycles belonging in the road, yeah they are a class c vehicle just like a car, so they do, but when there's a bike path right there, why do people block rush hour traffic is all I am saying.
Dont be mad tho.

also, I didnt mean to label people earlier by saying hipster,
ride safe

Because basically the speed limits on bicycle paths (except for the CLT and green way and a couple other trails) is TEN MPH yes 10mph or 5 x 2 mph. I ride at about 17 - 22mph. So, I will be traveling at half my speed and it will take me twice as long to get where I'm going everywhere I use one of these paths you think I should be on. So if my ride is an hour on the street you think I should increase that time by an additional hour? So basically a total commute time of 4 freaking hours for a day of work? Really?

There are also hazards on these trails which are mainly in parks like little kids with training wheels. This is not a place for a serious commuter to be taking to get to work.

Tell you what - next time you're getting ready to jump on the freeway don't do it. Take the service road to your destination or drive from Maple Grove to Apple Valley on only residential roads and tell me how that works for you.

A persons time passing me in a car is but mere seconds. I'm talking about my whole ride to a destination and their possible time behind me is probably only .0001% of that time. A driver won't be behind me for that long but if they are they need to learn how to pass a cyclists instead of blaming their lack of education and understanding about the world on me.

I'm not mad but I think you're missing the whole point of why we ride on the road. It's about the time and the route of least resistance. But I don't have to justify anything that is perfectly legal especially when I pay taxes for that infrastructure.

Because other pedestrians block the bike path or make it not a very good place to ride some times. I ride the bike paths all day long when no one else is out there to contend with i.e. after 8 pm. Otherwise I tend to ride in the street.

Bicycling is not a hobby for me, it is how I get around and just as jitter said, I'm not going to double my commute time by dealing with bike path speed limits and obstacles on the path when it is perfectly legal for me to drive in the road.

Yes, there are idiot bicyclists out there, that sucks dude. There are also a lot of idiot drivers, that also sucks man. We just have to learn to put up with each other and get over our fevered ego's that are tainting our collective unconscious and making us pay a higher psychic price than we could have ever imagined.

Why generalize?... we're lazy. I'm ok with this.

Vehicles that always get extra attention from me:

Escalades and other over-priced full-size SUVs, the drivers are way too important to look out for me on my bike.

Commercial trucks/vans (plumbers, HVAC, other contractors) - This is based on the fact that my worst encounters with drivers out-for-blood have been with contractor drivers.

All semis and large heavy vehicles - not because I think the driver sucks (but some do), it's because these will kill you!

School buses - these drivers suck and they will kill you too (I drove school bus, I know that the training is shit)

Most important, any driver you see on the phone while driving... they don't have time to 'see' you, so DON'T trust them!

For the record, I have driven all of the above vehicles at some point in my life (except the over-price SUVs). I held commercial licenses, bus license and other certs. I know that NOT EVERYONE in one of these vehicles is an ignorant ass... and I know that the guy driving a Honda Civic might be the one trying to kill me today... Don't feel the need to defend your vehicle to me.

On the other hand, I am glad nobody had post how bad Volvo drivers are, I don't need to defend my car!

+100!!!

Yea, Volvos just move too slow to do anyone any damage.. HA!

LOL! Safety First!!

This is still been the pinnacle of this thread.

agreed. downhill since.

Dicks are usually the pinnacles of lots of things, (un)fortunately.