[Re: BIKE: Cycle commuting race]

[Bob Farr]

Lane is right about the right-hook being the reason NOT to do it. I discussed
something tangentally similar in February's Cycling News.

Some rules of the road are made to be broken. And using all the available
pavement beyond the marked out travel lanes is simply good sense.

If everyone drove or rode strictly by the rules of the road, much traffic would
come to a stand-still. For example: Take the driver who won't cross a double
solid centerline to pass a bike rider or two on a country road -- even when the
solid line extends for a freaking mile and there's plenty of room to overtake
without a head-on collision. They'd make the cross-stripe move if a dead cow was
blocking the lane, why not a slow-moving bike?  Yes, I know, it's illegal to
cross the double stripes, but do it anyway dumba--!

Can you imagine what kind of gridlock the Jingle Bell Ride, or any massive bike
ride for that matter, would have created if they had chosen to not get a parade
permit and everyone of those 1500 cyclists had been compelled to strictly obey
traffic law?

I wonder how long would it take 1500 bike riders to pass through a stop sign if
everyone stopped individually, looked both ways and proceeded when the way was
clear? No cheating! That's true critical mass!

Don't you think some of the cars stuck behind that queue might get impatient
after a few hours of waiting? Don't you think those cars would try to drive
around the perfectly legal bike queue and push through the bottleneck if the
bikes were no more than 2 abreast and "taking the lane?" You bet they would. And
so should you when presented with a long line of cars and plenty of room to
squirt past them.

I too like being safe, but I don't like to feel like a chump either. So, to win
that commuting race, just do what it takes to get there alive and with the best
time.

Robert Farr
Austin, TX
bobfarr
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lane S. Wimberley" <lane>
To: "Patrick Goetz" <pgoetz>
Cc: <forum>
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 2:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Re: BIKE: Cycle commuting race]


> Patrick Goetz writes:
> > Not when there's a bike lane.  Even when not, the rules here are
> > questionable, at least in Texas, since bicyclists are required to stay on
> > the right hand side of the lane to allow cars to pass.  If cars can pass
> > in the lane, then certainly bicyclists should be allowed to return the
> > favor, don't you think?
>
> Sure, but I don't see it as a fairness issue; I see it as a safety
> issue.  I had way too many right-hook close calls back when I used to
> pass on the right at intersections (rather than queueing up).  Since I
> now queue up, I never have such close calls.  Sure, I feel kinda
> stupid on those occassions where I've been sitting there behind a big
> line of cars as the light cycles completely through green and back to
> red (not often, but it has happened) when I could have just zipped
> around them and grabbed the green, but I'm willing to put up with this
> mild inconvenience (and the ridicule of fellow cyclists ;-) to achieve
> some safety.
>
> I imagine I might not fair that well in a commuter race, though, eh?
> Damn.
>
> -Lane
>
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