Injured Cyclist

[SoonerTexan]

http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-...,4667451.story

DH just told me about this--this guy won a race DH was in 2 years ago and I happened to talk to his wife the whole 1.5 hours they were racing. They were newlyweds at the time. She was really nice and felt the same way about the sport as I did--it annoyed and scared us, but our guys loved it so much there isn't much we could do. I just feel sick thinking about it and I hope he is okay.

I don't know if it is just Oklahoma & Texas, but the driving attitude around here SUCKS. I once rode home with a family from Church and the father joked with his 6 year old on how cyclists were "extra points" if you hit them. I know a cyclist can be annoying and sometimes they really don't make the best choices on where to ride, but the dangerous decisions so many drivers make piss me off.

[medpedspouse]

Yes, the 'ttude here sucks! I don't understand why in CO it is perfectly ok for cars and cyclists to coexist on independence pass where at times it gets down to one lane....and cars can't notice cyclists here when they've got three lanes to choose from. Grrrr.

Three of the university cycling team guys got hit by a moron driving with a suspended lic. They were ok but their bikes were totaled.

[SuzySunshine]

I've never understood it either. We've lived in some very bike friendly and some very not bike friendly towns. We went to watch two friends in an Ironman Triathlon a few years ago so of course there were bicyclists and spectators EVERYWHERE. The audacity of some of the drivers was amazing and we watched one guy get yelled at and things thrown at his car after he almost hit a group of cyclists because he was obviously in a hurry.

When DH was in med school we lived close enough to the school that he could have ridden his bike, we both had ridden our bikes all the time when we were in undergrad, but I wouldn't let him - there was one stretch that he would have had to go through with NO shoulders and it was a major piece of the commute.

So very sad that bikes and cars can't share more.

[scrub-jay]

Drivers treat bicyclists with very little respect on the road, which is a horrible danger. However, my personal pet peeve is when bicyclists assume that traffic laws do not apply to them (as in red lights at busy intersections!!!) That drives me bonkers, probably because one time a bicyclist, who should have been waiting patiently with the rest of traffic at a red light tried to jump out in front of me by running the red. Luckily I was able to swerve into the nearby lane, but really dude?! I wish there was more traffic enforcement of laws for bicyclists on the road too because some of those riders take serious risks. We should be SHARING the road.

[L.Jane]

Drivers treat bicyclists with very little respect on the road, which is a horrible danger. However, my personal pet peeve is when bicyclists assume that traffic laws do not apply to them (as in red lights at busy intersections!!!) That drives me bonkers, .

This exactly. I respect Bicyclist, but there are several here that give bicyclists a bad rep becuase they just zip through a red light. I have seen it happen all the time. In fact last night was the first time I saw a bicyclist STOP behind a car and wait for the light. I wanted to get out of the car and tell him how awesome I thought he was. My other pet peeve though is when there is a lane SPECIFICALLY for bikes or a bike path and they still use the road. I feel if they have their own road, they should use it. Otherwise the street is fair game and both bicyclists and cars should be respectful of each other and the rules of the road.

[oceanchild]

I hope he's ok! I have been hit by a car while bicycling (in Los Angeles). Thankfully I wasn't injured, but it was still scary.

[SoonerTexan]

My other pet peeve though is when there is a lane SPECIFICALLY for bikes or a bike path and they still use the road. I feel if they have their own road, they should use it.

Dang--I wish we had bike lanes here! Bike paths are debatable, though--most of the time they are meant for runners and bikes and when you are doing 30-60 mile rides at 20+ miles an hour, they really aren't a viable option. They are almost more dangerous than roads because pedestrians don't pay attention--at White Rock there are always little kids walking with their parents that could dash out at any moment. In fact, a woman was just killed on a bike/pedestrian trail that I occasionally run on--it was a freak accident, but still scary

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...156702d91.html

The traffic law thing annoys me too, even though I'll admit we are occasionally guilty of rolling through stop signs in the middle of nowhere when no one is around--mostly because clipping in and out of my pedals is still a learning experience for me!

I totally agree there are some places cyclists just really shouldn't be--DH planned a bike route from downtown Dallas out to the burbs where my parents live once and I said HECK NO (we moved to a safe biking area for a reason!) He would have been crossing highway overpasses and it was just too crowded. A few years ago a guy died at a notoriously dangerous highway intersection and left a family behind--there was no reason he should have been there, even if he had the right to.

[Pollyanna]

This exactly. I respect Bicyclist, but there are several here that give bicyclists a bad rep becuase they just zip through a red light. I have seen it happen all the time. In fact last night was the first time I saw a bicyclist STOP behind a car and wait for the light. I wanted to get out of the car and tell him how awesome I thought he was. My other pet peeve though is when there is a lane SPECIFICALLY for bikes or a bike path and they still use the road. I feel if they have their own road, they should use it. Otherwise the street is fair game and both bicyclists and cars should be respectful of each other and the rules of the road.

Exactly this! We live on a road that draws tons of bike traffic. Normally this is fine but now there is major road construction and it is barely safe for the cars on the road (no really, it is a scary mess), and for some reason the cyclists still think its a good idea to ride in this mess which creates a huge problem and is so scary because sometimes your choice is to hit a car head on, hit a cyclists, or completely stop in the middle of the road. Grrr. I will be so happy when the construction is done.

So scary. DH and I were really avid cyclists once upon a time, but gave it up in large part because we did not feel safe on the roads around here. Sharing the road is a foreign concept. When we had easy access to country roads I didn't worry as much, but recently I've heard of some really horrible and even fatal accidents happening there.

[SoonerTexan]

Wow, checked the news and what do you know--some guy was hit on the other trail I was talking about. Dang.

http://eastdallasblog.dallasnews.com...spital-af.html

[Chrisada]

Drivers treat bicyclists with very little respect on the road, which is a horrible danger. However, my personal pet peeve is when bicyclists assume that traffic laws do not apply to them (as in red lights at busy intersections!!!) That drives me bonkers, probably because one time a bicyclist, who should have been waiting patiently with the rest of traffic at a red light tried to jump out in front of me by running the red. Luckily I was able to swerve into the nearby lane, but really dude?! I wish there was more traffic enforcement of laws for bicyclists on the road too because some of those riders take serious risks. We should be SHARING the road.

YES!! Cycling is huge in Ann Arbor, and DH rode his bike to school often. But we encountered more than one biker who felt that he could ride on the road, but did not need to stop at a light.

[MissCrabette]

I hate to say this since so many of you or your husbands are into cycling, but I'd rather not share the road with a cyclist at rush hour. It's bad enough as is, no need to stop traffic in one lane of a 2-lane parkway. I don't know about you guys, but I just don't feel comfortable passing them in a narrow lane. Should they lose their balance, I'd probably have to swerve into the lane of speeding and annoyed drivers that probably lost their patience waiting for the cyclist to make a turn and get off the road.

Oh yeah, and what's up with cyclists who suddenly consider themselves pedestrians at a red light and cross on the crosswalk? No, I've never actually seen them get off their bikes and walk alongside them to the other side.

Remember people don't just ride bikes for recreation and they need to ride in rush hour for the same reason people need to drive. Of course in an ideal world there would be bike lanes everywhere so that everyone has their space. And bike lanes that are actually maintained not used as a place where all the broken glass and gravel gets swept to!! I agree that cyclists should follow the rules of the road; now that I never ride a bike but am often a pedestrian it drives me crazy that so many do not stop at red lights.
In LA I wouldn't ride a bike outside of our very immediate neighborhood. It's scary. We are only 3 miles from the hospital but there is no way I'd let DH bike there with all the bad drivers and speeders. But he rides in the hills around here where the roads are so narrow and twisty that drivers are forced to go slow!!

[GrayMatterWife]

I've never understood it either. We've lived in some very bike friendly and some very not bike friendly towns. We went to watch two friends in an Ironman Triathlon a few years ago so of course there were bicyclists and spectators EVERYWHERE. The audacity of some of the drivers was amazing and we watched one guy get yelled at and things thrown at his car after he almost hit a group of cyclists because he was obviously in a hurry.

When DH was in med school we lived close enough to the school that he could have ridden his bike, we both had ridden our bikes all the time when we were in undergrad, but I wouldn't let him - there was one stretch that he would have had to go through with NO shoulders and it was a major piece of the commute.

So very sad that bikes and cars can't share more.

Nothing to add, but just wanted to say **hi!!** to Suzy Sunshine! Good to see you posting!

[alison]

Cheri--I think I know what street you're talking about. Dh drove to work by bike, and he's a very experienced biker. He often went to Town & Country by bike and to our clinic on that major road, and that made me so nervous! Aside from that major road, it's so easy to get around by bike there.