Bikers are dumb.

[flyinbutrs]

Ok, can someone explain to me the logic of this protest? (Yonah, I'm vaguely looking in your direction) I was driving down market street friday evening, and from about 43rd to 30th street, I (and everyone else) was stuck behind about 25 people on bicycles who were lazily riding down the street, high-fiving each other and having a good time blocking traffic.

Now, I understand that bicyclists don't get a lot of respect on the road, but there are a few huuuuuuge issues with this protest.

1) It made no sense since it didn't affect anyone except a few people who happened to be on market street at 6 on a friday.
2) They had no signs or any indication of what exactly they wanted from us, or what point they were trying to make
3) I'm very sure they didn't get a permit for said demonstration, and it was thus illegal.
4) They ran every light, weren't wearing helmets, didn't signal, and generally ignored all rules of the road. (as an aside, this pisses me off. If you're on a bike and want the respect of drivers, you can't pick and choose which rules to follow. You can't decide... oh... no one is coming, I'm going to run this red. Drivers can't do that, bikers can't either).
5) It was hella dangerous. Not only did they block the official two lanes of market, but anytime anyone tried to veer around them through the center lane, they blocked them there as well, which led to some very angry drivers, which led to some very dangerous maneuvers. People were going into oncoming traffic to get around them, and one really pissed off insane tow truck driver was forcing his way through the pack. I'm shocked he didn't run over any of them.

The rest of my weekend rocked, by the way... saturday Avi and I did yardwork all day, then I went out to lolita for Brian's birthday (I was late...) with dov, brett, sam, ed, Dov's brother, and Jo. Then we went to capogiro for ice cream. I highly recommend their Crenshaw melon ice cream. Sooooooo good. Sunday we had a barbecue... really good skewers of beef and salmon and trout.

Comments

[sucellus.livejournal.com]

Bikers do that shit all the time. Groups of harley riders taking up the whole road ridding slow and making tones of noise. GET A FREAKIN MUFFLER DAMMIT AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Though I have never seen them ride through red lights like that.

[bumonyou.livejournal.com]

I've heard of "One Less Car" mass rides. No wait that's not what they're called. I think they are called "critical mass" rides or something? I can't remember, I used to work with a cycling enthusiast. Anyway. As far as I ever knew, these rides (that I am talking about) take place on the side of the road, and aren't really a demonstration as much as a show of force. Also it's much better riding in a group (on the side of the road where bikes are supposed to be) because even though bikes are road legal, they dont get a lot of respect, and drivers are less likely to, say, honk at you and run you over if there are 25 of you in a neat line (did I say less likely? heh).

My theory is that these fools were drunk. Yes, that would explain it. You could have played the "how slow can I go that I can catch up with them and touch my bumper to their rear wheel without actually running them over" game...

[jox.livejournal.com]

that's an awful game!! For the bikers, I mean. for everyone else, it must be loads of fun. you could even make it into a reality show, like survivor.

[below-the-belt.livejournal.com]

+ it's called 'critical mass' bike rides
+ they were [at least mostly] sober, happens every month


i'll explain more at the bottom of this post in a new thread.

[abcission.livejournal.com]

at which point, you get into the "U-Lock through your windshield game". that's how I would react to that, and I'm not a very hostile person.

THAT SHIT IS NOT FUNNY. you may not have noticed, but you, in a car, is the MOST DANGEROUS thing in anyone's daily life. Bicyclists are routinely killed, maimed, paralyzed, etc. by drivers. but furthermore, if you are a person living in america, you are more likely to die in a car accident than by almost any other means.
my point: IF YOU ARE DRIVING A CAR, YOU NEED TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. YOU ARE ENDANGERING MANY PEOPLE'S LIVES.
therefore: fucking pay attention, fucking follow traffic laws, fucking use your turn signal, and don't drive dangerously fast.
when I have the opportunity, I put myself in front of cars that are not doing this, to point out to them that they need to pay more attention. I think of it as putting my life on the line in order to hopefully get someone to be a less dangerous driver in the future.

[below-the-belt.livejournal.com]

dan's talking about bicyclists, not motorcyclists.

[kalalau.livejournal.com]

Yeah, cyclist suck. I hate that guy. You know the one I am talking about. The one who doesn't keep up with traffic, but still rides so far out in the lane you can't pass him with out getting run over yourself. And then when to do get past him, he runs the red, so that when you get a green you get stuck behind his lame ass again! ARG! Stoopid bikes.

[below-the-belt.livejournal.com]

but if that person was in a car, they'd be taking up even more space [and polluting more and supporting the oil war and the car industry and making the cities even hotter than they are in this shitty You Call This Summer?!]

[abcission.livejournal.com]

I think that cyclist is trying to keep space for "him"self, so that he doesn't get run into the sidewalk. If you read the rules of the road at the DMV, you might notice that this is perfectly legal, and you are legally obligated to respect a cyclist taking up the lane as long as they are not doing it egregiously. I do that when
:I have to pass someone who has illegally parked in the bike lane.
:I am afraid I'm not going to be noticed otherwise, and someone will just zoom past me and/or run me over because they aren't bothering to look for bikes on the road. If there are two lanes, and no bike lane, I'm going to take up the whole lane, or I'm going to get crunched into the gutter. just like going around a truck on a hill, you have to go around when it's safe, and suck it when it's not. sorry your fast-paced life can't take a little slow down at moments.

[flyinbutrs.livejournal.com]

A) You're hopping into an old conversation amongst very old friends.
B) That shit was funny.
C) That shit was fucking hilarious.
D) If you had known any of us even remotely, you'd know it was a fucking joke and you would have stopped spazzing about a joke on a blog.
E) Judah (bumonyou) doesn't have a car, and drives almost never.
F) No. Car fatalities are not a particularly likely way to die. Compared to other methods of transit, it's pretty high, but that's due to volume. Per Capita, it's no more or less dangerous than flying.

For Comparison's sake, leading causes of death in the US in 2002:
Heart disease: 696,947
Cancer: 557,271
Stroke (Cerebrovascular Disease): 162,672
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,816
Automobile Accidents: 43,005

Out of 2.43m deaths in 2002, a mere 43k were in car accidents. A mere 1%. Hardly a high probability (Heart Disease is a 28% chance, by the way). And lest I be accused of ignoring pedestrian / bicyclist deaths, they are included in that 43,005. 4,851 pedestrians, 665 cyclists, in case you were curious.

The point of this is not to say that you are necessarily wrong in saying that a car can be a dangerous weapon, or that people need to drive responsibly, but calm down, stop yelling at me and my friends, and stop pulling shit out of context.

[abcission.livejournal.com]

sorry dude. yonah linked to it today, and I'm at fault for not reading dates. but really, I don't take it too lightly when threatening people's lives is "fucking hilarious".

[flyinbutrs.livejournal.com]

no big deal... but I would advise taking threats lightly. Otherwise, you'll just be pissed all day long at everyone. Wait... I'm pissed all day at everyone anyway... Eh, fuck it... be pissed. I don't care. And I still think it was fucking hilarious.

[kalalau.livejournal.com]

The answer: bike lanes. Lots and lots of them. And if they stray outside of the bike lane, we get to run them over.

[below-the-belt.livejournal.com]

no need to roll down the window for air
when you're on a bike it's everywhere
we veer to the left and turn to the right
and laugh at the sucker stuck at the light

[chorus]
we like to ride our bicycles
we like to ride our bikes
we like to ride our bicycles
we like to ride 'em where we likes

[phnargamon.livejournal.com]

Next solution: ticket people who block bike lanes. Right now more bikers get tickets for riding on sidewalks than cars get for blocking bike lanes. In fact, I've never heard of a car or truck getting ticketed like UPS or someone else... And yes, more bike lanes.
Furthermore bikers should either accept the rules of the road or get off.
The most frustrating is riding Chestnut or Walnut in Downtown. Barely anyone respects the bike lanes (which are shared with buses?!?). I only break road rules to keep safe.

[below-the-belt.livejournal.com]

Furthermore bikers should either accept the rules of the road or get off.
so should car-drivers - especially since their potential for killing themselves and others is much higher than it is for us bikers.

Barely anyone respects the bike lanes (which are shared with buses?!?). I only break road rules to keep safe.
ditto.
but i also break road rules if it's the middle of the night, or if i'm with a crew [like in critical mass] and we're trying to prove a point that i think is legitimate and worth the danger. [see the new-thread comment i intend to post momentarily, below this.]

[jo i hope you don't mind - if you do, let me know.]

[below-the-belt.livejournal.com]

dan. bummer i didn't see this till now - i clearly have a lot to say. [but i was off in the woods, happily ignoring automobiles. sigh...

+ critical mass is a monthly bike ride that happens primarly [exclusively?] in cities. it happens all around the world. in the u.s. it happens primarily at 5pm or 5.30pm on fridays, so as to excitingly coincide with rush hour. this way, lots of people will see massers [bikers in critical mass].

+ many massers feel that mass is primarily a celebration of bicycles as an [environmentaly] low-impact method of transportation, politically radical, blah blah blah. many other masses feel that it's primarily a protest of cars. this is how you can tell the difference between 'positive youth' [at any age] and 'raging punx.' both fall into the 'bike punk' category, generally speaking, but it's different ways of looking at things. hope vs rage, construction vs destruction, armed resistance vs nonviolent struggle.

+ it ends up affecting a lot of the city, since mass travels all over center city, west philly, sometimes south philly and [once] the ben franklin bridge. pedestrians, drivers and folks on septa as well as people running shops - they all see us. sometimes they like us.

+ one way that we have of being fun and celebrating is playing music. sometimes there is a sound system, or two, with a mixtape; sometimes we play music while riding [which is easier than it sounds once you've been riding for a while, especially if you've got wide handlebars]. also often there are signs and flags that say things about critical mass, bikes, the war, cars, hope, pollution, physical exercise, fresh air, the idea that a legitimate method of transportation should be respected by cars [especially since we take up less space and thus lessen the mass of traffic] and they shouldn't try and kill us - and should share the road; and the need to wear gas masks while commuting to work. [one of my favorite slogans: i hate my job, but i love my commute.] when we don't have signs it's pretty silly, i absolutely agree - and often the flags aren't easy to read with the way we're riding. we oughta work on that.

+ yes, i'm pretty sure it was illegal. it happens every month so cops know to expect it, and sometimes they escort us and are very nice about it, and sometimes they arrest us. [see the case of the ben franklin bridge - but of course that was asking for it.] i don't see that illegality is inherently a problem, since there are so many laws that don't make any sense or are racist/sexism/ablist/ blah blah blah. [the sodomy laws were on the books in many states up until a year ago - that didn't keep me from having oral sex, and i'll stop right there from making comments on all the things that you've done and regularly do that could be considered illegal but i'm sure you'd defend your right to continue doing. but of course sex is hotter when it's illegal..]

+ a lot of us do wear helmets - and the reason they were running reds is that they were 'taking back the streets.' [i don't agree with everything mass does, just to be clear.] many of us signal, too. but it seems unnecesary for everyone to signal when it's 25 [or 250, as it sometimes is] folks going in the same direction.

+ stop hating on bikes and dust yours off.

+ i'm moving back up to 50th and hazel so maybe we'll hang... i still haven't seen your place. and you still haven't seen mine, so you'd better come over before the end of august.

[below-the-belt.livejournal.com]

important addition:
in many cities, critical mass is a lot more diverse than it is in philly, in terms of age, race, class, politics, gender and style. in philly there are a lot of bike punk dudes, a lot of white male bike couriers. in other cities [especially in the bay area and in boston] often there are families who feel welcome, more grown-ups, more people of color. more women, more queer [and maybe trans, who knows] folks.

philly needs some work. philly's radical/punk scene needs some work. anyone who wants to help shake shit up is more than welcome...

[mattio.livejournal.com]

do, a link from b_t_b's lj brought me here, and i kind of felt i had to comment about the whole "Drivers can't do that, bikers can't either" issue.

following the law doesn't work for bikers because of the way things are. as a bike commuter and enthusiast, following the law means i get swerved at; it means careless people come too close too often to knocking me off my bike, at speed, into traffic by opening their doors w/o looking behind them; it means that careless drivers come too close to frequently, to my left side. all this is following the law, and it means that there are usually at least two incidents each week where i feel like i come uncomfortably close to dying.

Yes, dying. Here's where this is going: the current laws are not safe for me, when they are ostensibly in place to ensure everybody's safety.

Therefore, I feel that little stops me from breaking the law on a frequent basis, to ensure my own safety. I will ride in the middle of the lane, despite the risk that a car will have to slow down, wait for an opening, and proceed around me, instead of breezing by me at 40 mph, just inches away from my elbow. I risk their frustration, I risk them honking--after all, I've never been hit by a car that honked at me, but I have been hit by a car that didn't see me when, like a good pedestrian, I was riding next to the curb--because it was turning right. Furthermore, I'll ride in the middle of the lane so when somebody who's just parked opens their door w/o looking, I won't get knocked off my bike at 25 mph into the approach of that cargo truck that's behind me.

and because I take it upon myself--not the Law--to figure out what safety means to me, I really feel okay blowing through a red lights when I deem it acceptable.

*****

Here's the thing about the dangerous aspect that you mention. Bikes, legally, are traffic. They're subject to the same rules as cars. If there are many of them, they create congestion. If you're in a car, and you experience automobile congestion, you DO NOT swerve around it into oncoming traffic. That's just stupid, and dangerous on your part. It's not particularly dangerous on the part of the other cars who are causing the congestion.

Maybe the critical mass bugged cars a little bit. Maybe drivers do stupid things. But if we want to turn this into a bike-v-car dangerfest, bikes win. Why? Because BIKERS DIE, and that's more dangerous than "causing" drivers to do stupid things. We hear story after story. And no matter how dangerous and negligent drivers are, it's always an "accident."

I'll take my own cautious illegality over some motorist's law-abiding (and even well-meaning, i'm sure) negligence.

And if I want the respect of drivers, i'll refrain from breaking their windows with my lock, which I've wanted to do so freakin often. Instead, I'll catch up to their busy asses at a stoplight, knock on their window, and say, "hey, you almost knocked me off my bike. if you want me to live, you gotta be a whole lot more careful." i'll be polite and firm. but i'm not going to ride in a way that excuses people's thoughtlessness.

[flyinbutrs.livejournal.com]

I have no problem with bikers disobeying a law here and there to stay safe. I do have a problem with bikers blatantly disobeying laws in ways that are demonstrably unsafe both for themselves, drivers, and pedestrians, which is something I see almost every day near my office (15th and JFK). I see countless bikers swerve through traffic to cross against the light, I see bikers that come uncomfortably close to knocking pedestrians over (and quite a few times I have actually seen the pedestrians get hit), I see bikers riding the wrong way down busy streets, I see bikers hopping up onto busy sidewalks without slowing down. I'm sick of it. I have no problem with you being safe. All I ask is that you keep the same thing in mind for the rest of us.

[below-the-belt.livejournal.com]

those bikers that you're talking about are bike couriers and totally different from everyone else. they are fucking dangerous, i agree, and they get hit all the time. i absolutely don't think they deserve it but i do agree with you that they should be more careful. [they get paid more to go faster in some cases so blame the system, not the individuals..]

[flyinbutrs.livejournal.com]

blaming systems is such a cop out. Systems are nothing but groups of individuals. Also, it's all your fault. Because I said so.

So how are you doing? I haven't seen you in forever... one of these days I'll remember how to use the phone and call you. I haven't even seen your new place. And we still havent' cooked together. Maybe friday? or sometime next week?

[below-the-belt.livejournal.com]

blaming systems is such a cop out. Systems are nothing but groups of individuals.
but it's important to think about the power distribution amongst said individuals - it's not all equal, and if you say it is i will call upon your vast privilege as a white non-trans hetero physically non-disabled upper middle class man with a steady job and healthcare benefits. and how are you getting to work these days, without septa? let me guess - you're dusting off your bike.

Also, it's all your fault. Because I said so.
shit. you got me there.


i haven't seen you in forever and i'd love to but i'm quite sure it's you that owes me the phone call. this weekend i'll be in rochester ny but next week sounds good. let's hang, for sure. but you're going to have to call me for that to happen.

ps stop being so obnoxious to my bikey friends.

[flyinbutrs.livejournal.com]

I have, in fact, dusted off my bike, pumped up the tires, and discovered that I am completely out of shape. I will, nonetheless, be biking to work as long as it's not raining. But I thought the system we were (most recently) discussing was the system of bike messengers, which, regardless of my method of strike induced transportation, I am not a part of.

And yes, I do owe you a phone call. I will call you next week. For sure.

And no, I won't stop being obnoxious to your friends any more than I will stop being obnoxious to my friends. I'm an obnoxious, offensive guy. I think you can't have a productive discussion if you're worried about offending people. Oh, and I like being rude sometimes. Especially to people who barge into my blog and attack me and my own over jokes we made. In case anyone cares, I also make racist, sexist, antisemitic, dead baby, helen keller, and cripple jokes. That doesn't mean I'm racist, sexist, antisemitic, antibaby, antiblind/deaf, antihandicapped.

your vast privilege as a white non-trans hetero physically non-disabled upper middle class man with a steady job and healthcare benefits
Also, if you think I'm upper-middle class, I think you seriously overestimate my salary.

[mattio.livejournal.com]

okay, that's nice, but how to you extrapolate that to "bikers are dumb"?

i mean, automotorists are dumb--they're the ones driving machines that kill people, and their stupidity is what makes people dead. that fact that some people are assholes on bikes doesn't really excuse or add to your arguments.

[flyinbutrs.livejournal.com]

Seriously... are you people not familiar with the terms hyperbole, sarcasm, or humor? It's a fucking rant to let off steam, a joke made at the expense of bikers. Calm the fuck down.