One more note. These folks are not commuting. They ride these narrow two-lane blacktops with the hills and curves because the scenery is better than the four-lane main roads. They're doing it as a sport. I don't mind, as I said, our time is not that important. (My husband feels the same way.) But it's stupid to risk getting hit on roads with poor long range visibility where many people are exceeding a 35-45 mph speed limit. And they should stay out of the U.P. completely. It is revolting to the point of physical illness to be on a back road and encounter a group of unattractive people riding bicycles wearing unnaturally colored spandex. And from the looks on their faces, they aren't even enjoying themselves. They appear to be almost in agony.
The majority of MI certainly finds any form of fitness or exercise to be taboo. Especially in the UP. And no, 12, 24, 32, or 40 oz curls do not count as exercise.
I try to not get annoyed at the cyclists. Unless they're being morons but I get annoyed with all forms of morons. I used to ride my $20 garage sale scwhinn ~18 miles a day, 4-5 days a week in the summer. I used the bike path as much as possible... but the bike path sucked in many ways. There would be women who would walk side-by-side and they tended to be larger women so just two of them was more than half the bike path and three of them blocked the path. I'm glad they were out there getting some exercise... but c'mon... waddle single file. Then there were the dog walkers. They walk on one side of the path but they'd have those reel type leashes so their dog would usually be way over on the other side of the trail. I was soooo tempted to just ride over that leash when they were little ankle biter dogs. :D There are also the guys on the recumbent bikes. Those guys dart back and forth on the trail because those things must be really hard to steer. Made me nervous when I had to pass them. Occasionally the 'ordinary' bike guys would be out there. You know the bikes with a huge front wheel.. those look dangerous. My schwinn had bad bearings so it made a loud grinding noise... it was my early warning system to those I was coming up on. 'Cept for the people listening to their headphones. They don't even hear you when you shout "On your left!". They just freak when you buzz past them. heh heh. The bike path has a 15mph speed limit... which is lame. I only ever passed a bike cop once tho' and he didn't attempt to pull me over. :D When I rode on the roads I tried to go at least 25 mph in the 30mph zones. Between my aged bike and my wimpyness.. it was the best I could do. The car drivers were crazy and often unlicensed up where I rode, a guy on a bike got killed on the same road I rode on and the driver didn't even stop after they killed him. It's just how it is up there. I didn't get into the bike spandex or wear a helmet... although I did learn to not wear a tank top.... because if you catch a bumblebee in your cleavage.. it will get wedged and angry but will still be alive.... and bumblees can sting repeatedly.
Sometimes cyclists strike back. My ex got hit by a cyclist coming down a hill and who then blew through a stop sign. Minivan vs. cyclist. Overall.. minivan wins but there was carnage all the way around.
Even being an ex does not excuse the fact that you had a relation ship with (I'm Guessing here) a man whom drove a minivan, thats just wrong in more than one way. The credit given for even the most "manly colored" mini van should be enough to frighten the day lights out of even the most metro sexual heterosexual women in the world. Mini van , shoulda screamed mag lite if you know what I mean.
LOL.. It's a toyota previa. So it was a turd shaped minivan at that. To be fair, I bought the minivan. When I bought my truck, he got the minivan, which worked good for what he needed. I thought maybe having to drive a minivan would inspire him to get a real job.. but sadly... no.
With inspirational thoughts like that I hope you never said "don't worry about it this time , it happens to everyone once in a while."
There are some idiot cyclists. They give us all a bad rap. There are some idiot drivers. I see WAY more idiots driving cars. Just follow the law ....on a bike or in a car....and you're golden. I'll yield you 90% of the road. Give me my 3'.
If they are going to ride in traffic or on the roadways they should be required to tag and register thru MVA and carry insurence. Why should they be exempt?
The ones that think the road was built for the purpose of biking are the ones that annoy me. It's the other way around dude. I have a paintball gun sitting in my passengers seat just for those occasions.
Riiiiight.....lol. NY...I know some guys who are packin' when they ride (due to some absolutely STUPID drivers). You pull that stunt with some cyclists, and you may have brought a knife to a gun fight. Don't be stupid.
We have a lot of cyclists around here. I have never had a run in with any of them as they stick to the rules of the road. In fact, they are better "drivers" than the ones in the cars.
Bike vs car? Car wins! Unless the driver is not in a hurry and follows the rules of the road. Then it's a draw. Out here in the boonies there are no bike lanes and no (ride-able) shoulders. If you go off the pavement you're going on your arse. (if you're lucky) I used to ride to work when I was much younger. 16 miles one way and way too much of it was two lane paved roads with no extra room. We had to cross through a section of "town" that had street lights. You had to ride 20-25mph to make the timing of the lights. It was a bit tough, but do-able. I have appreciation for those out there riding. But at the same time, I need to get somewhere. So I give them as much room as possible. But I blow by them as soon as possible too.
The champion of the Ironman World Championships biked over 400mi./wk. in training. He's a world-class athlete......and he avg'd less than 25mph. on the bike leg of the race. My training rides (avg) are in the 17-18mph range. Sometimes less. If you can ride 20mph (avg) on a bicycle.....you have my respect.
