Watch out for bicycles too.

[dodge man]

One of the reasons I started this thread was to see negative posts and try to understand why people feel that way about bicycles.

Most of the roads I ride on are oil and chip, are not striped, have no signs for passing zones, and have a lot of loose gravel along the edge.

 

[Jstpssng]

One of the reasons I started this thread was to see negative posts and try to understand why people feel that way about bicycles.

Most of the roads I ride on are oil and chip, are not striped, have no signs for passing zones, and have a lot of loose gravel along the edge.

Lots of times I believe that it's a lack of respect from both parties at various times. Yet this is nothing new or isolated. 40 years ago I was headed to work in my 2wd truck on a road with about 8" of unplowed snow... there were 3 tire tracks beaten down as people were sharing the middle track. I met a jogger running in that center track and had the choice between running him over or going into the ditch. I chose the ditch, but as I got out to grab my shovel I yelled at him "Why don't you get the *.* out of the middle of the road?"
He laughed at me and kept going... which peeved me even more so I took off after him. He laughed even harder... until he realized that I was going to catch him; (even though I was wearing work boots) at which point he stopped at a crew which was clearing untility wires and I was like the dog who'd been chasing cars for years and finally caught one. I don't recall what was said but pointed out that it was his own safety he was endangering while running down the middle of a snow covered road, and guys like him gave all runners a bad name. The last thing that he said to me as I headed back to dig my truck out of the snowbank was "You really aren't a runner?"

I wish that I was in that kind of shape today.

 

[CalG]

I don't see many bicyclists who maintain a speed of 35-45 mph speed. (45to55, minus your 5-10 mph) Generally people in rural areas who don't have all of the time in the world aren't pedaling. Yet your posts demonstrates the lack of perspective between motorists and cyclists.

From my house into town and back, the posted limit is NOT greater than 30mph on any portion. A 13 mile loop.
Those are the reference numbers when considering "back roads". Your location must differ. Perspective I suppose.

 

[Jstpssng]

From my house into town and back, the posted limit is NOT greater than 30mph on any portion. A 13 mile loop.
Those are the reference numbers when considering "back roads". Your location must differ. Perspective I suppose.

Speed limits on rural roads here are 45 unless posted otherwise. The town road I live on is a 1 1/2 lane gravel road which probably has a traffic count of about 20... half of that is me. Yet I still have to be careful while running my tractor up the road and/or walking the dog because if somebody does come flying down through there's nothing I can say.

 

[9973720wb19]

The only thing I would mention is for you "safe riders" (of bicycles), I've seen several on here make the similar comments that they ride mostly on the side of the road, but if a car comes up behind them, then they suddenly TAKE THE LANE.

I'm sorry to hear you've had a cyclist cut in front of you. Not good. My guess is they didn't do that on purpose and didn't know you were there. Most rider are traveling at 10-15mph a car going 40mph is on you fast! You look back and its clear...then there's a car out of no where. We (cars and riders) can't help this...it is what it is. My suggestion is when you come up on riders just slow down a bit a few seconds to create a contingency to save someone. If a rider doesn't hear you, we don't know your there. Not attempting to start a debate, but I've been riding for 25 years and driving a car longer; cyclist don't become dumb nor set out to commit suicide when they jump on a bike. We understand traffic flow and don't "suddenly take the lane"...that would be really dumb. Not saying that never happened to you...there's bad cyclist and there the woman putting on makeup exceeding the speed limit coming up behind me while riding. Since you don't ride, I just want you to know that riders only take the lane in a very limited situations only in order to be seen and indicate where the rider is going...we don't have blinkers...yet use arms to signal when appropriate. As an example, I was riding on road-side entering a traffic circle and a car (travels way faster) entered the circle behind me then passed me inside the circle then cut right in front of me to exit the circle. If I would have entered the circle by taking the lane, (not cutting the car off because the car was not there yet) that would have forced the car to stay behind me so I could exit the circle safely. There's no reason for a rider to take the lane on a straight or back roads. Only at at stop sign or traffic circle and making a left turn with on coming cars; never suddenly taking the lane if there's a car on you - you don't have to explain what can happen.

So why do we ride on the road anyway! Most guys I ride with are older empty nesters. Most played sports in high school and college and fitness is a big part of their lives - we're happier in life staying and being fit. For older guys, our knees' can't take running, and mountain biking is a young mans' sport (jumping over logs, hitting jumps, rocks, etc) is too physically demanding on old guys. There are no trails worth riding. They don't really exist and if they do they are like a mile long. We like to ride (on average 3 hour rides) on smooth roads with fast high-end road bikes. In addition to health benefits, cycling in a group is great socialization with nice people that have the same interest. Riding releases endorphins that lowers stress. There's time when I'm stressed before a ride and when I get back I can't remember what I was stressed about. Yet, I know it's a dangerous sport. It would be bad if my wife and kids to get a call that I was killed on my bike. Every time I put on my helmet on to head out for a ride I think "will this be the last time my wife sees me?". What are my choices? I want to be as fit as I can as I age. Other than the obvious risks, cycling has kept me off medications, relives stress, make friends, and being fit to boot...it offers so much. Being fit also allows me to go all day with tractor stuff as well.

 

[Captain Dirty]

In an earlier post I described our culture as auto-centric. The choice of word was deliberate as we are both auto(mobile)-centered and auto (self)- centered. Giving some thought to the other guy and applying the Golden Rule would go a long way towards alleviating the conflicts described in this (and other) threads.

 

[Jims1025R]

Consider that a cyclist who appears to "suddenly take the lane" may be swerving around a road surface hazard, which drivers either don't notice, or don't consider a hazard. I find that most cyclists try to share the road as best they can. I will stay within a foot of the edge of the road as much as I can. But occasionally, I see a pot hole or wrongly placed sewer grate, and have to move more into the lane to get around it. it's just the way it is, not everything can be perfect for everyone, including car drivers. By maintaining my driver's license, following the rules of the road, and paying my taxes, I feel that I have the right to use the road, with the responsibility to share it as best I can. I don't feel that I have to surrender the road to a motorist, just because they are impatient. On very rare occasions, where traffic is heavy, and a lane narrows in construction zones with an unsafe shoulder, I have for a hundred feet or so ridden in the middle of the lane, to purposefully assure myself safe passage for a short distance, sorry if I delay a few motorists a few seconds, it just happens every now and then. Historically, I have delayed motorists, and "taken the lane" more on my tractor, than on my bicycle!

Motorists need to remind themselves, that occasionally, the lane/road is simply not available for their convenient use - sorry! I have retired from 28 years as a rural volunteer firefighter. During that time, I have closed a lot of roads entirely, sometimes for hours (once for four days - train derailment), and sometimes, just with my car, as our red trucks were busy doing something more important than just sitting across a road. I would feel really badly looking a driver in the eye, as I signaled, then stopped across the road, knowing that I'm about to take an our or so out of their day. But I know that up the road, their are hydro poles and wire down on the road, or a car accident, and they cannot safely get through. I got yelled at a lot, but would explain that the road was legally closed, and it was not my fault that there was no detour route. If there was, we were not permitted to give directions anyway, as one of our FF's did one day, the motorist ended up in the ditch on the detour, sued the township and won. So, after that, we just closed the whole road. A stopped motorist may get angry, but they won't end up lost or in the ditch. Despite life's best plans, we cannot always have what we want, the moment we want it, we have to understand, be patient, and share...

 

[9973720wb19]

Motorists need to remind themselves, that occasionally, the lane/road is simply not available for their convenient use - sorry! Despite life's best plans, we cannot always have what we want, the moment we want it, we have to understand, be patient, and share...

Well said.

 

[CobyRupert]

I live on a back country road.
Very hilly and narrow.
Cyclists sure like the challenge of riding here but to the detriment of local drivers.
They weave all over the road making it impossible to pass them. and usually 2-3 abreast.
Passing them is nearly impossible so I just have to wait 'til they make it up the hill or take my life in hand and cross the double line.
The problem IMHO is they mostly seem to be 'entitled' doing there thing.

Because they are entitled. In most states.
Why is it you feel entitled to the lane or being able pass anywhere at anytime? Or entitled to risk your life and other people’s and cross the double yellow line? Those 30 seconds you save really that important?
If they chose to share THEIR lane, that’s their prerogative.
It’s a bad idea to pass vehicles on blind hills and corners.
Being a tractor website, I assume you drive a slow vehicle occasionally, and would want to advocate motorists knowing the law.
All motorists should learn the rules of the road before they drive a vehicle.

 

[Fixastuff]

Lots of times I believe that it's a lack of respect from both parties at various times. Yet this is nothing new or isolated. 40 years ago I was headed to work in my 2wd truck on a road with about 8" of unplowed snow... there were 3 tire tracks beaten down as people were sharing the middle track. I met a jogger running in that center track and had the choice between running him over or going into the ditch. I chose the ditch, but as I got out to grab my shovel I yelled at him "Why don't you get the *.* out of the middle of the road?"
He laughed at me and kept going... which peeved me even more so I took off after him. He laughed even harder... until he realized that I was going to catch him; (even though I was wearing work boots) at which point he stopped at a crew which was clearing untility wires and I was like the dog who'd been chasing cars for years and finally caught one. I don't recall what was said but pointed out that it was his own safety he was endangering while running down the middle of a snow covered road, and guys like him gave all runners a bad name. The last thing that he said to me as I headed back to dig my truck out of the snowbank was "You really aren't a runner?"

I wish that I was in that kind of shape today.

It's not his fault you were driving too fast for the road conditions.

 

[Jstpssng]

Well said.

Conversely, cyclists and pedestrians need to understand that a motor vehicle can’t turn or stop on a dime; and when they make sudden moves when somebody is overtaking them, they are going to come out on the short end; right or wrong, that’s just the way it is. I have stated here and in other threads that a motorist is required to give 3 feet while overtaking a cyclist; I have also stated that at 50 mph, that isn’t far enough... and that goes double for cyclists playing chicken with 100,000 lb log trucks. (I have seen that!) I can think of at least 4 people who are lucky that I don’t follow that rule, preferring to err on the side of caution. Two of them I cited earlier in this thread. There are many laws out there which we are required to follow. At the end of the day however, there is one law which trumps them all; that of physics, which states that two solid objects can’t occupy the same space at the same time. Before you swerve to avoid that object, or suddenly dart to the other lane, check to ensure that you aren’t about to cut off an auto which is about to pass you. 3 feet really isn’t that far.

 

[Jstpssng]

It's not his fault you were driving too fast for the road conditions.

That’s one way of looking at it... I disagree with your viewpoint but brought it up to get a sample of opinions. In that much snow, steering isn’t an exact science; I chose the snowbank to err on the side of caution. Had he been a motorist, he would have moved over into his lane and we could have safely passed each other.
I don’t understand the logic of playing “chicken” running down the middle of a snow covered road. Yet I’ve encountered the same thing in town with people on cross country skis in the middle of a blinding snowstorm.

 

[Jstpssng]

Consider that a cyclist who appears to "suddenly take the lane" may be swerving around a road surface hazard, which drivers either don't notice, or don't consider a hazard. I find that most cyclists try to share the road as best they can. I will stay within a foot of the edge of the road as much as I can. But occasionally, I see a pot hole or wrongly placed sewer grate, and have to move more into the lane to get around it. it's just the way it is, not everything can be perfect for everyone, including car drivers. By maintaining my driver's license, following the rules of the road, and paying my taxes, I feel that I have the right to use the road, with the responsibility to share it as best I can. I don't feel that I have to surrender the road to a motorist, just because they are impatient. On very rare occasions, where traffic is heavy, and a lane narrows in construction zones with an unsafe shoulder, I have for a hundred feet or so ridden in the middle of the lane, to purposefully assure myself safe passage for a short distance, sorry if I delay a few motorists a few seconds, it just happens every now and then. Historically, I have delayed motorists, and "taken the lane" more on my tractor, than on my bicycle!

Motorists need to remind themselves, that occasionally, the lane/road is simply not available for their convenient use - sorry! I have retired from 28 years as a rural volunteer firefighter. During that time, I have closed a lot of roads entirely, sometimes for hours (once for four days - train derailment), and sometimes, just with my car, as our red trucks were busy doing something more important than just sitting across a road. I would feel really badly looking a driver in the eye, as I signaled, then stopped across the road, knowing that I'm about to take an our or so out of their day. But I know that up the road, their are hydro poles and wire down on the road, or a car accident, and they cannot safely get through. I got yelled at a lot, but would explain that the road was legally closed, and it was not my fault that there was no detour route. If there was, we were not permitted to give directions anyway, as one of our FF's did one day, the motorist ended up in the ditch on the detour, sued the township and won. So, after that, we just closed the whole road. A stopped motorist may get angry, but they won't end up lost or in the ditch. Despite life's best plans, we cannot always have what we want, the moment we want it, we have to understand, be patient, and share...

Just remember; a motorist by law is only required to give you 3 feet. 9 times out of 9 in an accident between a cyclist and a motorist; the former gets the short end of that stick. Right or wrong doesn’t matter in that case.

 

[Fixastuff]

That’s one way of looking at it... I disagree with your viewpoint but brought it up to get a sample of opinions. In that much snow, steering isn’t an exact science; I chose the snowbank to err on the side of caution. Had he been a motorist, he would have moved over into his lane and we could have safely passed each other.
I don’t understand the logic of playing “chicken” running down the middle of a snow covered road. Yet I’ve encountered the same thing in town with people on cross country skis in the middle of a blinding snowstorm.

I agree with not playing chicken with vehicles and as I said about riding bike I ride a MTB on the road for the very purpose of being able to get all the way into the grass shoulder on the backroads I ride on, but it's your fault you were going to fast and went in the ditch not his.

 

[CalG]

Well, If the social politic around the world keeps going the way it's been, none of us will be driving cars in the roads.
Fuel prices and green initiatives will put a stop to that. And there is no thinking that coal fueled electric vehicles are gonna be the answer.

Ahh but this gets into politics, ....say no more. ;-)

 

[SuperiorLakeEffect]

Well, If the social politic around the world keeps going the way it's been, none of us will be driving cars in the roads.
Fuel prices and green initiatives will put a stop to that.

Even with cheap gas, I find it absolutely insane how people can grind tens of thousands of dollars in automotive assets into the ground just moving bodies around. My tractor is literally paid for with all the money I save not hauling my carcass back and forth to work in a car every day.

 

[civilian]

To the post above about the runner in the middle of the road. In my past training for a half ironman, I had to learn to run. One thing I noticed was the crown of some roads. And gravel shoulders. I stayed away from gravel as one rock could be larger than another and end up twisting an ankle. Paved roads were more predictable but if the crown is severe enough I would feel it in my ankles. Center of the road was better because it was flatter. I had to choose where to run based on conditions and vehicle traffic. Don't run now, don't care to. Jon

 

[dodge man]

If the speed limit isn’t posted in Illinois, it considered to be 55 mph. On a lot of the rural roads near my house they are not posted but 55 mph is to fast, 45 mph is probably a good speed, but of course some will be doing 60 mph.

 

[Jstpssng]

To the post above about the runner in the middle of the road. In my past training for a half ironman, I had to learn to run. One thing I noticed was the crown of some roads. And gravel shoulders. I stayed away from gravel as one rock could be larger than another and end up twisting an ankle. Paved roads were more predictable but if the crown is severe enough I would feel it in my ankles. Center of the road was better because it was flatter. I had to choose where to run based on conditions and vehicle traffic. Don't run now, don't care to. Jon

This is why it's good to compare notes. That was my tale; but you left out the fact that there was 8 inches of snow in the road and motorists had been sharing the center wheel track; pulling out if they met somebody coming from the other direction.
He was running up that center track. If you've ever driven in that kind of snow you know that sometimes things don't go as planned. By law I am required to give him 3 feet; I chose to exceed that and leave the road.

Whatever the circumstances, I can't rationalise that a runner deserves an entire 2 lane road, any more than a motorist does.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I'm sorry to hear you've had a cyclist cut in front of you.

It wasn't me.

I'm strictly referring to what I have read on this thread here, from what I assume are "avid" bicycle riders.

The ones on this thread that have talked about the why's and whatfor's of when THEY "take the lane".

All I was trying to point out was that was almost certain suicide to make such an unexpected move that most sane people (and most drivers) wouldn't be expecting them to make.

I'll repeat it again, I would rather have them ride right down the center of the lane, than to suddenly with no warning or intelligence, swerve over and "take the lane" as I approach. If you're riding down the right side of the lane, and I see you doing so, I'm (as will anyone) going to assume that is where you are going to continue to ride. I will factor that into my judgement on how to proceed, and how and where to pass you.

Suddenly spazzing out and swerving into the center of the lane is not something I'm going to expect you to do.

That can lead to some very serious consequences (laws of physics being what they are and all).

Hope that makes sense.