3/9/14 7:53 AM

Erik,

What's your take on this article?

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/03/braving-the-deep-deadly-south-on-a-bicycle/284293/

3/9/14 12:17 PM

Choosing the right man for the job ??

"They still have a long road to ride—particularly true if South Carolina is any example. Last month the Secretary of Transportation of South Carolina missed an important bicycle and pedestrian planners group meeting, one of only two held each year. Though the planners met as scheduled at 10 in the morning, they had to do without their most prominent decision-maker—because he had just been arrested for drunk driving."

Last edited by Sparky on 3/9/14 5:00 PM; edited 1 time in total

3/9/14 2:55 PM

The "no shoulder" issue is definitely true around Birmingham. In most cases, recent roadwork has included the addition of rumble strips to any repaving work. This has made some routes that was once safe for biking a lot less so, forcing riders into traffic and into the ire of some drivers.

Is it just me, or do there seem to be more drivers doing "stupid" things nowadays (not just cycling related)? There just seems to be a greater lack of consideration for other road users- backing down the "wrong" off ramp, trying to turn from the wrong lane, etc. It would seem that doing the safe and/or considerate thing gets trumped by the need to not inconvenience themselves.

"Why should I go down a block and turn around, when I can hold up traffic at a light because I was in the wrong lane?"

Or from yesterday's ride "Whoops! There's my turn and there is just enough space between those bikers to make a quick right." (cue sound of emergency stopping down a 6 person paceline).

3/9/14 5:29 PM

Poor choices by cyclist and many, "winos" ride bikes. Yep, most people hit in my neck of the woods are either drunk, riding the wrong way or in the middle of the night. The cyclist club in my area also makes VERY poor choices with regards to roads. Often opting for, 60mph 4 lanes, over 45mph 2 lanes. I don't ride with them for many reasons and this is one of them.

The demographic is not the same as Oregon. Apple and oranges, there most cyclists are smart middle class or better, with good sense and educations. Plane and simple, they make better choices when riding. Here, not so much.

I ride through downtown Charleston once a year as part of my charity ride for the Alzheimer's Association. It is a very difficult little town to ride in, the roads are bad, have bumper to bumper traffic with everything from busses to horse drawn carriages. It is NOT a cycling friendly town at all.

Those you who follow me on Strava can tell I ride very rural roads, often early morning rides won't meet but 3 or four cars an hour. I try to choose wisely and have only had a few occasions where I had to deal with a stupid redneck driver.

Dogs and deer are my major hazards once I get 2 klicks from my home.

The SC DOT has ruined many roads in my area buy cutting rumple strips in the shoulder of the road or painting epoxy bots dots into the road shoulder lines. One road that is marked as a bike friendly route had the 2 foot wide, 3 inch deep grooves cut into the shoulder, basically ruining the shoulder for cyclists, for which the road was designed.

Me, I just find country roads with grass growing in the cracks.

3/9/14 7:12 PM

quote:

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more drivers doing "stupid" things nowadays

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3/10/14 5:14 AM

Antilock brakes, traction control systems, all-wheel drive, automatic transmissions, airbags and automatic parking systems all do their part to divorce the driver from the experience of driving and make them feel invincible behind the wheel. Accident and fatality numbers haven't gone down, so what do car manufacturers do? They add more features that alienate the driver further, such collision avoidance/automatic braking systems and lane drift warning systems.

When you expect the car to do everything for you, why bother to actually learn any skills or understand the physics of driving? Why not gab on your phone or text, while you smoke a cigarette and swill coffee at the same time? I've seen plenty of drivers who think it's perfectly fine to eat a bowl of cereal, apply makeup and even read a freakin' newspaper while they drive. Add to that the morons driving with pets sitting in their laps...

We now have a generation of kids who really aren't interested in driving and many don't even get a license. While there's nothing wrong with that as long as they never get behind the wheel, there are also a lot of people now who rarely drive, which means they have very little interest in it and don't do it enough to become proficient at it.

With the way driving skills have "devolved" over the years, fully self-driving cars can't get here soon enough...for the other guy, that is...

3/10/14 7:57 AM

quote:

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Antilock brakes, traction control systems, all-wheel drive, automatic transmissions, airbags and automatic parking systems ...

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3/10/14 11:53 AM

We purposely put both kids in stick cars as their 1st. It helped we always seemed to have one out Elaine and my cars. They both, now 23/27 y/o refuse to own an automatic car. It helped that they learned to drive 30 mile west of Nashville and not in NJ where traffic was insane comparatively.

We gave Elaine's near mint Lumina a few years back to our older son, it got ate by a cable guard rail. He planned to sell it or trade for a stick car. Our younger son likes non power steering as well. his 1st car was a S-10, I even liked driving it.

My steed is a 94 Del Sol, I would drive auto if I wound up with one. But a 1.6 and auto trans, MEH. ;)

As to distraction, the Cell phones and txting has raised the odds for the road cyclist, not is a good way.

Having said that, I will repeat that the serfas 60 lumen tail blinky, get one is all I can say. I can see the result of car/driver beng aware of me way before being on top of me, a very good thing.

I have folks on bikes on the bike trail come from behind and a lot make a comment that they saw me a mile back in daylight.

That light registers in folks brains, good place to be as opposed to not when a ton+ of idiot is behind you.