You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by BigThief

Yes, children. As an adult you shouldn't be having a pizza pop

I love that weird dough.

[habernac]

Lol. “Cyclists never ring their bells on the pathway.” Sure we do. People either get mad because we rang it and made noise it they don’t hear it through their headphones. Painting bike riders with the sole selfish user brush is hilarious.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Frankly, your stance about cyclist behaviour is even more fatalistic than the idea that we can’t build more dedicated bike infrastructure - it boils down to yeah, a lot of cyclists are selfish jerks who won’t signal or slow down or ring their bells, but that’s just people these days, man <shrug>.

Now do motorists. Dog owners. Humans.

I've seen zero evidence that cyclists are any more annoying than other humans. I've seen exactly one completely reckless moron on a bike in my life (God only knows how many of those behind the controls of 2-ton metal boxes, though). And a bunch of other humans who happened to do something mildly annoying, whether they were powering their own two wheels or piloting their four wheeled metal box.

How about tailgating and stupid aggressive passes on all manner of roads? Are these somehow not as bad because it is our metal boxes mere feet apart instead of being flesh to flesh? Every day I see multiple people speeding through playground zones. And/or on their phones. Pretty well every pedestrian trip I make involves a driver seemingly oblivious to me approaching a corner/sidewalk and slamming on their brakes at the last second. But these are obviously just cars being #######s. Nothing to do with humans.

In the time I've been writing this post I've seen someone drive by my very residential home while on their phone. While being tailgated by another SUV. And then another driver also on their phone came by a minute later. There are dozens of kids on my block. Can we agree that most of the transgressions I've listed are in a similar ballpark to someone passing a little fast/close [while almost certainly paying full attention] on a bike? Do you really think the frequency of ####### behaviour per mile is any higher on a bike than other modes?


It's really ####ed up how judgmental and I'd argue weirdly jealous people are of others who are comfortable enough in their own skin to where what is most comfortable for a hobby they enjoy, even if it looks a little goofy.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by habernac

Lol. “Cyclists never ring their bells on the pathway.” Sure we do. People either get mad because we rang it and made noise it they don’t hear it through their headphones. Painting bike riders with the sole selfish user brush is hilarious.

People don’t get mad. I’m on the bike paths 4-5 times a week, and I ring my bell 20-30 times a ride. Nobody gets mad.

And I didn’t say cyclists are the only selfish users on the paths. But as the ones operating vehicles going much faster than other users, we have more responsibility than pedestrians.

Question to a fellow cyclist: I get passed by 4-6 other cyclists on a typical ride. Almost none of them ring a bell or announce that they’re passing. Do you think I’m justified in calling them dickheads as they pass? Or are my expectations unreasonable?

[puffnstuff]

We can all agree that the super old folks going way too fast on their ebikes that dont ring their bells are the worst of all?

[Looch City]

Bikers ringing bell is the equivalent of drivers using turn signal.

What's the equivalent ####### BMW bike brand??

[Bigtime]

Any age person ripping on an e-bike passing without a bell sucks. Sometimes you can hear them coming up behind if they have fat tires, but I've had lots that come out of nowhere behind me, especially if you are dealing with ambient headwind noise.

[Locke]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...bikes need to have Industrial semi-truck horns or something off of a train.

In this day and age of COVID, 9/11, Oil prices and inflation as well as headphone technology you need to really make sure you're heard.

Cyclists. If they worked harder they could buy a car.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Do you really think the frequency of ####### behaviour per mile is any higher on a bike than other modes?

Yes. Again, I’ve been a cyclist in this city for over 40 years. Longer than I’ve been a driver. Only a fraction of cyclists follow the basic rules of the road - hand signalling at turns, stopping at stop signs, keeping to a lane rather than lane drifting, announcing when they’re overtaking. Maybe 20-25 per cent. With drivers, the numbers are reversed: 75-80 per cent signal when they turn, stop at stop signs, etc.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Question to a fellow cyclist: I get passed by 4-6 other cyclists on a typical ride. Almost none of them ring a bell or announce that they’re passing. Do you think I’m justified in calling them dickheads as they pass? Or are my expectations unreasonable?

Maybe pick up the pace old man and you won't have an issue with that.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

People don’t get mad. I’m on the bike paths 4-5 times a week, and I ring my bell 20-30 times a ride. Nobody gets mad.

And I didn’t say cyclists are the only selfish users on the paths. But as the ones operating vehicles going much faster than other users, we have more responsibility than pedestrians.

Question to a fellow cyclist: I get passed by 4-6 other cyclists on a typical ride. Almost none of them ring a bell or announce that they’re passing. Do you think I’m justified in calling them dickheads as they pass? Or are my expectations unreasonable?

I think you are being unreasonable if they are passing you in a safe manner and not impeding the lane you are in. You are responsible for shoulder checking before you go and pass someone.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

People don’t get mad. I’m on the bike paths 4-5 times a week, and I ring my bell 20-30 times a ride. Nobody gets mad.

And I didn’t say cyclists are the only selfish users on the paths. But as the ones operating vehicles going much faster than other users, we have more responsibility than pedestrians.

Question to a fellow cyclist: I get passed by 4-6 other cyclists on a typical ride. Almost none of them ring a bell or announce that they’re passing. Do you think I’m justified in calling them dickheads as they pass? Or are my expectations unreasonable?

You know what reaction I get from pedestrians when I ring my bell to pass them? Quite often they thank me for it. I think that tells you that it’s a rarity at this point.

[PepsiFree]

The best solution would be to loudly scream, “Hey mister! I didn’t hear a bell!” every time someone passes without ringing the bell.

Slowly, over time, you’ll enter into their psyche. The next time, or time after that, or maybe it’s not for months but… eventually, they’ll instinctively reach for that bell… and they’ll ring it. You will have created the waves of change from one small pebble and, at worst, you’re probably only going to get punched in the face once, maybe twice a year if you keep doing it. A small price, but probably deserved anyway. Just think of all the better manners you will have instilled upon the population.

That or, y’know, they could just build a cycle track so walkers/runners have one and cyclists have one. Or make the track extra, extra wide.

That would literally be easier and probably more cost effective than trying to change the behaviour of people operating under no training and limited “rules.”

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

The best solution would be to loudly scream, “Hey mister! I didn’t hear a bell!” every time someone passes without ringing the bell.

Slowly, over time, you’ll enter into their psyche. The next time, or time after that, or maybe it’s not for months but… eventually, they’ll instinctively reach for that bell… and they’ll ring it. You will have created the waves of change from one small pebble and, at worst, you’re probably only going to get punched in the face once, maybe twice a year if you keep doing it. A small price, but probably deserved anyway. Just think of all the better manners you will have instilled upon the population.

That or, y’know, they could just build a cycle track so walkers/runners have one and cyclists have one. Or make the track extra, extra wide.

That would literally be easier and probably more cost effective than trying to change the behaviour of people operating under no training and limited “rules.”

Nah, I'll stick to bitching about it online

[CliffFletcher]

People are vastly underestimating how costly and difficult it would be to fully twin even just the Glenmore pathway. Most of the north side is already twinned. The east end as well. The low-hanging fruit has been plucked. To do the rest the city would need to tear out hundreds of trees, and bring in heavy graders to reshape the hills on the north and south side of Weaselhead, where the path has steep, wooded slopes on either side. They’d have to fill in wetlands. The section north of the Rockyview would be impossible without tearing out the woods and re-grading the hill. It would be a massive undertaking, and the costs would be prohibitive.

You could say the same about most of Fish Creek. Forest, steep hills, picnic areas, the Creek itself, several bridges. The flats west of the ranch would be a good candidate for a dedicated bike lane. But the rest? Not feasible.

These are mixed-use paths. When you use them, you’re riding in traffic. It’s not that far different from driving on Elbow Drive. Wasn’t always like that, but here we are. People have to adapt.

I suppose the only thing worse than being a cyclist in Calgary would be living in pretty much any other city in North America and not having a 1000km pathway system in the first place.

[Fuzz]

Standard Cliff. This is as good as it'll ever be, we should be thankful for it, and stop suggesting anything could ever be any different, or better.

[CliffFletcher]

“We can’t change the behaviour of cyclists because people are #######s” seems a much more fatalistic attitude than “it’s impractical to replace our entire pathway system with dedicated bike lanes, so cyclists will have to learn to play well with others.” But YMMV.

[PepsiFree]

Calgary has over 1000km of multi-use pathways.

Montreal has over 1000km of bike lanes.

I assume a cyclist would know the difference.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

“We can’t change the behaviour of cyclists because people are #######s” seems a much more fatalistic attitude than “it’s impractical to replace our entire pathway system with dedicated bike lanes, so cyclists will have to learn to play well with others.” But YMMV.

People, Cliff. People. You can't change the behaviour of people. Look how many still use their phones while driving despite a huge fine, but oh, ya, you'll get every person on a bike ringing a bell in perfection. Get real. Meanwhile, I didn't say tear up and replace everything, and the fact that you of all people have dipped into straw manning is a good indication you have completely lost the plot here.


What would be worth doing:

Separate users in busy high use pathways, like the bow river corridor. Take advantage of areas that don't have constant road crossings to build cycle corridors, like between Calgary and surrounding communities. Fix the canal pathway so it doesn't suck. Yes, it will cost money, but we spend endless dollars on roads, I don't think it's too much to ask to have some spent on active transport that ultimately saves us a lot more through healthcare and keeping people of the roads.


Your solution is that everyone should just ride leisurely, but you realize there are a lot of commuters, too, right? Why doesn't everyone just drive their cars 30km/h everywhere? That seems reasonable. It's not a race to get to work.

[Brendone]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Calgary has over 1000km of multi-use pathways.

Montreal has over 1000km of bike lanes.

I assume a cyclist would know the difference.

Problem is they don’t know the difference. Roads, multi use paths, sidewalks, etc are all for them at all times. Whatever rotating rules it takes to avoid inconvenience or get their training in…. Although training also seems to include riding 2-3 wide so they can chat. 22x has a huge shoulder, but I’m constantly seeing kitted riders on the white line so they can be side by side and yap as they ride. My wife and I cycle 22/22x all the time single file ‘cause we’re out there to work.

Also, shove your banana peels back into your “kit” pouch instead of tossing them on the shoulder ya fricken slobs!