Flying Bicycle Lane Lets You Soar Above Traffic

I guess there are no squirrels in Bulgaria.

or possums

I have a better idea. Just get rid of the cyclists all together. Look at how many billions get spent on bicycles and yet everyone who ever owned one or owns one is still some pain in the ass rider who will eventually get in the way of my big truck that I worked hard for so that I didn't have to pedal my fat butt around any longer.

Don't get me wrong, I loved having a bike! Until I was about 12 and then found out about the modern miracle of the internal combustion engine and its ability to produce far greater power for far longer times than I ever could and for far less cost too!

It went down something like this, Monday I had the bicycle I loved more than life itself. Tuesday I had my birthday. Wednesday I had a beat to hell trashed out three wheeler that barely ran for a present. Thursday my bike was in the scrap pile with no regrets and I never looked back since!

Nuf said.

ha ha ha...

okay your story is funny... but....

we like bicycles.

chris

Glad you saw the humor.

Many cyclists don't seem to feel my passion for not having to put forth an effort to get where I am going. I see them on the highways in 100+ F heat just pedaling away and looking as miserable as if it was their first day in hell and I just cant wrap my head around why anyone would find that a worth while enough activity to want to do it willingly.

But I like taking a leisurely drive around on those days with my beat up old $125 Kawasaki GPZ 750! That hot air feels great at 90 MPH!

Still I am not going to try and ride it on a wire 20 feet above traffic!

Maybe your doctor will get you on a bike someday - sounds like you probably need some exercise. Seven years ago I was in heart failure and on 5 heart meds costing me about $200/month even with a very good health insurance policy. Got a bike and started riding. Now - no more meds and a clean bill of health. My last stress test the technician was concerned that he couldn't get my heart rate to accelerate quickly enough. My doctor just loved the test results. Also have seven bikes now. Just a reminder - the laws governing the use of the highways were established first for bicycles, and they still have a right to be on them.

To start with, I have nothing against bicycles/bicyclists in general.

I agree that bike riders have as much a right to be on the road as a driver, but with that said there are some things I think some cyclists do not pay enough attention to. The "rules of the road" may have been implemented with bicycles in mind, but as they have been updated and amended they are now geared toward automobiles. While most roads do not have a minimum posted speed limit there is a certain point where maintaining a slow rate of speed is dangerous to not only the bike rider him/herself but as well others on the roadway. I don't say this to mean do not use the road, but as a bicyclist or even a very slow driving automobilist you should yield right of way. I cannot tell you how many times when driving down a country road on a beautiful evening a group of cyclists insist on riding 4 abreast at 15-20 MPH in a posted 55 MPH zone and refuse to allow motorists to pass. All while shouting "Share the road!" while they are not sharing the road.

Another instance which I have encountered in city driving is bicyclists who think they are above the law, running stoplights, riding on the sidewalk, weaving through stopped traffic and other behavior which on a motorcycle or in a car would be termed reckless endangerment.

My third point of discussion for cycling on motorways (either city or country) is the lack of insurance and gross difference in safety features. If a cyclist causes an accident which totals an automobile or causes injury to someone who is stuck with the bill? It can be clearly the cyclists fault but there is no requirement for a bike rider to have insurance to use the road. (I won't open the issue of taxes or fees to help maintain the roadways here.) Laws are in place that require this for automobiles. Also a minor "fender bender" between autos may result in monetary damages only, while a similar wreck involving a bicycle could result in injury or death. I realize that this example is much the same with motorcycles but is something to be thought about.

My point is that bicyclists currently like to take advantages of the best of both worlds, claiming rights to the road, as well as claiming pedestrian rights. I think clearer distinctions need to be made and better enforcement on both sides of the issue for bicycles and automobiles to effectively and safely share the road. Until then I fully support bike only lanes and wire in the sky ideas to at least separate the issue.

(I do not mean to ignore the fact that some drivers act very dangerously and maliciously toward bicyclists as well, but as I try to be respectful I have no reason to defend myself, and have no desire to defend those who do act as such.)

-T

all true.. GA

maybe more reason to provide cyclists with this cable system, for riding in congested areas..

Chris

Dear Neverenlightened:

Above mentioned cyclists are idiots and not following any of the advice given in the myriad of periodicals printed concerning the velocipede. A properly trained cyclist rides single file in groups on the white line to the side of the road. Passing here where I live, even on these dinky roads in rural America, does not require the motorist to dangerously slow down, unless it is on the single lane dirt roads that abound in this area - then we stop the bike and step into the woods for motor vehicles. Hope you don't run into our Amish. Their buggies are wider than 4 cyclists abreast, and I don't know how slow they go, but I always pass them when they are ahead of me on a road, especially on the climbs, and I'm a very poor climber. Can't beat the 50 year old woman on the cruiser, but I sure can beat Mr Ed with a ton of weight behind him.

I can not comment on city folk, as I have never lived anywhere over a population of 1200. As I understand it, all city folks must be insane to live there, and definitely so if they try to ride a bike where there are parked cars between you and the side of the road, so what do you expect? Madmen behave like - well, madmen.

The problem starts with parents who don't cycle themselves. I don't see many parents teaching their children to ride based on proper and lawful techniques of the road. Most watch them ride on sidewalks (want to talk about a dangerous situation with serious injury possibilities?) until they are past 6 or 7 years of age, and then just turn them loose and let them roam. By the time they are adults they think they own the road and scoff at the proper riding techniques presented in the above mentioned periodicals. I know, I've run into them. (sometimes literally)

Problem continues with government that does not require testing cyclists as with auto driving to insure riders can handle the road and unless things have changed a bunch since I learned to drive, no training on the part of automobilists on sharing the road with cyclists. Add to this the lack of concern on governments part to create a small path to the side of every road for the cyclist to ride in. Even backwoods roads usually have a 12" berm that could be improved when paving to allow cycling safely. (I live in a town of 300 where the closest city of more than 10,000 people is 55 miles away, and even here our roads could easily have a lane with a little extra line painting and a bit of concern for the edges when paving) A smart cyclist rides by the white side lines. That is until the well meaning government comes along and cuts little rumble strips into the side of the road for auto drivers who can not see the white lines, or stay awake at the wheel. The effect is the same as an auto with all tires flat on a dirt road. They sure have screwed up a bunch of my favorite riding areas this past year. Now I have to ride 12" out into the trafiic lane. On a rural road, that is a bit too much.

Don't see cyclists falling asleep on a bike and running off the road or crossing the center lane. Truck got an employee where my wife works last year in her car - truck crossed the line. Been awhile since a cyclist has killed someone in a drag race on the streets too. Last spring we lost some high school students to this in a car drag race on a road. Go into a corner too fast on a bike, run into a tree and get killed? Probably not unless the road has no side berms. Just happened yesterday to a local couple here in a pick'em up truck and the wife was killed - no ice or rain that day, just too fast into a corner. Happens regular as clock works every spring here to some teenagers in cars. Want to debate why insurance is required for cars? Better go after your younger drivers first, then testosterone loaded males secondly, and over worked truck drivers next. Let's see, been about 25 years since a bicycle accident was mentioned in our local paper, and I must admit, that one was spectacular. (this is where the comment on running into a tree came from - no side berm on the road) There's at least one car wreck with injuries mentioned every week though.

Phys, (and any other bicyclists)

I hope I didn't offend. My intentions were to bring light to some of the differences, and difficulties, in mixing modes of transportation. I brought to light my negative experiences with bicyclists. And you have brought to light your experiences with automobile drivers. All I intended was to spark discussion. I do think in many instances, not limited just to bikes and cars, that someone ill prepared, or merely neglectful of the gravity of their situation will use whatever equipment (cars, bikes, guns, alcohol, forklift, etc. ad nauseum) is under their control to harm themselves or sadly others.

Thanks for your well drafted response!

-T

edit: Phys, spread the word about riding on the side of the road, if all cyclists I ever met were as level headed and accommodating of my CO2 spitting death trap as you, I think we would all get along better

Actually I am in above average health and all around probably better physical condition than 80% of the American teenager population is presently.

Thats not too bad for having turned 35 this year. I may not be the top specimen of physical form for my age group but are far more I outrank than who outrank me in overall health and fitness!

I still wont get on a bicycle though.

Well good for you. I'm almost 60 and the riding I do, when in groups, is with kids your age. I rode a century last summer with those kids. Actually, we did 110.6 miles.

Remember now, I was in heart failure at 52 years old.

I never smoked a day in my life and walked an hour each week day and 3 to 4 on weekend days, but that was just not doing it for me. Don't even mention running, as my knees won't take the pounding. The bicycle, which is very kind to knees, has me flying through stress tests now.

Let's see how you are doing when you get to 59.

"Remember now, I was in heart failure at 52 years old.

I never smoked a day in my life and walked an hour each week day and 3 to 4 on weekend days, but that was just not doing it for me."

... and so what was the cause? and the cure other than the bicycle?

chris

Its all very well to have the bike on a safety wire, but what about the rider? Also, won't those grooves just get filled up with crap?

What happens when there's a strong gusty side wind?

hang on tight!... but your bicycle is attached to the 'truck' at the handlbear level, and in the groove, so it isn't going anywhere. you may fall off though... that's not recommended. maybe you have to wear a fall arrest safety harness which is connected like a Horizontal Life Line (HLL) to the cable.

Chris

I reckon that the time I'd spend climbing up the pole, putting on all that gear on yourself, setting up your bike on the track and pedaling at a slow speed, getting everything off and climbing off the pole, and finally normally biking or walking to my final destination, will take me 3 times longer than if I had biked directly to where I was going.

FILL YOUR TIRES WITH HELIUM AND FORGET THE TRACK.