1) Nu-Fred blows by me in bike lane; 2) Nu-Fred comes into corner too hot; 3) Nu-Fred crashes self in crosswalk. Must be Bike Month.
Tis the season for watching out for more riders now that winter has taken a break.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Duppie on
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Bike Snobs latest description of a Nu-Fred is a lot less disturbing and more humorous:
"[...]Finally, a textbook Nü-Fred with brand-new tattoos and riding a brand-new fixie blasted by me in the painted buffer. As he approached the intersection, he cut right, at which point his bicycle slid out from under him and he tumbled unharmed to a halt in the crosswalk. "I have no idea what just happened," he remarked as I passed, even though what had just happened was completely obvious. Leaving him to assess the damage to his off-the-rack "My Little Pony" bike, I continued on my way."MagMileMarauder said:
That video was disturbing. It's a classic case of sadist vs masochist.
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Permalink Reply by Melanie K on
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I have to agree with you, Dug- I have almost been wiped out by several cyclists, one of which passed me closely on the right, immediately proceeded to turn directly in front of me unannounced, and almost forcing me into a parked car as I made an effort to avoid him. I really want to think that most cyclists have some type of common sense, but once it gets warm out, everyone and their brother, sister, friends and family seem to want to ride their bicycle- which is great. Sadly, it seems to be survival of the fittest/fastest out there. I will continue to chug along at my usual pace and watch as I see people less knowledgeable about how to bike in the city get flattened or almost flattened by cars. Sometimes I do wish that there were mandatory bicycle etiquette classes, although I doubt anyone would really attend them.
notoriousDUG said:
I don't chuckle and blog about it but it is annoying that the within the last 3 days I have almost been wiped out by another cyclist twice, been crowded out on the road and at intersections by people with very poor 'bike lane etiquette,' watched numerous folk pull really stupid moves at intersections in greater number than I have in the last 3 months and seen a massive increase in the number of helmetless night riders in dark clothing with no lights. Having more people on bikes is a dandy thing but there is no way around the fact that many 'fair weather' cyclists are terribly annoying to be on the street with. It's a shame that people are taught to drive a car but no one ever feels the need to impress upon them how to safely ride a bike...
H3N3 said:
And this.
Are you supposed to chuckle, pat yourself on the back, and ride off with a smug grin to go blog about it when you see someone on a bike go down?
Peenworm Grubologist said:A knucklehead on a bike still poses barely one octillionth of the danger that knucklehead would be in a car. The whole fredsnobbage thing makes me bristle.
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Permalink Reply by Gort 12-mile Pinklegneep on
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so the nufred spends too much money on top of the line everything, and has an off the rack kiddie bike. How does this add up.... oh! I forgot to carry the "bike snob is a dick hole"
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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on
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I would guess this has to do with route; I ride Milwaukee daily.
H3N3 said:
Interesting. I ride every day and even since it's gotten warmer I rarely encounter another cyclist.
notoriousDUG said:
I don't chuckle and blog about it but it is annoying that the within the last 3 days I have almost been wiped out by another cyclist twice, been crowded out on the road and at intersections by people with very poor 'bike lane etiquette,' watched numerous folk pull really stupid moves at intersections in greater number than I have in the last 3 months and seen a massive increase in the number of helmetless night riders in dark clothing with no lights. Having more people on bikes is a dandy thing but there is no way around the fact that many 'fair weather' cyclists are terribly annoying to be on the street with. It's a shame that people are taught to drive a car but no one ever feels the need to impress upon them how to safely ride a bike...
H3N3 said:
And this.
Are you supposed to chuckle, pat yourself on the back, and ride off with a smug grin to go blog about it when you see someone on a bike go down?
Peenworm Grubologist said:A knucklehead on a bike still poses barely one octillionth of the danger that knucklehead would be in a car. The whole fredsnobbage thing makes me bristle.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on
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Milwaukee Avenue bike traffic has exploded in the last week or so. I've started diverting to less popular routes.
notoriousDUG said:
I would guess this has to do with route; I ride Milwaukee daily.
H3N3 said:
Interesting. I ride every day and even since it's gotten warmer I rarely encounter another cyclist.
[snip]
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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I think it is nice that you feel a sense of camaraderie by being a bicyclist -that is great for you. But I think that there are people out there with different priorities and different opinions about exactly what "taking the safety precautions of biking seriously" really means.
You may feel something towards the "community" of bicycle riders but others might not really care about what other people think of them or feel the pressing need to fit in with the in crowd or frankly care about the same things you care about. They might not even "care" if you respect their choices of not wearing a helmet or liking to enjoy music while they ride.
The fact that you look down on them for being a "fred" (or whatever disparaging name that can be giving to people who don't think and act and dress just like you and yours) probably doesnt' bother them at all. Not being in your special club of cyclists might not even concern them in the least.
Biking is for everyone -even for people who "don't take it seriously."
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The funny thing is that the Wrong Sort Of Cyclist seems to apply to almost everyone in Copenhagen, for example. People just get on bikes, and take them to places, and that's more or less the extent of it. File me under killjoy but the "you're doing it wrong" snobbage doesn't help anybody and just further marginalizes cycling to having a reputation of the exclusive domain of hipster douchebags.
More bikes make for safer streets, even if some of the bikes are a bit unclear about the best practices. I've taken a couple of solo spills myself, and a few stupid scratches and dents are part of learning bike better. Heck, people on motorcycles take it as given that they'll wipe out at least once, no reason not to grant the same for cyclists. And fortunately for us, the stakes of a wipeout are generally far far lower.
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Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on
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I don't know, since there isn't formal cycling education it's down to cyclists to enforce norms, some of which are silly and some of which aren't. Making fun of Nu-Fred because he likes knickers, messenger bags and single speed bikes is silly (I like all that stuff myself anyway). Making fun of him because he doesn't use lights, rides against traffic at night, beats pedestrians with U-locks, etc. really isn't. Most mockery as far as I can tell has to do with the latter rather than the former; cyclists tend not to care too much about other people's style choices but to care a lot about whether they're safe and conscientious. Even as a helmet skeptic, for instance, I think it's healthy that riders will poke fun at someone who shows up for a social ride without a lid even if they don't know him. Not all peer pressure is bad.
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Permalink Reply by Davo on
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I generally don't care how other cyclist's ride unless they are doing something that makes all cyclists (in general) look like assholes.
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Yeah, there are some norms hat are good to enforce but so much of the bike snob content is silly fashion bullshit.
Dr. Doom said:
I don't know, since there isn't formal cycling education it's down to cyclists to enforce norms, some of which are silly and some of which aren't. Making fun of Nu-Fred because he likes knickers, messenger bags and single speed bikes is silly (I like all that stuff myself anyway). Making fun of him because he doesn't use lights, rides against traffic at night, beats pedestrians with U-locks, etc. really isn't. Most mockery as far as I can tell has to do with the latter rather than the former; cyclists tend not to care too much about other people's style choices but to care a lot about whether they're safe and conscientious. Even as a helmet skeptic, for instance, I think it's healthy that riders will poke fun at someone who shows up for a social ride without a lid even if they don't know him. Not all peer pressure is bad.
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People are eating it up at face value so take whatever i was saying and apply i either to bike snob or his fans whom he is styling on with maximum deftness.
Michael Brosilow said:
You do realize it's satire don't you.
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If it allows even one person to look down on someone else for "doing it wrong" and makes them feel better in the end then how bad can it be? Elitism can be fun and profitable!
Peenworm Grubologist said:
The funny thing is that the Wrong Sort Of Cyclist seems to apply to almost everyone in Copenhagen, for example. People just get on bikes, and take them to places, and that's more or less the extent of it. File me under killjoy but the "you're doing it wrong" snobbage doesn't help anybody and just further marginalizes cycling to having a reputation of the exclusive domain of hipster douchebags.
More bikes make for safer streets, even if some of the bikes are a bit unclear about the best practices. I've taken a couple of solo spills myself, and a few stupid scratches and dents are part of learning bike better. Heck, people on motorcycles take it as given that they'll wipe out at least once, no reason not to grant the same for cyclists. And fortunately for us, the stakes of a wipeout are generally far far lower.
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