Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brett Ratner on May 25, 2009 at 4:42pm

Just to clarify my other post so I don't get flamed again, I turned off my timer at Grant Park, at the Museum turnaround and the turnaround up near Hollywood.

Aggressive riding in the congested areas is not cool. In the museum section, they made people walk their bikes, which I thought was smart.

Riding more agressively for the most part was easy and safe because most people kept the left lane clear.

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:

Ok. There were some congested areas, and I definitely slowed down there, even if I had a completely clear left lane.

Dottie said:

Hi Ryan. The quick mention in my post was about one group of very aggressive riders in a highly congested area - sometimes people just have to slow down for safety, especially when there are so many children and elderly around. Other than that one group, all the participants - fast, slow, and in-between - were wonderful. The amount of cooperation that went into making the ride such a success was really impressive.

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Permalink Reply by Vilda on May 25, 2009 at 4:46pm

This is a Great Pic!! Especially with wind and potholes going north! ;-)

Julie Hochstadter said:

what time was that taken and where on lsd?

Ed said:

Had a great ride.....

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Permalink Reply by Vondo on May 25, 2009 at 4:46pm

I had a blast. Going north was a bit of a workout against the wind. The ride back to Grant Park was amazing for me because I never crack the 20 mph mark on my own, so to be sailing along at 23 mph was awesome. The only thing that bummed me out a little was this guy behind me that wiped out a little past Belmont southbound. He was about 40m behind me but I heard him yell, then glanced back in time to see him go down. The sound of his helmet on the pavement was bad. A couple people stopped to help him, hope he was ok.

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Permalink Reply by Vilda on May 25, 2009 at 4:57pm

So on the debate of Spandex Warriors vs Regular Cyclists vs Family's that come out for big "safe" events. The Spandex Warriors that drop the hammer and fly on the left have to think of themselves as cars in this instance. Motorists that I debate with about having to slow down for bikers hate that they have to do this. BUT they are the ones that can in that instance kill people and in this instance hurt people. I saw a regular rider get clipped by a spandex warrior heading north from the soutside turnaround. I was close and didn't hear an "on your left" from the chick that was absolutely flying. And she clipped a dude that was in the middle lane. He was sent sailing and she didn't even look back. I stopped and asked if he wanted me to catch her but i think his pride was in full bloom about having been knocked down by a girl. Personally I woulda dragged her back to the scene to, at least, apologize.

My wife was clipped by a spandex warrior on the Lake Shore Path. There was a family to her right, the ass can yelled "on your left" but she had no where to go and he clipped her. She was sent sailing onto her face. He stopped about 300 yards ahead saw that she was still alive and kept going. She refuses to ride again.

So yelling doesn't really matter. SLOW THE F DOWN! I know i can fly on my bike but don't when i hit a busy area.

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Permalink Reply by Brett Ratner on May 25, 2009 at 5:52pm

Gabe:

I agree 100%

There's no excuse for endangering a slower rider or a pedestrian. Especially on a ride like Bike The Drive which is meant to promote cycling.

If it's not safe to pass, you shouldn't. If going fast is that important, you can enter local criterium races and so forth.

And slower riders should be mindful of the faster riders. I wanted to punch that guy with the iPod.

Anyway, hey Vando, did that bad crash happen on the draw bridge near Navy Pier? Heading North, I saw a bunch of paramedics in the south bound lane.

Gabe said:

So on the debate of Spandex Warriors vs Regular Cyclists vs Family's that come out for big "safe" events. The Spandex Warriors that drop the hammer and fly on the left have to think of themselves as cars in this instance. Motorists that I debate with about having to slow down for bikers hate that they have to do this. BUT they are the ones that can in that instance kill people and in this instance hurt people. I saw a regular rider get clipped by a spandex warrior heading north from the soutside turnaround. I was close and didn't hear an "on your left" from the chick that was absolutely flying. And she clipped a dude that was in the middle lane. He was sent sailing and she didn't even look back. I stopped and asked if he wanted me to catch her but i think his pride was in full bloom about having been knocked down by a girl. Personally I woulda dragged her back to the scene to, at least, apologize.

My wife was clipped by a spandex warrior on the Lake Shore Path. There was a family to her right, the ass can yelled "on your left" but she had no where to go and he clipped her. She was sent sailing onto her face. He stopped about 300 yards ahead saw that she was still alive and kept going. She refuses to ride again.

So yelling doesn't really matter. SLOW THE F DOWN! I know i can fly on my bike but don't when i hit a busy area.

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Permalink Reply by Vondo on May 25, 2009 at 6:05pm

The crash that I actually saw happened on the southbound side, about a quarter mile south of Belmont at around 8:15am. However I did see an ambulance with the sirens on heading toward LSD later around 9 or so. It had to be a different accident (or at least I hope the guy I saw didn't have to wait 45 minutes for help).

Brett Ratner said:

Gabe:

I agree 100%

There's no excuse for endangering a slower rider or a pedestrian. Especially on a ride like Bike The Drive which is meant to promote cycling.

If it's not safe to pass, you shouldn't. If going fast is that important, you can enter local criterium races and so forth.

And slower riders should be mindful of the faster riders. I wanted to punch that guy with the iPod.

Anyway, hey Vando, did that bad crash happen on the draw bridge near Navy Pier? Heading North, I saw a bunch of paramedics in the south bound lane.

Gabe said:

So on the debate of Spandex Warriors vs Regular Cyclists vs Family's that come out for big "safe" events. The Spandex Warriors that drop the hammer and fly on the left have to think of themselves as cars in this instance. Motorists that I debate with about having to slow down for bikers hate that they have to do this. BUT they are the ones that can in that instance kill people and in this instance hurt people. I saw a regular rider get clipped by a spandex warrior heading north from the soutside turnaround. I was close and didn't hear an "on your left" from the chick that was absolutely flying. And she clipped a dude that was in the middle lane. He was sent sailing and she didn't even look back. I stopped and asked if he wanted me to catch her but i think his pride was in full bloom about having been knocked down by a girl. Personally I woulda dragged her back to the scene to, at least, apologize.

My wife was clipped by a spandex warrior on the Lake Shore Path. There was a family to her right, the ass can yelled "on your left" but she had no where to go and he clipped her. She was sent sailing onto her face. He stopped about 300 yards ahead saw that she was still alive and kept going. She refuses to ride again.

So yelling doesn't really matter. SLOW THE F DOWN! I know i can fly on my bike but don't when i hit a busy area.

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Permalink Reply by Ed on May 25, 2009 at 6:28pm

uummm errrrr ... aaaaa... yea, i meant to get the camera strap in the picture....to give the feeling of speed. yea, that's right.

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Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on May 26, 2009 at 4:11am

Hey, thanks to everyone who signed up and rode!

Also, thanks so much to everyone who volunteered...amazing crew this year!

We had a great time hosting Bike the Drive this year and will be looking at ways to continue improving it from a safety perspective. As Howard said, when 18,000+ people get together, there's always a few that make unsafe choices.

But, overall, the event was great and we're pleased that you all had a great ride!

Sincerely,
Active Trans

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