Pet Peeves Among the Pedals

Not about pedestrians, not about motorists, just about our fellow cyclists. We are all so different that stuff is bound to frustrate when we approach riding in such different ways, explain to those we think are less experienced, etc. Ok, tell us your stories, tell us your pet peeves, we're all friends! 

I'll start out with a pet peeve of mine... The cyclist that blows past me so close to me I felt the wind of their SWOOOOOSH as they fly past me but they say nothing to warn me. We're in tight quarters in the bike lane. Buy a bell and/or tell me you are there! 

p.s. sure, your pet peeve may be the forum post that's been done before but I kinda feel like this tucks into other topics so this time I'm giving the pedal pet peeve front and center.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Wright on August 1, 2017 at 5:02am

Interesting take on this.

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on August 6, 2017 at 6:34pm

I would take that opening EVERY time. This is a peeve?!? Why on God's greenhouse-gassed Earth would this be a problem? Please don't tell me how it "makes ALL cyclists look bad." I don't subscribe.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on August 1, 2017 at 8:59am

Our pet peeve thread is featured in the Chicago Reader:

https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/bicycle-pet-peeves-cyclists-s...

Some of the other practices cyclists railed against are annoying breaches of etiquette like "shoaling." This term, coined by influential blogger Bike Snob NYC, refers to when a large group of bike commuters is stopped at a light and someone rolls up from behind and rudely cuts in front of the pack to get a head start.

Particularly irksome is sexist "man-shoaling," noted member Heléna Klumpp, "by guys who assume they're faster than me—you know, because they're guys, so they must be." Kate M. added that it's satisfying to loudly yell "On your left!" when passing these cads after the light turns green "because I am faster."

Other irritating but relatively harmless phenomena Chainlinkers brought up included overly bright, flashing "seizure-inducing" bike headlights and cyclists who lock sideways to wave-shaped bike racks, hogging multiple parking spots. Mike W. complained about "Helmet Nazis, the people who feel compelled to shame the helmetless, often loudly in public."

Permalink Reply by mike w. on August 1, 2017 at 9:40am

BTW, i don't capitalize my name.

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on August 3, 2017 at 2:28pm

Shoaling when done by man to a woman is sexist? When a man is passed by a woman but then puts out some extra effort to pass her that he can't maintain; maybe. But shoaling is different. It is simply using a safe and legal stop of another rider to put themselves first. Like "fighting" for a close close parking spot at the gym. It is simply narcissistic entitlement.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on August 3, 2017 at 3:03pm

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on August 4, 2017 at 3:26am

True or False?:

When a woman shoals a man it isn't sexist but when a man shoals a woman it is.

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on August 4, 2017 at 3:27am

Take all the time you like.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on August 4, 2017 at 3:44am

Irvin, as a woman, yes, I have seen women singled out (and been one of them). Watermelon shoaler had no problem becoming a salmon on a two-way bike lane to pass all of the women at a light but blocks later, fell in line behind the men in front of him. The women were at an especially bike-congested intersection. There are men that do automatically assume women are all too slow and need to be passed. They'll huff and puff to pass the women and then lose steam because they can't keep pace, forcing the women to pass them again. There are many men that use terms like getting "chicked" because they can't handle the notion a woman is faster than them on a bike. I'm not saying it is everyone but enough to be the experience of women on a daily basis. How crappy is that? So I'm asking you this - why is this so hard for you to believe? So many women share the same experience.

Permalink Reply by BikeScnhook on August 4, 2017 at 3:48am

In all honesty, I've found most women to be pretty darned fast on their bikes, so someone shoaling them because of gender is, well...a pretty stupid idea. (One difference I've noticed: men are much more disrespectful in their "pretty darned fast"ness while women are very polite about it, always give advance warnings...)

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on August 7, 2017 at 3:07am

What you describe above is not shoaling and I said:

puts out some extra effort to pass her that he can't maintain; maybe

So, what you describe here; that may be sexist. But sexism is believing that one gender is inferior. So one would really need to know what another has in mind and a brief encounter on the road is too little to go on to determine of someone is sexist. So it is my belief that you prejudge men that act in a culturally normal road (driving mentality) manner, as being sexist.

Shoaling isn't about who is faster. It's about being first. So I ask you, which you so far, refuse to answer, when a woman shoals a man is she sexist?

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on August 7, 2017 at 3:21am

Next up, Irv will lecture to black folks what IS and ISN'T racism. Stay tuned.

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