Winter 2015- who's still riding?

Traffic 'round these parts dropped off pretty dramatically a few weeks ago... hard to tell from the "I rode today" thread who's still riding, as one would have to conclude that Gene is the only one out there most days by reading it....

Who's sticking it out and plans to continue to ride pretty much every day regardless of weather?

(Was winter 2013;   2014 starts on p. 36;   2015 starts on p. 61)

 

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Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 25, 2013 at 8:32am

Basically, do whatever the hell you want and don't lecture others for not doing the same.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on January 25, 2013 at 8:34am

My ride into work today was very pleasant. It was nice to finally see some snow on the ground.

Permalink Reply by Deet 4.5mi on January 25, 2013 at 8:40am

first ride in the snow for me. It was slow but nice.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on January 25, 2013 at 8:43am

But the lecturing is the fun part.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Basically, do whatever the hell you want and don't lecture others for not doing the same.

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on January 25, 2013 at 11:02am



notoriousDUG said:

First off there is the fact that if you are going to stay off a bike today because of all the things that *could* happen you should also probably not leave your house ever because of all the things that *could* happen if you do so; in fact you may want to have the gas service disconnected because I heard that sometimes that stuff blows up...
My Comment:
That's a bogus reply.    The  fact is that, with the idiots on the road today, the chances of a serious accident are far far higher than normal.   You can pretend that it isn't the case, but that doesn't make it so. The fact is that today, at least this morning, the traction on the road was bad.  Many cars and drivers have serious problems with traction -- even if a particularly bicyclist does not.   Cars were sliding through stopsigns and into intersections.   Pretending that this isn't the case doesn't make it so.

Not to mention that your alternatives are not all that great; CTA costs money I do not want to spend and is not a good option to get where I need to be today.  It's to far to walk and I need to carry more than is easy when on foot.  I made a commitment to be there and need to fulfill that commitment so bike it is.

My Comment:   You are free to make that commitment.  And when a lave flow is heading in your direction from a major volcanic eruption, you can choose to ignore that as well.    

Now, I am the last person to give somebody guff over choosing not to ride.  We all have our own personal limits and that's fine.  However, telling people not to ride because of what *could* happen and exagerate the dangers is pretty much exactly the opposite of advocating cycling.

My Comment:  Bullshit.   The worst thing that cycling advocates can do is advocate riding in highly dangerous conditions and getting a number of people killed or badly hurt.   All this does is reinforce the perceptions that cycling, as a whole, is dangerous.  Sensible people know when to come in out of the rain.  Turkey's look up and drown.  Were my comments emphatic?  You bet.  This morning was very very dangerous even for pedestrians.  On the one mile work by 4 lights, I saw multiple cars skid though intersections on red lights.   Out of control skids.   

David crZven 10.6 said:

CTA, Walk or don't go.   A broken leg, or hip or bicycle or worse is not worth one day of riding in rather rotten conditions.  I wouldn't drive either today.  

h' 1.0 said:

I agree that drivers are set to an idiocy setting of 11 today, but "stay off the street with a bike?"

That's how we get to the places we need to go, David.

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on January 25, 2013 at 11:12am

Respectfully, but urgently, that's a very Republican approach to things.  When you see people engaging in unsafe acts that put all of us at risk, you should tell them to stop.  Yet you are taking the opposite tack and suggesting that people should do what they want?   So we should stop:

Telling car drivers not to open car doors into oncoming bicycles?   After all they are doing what in the hell they want and if we tell them not to, we are lecturing them for not doing the same thing.

Crowding Bicycles off the road?  After all they are doing what in the hell they want and if we tell them not to, we are lecturing them for not doing the same thing.

Turning in front of bicycles without looking?  After all they are doing what in the hell they want and if we tell them not to, we are lecturing them for not doing the same thing.

What is being done is pointing out the stupidity of certain behavior.  

But this should be expected as the Bicycle community is full of unique individuals who like to defy convention and engage in dumb behavior -- riding at night dressed in black without a helmet or lights, riding through stoplights, riding through stop signs without pausing, supporting Critical Mass and its anti-bicycle adgenda.

Go ride.  Someone will scrape you off the pavement in the next five years.



Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Basically, do whatever the hell you want and don't lecture others for not doing the same.

Permalink Reply by Rich Evans on January 25, 2013 at 12:20pm

I'd say Adam's response is pretty Libertarian -- do your thing, your way, and don't dictate to to others. On the other hand, David, yours is the sort of know-it-all, judgmental tirade that we've come to expect from John Kass and hyper-entitled cagers. 

 

I don't claim to be a spokesman for the "cycling community" (if there is such a thing), but I have been riding the streets of Chicago, and a lot of other locales, for almost 50 years.  I've met a lot of bike commuters, who do it for a lot of different reasons, in a lot of different ways, and the one common thread that I've come to recognize and respect among us is self-reliance.  Unlike cagers (and the "avid cyclists" who ride the occasional trail and lecture us incessantly on message boards), we actually get off our butts, put them on bikes, and figure out how to get things done with our little two-wheeled beasties -- whether it's running errands, getting to/from work, shopping, or hauling various goods to various destinations. 

We do this while enduring endless criticism for our "silly and stupid" behavior, for "engaing in dangerous activity," and for "being rogue cyclists."  Generally, we get this crap from people who get very uncomfortable seeing people do things in a way that differs from what they feel comfortable doing. 

I, for one, am tired of Taking BS from people, simply for doing things in a different way than they do.  I can't change the fact that people will do it, with no sound experiential basis for spouting off, but I can try not to do it to my fellow bikers.

If we didn't "defy convention" we'd allow ourselves to be restricted to riding on bike trails, and only in the summer, and never, ever try to use our machines to do what "grownups" do with cars.  Quite frankly, if you have a problem with "defying convention," you probably have a problem with most of us here. 

But, if you choose to "defy convention" by bike commuting, or riding in the winter, I do bellieve you need to be ready to accept the fact that other riders are going to do things in ways that you don't or wouldn't.  And I also think you'd better be ready to judge people who do things diffferently less, and learn from them more. 

So, while I didn't feel comfortable riding today, I respect whoever did, wish them well, and look forward to hearing how it actually worked for them.

I don't ride in black at night, but I don't ridicule those who do, and would like to know if they have reasons for doing so, and have learned techniques in the process, that might help me become a better rider.  

I don't do Critical Mass rides, and I'm not a bike messenger, but I certainly don't see them as the enemy, and I respect them a lot more than some fatass screaming at them from a minivan over a 5-10 minute delay, and I also think they have tips, techniques, and experiences we could learn from. 

I do wear a helmet, but if someone does not, and they are not my minor child, I have the sense to know that it's none of my damn business.

If I see a different way to do something on a bike, and I've found it works, I'm more than happy to share it.  But I don't get huffy if it isn't embraced. 

I don't ride a bike in order to tell other people how to ride theirs, and I sure as hell wouldn't throw an ill informed and mean-spirited comment  like "someone will scrape you off the pavement in 5 years" at a fellow biker, just because he doesn't want to be dictated to.

But that's just me.   


 
David crZven 10.6 said:

Respectfully, but urgently, that's a very Republican approach to things.  When you see people engaging in unsafe acts that put all of us at risk, you should tell them to stop.  Yet you are taking the opposite tack and suggesting that people should do what they want?   So we should stop:

Telling car drivers not to open car doors into oncoming bicycles?   After all they are doing what in the hell they want and if we tell them not to, we are lecturing them for not doing the same thing.

Crowding Bicycles off the road?  After all they are doing what in the hell they want and if we tell them not to, we are lecturing them for not doing the same thing.

Turning in front of bicycles without looking?  After all they are doing what in the hell they want and if we tell them not to, we are lecturing them for not doing the same thing.

What is being done is pointing out the stupidity of certain behavior.  

But this should be expected as the Bicycle community is full of unique individuals who like to defy convention and engage in dumb behavior -- riding at night dressed in black without a helmet or lights, riding through stoplights, riding through stop signs without pausing, supporting Critical Mass and its anti-bicycle adgenda.

Go ride.  Someone will scrape you off the pavement in the next five years.



Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Basically, do whatever the hell you want and don't lecture others for not doing the same.

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on January 25, 2013 at 1:14pm



Rich Evans said:

I'd say Adam's response is pretty Libertarian -- do your thing, your way, and don't dictate to to others.

My comment:  Libertarian.  Another word for self-indulgent and self-centered.    Thank god they are a distinct minority. I am a liberal and proud of it.  Government exists for a valid reason.

On the other hand, David, yours is the sort of know-it-all, judgmental tirade that we've come to expect from John Kass and hyper-entitled cagers. 

My Comment:  Its the kind of comment that comes from Adults.   There are real dangers and they should be recognized.   Sticking one's head in the sand is not the solution to addressing real problems.  And accusing someone of being "pro-car" because they are pointing out that behavior is dangerous is one of the reasons why Bicyclists aren't ready to make real progress.  Its the Viet Nam War protest movement all over again.   The protests may have felt good, but they actually prolonged the war.    This morning was stupid time to ride and only a slightly less stupid (but still stupid) time to drive.   Pretending that it was not is simply denying the obvious.  

And people who ignore the obvious will, eventually, be scraped off the pavement.   That's not mean spirited, that's a simple statement of fact.  Drive Drunk and you will eventually kill someone.   Ride like a chuckle head and you will eventually get scrapped off the pavement.  

 

I, for one, am tired of Taking BS from people, simply for doing things in a different way than they do.  I can't change the fact that people will do it, with no sound experiential basis for spouting off, but I can try not to do it to my fellow bikers.
My Comment:   2500 miles last year commuting on a bicycle.  I also used to commute by bicycle in Washington DC.  In downtown traffic.   And the "we do what we want" attitude makes it HARDER for the rest of us.   I have been hit, over the years, more than 4 times at lights because I stopped and the car behind assumed that because I was on a bicycle, I would not.  I have been doored and was unable to work for many weeks.  I relied on a bicycle as my primary means of transportation until I was over 30 and for five years, in a City without effective mass transit, it was my only means of transportation.   Don't lecture me like I don't know what I am talking about.    And don't engage in conduct that makes me a target.

If we didn't "defy convention" we'd allow ourselves to be restricted to riding on bike trails, and only in the summer, and never, ever try to use our machines to do what "grownups" do with cars.  Quite frankly, if you have a problem with "defying convention," you probably have a problem with most of us here. 

My comment:  There's defying convention and being an idiot.   The two are not related.  I defy convention and have for years.  I was commuting on a bicycle to a job back when everyone wore three piece suits (over 30 years ago).  That was certainly unconventional.

But, if you choose to "defy convention" by bike commuting, or riding in the winter, I do bellieve you need to be ready to accept the fact that other riders are going to do things in ways that you don't or wouldn't.  And I also think you'd better be ready to judge people who do things diffferently less, and learn from them more. 

My Comment.  You can also defy convention by juggling chain saws.   Yes.  That's unconventional.  And that's stupid.

 

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on January 25, 2013 at 2:11pm

So, back to the question--who is still riding?  I know I plan to get out there some time tomorrow!

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on January 25, 2013 at 2:54pm
Lee's Tour of West Ridge will take place tomorrow in mid 20's temps and calm wind.
Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on January 25, 2013 at 3:06pm

Just cannot make Lee's tour tomorrow--too much other stuff so not enough time.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 25, 2013 at 3:10pm
No, my response was apathetic. I don't care if you ride or not and I don't want to hear your BS that you think my choice was wrong.

Rich Evans said:

I'd say Adam's response is pretty Libertarian -- do your thing, your way, and don't dictate to to others.



Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Basically, do whatever the hell you want and don't lecture others for not doing the same.

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