To the "cyclist" who knocked my friend off her Divvy bike on the lakefront path.

She has a very large cuts on her face, her legs, she might have a concussion. Her nice dress and boots are ruined. She was shaken up pretty bad but she's determined to keep riding her bike dispite how nasty you were and blamed her.

And the first thing she said to you was "Are you okay?"

You make me embarrased to be a cyclist.

I know exactly who you are, burning ass down the trail like you own it. Agressively passing with a sense of entitlement. Too smug to bother to call out "on your left." I used to be just like you until I realized that the lake front path is not the place to train for a triathalon.

Slow the hell down and be nice to people!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on October 8, 2013 at 3:45pm

Lol like this:

peter moormann said:

Slap some coffs on that bike!

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Permalink Reply by Reboot Oxnard on October 8, 2013 at 11:15pm

The board LOVES to defend people going too fast (read that as faster than safety allows), especially on the LFT. Too fast for conditions DOES equal dangerous, necessarily, and it DOES equal asshole behavior. Even if the person that gets run down is an idiot.

There's a reason there are speed limits for cars on the streets: 50 mph is too fast for all but a few throughfares. My car will easily drive faster than the conditions allow. Likewise speeding on the trails: just because you can doesn't mean it's safe, smart or civilized.

We don't know what happened but there is no doubt that speed is part of the equation and that slower speeds would have prevented or reduced the impact. If you're going too fast to avoid an accident, you're going too fast.

Will G - 10mi said:

The board LOVES to complain about people going too fast (read that as faster than them), especially on the LFT. Fast does not equal dangerous, necessarily, nor does is equal asshole behavior.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on October 8, 2013 at 11:27pm

Arresting bikes is all well and good, but what about that pizza and beer idea?

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Permalink Reply by WillG on October 9, 2013 at 2:54am

Well, we better just crawl everywhere then, right?

Look I get what you are saying, Dug and I were just trying to get the full story. It is possible, whether you'll acknowledge it or not, that "fast" in this context may not have been "too fast" and this unknown riders speed might not have really been the reason for the accident.

The point is that WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED and OP won't elaborate.

Reboot Oxnard said:

The board LOVES to defend people going too fast (read that as faster than safety allows), especially on the LFT. Too fast for conditions DOES equal dangerous, necessarily, and it DOES equal asshole behavior. Even if the person that gets run down is an idiot.

There's a reason there are speed limits for cars on the streets: 50 mph is too fast for all but a few throughfares. My car will easily drive faster than the conditions allow. Likewise speeding on the trails: just because you can doesn't mean it's safe, smart or civilized.

We don't know what happened but there is no doubt that speed is part of the equation and that slower speeds would have prevented or reduced the impact. If you're going too fast to avoid an accident, you're going too fast.

Will G - 10mi said:

The board LOVES to complain about people going too fast (read that as faster than them), especially on the LFT. Fast does not equal dangerous, necessarily, nor does is equal asshole behavior.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on October 10, 2013 at 4:39am

Clearly the person who fled should stop and not ride off. She could have been seriously hurt. Fleeing the scene makes me think there may be some guilt with the person going faster than the Divvy. I don't know how the (Divvy) was riding her bike but if a collision occurred, they both should have stopped. No excuse.

That said, there seems to be a spandex/road bike stereotype I find puzzling. Yes, there are some roadies that go faster in high traffic spots and that is a dangerous choice - pedestrians and small children don't tend to pay attention by the beach. Having passed a lot of Divvy riders on LFP, I am very cautious of them because a high percentage weave, don't look to the left before moving left, or generally are not paying as much attention. Those bikes are a lot heavier than my road bike. I don't want to find out what will happen if they hit me. Do I call "on your left" to everyone I pass? Nearly but not 100%. But when I do say "on your left" I've noticed sometimes I have to say it 3 times and even then there's no guarantee.