Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michelle Milham on May 28, 2014 at 1:15pm

Yeah I've never seen dozens of cars cause enormous traffic jams in the loop on a daily basis by "blocking the box" once the light turns red. Nope. I certainly didn't have to dismount and walk down Madison on my bike two weeks ago because after 15 min of traffic not moving I was fed up with waiting.



Crazy David 84 Furlongs said:

False argument.   Had all the bicyclists been in cars, they wouldn't have been running the lights....     Again, the argument that because car drivers often act like jerks its okay to act like a jerk is really not a good one.  Go ahead.  Join Critical Mass.   Be aware that your conduct has consequences and if and when the City bans bicycling in the Central Business District, you can look back at that "fun" you had.  

Bob Kastigar said:

If all the bicyclists had been in cars instead can you imagine how much longer you would have had to wait?

Tristan Jackson said:

I definitely couldn't turn around. We, the cars, were tightly packed next to each other. Many drivers simply turned off their engines because there was no going anywhere. And it definitely took longer than 10 minutes for all the cyclists to clear the intersection because there was a long, seemingly never ending tail of buffoons taking their sweet time.


Michelle Milham said:

Maybe there was a backup after the mass had already passed where this person didn't make it through lights? but honestly, at more than ten minutes the other direction should be clear enough to turn around and try a different street, or drive in the opposite direction of the mass to find where it's ended and cross there. 

h' 1.0 said:

More than half an hour?

Someone usually jumps out of the ride and films a "front to back" video of the whole mass, and typically the larger rides take somewhere around 10 minutes total to pass. And then automobile  traffic is immediately moving afterwards.

Do you remember what month/year that was?
 
Tristan Jackson said:

Please excuse my ignorance but what exactly is critical mass about? I'm a cyclist. I love cycling. And, of course, I respect cyclists. But I'm also a driver. And, one time, I got stuck at an intersection waiting for a Critical Mass for more than a half hour while I had to pee really bad. If the ride is meant to raise awareness about cyclists, then I'm not sure that the ride achieves that goal in positive way. To me, respect between cyclists and drivers is achieved through consciously doing our best, both as drivers and as cyclists, to share the road. Purposefully causing congestion isn't respectful, IMO.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by globalguy on May 28, 2014 at 3:03pm

Uh ... so I guess that whole leaderless thang about CCM is out the proverbial window, huh?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tristan Jackson on May 28, 2014 at 4:02pm

If a bunch of people in cars converged on the same intersection intentionally creating traffic to raise awareness about their existence, then, yeah, that would suck. But I think seeing this from a us vs them, bikes vs cars, perspective is a mistake.


Bob Kastigar said:

If all the bicyclists had been in cars instead can you imagine how much longer you would have had to wait?

Tristan Jackson said:

I definitely couldn't turn around. We, the cars, were tightly packed next to each other. Many drivers simply turned off their engines because there was no going anywhere. And it definitely took longer than 10 minutes for all the cyclists to clear the intersection because there was a long, seemingly never ending tail of buffoons taking their sweet time.


Michelle Milham said:

Maybe there was a backup after the mass had already passed where this person didn't make it through lights? but honestly, at more than ten minutes the other direction should be clear enough to turn around and try a different street, or drive in the opposite direction of the mass to find where it's ended and cross there. 

h' 1.0 said:

More than half an hour?

Someone usually jumps out of the ride and films a "front to back" video of the whole mass, and typically the larger rides take somewhere around 10 minutes total to pass. And then automobile  traffic is immediately moving afterwards.

Do you remember what month/year that was?
 
Tristan Jackson said:

Please excuse my ignorance but what exactly is critical mass about? I'm a cyclist. I love cycling. And, of course, I respect cyclists. But I'm also a driver. And, one time, I got stuck at an intersection waiting for a Critical Mass for more than a half hour while I had to pee really bad. If the ride is meant to raise awareness about cyclists, then I'm not sure that the ride achieves that goal in positive way. To me, respect between cyclists and drivers is achieved through consciously doing our best, both as drivers and as cyclists, to share the road. Purposefully causing congestion isn't respectful, IMO.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tristan Jackson on May 28, 2014 at 4:06pm

Tu quoque. I think both drivers and cyclists need to treat each other with respect.


Michelle Milham said:

Yeah I've never seen dozens of cars cause enormous traffic jams in the loop on a daily basis by "blocking the box" once the light turns red. Nope. I certainly didn't have to dismount and walk down Madison on my bike two weeks ago because after 15 min of traffic not moving I was fed up with waiting.



Crazy David 84 Furlongs said:

False argument.   Had all the bicyclists been in cars, they wouldn't have been running the lights....     Again, the argument that because car drivers often act like jerks its okay to act like a jerk is really not a good one.  Go ahead.  Join Critical Mass.   Be aware that your conduct has consequences and if and when the City bans bicycling in the Central Business District, you can look back at that "fun" you had.  

Bob Kastigar said:

If all the bicyclists had been in cars instead can you imagine how much longer you would have had to wait?

Tristan Jackson said:

I definitely couldn't turn around. We, the cars, were tightly packed next to each other. Many drivers simply turned off their engines because there was no going anywhere. And it definitely took longer than 10 minutes for all the cyclists to clear the intersection because there was a long, seemingly never ending tail of buffoons taking their sweet time.


Michelle Milham said:

Maybe there was a backup after the mass had already passed where this person didn't make it through lights? but honestly, at more than ten minutes the other direction should be clear enough to turn around and try a different street, or drive in the opposite direction of the mass to find where it's ended and cross there. 

h' 1.0 said:

More than half an hour?

Someone usually jumps out of the ride and films a "front to back" video of the whole mass, and typically the larger rides take somewhere around 10 minutes total to pass. And then automobile  traffic is immediately moving afterwards.

Do you remember what month/year that was?
 
Tristan Jackson said:

Please excuse my ignorance but what exactly is critical mass about? I'm a cyclist. I love cycling. And, of course, I respect cyclists. But I'm also a driver. And, one time, I got stuck at an intersection waiting for a Critical Mass for more than a half hour while I had to pee really bad. If the ride is meant to raise awareness about cyclists, then I'm not sure that the ride achieves that goal in positive way. To me, respect between cyclists and drivers is achieved through consciously doing our best, both as drivers and as cyclists, to share the road. Purposefully causing congestion isn't respectful, IMO.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tristan Jackson on May 28, 2014 at 4:17pm

Umm... No. And If you can't be respectful in this conversation, then it's hard to believe you're respectful to others on the road either. :)


h' 1.0 said:

So... 12 minutes?

Tristan Jackson said:

I definitely couldn't turn around. We, the cars, were tightly packed next to each other. Many drivers simply turned off their engines because there was no going anywhere. And it definitely took longer than 10 minutes for all the cyclists to clear the intersection because there was a long, seemingly never ending tail of buffoons taking their sweet time.


Michelle Milham said:

Maybe there was a backup after the mass had already passed where this person didn't make it through lights? but honestly, at more than ten minutes the other direction should be clear enough to turn around and try a different street, or drive in the opposite direction of the mass to find where it's ended and cross there. 

h' 1.0 said:

More than half an hour?

Someone usually jumps out of the ride and films a "front to back" video of the whole mass, and typically the larger rides take somewhere around 10 minutes total to pass. And then automobile  traffic is immediately moving afterwards.

Do you remember what month/year that was?
 
Tristan Jackson said:

Please excuse my ignorance but what exactly is critical mass about? I'm a cyclist. I love cycling. And, of course, I respect cyclists. But I'm also a driver. And, one time, I got stuck at an intersection waiting for a Critical Mass for more than a half hour while I had to pee really bad. If the ride is meant to raise awareness about cyclists, then I'm not sure that the ride achieves that goal in positive way. To me, respect between cyclists and drivers is achieved through consciously doing our best, both as drivers and as cyclists, to share the road. Purposefully causing congestion isn't respectful, IMO.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michelle Milham on May 28, 2014 at 4:36pm

But you do realize that "once 3 years ago I was stuck in traffic and had to pee real bad. I just know it was a half hour." Is... Kind of not a reliable source of evidence right?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michelle Milham on May 28, 2014 at 4:44pm

As a young woman with a hamster bladder I can assure you I understand. But it does tend to make time move at a glacial pace where minutes feel like hours on end.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tristan Jackson on May 28, 2014 at 6:22pm

You sound defensive.


Michelle Milham said:

But you do realize that "once 3 years ago I was stuck in traffic and had to pee real bad. I just know it was a half hour." Is... Kind of not a reliable source of evidence right?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tristan Jackson on May 28, 2014 at 6:23pm

Thank you! Bottom line is that I had to pee! This was a real experience!


Jeff Schneider said:

Whether or not the 30 minute recollection is correct, having to "pee real bad" is no joke.  I tell you this as a middle-aged man...

Michelle Milham said:

But you do realize that "once 3 years ago I was stuck in traffic and had to pee real bad. I just know it was a half hour." Is... Kind of not a reliable source of evidence right?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tristan Jackson on May 28, 2014 at 6:26pm

True that. But I can say with certainty that it was a lot longer than 10 minutes. Part of what made it take so long was that there was so much car traffic that there wasn't much room for the bikes to get through. Not to mention a good portion of the people riding weren't exactly Lance Armstrong doing a TT.

Michelle Milham said:

As a young woman with a hamster bladder I can assure you I understand. But it does tend to make time move at a glacial pace where minutes feel like hours on end.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ken Gray on May 28, 2014 at 11:18pm

How about we get back (at least for a bit) to the real point of the Post. All this "pee" talk is putting a "damper" on party talk!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on May 29, 2014 at 3:27am

A large number of cars converging at the same intersection create a traffic jam.  A large number of bikes converging at the same intersection create a traffic jam.

Why do you keep blaming the bikes for causing traffic jams?  This isn't us-vs-them. 

Excessive cars create traffic jams.  Excessive bikes create traffic jams.  Why do you keep insisting on controlling only the bikes?

Tristan Jackson said:

If a bunch of people in cars converged on the same intersection intentionally creating traffic to raise awareness about their existence, then, yeah, that would suck. But I think seeing this from a us vs them, bikes vs cars, perspective is a mistake.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next ›
• Page