Don’t be an asshole cyclist

MFB-FrameWe can all be jerks sometimes. During my 10 mile commute to and from the office every day I get a lot of time to observe assholery on the streets of San Francisco. No… this is NOT going to be a rant about drivers behaving badly. In fact, I feel pretty good about riding a bike on these city streets. No… this is about assholery by fellow cyclists.

If you roll through a stop sign or red light, don’t chew someone out if they yell at you.

4280340166_14491d28bc_zSuck it up buttercup – you broke the law. I’m not saying you should or should not come to a complete stop, but it seems pretty stupid to get into a shouting match with someone (probably a driver or pedestrian) that watched you do it. I’ve rolled. Most of us have. And I know damn well that I am breaking the law when I do it. There are a lot of good reasons for us doing this, but until we manage to convince lawmakers of those reasons, the law does in fact actually apply to us. Be like the duck.

Don’t get pissed at the car that is “blocking” the bike lane at a red light waiting to make a right hand turn.

turn-in-bike-laneThis one really irks me. You ever notice how the bike lane line turns to a broken line as you near an intersection? That is because the right thing for a car to do is to actually change lanes into the bike lane in preparation for a right hand turn (or left hand turn on a 1 way street.) It is better for everyone, and creates a clear path for you to go around the car on the left. In fact, they’ll possibly get stuck there waiting for pedestrians, essentially blocking vehicle traffic through the intersection, giving you a free and clear path on the left. Don’t know how many times I’ve seen cyclists stacked up behind a car turning right, gesticulating wildly in frustration.

Hell, while we’re at it why not even be nice and take the lane, occupying the far left side of the right hand lane if you are going straight. This creates a space for cars to get between you and the curb if they are trying to take the free right on a red light. And it puts you squarely in the field of view of the cars behind you, while also putting you in a location that cross traffic will be looking. Everyone wins…

Don’t change your tube in the middle of a bike path

This seems like it should just be common sense, but I’ve actually witnessed this happening. What the hell people…

Speaking of tubes…

Don’t leave your punctured tube on the side of the road

Again… seems like it should just be common sense. Unfortunately you can usually determine how popular a cycling route is by the amount of discarded tubes and GU packages left laying on the ground.

In the immortal words of David Bernstein – Enjoy the Ride.