Here's the Beef:

6/4/12

So just a quickie because I have been meaning to send letters to the editor for quite some time.  We live within a short drive of the Lehigh Valley Velodrome, and have many many bicycling enthusiasts on the roads.  Here's the problem:  they have no etiquette whatsoever.  There are rules of the road, they are published online, and they are the law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania but nobody seems to pay any attention to them.


PA Rules of the Road


This is the manual for bikers and road safety.  They are not to ride side by side, but in line.  This is my biggest complaint!  I have no problem sharing the road but when you are riding three abreast on a winding mountain road, you are putting us all at risk (and yourselves, crazy bikers!).  Just because you all have matching jerseys on does not mean you own the road.  Save it for the track and respect the other vehicles as you demand that they respect you.

The second complaint is a single biker not staying near the edge of the shoulder, but hogging the road.  When did Share the Road become Bikers before anyone else?  I swear some days I could lean out the passenger window and swat someone on the rear end. 

With only safety for everyone in mind, I would respectfully ask all the bicycle enthusiasts of Lehigh, Berks and Montgomery counties to follow the Rules of the Road!  We'll share it, but you gotta share too!

6/17/12

I passed a herd of cyclers today riding 4 abreast in a pack of 12. When I opened the window to tell them the rules of the road, they were quite courteous. But why can they not just hear me coming and accomodate my car?  These roads, after all, were paved for automobiles, not bicycles. I get that they have the right of way, but not to the complete blockage of auto traffic.  A bike pack should function like a Vee of Geese:  whoever is in the back should be signaling the front leaders so everyone can travel safely.