Asheville bike friendliness

[cooperwx]

Good luck with the move, Peregrino. I hope you enjoy Asheville. From all I've heard, Portland is a fantastic town.

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by peregrino78

And don't respond to this post anymore. You obviously have some issues to work out as far as your feelings toward cyclists. Good luck.

OOOOOOOoooo is that an order?

The feeling is only toward the cyclists that don't follow the rules (LAWS) which they are required to do.

[peregrino78]

Your bragging about being a crusader for motorists' rights makes that obvious.

It takes a real man to lay on his horn to tell a woman to get out of his way.

Don't take any crap from anybody!

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by peregrino78

Your bragging about being a crusader for motorists' rights makes that obvious.

It takes a real man to lay on his horn to tell a woman to get out of his way.

Don't take any crap from anybody!

Ah yes, you have now stooped to name calling an insults, it doesn't do a thing to substantiate your point, if you have one in the first place. You want to stand and fight, but don't have a thing on your side, so you resort to just start calling and insults. Don't talk to me about "real man" tactics, when you resort to such methods.

The stupid (be it due to ignorance or arrogance) need to be told to get the hell out of the way when they are a serious impediment to traffic, it was just a public service I provided to many other motorists, including myself.

Your last statement, yes, including you

[spunky1]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

This woman either through complete oblivion of her surrounds, the impact of her actions, or very likely her overflowing arrogance that she was the only important person in a 1/4 mile line of traffic, got what she needed, a long blast from a loud truck horn.

Seen the "Share the Road" signs all around? That is a two way street, and this woman in her silly little shorts was not following the rule. If it had been an elderly person driving that slow in a car, law enforcement would have pulled them over for impeding traffic.

Yesterday I stopped at a redlight so close to the curb that a guy on a bike couldn't pass me on the right so he could run the light and I would again need to navigate around him. His response, he flipped me off.

I am perfectly willing to share the road with cyclists that follow the rules (that would be the traffic laws of NC), but they seem to be the minority of riders around here.

Sounds like some anger issues here.

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by spunky1

Sounds like some anger issues here.

Stupid people doing stupid things make me angry, so?

[gigimac]

Dear Native,
I apreciate your frustration in being delayed. But "Share the Road" signs refer to cars and trucks, not cyclists. It's to let you know bikes will be there, becuz bicyclists are the ones who are killed by motor vehicles, not the other way around.

Sand Hill Road is part of a designated bike route, even though parts don't provide wider pavement, which is why the biking public are organized to eventually improve safety along all recognized bike paths by widening the roads.

Vance Elementary School is on Sand Hill Road, so it is common for kids ride their bikes along there, which the "woman" you saw was probably someone's kid who, after participating in a productive after-school program, was trying to get home. Sand Hill Road is also a road used by group bike clubs and people who train for one of many bike races in our area. In addition, cyclists ALWAYS have the right-of-way.

Consider that perhaps the reason she did not get out of the way to let you through is because you were tailgaiting her and so she may have been afraid of getting run over if she stopped to get off her bike to go stand in the ditch. Being as she was nearly at the top of the hill, maybe the safest choice was to make it to the top, so she could pull over into a driveway she knew was coming up.

Blowing your horn to vent your anger is illegal, by the way. You are only supposed to blow it if you are in imminent danger. I don't know if you've ever stood in front of a vehicle and experienced the shock of a horn blast, but I imagine that girl felt victimized by you. If you are a man, you might want to invest some time in anger management classes, because if it had been this female you treated that way, then you would have had a problem, because I study martial arts, and I would have NO problem pulling you out of your vehicle and wrenching your horn-blowing arm clean out of the socket, and if it meant jail time, hey, it would have been my pleasure.

Now, years back, I lived in a residential area with a busy road where a 10-year-old girl had fallen off her bicycle and was laying out in the roadway, and because a car was speeding through the area, he could not stop in time, and her family doesn't have that little girl anymore.

Most people who are heading home in rush hour have no patience because they've left it at work, which you gotta get it outta your head the self-righteous idea that you own the road and it's okay to get mad. Think how much more pleasant your day would have been if you had politely held back to give that girl a break, and been glad you were the first in line to prevent other maniacs from pushing around an innocent personage, and been thankful it wasn't your kid or your wife or girlfriend who found themselves in that difficult situation where someone like you couldn't stand to wait five minutes and so terrorized her.

I was in a pharmacy one day, I was first in line, and I was mighty sick and wanted my prescription. The cashier was busy, she took my name, so I went and sat down and enjoyed listening to the music. A few new people gathered, one of which was an older man, in much worse shape than me, it was all he could do to stand. My name was called, and I immediately invited the old guy to take my place, and I waited until everyone else there was finished too, and then I got my prescription. I knew one day, I would be old, too, and how much I would appreciate it if someone gave me a gosh dang break.

So, Native, get over yourself. Life is too short to go about rushing and stressing over a few minutes. Give lesser people a wide berth. Be big about it. Because Lord knows there is way too much anger going around and most definitely not enough ordinary human kindness.
GG

[Asheville Native]

Nice little rant, but your analogy in no way relates to the woman that was deliberately causing a huge congestion for a great many people, and I will give here another blast of the horn if she behaves in such a manner again.

I am courteous to most of the people I cross paths with in the pharmacy or anywhere else, unless they are behaving in such a manner that they don't deserve it. This woman was wrong, even though she probably wasn't breaking any laws, her discourteous behavior towards a 1/4 mile string of traffic following her at 5 MPH, she deserved and got what she had coming. She was not sharing the road, she was riding 3 - 4 feet from the white line on the right edge of the pavement, a deliberate act to prevent traffic from passing her, and sharing the road.

This was no where near Vance school, but near Saradis Road end, and no, I was not tailgating her, and no she was not at the top of the hill, but perhaps 1/3 of the way up the hill, But what is the following distance for less than 5 MPH anyway. You are making a bunch of assumptions, based solely on you complete ignorance, and how you want the facts to be so you can attack me.

[lagunacat]

Seems to me GG made some very relevant and articulant points. It also seems to me reading your posts that your focus is very narrow and have little regard for many of the good points made in this thread. I have to agree with your anger issues and prejudice against bicycles pointed out in this thread Native. I also refer you to one of your quotes from another thread, which says MUCH. "The majority of cyclists are arrogant backsides in Asheville. They run stop signs, red lights, and follow very few traffic laws. I live near a popular road for the wanna be's in their silly tight shorts and yellow jerseys, and have seen them yell at cars because the car didn't yield to them."

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

Nice little rant, but your analogy in no way relates to the woman that was deliberately causing a huge congestion for a great many people, and I will give here another blast of the horn if she behaves in such a manner again.

You are making a bunch of assumptions, based solely on you complete ignorance, and how you want the facts to be so you can attack me.

[Asheville Native]

Morning radio station does a DA (as in dumb *****) of the day segment. This morning a woman called in to report that a guy on a bicycle had been stopped by a state trooper for riding his bicycle on Interstate 26, and her comment was finally as the guy apparently does it on a regular basis as she sees him several times a week.