Thursday, May 25, 2017

Worst funny picture, ever


I’ve complained about bicyclists for longer than I’ve had a blog. On occasion I’ve taken pictures of bicycles on the road, described with some disdain. In fact, the township recently suffered bicycle events that bordered on cataclysmic, if you live in or drive in the township. One is a state law; one a federal ruling. It’s not possible to rank the sublime and the ridiculous, so here they are, in no particular order.

The state of Ohio has ruled bicycles may ride two abreast, and cars must give them three feet of clearance. The visual fulfills sublime to ridiculous on its own. There are posters all over town, all over the roads, of two bikers, side by side, and a car passing. The car’s door is open, to demonstrate a visual of three feet.

Ohio township roads may be as little as twenty feet wide, but generally are thirty feet. That divvies out to fifteen feet per lane, less things like the center line and the berm. Let’s say one polite rider is on the berm; his buddy is side by side, consuming say, a yard of actual road. So, fifteen feet are reduced to twelve. Whoops, less three feet of door, in order to pass, is nine feet. The average car takes more than six feet of width.

You get the picture. Bicycles own the road in townships. Our fine (R) representative, Jim Rinnacci, held a hearing no one knew of until the law was passed. Bikers presented testimony. The testimony has been sealed. The law says that the speed limit on all township roads that pass through a federal park (in the foot note, Boston Township and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park are noted as the only roads meeting the standard) will be twenty five miles per hour.

There ya go, folks. For a nice afternoon of traffic constricted bicycle riding, come on down to Boston Township and ride in the national park.

The other day, going to work, I passed a small car parked in a ditch, and across the road saw a fellow bending low, seeming to be looking. This was at the very top of Kendall Road. I slowed to see if I could help, and saw an old man, sweeping the berm.  A definite “do not get involved” situation, and I sped up to 25 mph  to continue on.

Coming home a couple of hours later, I passed the fellow again. He’d worked his way a couple of miles down the road, and only had the big bend at the Boy Scout Camp and past the lake at the golf course, to get on down to Akron Peninsula Road. Definitely under the speed limit.

I could restrain myself no longer. I took possession of the gully where I park to photograph my header tree, and said I had to tell him a story.

This township is overrun by bikes every day, and simply consumed every spring, summer and fall weekend. Years ago I relayed a phone message to the trustees: “It would be courteous of you to keep the berms swept for us.” The answer was, “Sweep them yourselves.” But, he never called back. All these years I’ve waited.


And there he was, sweeping the berms. We laughed, shook hands, and went on our respective ways.


Note to self--pictures through windshields generally are not optimal pictures.

24 comments:

  1. I hate bicycle riders, they dress like idiots in case we didn't recognize instantly that's what they are.

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  2. I find it hard and irritating when they ride on tbe road and not the cycle lanes

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  3. Sadly there are far too many MAMLs (Middle Aged Man in Lyrca) over here. And the bike paths don't meet their demanding criteria so they HAVE to ride on the roads.

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  4. The side by side riding is a bit much. They would stop traffic here.

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  5. We don't even HAVE bike lanes most places here, so bikers and drivers have to share the road. Some drivers do so courteously, others do so dangerously. I wouldn't drive a bike on our roads for love nor money.

    So was this gent the same one who made the call years ago? I'm assuming so ...

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  6. I love the story of the man sweeping the berm. Good one.

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  7. I bought a Schwinn Cruiser some years ago for exercise and it sits idle. Motorists are usually considerate, but dogs are not. There's always something.

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  8. Bicyclists scare me if I have to pass them. Even if they are in their lane, I always double check to make sure they are still riding after I pass them. Some can be downright aggressive too being where they shouldn't be and expect you to be watching out.

    betty

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  9. Wouldn't it make more sense for a rule to be bicycles ride single file on roads that are narrow? Of course governments and councils aren't exactly well known for their common sense (*~*)

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  10. We have the same here. A road leading to where I go daily is being shut or partially shut for three months for a road upgrade and changes. When I read the small print I noticed it is being funded by a Cycle Grant from some government body, possibly the EU Green pot, so bang goes most of the road to make way for a cycle way "pavement" that no cyclist will ever use, as John says, they prefer the roads and never use what is provided for them. The other evening I was on a narrow country lane and there was a cyclist ahead. I gave what I thought was a polite toot on the horn to let him know I was there and coming past, for his own safety, and he shouted obscenities at me as I went by and shook his fist.

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  11. Bicyclists have their rights but they scare me when I am driving at night and come across them on my winding, narrow country roads. They are an accident waiting to happen.

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  12. Cycclists reign here too Joanne.

    I laughed at your windscreen photo - how many times have I tried that too.

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  13. I have a bicycle and in the fall through spring I would ride it to certain destinations like the hardware store or the nursery, places I could get to while riding through the neighborhood and only have to cross main roads. I have only ridden it once or twice out here when the grands were still young and would bring their bikes out for their weeks because not everyone keeps their dogs contained. The few times I rode on main roads in the city was scary. Bicyclers get killed far too often. the other thing was right about the time our inner city neighborhood was getting gentrified and our population density was doubling at least, the city in all it's wisdom decided to change of the main thoroughfares through the neighborhood from two lanes to one lane turning the other lane into a parking lane and a bicycle lane.

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  14. My son is bike-less for now, but he has been a serious cyclist in the past. He often rode to work. One day on his way home from work he was in a left-turn lane and was hit by a driver who made the turn from the wrong lane, plowed right over my son, and kept going. Last year a driver opened his door into my son. He's had other serious accidents, too. He doesn't seem to learn from them. Until the introduction of bike lanes, it's not wise for him to ride in the city.

    Love,
    Janie

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  15. In Berlin the cyclists come up behind you - in full speed and very softly - almost touch the pedestrian -- though they have their own bicycle-lanes (not amusing enough?)

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  16. My son is a long-distance biker and knows rules inside and out. Even so, he has said that he is responsible for his safety, since cars are not. Has to be aware all the time. Ireland was an interesting jaunt.

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    1. Our vet was on a bicycle tour in Ireland with friends, many years ago, and was in a terrible accident with a car. He needed a lot of plastic surgery on his face. It seemed such a sad end to something that must have been looked forward to with happiness.

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  17. When I was young, cycling was the way people without cars got around.
    In later years, living in a university town, I came across `cyclists`...lycra clad and helmeted they would ride on the pavements, ignore red lights and generally behave like pests.
    France gave me cyclists riding three abreast....Costa Rica sticks at two, but what a pain they are on the twisting roads on the mountains...

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  18. My oldest daughter and her husband had a honeymoon riding along the Danube from Germany, through Austria to Budapest. There are special roads built just for cyclists with restaurants and camping places along the way....Much safer than our Ohio township roads!

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  19. Bicycles on roads are dangerous. They should put flags on poles on them so you can spot them over small hills. We have old R&R tracks here that were converted to trails - that's the safest place to ride long distances.

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  20. Here in Britain, cyclists are subject to the same rules and regulations as everyone else, but the militant variety completely ignore them by riding on pavements at speed, shooting red lights, riding the wrong way up one-ways, etc. etc. They may eventually force ordinary cyclists to be over-legislated by ignoring the current ones. The worst thing about it is that they get angry when you complain about almost being run down by them.

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  21. I for one would never take my life in my hands by riding a bicycle on the road but to each his own. Here we have bicycles and motorcycles and if you saw the motorcycle riders you'd be shocked at how fast they go and how far they lean over in the curves, our curvy mountain roads are a big draw here.

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  22. Dear Joanne, bicycle riding isn't done much here in the Kansas City metro area. There are bike paths where bicyclists can go for an outing, but when I was able to drive--before glaucoma so compromised my field of vision--I seldom--if ever--saw a bicyclist on a road. I do appreciate the problem you've written about. It would make driving very stressful for me. Peace.

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  23. I bike, but I would never bike alongside my husband on a public road. If there are that many bicyclists, perhaps they should think about installing bike trails, paths, or lanes.

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