The Mountain Bike Thread

jaredoconnor said:
The statistics on this are clear. It doesn't take a genius to see why what I wrote is accurate. Changing the behavior of one of the cohorts is a useless argument. For example, you could say mountain biking is still vastly more safe than road biking, if you only ride on gravel roads.
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Yes, you're exactly right and if you poll the non-racing mass of gravel riders, the most common reason for shifting to gravel are the lack of cars/trucks and the quiet.

I don't care how diligent you are, on the road, there's no way to prepare for every driver coming up behind you with their eye on that all important text message. MAMIL that I am, I have one of the Garmin Varia radar taillights connected to my bike computer so I can see the cars coming up from behind but that just let's me know what might happen. When she first started riding with me, my wife asked how I dealt with riding around cars all the time. My response was "you just have to trust that they are paying attention". She didn't find that helpful at all.
 
we had an apartment on east lake across from NW blood works. each morning as i was having a coffee, i would watch the commuter bikes flying down the hill ignoring traffic signals, passing buses turning out and on an on. that sort of riding leads to trouble, obviously and a mind set that i am king of the road. ride like that and expect trouble to catch up with you sooner rather than later. my other favorite observation is two abreast riders chatting away oblivious to everything happening around them. not only is that against the law on public roadways, it is another sign of an accident waiting to happen. the bad news is things like a friend off for a morning ride, every morning, in a bike lane killed by a drunk driver. after i retired i rode my road bike 7 days a week, 10 miles each day, as fast as i could ride. only snow would stop me. just remember, YOU ARE INVISIBLE!!!!
 
gpt said:
my other favorite observation is two abreast riders chatting away oblivious to everything happening around them. not only is that against the law on public roadways.
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im going to call this wrong unless you can specifically state the RCW for me, as I made a dilligent effort to double check my assumtion.

Washington law specifically allows riders to ride two abreast, and in group riding scenarios it is safer as it requires drivers to make a safe pass (and a shorter pass) using the left lane instead of trying to speed past a longer group singlefile in the same lane with them.
 
There's a lot of "it depends" in that. 2 abreast has its place when legal and reasonably safe/smart, obviously very subjective. That assumes riders and motorists alike are alert and respectful. Not a very likely scenario.

From working out in double pacelines in a designated/policed park area for the past several years, riders still assume the risk of inattentive drivers, road rage, etc. along with all non-motorist related risks from riding that close that fast. I've witnessed both motorist and non-motorist related incidents, some life threatening with pretty bad injuries. It's unavoidable.

Lastly, from 6-8K mi/yr on the roads, there is no eliminating the risk of motorist related incidents. We all assume that risk whether we understand it or not. I've been taken down once in the last 5 years, car 100% at fault and unavoidable for me. None of it matters if you don't walk away. I was back out the next day so clearly I'm willing to accept the risk.

Interestingly, from riding and racing on gravel, I'd say you're probably more likely to get injured off road. Either way, gravel/off-road has its own issues. Anyone who rides won't argue that. Road, gravel or MTB, I have easily found ways (some of them creative) to get hurt on each. But I'd still rather go out by flipping a float tube or bicycle than most other options.
 
sal_the_salmon said:
im going to call this wrong unless you can specifically state the RCW for me, as I made a dilligent effort to double check my assumtion.

Washington law specifically allows riders to ride two abreast, and in group riding scenarios it is safer as it requires drivers to make a safe pass (and a shorter pass) using the left lane instead of trying to speed past a longer group singlefile in the same lane with them.
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your are correct, i am incorrect. but a bad law none the same. as chatting and not paying attention is never a great idea. the idea is a herd of cyclist on a narrow road, so doubling up reduces the overall length of the herd and forces traffic to change lanes to pass. but what i see happening is the same thing the hardly ableson riders do, bunch up so there is zero way to execute a safe pass in a vehicle. great way to introduce road rage.
 
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sal_the_salmon said:
Washington law specifically allows riders to ride two abreast, and in group riding scenarios it is safer as it requires drivers to make a safe pass (and a shorter pass) using the left lane instead of trying to speed past a longer group singlefile in the same lane with them.
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It's true that WA traffic law allows this. However, it isn't always the best way to ride. I used to do a lot of club riding, and our usual mode was single file when riding with regular car traffic as part of the "share the road" philosophy. On some rides we might shift into riding two abreast when there were no cars around on winding rural roads, then drop back to single file when a car came up on us to allow them to get by easier. This worked pretty well when drivers weren't texting while driving. I've become less keen on riding where drivers don't stay in their lane, which used to be due to drunk driving, but now happens quite often due to drivers' obsession with texting while driving.
 
A few years back I almost got whacked by a texting cop in a patrol car. I was traveling through a wide rural curve....on a motorcycle, which (as MC riders know) you travel in the wheel lane next to the centerline.

As I progessed through the curve I see a black and white Crown Vic taking up well more than half of my lane, at high speed coming straight for me. I swerved hard to the right edge of my lane...as the cop looked up from his smart phone he was holding against the steering wheel. He cranked the wheel so hard to the right he went off road with dust flying everywhere.

Texting while driving is just fukin' stupid...even for LEOs (for which it is legal to do so).
 
krusty said:
A few years back I almost got whacked by a texting cop in a patrol car. I was traveling through a wide rural curve....on a motorcycle, which (as MC riders know) you travel in the wheel lane next to the centerline.

As I progessed through the curve I see a black and white Crown Vic taking up well more than half of my lane, at high speed coming straight for me. I swerved hard to the right edge of my lane...as the cop looked up from his smart phone he was holding against the steering wheel. He cranked the wheel so hard to the right he went off road with dust flying everywhere.

Texting while driving is just fukin' stupid...even for LEOs (for which it is legal to do so).
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That's some bullshit if they're allowed to do that. They 10000% have radios, voice to text, infinite other means of communication. For what possible reason is that ok?
 
Salmo_g said:
It's true that WA traffic law allows this. However, it isn't always the best way to ride. I used to do a lot of club riding, and our usual mode was single file when riding with regular car traffic as part of the "share the road" philosophy. On some rides we might shift into riding two abreast when there were no cars around on winding rural roads, then drop back to single file when a car came up on us to allow them to get by easier. This worked pretty well when drivers weren't texting while driving. I've become less keen on riding where drivers don't stay in their lane, which used to be due to drunk driving, but now happens quite often due to drivers' obsession with texting while driving.
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if all bicycle riders were as alert and contentious as you and your and your club amigos, there would be far fewer bad thoughts from vehicle drivers about 'those inconsiderate people on bikes'. carry on and be safe as you can. another friend was hit, two days ago, by a vehicle turning right in front of her. knocked her to the ground and drove off.
 
gpt said:
, there would be far fewer bad thoughts from vehicle drivers about 'those inconsiderate people on bikes'.
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Even people who know better can be idiots. One of the club members, who's been on rides for decades, came off a side street, through a stop sign, and into the bike lane right next to me, almost a sideswipe, coming home Sunday morning. I see it all the time, good practice goes out the window when some people get by themselves.
 
Tom Butler said:
Even people who know better can be idiots. One of the club members, who's been on rides for decades, came off a side street, through a stop sign, and into the bike lane right next to me, almost a sideswipe, coming home Sunday morning. I see it all the time, good practice goes out the window when some people get by themselves.
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I don't know a single human that hasn't fucked-up one time or another.
 
Salmo_g said:
One of my problems when I'm in the lead is that I can't yell "Glass!" and "Braking!" at the same time. It never ended well.
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In the years before actual bicycle helmets were even available I commuted to work in nearly any kind of weather.

One early morning in January (Spokane) I leaned into a turn on black ice asphalt, and woke up on the ground, rear wheel of the bike still slowly spinning....blood running down my face from a severe laceration, broken ribs, fractured cheek bone, and a concussion. I came to the conclusion that riding a bicycle on ice was somewhat foolish.

I guess one of the few advantages of old age is that wrinkles sort of hide the scars.
 
More back on track, the bike that took me to numerous three rivers multisport championships and xterra Maui is now just for fun, but did two different south forks for fish last year.
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