Yelling “Get the the fuck off the sidewalk” to a biker, early in the morning, is like saying, “I am a miserable simpleton who wanted to be a cop, but couldn’t pass the test”. Quinpool rd is not safe for bikes. cars routinely go 70-80 kms/hr on a squeezed four lane road. I have been nearly hit multiple times on Quinpool, once by a delivery truck, once by a texting driver, once by an elderly man swerving right at me. I’m aware cycling on the sidewalk is against the rules. I always go onto the grass when passing walkers, slowly. With all of the problems on the roads, drunk drivers, texting drivers, drivers talking on cell phones, drivers who come within inches of cyclists because they don’t care or know better, and an aging roadway, cyclists should be cut some slack for sometimes using sidewalks to get by dangerous sections of road. So, “Mr. Fuck you”, stop being so miserable that you need to curse at strangers in the morning. Guess what, if you are angry at everything, your life is going to suck. Stop sucking. —cyclist
This article appears in Pop Explosion.
So you become a hazard on the sidewalk. Yup typical biker attitude, “I’ll do and bike where I want and fuck everybody else:.
Try biking up Quinpool in the AM, Bro, until then, have a cup of fuck off.
OB, was this person in a car or walking? Walking I could almost see it being valid, but some dick in a car who’s mad at life? F that.
Maybe he was making up for not being able to say it to his g/f or wife in the morning…. You’re right about being dangerous out there for bikers.
There is only one miserable fucker in this bitch and it’s the cunt riding his bike on the sidewalk.
Quinpool too dangerous? – Go around it.
Next you’ll be whingeing about how somebody put I.E.D.s in the bike lanes so you had to use the sidewalk.
Fuck off and eat some lead based paint chips.
Go around it? You mean go up chebucto instead? Oh the horror! A person using the sidewalk in the AM!!! http://www.whataboutclients.com/archives/a… People are dicks, and it isn’t sidewalker.
Seriously, try it. Bet you have a conniption before you reach Armview Ave, big talkers.
You broke one of the rules and someone called you out on it … now you are angry about this so guess what, if you are angry at everything, your life is going to suck. Stop sucking.
I do the walk on Quinpool every morning. And I approve of the “Fuck off” message.
For the record, I am 95% against bikes on sidewalks, the exception being situations like this. For the most part you can do this stretch without any problems, but the sidewalk is a safer alternative between 7am and 9am. A bike lane would make a lot of sense until as far as where Gaudet optical is. I personally don’t ride on the sidewalk, but can sympathize with those who feel the need to (not the ones using it as a ‘shortcut’ or whatever.
Hello cyclist,
“Quinpool rd is not safe for bikes. cars routinely go 70-80 kms/hr on a squeezed four lane road.”
Total B.S. … I wish the traffic moved that fast, instead of crawling along bumper to bumper most of the day. I’ve cycled that road without any special problems, there is lots of traffic tho. I’ve never felt a need to ride the sidewalk, nor any need to be cut any “slack”. If I did, I would use one of the many sidestreets .. no need for any special treatment, imo.
Using the sidewalk intimidates pedestrians, esp. the elderly .. perhaps you are the one who “doesn’t care or know better”?
No, not BS, between 7-9 its a clusterfuck but after that, well, there’s a reason a Kojak with Kodak is sitting at Horeshoe Park from time to time, good buddy.
There are many side streets that a cyclist can use along most of the Quinpool area if they are not comfortable in the traffic on Quinpool Rd. Not as direct and it will probably take more time (though not always) but better than scooting along the sidewalk – even ‘slowly’ (then you really may as well use side streets); or over people’s lawns etc. to avoid the sidewalk’s ‘legal traffic’ such as pedestrians.
Granted the wording by the person who yelled could have been less emphatic, but then again perhaps that person has been hit, or nearly so, in the past and has had it with ‘sidewalk rockets’ of any type. Probably they are not really a miserable person at all just fed up with people being where they should not be and also trying to get where they are going without being mowed over on the sidewalk.
If you want to be on a sidewalk with your bike – fine, just walk it. Or be a kid on a small bike, or trike.
Just checked my Strava account and I’m past 2,500km this year. Not one of those is on a sidewalk.
Adjust your route OB, side streets are generally my friend. They can be yours too.
Jubillee for sure, but you don’t hit that until Connaught.
If I’m biking and have to go on the sidwalk I get off the bike and jog it or walk it until I can get back on the side of the road, never had any trouble doing this, I have seen people tearing up the sidewalk on their bike so maybe the yeller was almost hit, sounds like a bit of SHIT on both sides.
I would have more sympathy if it weren’t for all the quiet side streets in the area.
Although, Quinpool is wide enough to accommodate some bike lanes without sacrificing parking spaces.
So in other words, the rules are there for everybody else to follow (and you were very vocal in your bitch about how “nobody” follows them) but if anyone points out the fact that you’re not following the same set of rules, THEY are the douchebags.
Got it.
Only problem with sidestreets is they don’t get you there as fast and are generally in shitty condition. I realize this will give a lot of you even more to work with, but it is what it is.
I’m sorry but bicycles don’t belong on the sidewalk:( If I don’t feel comfortable riding a stretch of road, I dismount and walk my bike until I can get back on the road, or I take an alternate route.
Cranky, of course there are no other streets that run parallel to Quinpool that are less congestive, is there? Norwood, Pepperill, Oak, etc. Now you may have to make a few extra turns but it beats 2,000 lb+ running up your ass.
Soooo…if it’s illegal for bikes to be on the sidewalk but, because using side streets takes you out of your way, it’s ok to use the sidewalk. I wonder if it’s *MORE* illegal to drive your car on the sidewalk or across the commons, because it’s a more direct route. Maybe motorcycles should be able to use the sidewalks too, as it’s just as dangerous for them to drive in traffic as it is for bicycles.
Saw a car take a shortcut up the sidewalk on saturday, in front of java blend on north, to avoid traffic and get to his parking space that much faster. Well, some of it was on a lawn but mostly sidewalk.
I don’t need sidestreets because I’m wearing bigboy lycra(tm).
I live on that stretch of Quinpool rd. Walk my kids to school most days then walk back. At no point since I have lived on this street have I ever had an issue with a cyclist. As long as I dont have to move for them, there is no issue for me, and I never have in two years. So from a resident of the street in question, keep on doing the completely reasonable thing you are doing.
Now, the fucking idiots who bomb down the inside lane on the hill at 80 km/h and then yell at the people legally parked there? FUCK YOU. STOP FUCKING BEING RECKLESS AND YOU WON’T HAVE TO SLAM ON YOUR BRAKES. FUCK.
The only thing worse than a larger woman in Lycra is ANY man in Lycra.
I suppose you bike through Point Pleasant Park on weekends and/or holidays. Fuck that pisses me of and I like to bike.
As one of those inappropriately fast Quinpool drivers, i endorse your sidewalk biking/ alternate route recommendations. I am however very careful and slow down around any cyclists…
Maybe Mr. Fuck You’s been clipped by idiots cycling on the sidewalk.
On a number of occasions during winter , I was forced off the sidewalk into snowbanks by a few self entitled cyclists pricks.
The cyclists who own the expensive bike and cycling gear who ride on the sidewalk are the worst.The children I certainly don’t mind sharing the sidewalk with.
Jesus I dislike those shitbag cyclists who have everything and expect more.They get their nose out of joint when you call them a c*nt because thanks to him/her your tits up in a fucking snowbank.
Barrington (from scotia square to where spring garden starts) is the least safe because of how narrow it is and the number of buses that squeeze you onto the sidewalk. Next least safe is Brunswick street leading up to the bridge pedway, and then there’s pleasant street (where I used to bike to Cherubinis), too narrow between the ferry terminal and where it meets portland street+the cars go too fast in between the hospital and eastern passage. Only way I safely countered this was by going as fast as possible so cars got a chance to see me. I never found quinpool to be that bad.
Daniel, I notice that google maps suggests I take Brunswick instead of Barrington on my bicycle to get to/from Dartmouth but I usually go with the devil I know which is Barrington street because at least in front of the dockyard, I can go on the short trail which is kind of nice (you run the risk of other cyclists talking to you on the trail though- really when I’m on my bike, I’m like one of those dogs being taken for a walk that isn’t friendly with other dogs, I don’t really want to make bicycle friends while I’m riding…). You think Brunswick is in fact no better?
“Guess what, if you are angry at everything, your life is going to suck. Stop sucking.”
who the hell are you to tell someone how to live their sucky life?
“Guess what, if you are angry at everything, your life is going to suck. Stop sucking.”
The real reason why so much anti-cyclist agro exists. It’s got fuck all to do with sidewalks. It’s not the lycra pants, the enviro-zeal, the demands to be treated as equals on the road(with privileges), or the amorphous cloud of Smug that hovers over evey critical mass-turbatory circle jerk.
It’s the cheesy pastiche of cut and paste ,low-grade Oprah, life affirming cliches.
I, naturally, blame Governor Ted Cornwallis who was too busy signing off on severe haircuts/scalping *delete as applicable, than looking to the future of the Metropolis and the advent of the lycra thugs and their need for wide boulevards, the removal of all hills and their constant fucking whining.
I’m a biker in the city. If it’s dangerous stay off Quinpool but definitely stay off the sidewalk. Go around. If it’s still too dangerous maybe it’s time to give up biking in the city. Don’t get me wrong there are a bunch of bad scary drivers in the city but you give then a reason to bitch at all bikers by using the sidewalk. Looks like most of the comments are with you on this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVGkGxp1gvU
jgoreham
depends on where you’re turning off Brunswick. That trail is enclosed by a railing that goes all the way along it.
I’m sure Cranky thinks anything is better than having Bro Tim running up his ass 😀
Op, you need balls to ride in the street. Balls you don’t have. SO you are not equipped to ride yet. You need more practice. Or perhaps cycling isn’t right for you. Know what I ride in the street op? A solowheel. Know what that is? Google it. It is an electric unicycle segway that you STAND ON. Nothing to hang onto. Nothing to catch me if i fall. Only a helmet to protect me.
I ride that shit in traffic op. While you’re still tootling around the sidewalk because you’re scared.
Doesn’t that make your balls shiver with embarrassment just a little?
So I assume OP is okay with people parking in the hipsters’ precious bike lanes? Or is OP the kind of entitled twatwaffle who would take a picture using their iPhone and threaten to call the cops?
I guess the law is only meant to be followed when it benefits you and your Kalemobile, right?
I could care less about this bitch.. I mean that’s horrible that someone would just scream at a stranger and I feel for the biker, yes the rules were broken but I’m sure this biker wasn’t trying to hit the person walking on the side walk. I don’t ride my bike around town but when I use to I would go on side walks sometimes.. when the traffic was really bad and there was no people in my line of sight.. its not like this biker killed someone.. Now the real reason I am commenting on this.. you people are huge assholes! Telling someone you don’t even know to eat lead because they drove their bike on a side walk!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!? some of you people who come on this site a leave comments are just horrible people..
It’s a fair cop but society is to blame. I should point out that my moniker is Ivan Sonovabitch and , not, Ivan the great… soft… sissy… girlie… nancy… French… bender… Man United supporting POOF! so evaluate my comments accordingly
i only like people screaming at me, when there’s trouble afoot