Fuck the police officer who rolled up on me for riding to the sidewalk. This is following two cars honking at me because I was riding too slow I was riding slow because of the proximity I was with parked cars not know whether one contained a human blind to using the side mirror. Fuck the city for allowing parked cars on a two-lane street in the middle of rush hour. Fucking think for a minute. -Beginner Biker
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 4, 2014.
“Fuck” is not an appropriate word for a 6 year old to be using.becasue that is your only excuse for riding your bike on a sidewalk, beginner or not.
Hay Coast. I know I ask this one every time, so here goes. How is “pig” any more appropriate than “f@g” or n!gg#r ? The 60’s were a long time ago. Time to grow up, man.
What the fuck are you doing biking in rush hour traffic if you’re a ‘beginner’? You should have signed it as ‘-dumbass’ instead.
I wouldn’t feel safe riding a bike on the streets here, they’re just not made for em and you’d be lucky to find a bike lane that lasts more than a kilometer. You crazy fuckos have balls of steel, I’d never be dumb enough to bike around this city.
Juan, cops aren’t offended when someone calls us pigs, we know they mean Pride, Integrity, Guts, and Sexy.
Hoo Yah.
http://assets.wornon.tv/uploads/2012/10/pe…
About the only time you’ll ever hear me singing F*** tha Po-lice
It’s called a sideWALK not a sideDRIVE, ya assclown.
Don’t sweat it OP. This town is full of cops with far too much time on their hands and enterprising ways to fine the populace. Don’t listen to what anyone says and just use your common sense when riding in this town. If there’s no one walking on a sidewalk and you think it’s safer to do so then go for it. On the road don’t pay any attention to those cyclists who ride in the middle of the road as though they’re a “road vehicle like any other but without an engine or need for insurance/license/registration”, and ride on the side of the road between traffic and parked cars where it’s safe. Those guys have the experience to be confident and comfortable riding that way and until you develop your skills you should ride whatever way makes you feel safe for yourself and others around you.
I expect some might say “but you’re breaking the law riding on the sidewalk whether it’s empty or not” and to those people I say that the cycling laws are flawed. Just assess every situation and take the path you think is the safest, especially with regards to cars as all it takes is one bad/careless driver (perhaps you’ve seen one or two around town) to make you regret ever setting foot on a pedal.
I agree with Whiskey. And also the post above this one. As a person who neither drives nor cycles I really couldn’t care less if someone bikes on the sidewalk. Who are they hurting? Maybe the offend the sensibilities of the law-and-order-no-matter-what-the-law crowd. Maybe they annoy you slightly when you see them or have to walk past them on their bike. In both cases personal well-being trumps you. The law is definitely flawed if people can’t cycle on a sidewalk in a city with what has to be the least amount of bike lanes and some of the worst drivers in the world. How often do you hear about a cyclist causing an injury because of biking on a sidewalk? How often do you hear about a cyclist being injured or killed while driving on the road? I think the law needs to be changed, not the behaviour of the cyclist. OR we need more bike lanes.
Hey! Even a crazed old prick like me doesn’t drive on a sidewalk…. around cops, anyway…
We’re always ranting at the messenger. Police are paid to enforce the laws made by politicians elected by us. See that nice circle? See if you and a few of your biking buddies can put a bug in the ear of the local politico. Maybe that’s one step towards more biking lanes/ relaxed biking enforcement. Just a thought.
Where’s the revolutionary street cred in that, Crispy 2.0? It’s not nearly as satisfying to the juvenile ego as “civil disobedience” (disobeying the law) and raging against the machine (calling police officers pigs and fascists). Besides, if it actually works then they look pretty damned stupid squatting in their yurts, passing the blunt and saying “The system’s broke, man”
And the fact that I’m “only” running the risk of being bruised or scraped by some S.E.T. playing speedracer up the sidewalk on his fixie, is not outweighed by all the supposed good that is being done by said 2-wheeler eco-hero. Seems to me that walkers are doing even more good for the environment, and themselves.
Here’s one for Mr. M.:
http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/236x/41/…
You do have the right to remain silent but something tells me you’ll be waiving that right, among other things >; )
Ivan, you missed the point, but I’m sure it felt good to rant. I’m not being an eco-hero (as if that’s a bad thing), I am saying that I’ve NEVER heard of ANYONE getting hurt (even scraped) by a cyclist on a side-walk. Not that it doesn’t happen but it obviously doesn’t happen often enough for it to be an issue…I’m sure you and your geriatric buddies have a fear of most fast moving things but I don’t think that should deter the rest of us fro being safe of trying to improve our city and our environment. I also reject your idea that by caring about the environment you are somehow a yurt living hippi. You are a racist old fuck but you don’t hear me bitching about it. Also, I think it’s worthy to note that a woman was just killed while driving her bike on the street. What I actually said, Ivan, was that the law should be reviewed or changed or more bike lanes should be built. Sorry you butt hurts anytime someone disrespects a pig.
It always feels good to rant, Bru. And a hearty tip of the old pickelhaube to anyone who uses “lanister” as a noun. >: )
RSVP
:Ho!s+ (06/03, 8.09AM)
Was hoping you to see you at the Summit so I could hear Col. Ivan say ” Hat Dang, Hoistie finally came to a Summit”. Alas, was not meant to be, maybe next one.
Hoist will always be welcome to a seat at my table to break bread or bend the elbow, but you know how us geriatrics can be where our hobbies are concerned….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDg07hd0BhQ
Oh Ho!s+y
I remember regularly being yelled and screamed at for not ‘getting the fuck out of the way’ while I waited for my bus on the sidewalk outside the experimental farm in Ottawa on Carling after work every. single. day. by cyclists. They’d be clipping down the hill and get really pissy at me for just standing on the sidewalk! One time I was listening to my ipod, minding my own business and some biker almost slammed into me going quite a clip. If he had’ve hit me, I would’ve been injured for sure (probably quite badly). He stopped, turned around and yelled some pretty nasty obscenities at me. Cyclists be cray cray up there.
I dunno, for me, it’s the fact that these people who bike on the sidewalk think they’re obviously above the law. It’s ILLEGAL to drive on the sidewalk and no one’s above the law. Those who think they are are just entitled twats.
Note to self: Don’t go on the coast message boards in the A.M. before I’ve had coffee. Ivan, I regret calling you a racist old fuck, that wasn’t very nice of me. It annoys me when people belittle those of us who care about the environment and call us things like eco-hero’s and hippies as I hate hippies and the sorts of people who were in the occupy ‘movement’. But I do care about the environment. However, there are plenty of reasons that people cycle that aren’t related to the environment – to stay in shape, save money, because they enjoy it, etc.
P.K. I personally have never had any experiences like that with people who were biking on the sidewalk, perhaps if I had I would be soured on the idea as well. Surely, these people are in the minority, like motorists that cat-call women from their windows or any other asshole out there. The only thing that has ever happened to me were that people biked around me.
People break the law all the time and it doesn’t make them entitled twats. If you download a movie, you are breaking the law. If you smoke weed, you are breaking the law. If you don’t come to a full stop at a stop sign, you are breaking the law and even if you DON’T do any of those things, you probably still break the law in some way or another. To say you don’t is hard to believe. While it’s true that no one is above the law (save for politicians and police officers who often get a pass or a slap on the wrist for offenses that average citizens would probably be jailed for) I think its inaccurate to say that by simply biking on a sidewalk a person believes that they are entitled to disobey authority and are engaging in civil disobedience for street cred. That’s just silly.
I stand by my original view point – the law should be reviewed and changed (perhaps in certain area’s it’s Ok to bike on the sidewalk i.e. Bayers rd and others it is forbidden i.e. close to bus stops or places that people congregate). Or we should invest in adding more bike lanes.
Again, I am not a cyclist – these are just my opinions on the subject.
You are a man of passions, Hoist and this is not a thing to be ashamed of. For me, environmentalism has become the new secular religion. And like all religions, some practice quietly, personally, to various degrees. Others proselytize, behave evangelically, act like missionaries amongst the heathen, beating their breasts and patting their own backs, and generally boring those around them comatose while expelling enough CO2 from their pie holes to put the average Chinese factory/slave labor camp to shame. They have already elevated themselves to sainthood. These are the people I deride, and while I do tend to infer blanket judgements at times (shocked intake of breath from audience) I am also a child of Monty Python in which I use satire to transpose one paradigm of absurdity onto another for shits and giggles. Hence the comparison of illegal sidewalk riders to suburban revolutionaries.
Anyhoo -we’re all big boys here. I only took real umbrage to one comment. Bru, do you seriously think a man who proposed marriage during a Snowbirds performance at Shearwater is afraid of things that go fast >; )
Peace – Through Mutual Respect?
I guess that depends on how fast :p Yes, peace through mutual respect sounds lovely. You have to admit, regardless of your feelings towards those who care about the environment that this is pretty cool. I’ve donated 50 bucks to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgz…
Fuck Yeah, that’s cool!
I’m waiting for the dirigible airship to make a comeback in commercial air travel. Helium + lightweight composite materials – It’s gonna happen.
RSVPS
:Ivan “Splash 2 Zeroes” Sonofabitch (06/04, 8.35AM)
Would love to see the re-emergence of the dirigible airship for commercial travel, would have to still have the old style prop engines on them for control, wouldn’t want to see the disaster that would unfold with jet engines going. The closest analogy of that scenario would be a gigantic balloon that somebody let go and went whichever way it pleased.
:Ho!s+ (06/04, 7.59AM)
That is a great video, you and I are on the same page with the environment. It would be nice if they could put the infrastructure and resources in place to make that a reality, but guberment being what they are know that tax revenue money is in oil and one would have to jump many hoops to bypass that. Much the same with tobacco, they throw many hurdles against E-cigs cause they know the tax money they will lose.
I believe this picture accurately describes Col. Ivan’s idea of FAST. I can just see him playing with this F-14 Tomcat bad boy.
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-phot…
Well with things like that flying around, klyde, who needs to worry about a bike on a sidewalk 😉
http://gizmodo.com/the-aluminum-airship-of…
Cool looking airship but isn’t there a global concern about the supply of helium?
can we get this post renamed please?
Pride – Integrity – Guts – Sacrifice.
Let the title stand as a reminder to the OP of just what a petty, insignificant, shallow, trivial little mollusc he is.
Thanks, Mod. >: )
hmm, the disturbance in the force is gone xray oscar xray
ta!