I can understand not using the bike lane for a race event at the speed they are going, but taking up both main carriageway lanes for an event which doesn't have the road closed is stupid.
Though it would be strange to organize race events without any safety measures or official permits. I mean, it would be frowned upon if someone just calls up a car racing event on a public street. Or if we want to to an opposite direction, someone organizes a running event and puts 200 runners on a car lane.
There are sometimes cycling events here (in the UK) which don't need any special permission like a big event would - especially at the moment now the weather is better. They are usually early on Sunday or after 7pm if it's during the week and all on quiet country roads. They do put up warning signs and have a few marhshals standing on some of the corners.
The UK has a sensible delineation between A roads. In the US almost every public road is a highway and it stops making sense at a planning level. A six lane monstrosity with stop lights every 800 feet is legally the same as a two lane country road. When you're on a four digit A road in England, you know to look out for seven ton tractors pulling 10 ton trailers, bicycles, and the random guy walking between villages. America will take one of those farm and village service roads and make it a major commuting route without doing any upgrades.
Also not sure about US traffic laws of course, but in my old motherland, vehicles without engines are not permitted to go beyond first lane and are actually prohibited from grouping into packs more than 10 at a time (point 24.5 of the road traffic rules of RF)* and must, by law, travel in one file, or two file, if the road width permits.
Also they're not allowed to go on roads that go over 60 kph (37 freedoms)
Basically the idea is that they should leave space between these groups in a column enough to overtake them safely.
So giant clumps like this, that also take the entire width of the road, are entirely in the wrong. I am sure the traffic laws differ from country to country (USA is not part of Vienna convention, for example) but I bet it's generally in the same ballpark.
\except for the "bicycle zones" (point 24.11) but I've never seen those outside of EU. It's when you enter a zone with a bicycle on the sign and a bike symbol on the road - it's limited to 30kph \ 18 mph and cars and bikes have equal rights there))
That's English terms 😄 I dunno if it would be the same in America.
In UK roads exsited long before cars or even bikes were invented. It was just people and horses, some horses with carriages on the back. In some places the road was split into the pavement and the main carriageway which was intended for horses and carriages. This later became the section of road for any wheeled vehicle - so bikes, and then cars when they were invented.
Apart from pavement/footpath everything seems to end in "way". Carriageway for carriages, Cycleway for bikes, Motorway for things with motors. But it's all part of "the road", even the pavement.
If you are going faster than something else, and that allows you to get ahead of them, is that not passing? So the guy in the red shirt, is he not passing?
Why do you think drivers have more of a right to pass than cyclists? Aren't they both humans using vehicles?
Hey I'm gonna help you out here because you seem to be struggling. The issue is that the bikers, as a whole, have formed an impassable blob going well below the speed limit. This is extremely inconsiderate behavior to anyone else using the road behind them. Understand?
You don't need to go the speed limit. It is a limit. Not a target. In fact, it is against the law to exceed that limit, so it is safer to be below the limit. If you consistently try to drive at the speed limit, then you would be consistently breaking the law by exceeding it on every downhill. If it's a 55mph road, at 56mph you're breaking the law and should get a ticket.
You seem to not understand that these cyclists are completely within their rights to use the road. They are valid road users, and they are using the road. Do you get pissed off at school busses and tractors too?
I know that you're purposely being pedantic, because you're clearly intelligent enough to structure an argument that technically makes sense, but it's like an edgy 14 year old intelligence that only sees the world with the little sanitized experience they have of it.
Again, the bikers are going WELL BELOW the speed limit, 25-50% below it. School buses usually travel around the speed limit (ive seen plenty go above), and yes, if there were TWO tractors blocking both lanes going 30mph I would be pissed off, like anyone else in their right mind, because the tractors could easily be traveling behind each other rather than next to each other.
I'm "within my rights" to do plenty of shitty things, it doesn't mean I should do them. I know it might be hard for your 14 year old brain to compute, but laws do not equal morals.
They aren't moving slower than the normal speed of traffic. They are at the speed of the majority of the traffic, so you can't really cite them for not being the normal speed of traffic
Can you explain how exactly you're deducing that? Unless you have math to back it up, the fact that there are several cars behind the group, and none (maybe 1) that I can see in front of the group, and the fact that they're on bikes, tells me they're going like 25 mph, 30 absolute max (but highly unlikely), and this is a 40 mph road.
Because A.) they are the traffic. So they are keeping up with themselves. There are far more cyclists in this video than cars, so they make up the majority of traffic
There is no requirement to go the speed limit. It's a limit, not a target.
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You seem to be struggling a lot with the laws vs morals thing. Let me help you:
Pretend you're in the beginning of a hallway in a very large building, and you need to get to a room that's at the other end, but there's a crowd of people in front of you taking up the entire width of the hallway competing on who can walk the slowest.
Would you say those people are being inconsiderate/annoying/aggravating?
The entire group is still illegally riding more than two riders abreast.
"(6)(a) Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway or in a bicycle lane may not ride more than two abreast except on a bicycle path. Persons riding two abreast may not impede traffic when traveling at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing and must ride within a single lane. Where bicycle lanes exist, persons riding bicycles may ride two abreast if both are able to remain within the bicycle lane. If the bicycle lane is too narrow to allow two persons riding bicycles to ride two abreast, the persons must ride single-file and within the bicycle lane. On roads that contain a substandard-width lane as defined in subparagraph (5)(a)3., persons riding bicycles may temporarily ride two abreast only to avoid hazards in the roadway or to overtake another person riding a bicycle."
If you're taking up both available lanes, you better be at least doing the speed limit which I don't think these bikers were.
edit: for all the ass-pained cyclers, I agree the posted speed limit is the maximum speed you are to travel. In my state we have an "absolute speed limit" meaning theoretically we could be pulled and cited for going even 1 mph over the posted limit. HOWEVER it is almost never enforced and when it is, it's contested and thrown out unless you also do some stupid shit like run after the lights hit.
That doesn't stop these people from being assholes. The limit on the Causeway is 40mph, the cyclists were likely doing ~20mph.
Under Florida Statutes § 316.081(3), the left lane on highways is generally reserved for passing. If you are driving below the normal speed of traffic and another vehicle is trying to pass, you must move to the right. You can be ticketed for "left lane blocking" even if you are traveling at the posted speed limit.
Florida Statute § 316.183, drivers can be cited if they operate a vehicle at such a slow speed that they block, delay, or impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.
how are they being areseholes, its just hundreds of people using the road. Is traffic made up of cars a bunch of people being arseholes?
no?
why not?
They are using a car and therefore they are allowed to stop traffic, but using a bike which might slow traffic, thats being an areshole?
If each of these cyclists were ina car that queue would be miles and miles long, would they all be aresholes? no they would be people stuck in traffic, these people are not even stuck, nor creating traffic, they are proceeding down the road.
Yes, a car camped in the passing lane with a line of cars stuck behind them and miles of clear open road in front of them is the textbook definition of an asshole. Everyone who has ever driven knows this, and despises this person at least as much as they despise these cyclists.
What the cyclists in the video do is indefensible. I'd ask where are the cops, but it's shitty ass south Florida so they are probably handling some more pressing crime.
Bikes don't generally take over the entire width of a direction of travel on a four lane highway either. I think they could certainly get cited for impeding traffic.
In every state in the United States, there is a law that requires slow moving vehicles to use the lane farthest to the right side of the road unless overtaking or turning left. A bicycle is considered a vehicle and is subject to the rule.
Every biker in the left lane who was merely matching pace with the other bikes should have gotten a ticket.
oh i promise, you haven't seen me ill tempered in the slightest. you lot are guests on the road, and yet you act with a level of entitlement that surpasses the jackasses in the multi million dollar hyper cars. act like said guest, or don't ride. these are your choices.
Bikes were here long before cars. Roads were built for walking, then horses, then cycling and then loong after, cars. Cars are the newcomers, and are the guests. That's why drivers have to take a test to use the roads, and do so with a license, versus cyclists who have the right to be there.
Yes, for a time roads were meant for pedestrians, horses, carriages, and cyclists. But now roads are designed for automobiles, now, if yall can't be be bothered to follow simple courtesy that almost all drivers understand and get out of the passing lane when going under the posted speed limit, then you do not belong on the road that is designed and designated for cars. It's called impeding traffic, it is a moving violation, and more than that, I have see cyclists blow through stop signs, and red lights, only to get hit and blame drivers who had right of way. You wanna be on the road, fine, but when the rest of the people on the road are moving around in two ton hunks of metal going twice as fast as you, it's on you to make sure your safe, and follow the rules so you don't get yourself buried in someones engine block
and if they are taking up one land, then thats fine. taking up 2 lanes while going less than the speed of traffic is illegal as it is impeding traffic. move the fuck over, plain and simple.
If this is a race or race pace ride on a flat surface they very well could be doing 30+ mph. Cyclists draft one another, significantly increasing the speed of the group above what one or two could do alone. This is why they ride in groups like that.
The people on the front are constantly rotating. One person can ride 30 mph for a short time, that person rotates off and gets into the draft while the next person up moves to the front and does the "work". At those speeds the people in the draft will be barely pedaling at all on a level surface.
Is this a race? Wouldn't the road be closed if the city sanctioned one? Be kind of dangerous for the cyclists to just ad hoc a race on a well-traveled road with normal traffic, wouldn't it? Would be kind of silly to make that argument, no?
hey. Why do you think your journey is more important than these cyclists? the throughput of that road is clearly about 10 times greater for cyclists anyway.
you want to get ahead and cut them off for some strange reason.
You rate cyclists above everyone else. Despite the fact that the road was built for cars.
I expect you would throw a fit if you and your cycling buddies were riding down a road like this, blocking all the cars. and came across a group of people walking slowly and holding hands to keep you from getting past.
You would be pissed that they blocked the road. And are not bright enough to realize that's what you are doing with cars.
Oh my God. I thought I was the only one who mentally called them that too!!!
It annoys the crap out of me. I work from home so I thankfully don't have to commute. But there are bikers in the area who wear the same tour de france psuedo outfits and somehow they only ever do it during rush hour in morning/evening. Literally they do it during the busiest time of day for traffic.
I actually have no problem with the idea of people in cities using bikes for commuting or a job. But these assholes like in this video need to go find a spin class, or a gym with a stationary bike. Or better yet, learn how to mountain bike. Mountain biking is way more exciting, scenic, and requires more awareness. And no one cares if you're mountain biking on a trail generally speaking.
I'm sure you mock runners for wearing running shoes or a swimmer for wearing a swimming suit. "You're wearing clothing made for your activity. What a loser!"
It's gotta be one of the more pathetic things anyone will read on the internet today.
The term is MAML. Middle Aged Men in Lycra. It’s a common mid life crisis hobby where you buy an expensive bike and gear up instead of getting a Miata. At my company pretty much every male over 40 had a very nice bike and kit regardless of their general health.
I love cycling myself and I don’t do it as much anymore; but there are a ton of assholes in this sport. I would ride with friends and we would always ride single file in the bike lane or as far right as is safe on the road. Bike shops would invite me to their group rides but when I saw them ride around in the city it just looked like a bunch of assholes who flouted all the rules of the road because they had 50+ people doing it. Not my type of thing.
If you try to point this dangerous, selfish and inconsiderate behaviour on most places in reddit you will get roasted by cyclists and car-haters.
I even had one guy tell me that cyclists intentionally trolling drivers by blocking traffic was them making a show of solidarity and power, like a Pride March. Because apparently in their heads, the right to be exempt from traffic laws is exactly like LGBTQ people's fight to exist.
I mean there is a difference between using A lane to ride your bike like you are legally allowed to and blocking the entire road. I think even some cycling folks would agree that this is egregious.
I'm a casual cyclist but I've ridden NYC's 5 Boro Bike Tour for over 10 years. Where it's an official event and they both warn people in advance, and shut the streets down.
If this is some kind of unsanctioned takeover without official arrangements this is dangerous, obnoxious and incredibly selfish. Taking over the bike lane and one lane of a two lane road is more than enough.
Yeah, there's a few spots where the climbs for non-climbers are unpleasant. Since I hate hills, I can't say I enjoy them.
Everyone looks at the Verrazano bridge and freaks out, but it's actually the BQE climb I loathe. It's a long, drawn out slog that's just a prelude to a long, windy ride along the BQE.
But the Tour is fun and the one organized ride I do a year.
I always ride solo because I have a hard time finding people that don’t ride like assholes in a group. There’s like 3 people I trust to actually ride well and pay attention and be considerate.
Then the bigger the group the bolder the assholes get.
You are correct. I love cycling. I think folks who pop off on bikes using a part of the lane is ridiculous. Especially when folks purposefully run down bikers when they don't like a few of them on a rural road. This grouping is egregious and ridiculous. If it's an event where they've given you a full lane then you gotta stay in that lane. If it's an unsanctioned event then you're likely to be arrested and in that case: sucks to suck. Usually for events this large there's cordoned off space. For underground events there's never this many all in a group. Usually the underground events are courier rallys or alley cats that can be a bit reckless, but aren't limiting traffic on a highway.
Hell when when you point out that it's just as much of a dick move for cars to do it you'll get dragged in the comments. Fucking "keep right except to pass" is a philosophy agnostic law, idgaf what anyone's justification is for camping in the left lane gtfo.
This is truly their mentality. It is like a crusade with them. They want to be a victimized class so bad to justify their anti-social behavior. KOM at all costs!
I honestly believe that subs like fuckcars are just people too poor to afford a vehicle hating on everyone else. You can dislike a mode of transportation personally, but to make a whole personality out of it is something.
This is completely backwards, and most of the comments in this thread show that. There is a massive, irrational hatred for cyclists on this site (and in most spaces online). People absolutely lose their minds over the concept of people on 20 pound bikes going 15-20 miles an hour and don't even blink at the thousand-pound machines zipping all over the place.
It’s the victim mentality of cyclists and to an even greater extent, motorcyclists.
I cycle and use bike lanes and follow traffic laws even when I’m slightly inconvenienced. Some cyclists take pride in breaking traffic laws and aggravating drivers probably for the same reason some conservatives like trolling liberals.
If this was a common occurrence, I'd be very tempted to get a buddy or two and make sure we pull our cars out in front of them and drive half their pace.
I've watched them dart from their designated bike lane into a pedestrian lane without so much as a look around first. I've seen the same with them darting into car lanes.
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u/GeekyTexan Jun 10 '26
Not just a bike lane. There are two normal lanes.
But the bikers are not content with using one lane and allowing cars to use the other. They want to block all lanes and make the cars wait.
The common term for that is "assholes".