sfba.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
A Mastodon instance for the San Francisco Bay Area. Come on in and join us!

Administered by:

Server stats:

2.5K
active users

Phil (ascentale)

An introspective question from @nick

Q3. What annoying thing do YOU do on rides? (yes YOU not others)

I ask this because I've caught myself coasting when im tired, peddle peddle coast peddle. It annoys me and i know its annoying if you're behind someone that does this.

(update to add some clarity: sfba.social/@nick@biketoot.com)

cc @bikenite

@nick A3. Sometimes I probably slow down too much at a stop sign. Hopefully nothing else! Maybe I talk to loud to my kid 😅

Q3. What annoying thing do YOU do on rides? (yes YOU not others)

Um. I have no idea. I never ride with anyone else, and I'm pretty adept at not annoying myself.


@ascentale @nick @bikenite

@EverydayMoggie @ascentale @nick @bikenite A3) According to motorists, being on the road at all. ;-) #BikeNite

@ascentale @nick @bikenite
#BikeNite A3:
The only annoying thing I can think of is the fact, by my presence on a road or street with a bicycle, that I may be annoying drivers who are in too big a hurry. Too bad.

Oh, drivers. I'm sure I've annoyed many of those. I don't think they really count.


@MartyCormack @ascentale @nick @bikenite

@EverydayMoggie @MartyCormack @ascentale @nick @bikenite A3 I like to reframe it: if I were a slow car or truck, drivers would have to wait to go around... So what? I also drive the speed limit which annoys drivers too. I do at least stay in the left lane, and yet still make drivers mad that I am so slow in the slow lane. #BikeNite

@lopta @MartyCormack @ascentale @nick @bikenite Ha! Me too. I usually answer first before reading the other replies! 😀🚴‍♂️

@ascentale@sfba.social @nick@biketoot.com @bikenite@a.gup.pe A3: If a rider coasting in front of you bothers you, you'd better not ride behind me! j/k... I sometimes listen to music while riding using my handlebar-mounted phone. I sometimes crank it up all the way to "beat" the wind. That must bother some other road users. #BikeNite

@daihard @ascentale @bikenite @nick A3 ditto, I frequently use a speaker to play music. It annoys pedestrians on the trail that are trying to hold a conversation. But they hear me coming and half of the time move over. The other half of the time I follow 5ft behind them until they realize I'm there and move over. But I don't have to yell or use a bell. #BikeNite

@ascentale @nick @bikenite A3: I don't need to annoy anyone on a bike, my mere existence annoys people enough!

@ascentale @nick @bikenite I take far too many photos. I would go as far as saying an unreasonable number. This is partly why I have such a poor average speed. I definitely don't cycle for the PRs. I like distance, calories burned and how much I've enjoyed the scenery. The rest doesn't matter to me, but it probably does matter to fellow cyclists. #BikeNite #BikeToot

@Cycling_Liz @dgodon @ascentale @bikenite i have 1000s that all look like this 🤣. I should generate a montage some day

@Cycling_Liz @ascentale @nick @bikenite cycling photos are excellent. Other peoples' even more so, interesting insights into where they are, who they are, where they ride

(edit. I re-read that and it makes it sound like they only exist for others' benefit. not my intention. Cycling photos for ones own are equally or can be more memorable)

@ascentale @nick @bikenite A3. I imagine the most annoying thing I do is speed past mile long lines of cars waiting at the red light, forcing any driver who notices me to contemplate the fact that I have an faster average speed than they do.

And since I always wear bright orange when cycling, and have bright lights in both wheels, they had BETTER notice me!

@yantor3d @ascentale @nick @bikenite #BikeNite there's a special kind of pleasure that you can only experience bicycling when traffic is completely locked up. Grid lock, no one going anywhere for an hour kind of pleasure.

@ascentale @nick @bikenite A3: I do whatever counts as a “side hit” in road biking - jumping curbs, hopping off to a parallel dirt trail on a multi-use bikeway, etc. I ride with a roadie group that’s generally cool with it, though I’m the only one who does it. #BikeNite

@ascentale @nick @bikenite #BikeNite Q3. When I have the opportunity, passing someone with a carbon fiber bicycle in spandex, while wearing cargo pants on a steel framed road bike from the 1980's. 🤪

@ai6yr
@ascentale @nick @bikenite

Heh. Same. MAMILs—the most disliked lifeform on earth.

(Middle-aged men in Lycra)

@ai6yr A friend did that, pedaling uphill, with his young daughter in a seat on the back of his bicycle. This was after the others had sneered when they’d passed dad and daughter on a flat stretch earlier. We can only imagine their jaws dropping when she turned to wave bye-bye to them. @ascentale @nick @bikenite

@ascentale @nick @bikenite What? Freewheeling is part of what makes the bicycle efficient. Why is that "annoying"??

@ascentale @nick @bikenite A3. I'm surprised you feel that way. Do you only go on roadie rides?

The rides I go on, when I go on them, are no-drop. People are sometimes going to be tired and sometimes people are going to coast.

------------

I guess what I do on rides that's annoying is verbalize instead of just keeping it to myself when something annoys me. I need to learn to be quietly grumpy if I'm not justly grumpy in everyone's eyes. #BikeNite

@meganL @nick @bikenite

Yeah, I can see that being an issue if one is riding in a tightly-packed group where maintaining a constant speed is important to avoid crashing.

It's been a while for me, but I get it. We would call out "coasting" to let the person behind know.

@ascentale @meganL @nick @bikenite That is not what I'd consider "going on a ride". To me that's sport training, and nothing to do with everyday cycling.

@spacehobo @ascentale @nick @bikenite I do think it's good etiquette to call out slowing to a stop (there's a hand signal for it, although drivers and cyclists alike seem to forget it), but I think expecting everyone to be going the same speed all the time is unrealistic at the very least. #BikeNite

@meganL @spacehobo @nick @bikenite Yeah, I should clarify, that the example in the question does seem mostly related to riding for sport, and I can see it in the context of my own experience of riding for sport. It's definitely not an expectation for an everyday ride and I don't think the question was intended to be asked that way.

@ascentale @meganL @nick @bikenite It just seems like sport cycling is such a niche exception that it should be called out every time that is the framing. I suspect a lot of the people participating here have never lived anywhere people actually cycle, and it's damned confusing to read between the lines in their posts.

@spacehobo @ascentale @nick @bikenite Hey hey, let's keep the judgment out of it, please. ("bizarre") Let's keep #BikeNite friendly for all kinds of cyclists, even competitive road cyclists.

@meganL @ascentale @nick @bikenite Fair. Removed. I just felt like there was this hidden message of "you're annoying if you freewheel in public" that felt like I was trying to work out if I was being insulted or not.

@spacehobo 90% of my rides are solo. I was trying to frame the question to be about what habits you may have picked up that you yourself find annoying that you try to get out of. Mine happens to be coasting when i should be pedaling (spelt correctly :D), when i catch myself doing it i get annoyed with myself

@nick Yeah, I just can't understand the frame of mind that puts that "should" in, sorry. It's like policing the number of times you push a lift call button or something. Pedal when you feel like it helps, and relax and let the bike roll along. It's just about getting to where you need to go.

@nick I hope you're not being too hard on yourself! It's ok to rest! but I suppose it's also okay to feel annoyed at yourself 😅

@ascentale for me its like leaving a light on / forgetting where you put your keys / not charging your lights or bike compute...., you know its not the end of the world but its annoying, especially if you keep doing it 🤣.

@meganL @ascentale @nick @bikenite I'm kind of going to disagree on this. If there's a red (or amber, really) light, EVERYONE should slow to a stop. If there are give-way markings, EVERYONE should slow down. It won't be a surprise.

I suspect these sport trainer types are riding too close for anyone but the front riders to actually pay attention to the road conditions, which is another reason it's a bizarre exception to the way people actually ride bikes.

@spacehobo @ascentale @nick @bikenite I'm referring to stops that are not at a stoplight or stop sign, but stops people are making where it's not generally expected.

Those do happen on friendly rides (to put on sunscreen, to tend to a child, etc). and if they're not signaled, they can sometimes cause crashes. #BikeNite

@meganL @ascentale @nick @bikenite Yeah, absolutely. But honestly even motorists just indicate a turn to stop at the kerb. That's probably easier to remember than a "special" hand-signal.

Of course I'm in a place where hand signals are more natural, and aren't mandated with the assumption that they're happening out a car window.

@spacehobo @ascentale @bikenite Yeah, I think it's more of a necessary when you're in a big group, particularly with cyclists who are not as experienced (whether solo or in a group).

We get tons of new cyclists in Davis every year. People who haven't ridden since they were kids or haven't ridden ever before. They cause LOTS of collisions because they have no sense of situational awareness. #BikeNite

@spacehobo @bikenite
If you're in a crowd cycling and signal a turn, they may think you're turning where the road turns ahead instead of turning to stop at the curb or turn entirely off the road.

Nearly got hit very hard by someone turning entirely off a roundabout, over a sidewalk, and into a tucked-away cycle rack. Didn't signal that one at all verbally or with hand signals.

I actually followed them to "have a litle talk" with them because they so nearly hit me without remorse. #BikeNite

@meganL @bikenite See, but if you're pointing downward with your hand, that usually means "I'm changing lanes in this direction soon" rather than a right-angle turn. Like, "I'm aiming for THAT patch of tarmac." We just point where we're actually going here, instead of dealing in abstractions.

@spacehobo @bikenite All pointing is abstract. It requires connecting something between the action of a primate putting their finger somewhere and anything that might be going on outside the primate.

@meganL @bikenite Sure, but a simple universal "going THERE" rule is easier than "If I were in a motorcar with left-hand drive you wouldn't be able to see my right arm, so holding my left arm out with my elbow bent and fingers pointing up means a right turn and...."

@meganL @ascentale @bikenite I'm worried people are reading this as what annoys me is OTHER people coasting, its not, its ME coasting that annoys ME. It breaks up my rhythm & if someone is behind me it'll break their rhythm too

@nick @meganL @bikenite ahh! I can edit the original to include this context! Sorry about that

@ascentale @meganL @bikenite its obviously my poorly worded question!

@nick No worries. I kept having to edit my answer because I found it could be misinterpreted as well. I hope you don't feel bad about it all. #BikeNite

@nick @meganL @bikenite it's ok! I prefer that we be able to ask questions casually and be able to clarify if needed.

@ascentale @nick @bikenite

A3. Did that a lot today, but I'm never annoyed by it.

I like to go slow and I like to stop. A lot. But not for long. Very different from most people who don't stop often. go faster, but take much longer breaks. Pretty large reason I usually bicycle alone.