Anyway, thanks to Jan Hoffman and the Times, and thanks everybody for reading. It's Saturday, though, so get on your bikes. (Unless of course you're an Orthodox Jew.)
--BSNYC/RTMS
Saturday, August 9, 2008
This Just In: BSNYC Posts on Saturday (and is quoted in the New York Times)
I normally don't post on Saturdays, but I am today for two reasons: firstly, I want to end any speculation that I am an Orthodox Jew (not that there's anything wrong with that); and secondly, I want to share the fact that I've been quoted in the New York Times. It's not every day you're quoted by a newspaper of record, and it's definitely not every day you get to rant about the idiot who almost ran you over in a newspaper of record.
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85 comments:
1st ah ha ha ha haaaaaa
Umm, you alwyas struck me as more in the reform mould.
PODIUM!
Menchov!
Rogers!!!!
ghost!
#6! cuz no noe ever checks bike snob on weekends!
Top 10. Time for a beer
BARRY!!!!
i was hoping it would be "mr. snob."
bikers want all the privileges and none of the rules...nothing a good stick in the spokes can't cure...
Shabbat Shalom.
Podium plus eleven
That's Mr.BSNYC to you pal.
@11:27: FAIL
once again with the escalating violence. make sure you find some little kid to knock down, 'cause if i run across your sad ass, you and your stick are going to enter a very short-lived painful relationship.
get a life shit pants.
Stupid driver moment.
Cycling home and stopped at an uncontrolled intersection with a busy 4 lanes road. One car to my left waiting for the gap to go straight (as am I) a car in front of us in the median turn out waiting to turn across our paths to reverse direction. Lots of cross traffic.
A small Honda in the traffic coming from the left slows and pulls over a bit to kinda block both lanes, stops and the drive starts waving like mad for all of us waiting to go ahead and cross. Neither the waiting cars nor I move.
Honda drive gets more insistent as following traffic starts pulling around her ineffective roadblock. She gives up and takes off, almost clipping an SUV as she gets back into one lanes.
Guess I'm just unappreciative of the beneficence our motorized brethren wish to bestow upon us.
RTMS,
Good on the NYT coverage, too bad cycling is still covered in the fashion section. Unless you're David Byrne, of course. Some day you'll be accept just like an aging talking head.
Shalom-
Was just in the city this week from my Saratoga encampment, showing my brother around, staying in my borrowed upper west side hideout.
A young lady of considerable means obliviously stepped out, into the bike lane, earning the wrath of a passing cyclist via some crazy synthesized siren sound thing (um, cheap little bell anyone?).
Her quote to her Hummer-parking boyfriend "That biker idiot almost hit me!"
I'm truly thankful to live up here in the pickup driving, gun rack hauling upstate. Because, you know, being hit by a pissed off F350 driver and left in a ditch to die, that's just so much safer than the city.
I'm moving to the moon. The climbs are easier.
ha! i figured you'd post today after i saw the article. nicely ranted.
Mayor of Simpleton:
Don't presume to know what "bikers want." Drivers of your ilk seem to be under the impression that people in cars always obey every traffic law. You're full of shit, you know it, and now we do, too.
I bought myself a new bumper sticker, ... I may have to put it on our rarely used car, since on my bike it might incur road rage
it says so much of what I too often want to:
"Put the cell phone down and just concentrate on being a shitty driver"
Love your blog! Big thanks to the NY Times for making the introduction.
Finally, someone who understands nuance and humor -- without obsessing over a particular sub-sect of bike culture -- is writing an NYC-based cycling blog.
The Craigslist reviews had me cracking up. You even made that [euphemism alert] "busty" woman defiling the Cervelo RS worth reading about -- although I did nearly lose my lunch once I clicked through and realized your pixelated paint job of her flesh wasn't exaggerated.
Blog on!
what a pleasant start to my afternoon, thanks for the face time :)
top 50! flabby randonneur rolls across the line
This Guy got it right with one exception:
the mayor said...
bikers want all the privileges and none of the rules...nothing a good stick in the spokes can't cure...
August 9, 2008 11:27 AM
As a former avid cyclist before it was ever so cool or popular, try late 70's and early 80's, I can tell you that the TRUTH is that today's cyclists are overwhelmingly way more ignorant, obnoxious and dangerous to so many on the road.
The traffic now days is so heavy and definitely more impatient and aggressive that you need to really be defensive whether you are riding or driving.
Since bicyclists do use the roads of this great land, which were built for motor vehicles BTW (a reality), why don't we make it FAIR for ALL? You know, everyone using the roads COMPLIES WITH THE SAME LAWS and RULES.
At age 16 you should have to pass a riding exam, get a license/endorsement, register your bike and pay an appropriate tax, and most importantly, put a license plate on your bike so we can all IDENTIFY you when you blow through lights, ride up sideWALKs, ride two, three, and four abreast thereby blocking traffic, cause accidents, ride against traffic, run over pedestrians, break the law and generally behave like little snot nose punks.
Playing by the rules will get you credibility! For every vehicle misbehavior a cyclist comes up with, a driver can come up with an equally egregious misbehavior by a cyclist. You aren't INNOCENT LITTLE VICTIMS.
Behave and follow the rules and you might get a lot more respect and empathy for your plight.
I DON'T advocate the spoke in the wheels idea but I can plainly see why someone would say that. Careful about the physical confrontation theory some of you are espousing here... you just might find yourself getting thumped by a 6'4", 220 lb former combat Recon Marine that loves Budo. Or possibly someone even more armed and dangerous...
Cyclists are practically totally unaccountable for their actions and should start being held accountable by being identified. Some good hefty fines, possibly incarcerations and other court actions (just like drivers face) should get most to straighten up and fly right. Then the playing field gets EVEN.
And then everyone can share the road EQUALLY ACCOUNTABLE. Can you rise to the challenge?
Signed:
Sad to see the current state of affairs
Anon 2:24
Stop being such a pussy. Go find your beloved 70's schwinn stingray and you just might learn how to ride a bike this time.
Hey, if you're so anonymous how does the Times know where to call you? Is there a BSNYC/RTMS listing in the phone book?
Anon 2:24, Former avid cyclist says it all, leave us alone.
Ahhhh, the first sign of intellectual weakness... an incorrect ad hominem attack!
and..... physical weakness too!
hmmmm, Pussy... the last word you would ever say to me in person.. but I'm sure you wouldn't have the balls to say it...
you little punk....
Two lexicological comments:
You have arrived. You are quoted as "the cycling blogger," not just "a cycling blogger." Congratulations.
I'll never ride on the sidewalks in LA, because I'm sure most of my behavior is “willful” or “wanton.”
I had a cop that was patrolling prospect park loop, look right at me then proceed to drift into the bike lane with his cruiser, pushing me out of the lane and into the runners lane at about twenty MPH. All the while he had a smirk on his face. He had his gun and badge swagger going something fierce. Cops are the worst drivers, followed by Taxis then Delivery Trucks. My life has flashed in front of my eyes so many times in this city, its starting to feel like old reruns. Also, thanks Bike Snob for inspiring us and teaching us to hate Top Tube Pads, Pie Plates and ourselves.
you hit the bit time baby.
j
ps- did i see you at city streets?? thought i did.
HOLLA!!!!
The NYT has a sort of batphone hotline to actually speak to RTMS!
cool....
Snobby-just back from vacation, missed you. Got a chance to eradicate some of the tan lines.
Way to go on the Times quote.
I ride on Armadillos too. Dark red sidewalls. They're like kitten heels for bikes.
What does RTMS mean?
Rip Torn's Mug Shot
(well, you asked)
YOu will need to do yyour homework and read every single post on this blog to get that, and then you still won't. I don't anyway.
It ain't bad to get mad.
anon 2:24
the shit you are complaining about is what makes cycling fun. If we did everything you said, whats the point of city riding. there would be no difference between us ('us' meaning everyone hear except you) and traffic. If people like you made the rules, cycling would be pointless.
in conclusion, FUCK YOU.
That is so funny. Im reading BSNYC as posts from far away NYC where it seems harder to ride and then he is in an article that mentions Woodside, where apparently it is really tough to drive your SUV. And where people on bikes get mad when you drive your HUGE SUV, which takes up more than half the width of some roads, through the center of a blind turn. Then are swarmed by cyclists, when you are barely keeping that behemoth on the road because the roads were made for smaller cars, going slower, and you are kinda driving recklessly, but isnt it easier just to get mad because cyclists are actually using "your" roads instead of just driving a little more slower and safer. I do feel bad for all those economic "highlanders" who feel their lives are infringed upon by regular people riding bikes in Woodside.
Can anyone repost the original article for us peons with no NYT subscription?
Anon 2:24,
Of course you realize that the moment you wrote the words... "you just might find yourself getting thumped by a 6'4", 220 lb former combat Recon Marine that loves Budo"... you just reinforced every negative stereotype everyone may have about the USMC. Your generalizations about bicyclists, like the generalizations people will form about the Corps based on your words are incorrectly based upon the actions of a few.
Fuel taxes, whether paid by private autos, busses, taxis etc... as well as property taxes pay for our roads and infrastructure. We have equal rights and responsibilities. In many states and municipalities it is a question of enforcement, not whether these laws are on the books.
Nobody is going back twenty or thirty years. The world is a much more dangerous threat made more dangerous by boasts and threats made under the anonymity of the internet.
"You wouldn't say that to me in person" generally equates to "You'll never see my outside my parent's basement". You can be as big and bad as you want if you never go into the world.
my favorite part of this article is the assumption that bike snob is a man! repeatedly i hear this in the comments too.
i have always thought that bike snob was a female, low to mid 30s...
We heard the snob on the radio, he is a guy.
Douchebags!!! Every cyclist who flaunts the traffic laws that everyone else has to abide by and then whines about the bad behavior of motor vehicles is a douchebag. Until you ride your bike like a responsible adult get used to being yelled at like your a little snot nosed kid. Unfortunately your behavior makes it bad for the rest of us. Enjoy your selfish lives douchebags.
Hey annazed, when was snobby on the radio?
your post sounds like a cover annazed...
please send link or history of "he" on the radio. i still think bike snob is a woman.
sexism: the perfect cover for bike snob. everyone assuming "it" is a man
@ Anon 2:24 (mr bushido with the schwinn from the 70's)
I am lucky enough to live in a one of the nicest Areas of the United Kingdom.
I do not like being tarred with the same stick as the odd few cyclist that seem to dis-obey traffic laws in the USA.
Living in a democracy like that of the USA, I would imagine it would be less futile to campaign about your ideas of number plate to your elected individual that manages these matters and not making sweeping generalizations about a large and diverse community on a internet message board.
"I want to end any speculation that I am an Orthodox Jew (not that there's anything wrong with that)"
Well, you know Bike Snob, it actually is something wrong with that! (And same goes for anything orthodox -insert favorite religion here-)
The NY Times article subtly points out a secondary problem with cycling on the road.
Beyond the road rage drivers, there are still the cyclists who interpret "share the road" as "take over the road".
I am an active recreational cyclist on Long Island, NY. In every ride members of our group...cut through red lights when there is traffic moving, fail to single up when there are cars back and do other things that give bicycling a bad name.
While there will always be hostile and nasty drivers when it comes to cyclists -- we should, at least, not give motorists additional ammunition with poor riding etiquette.
Webmaster
http://www.thebicyclesite.com
I think that you are both right. Maybe "he" is a hermaphrodite. They are allowed to post on Saturdays, aren't they?
Your closely guarded identity, and the resulting mystique, is your biggest draw. If you're ever discovered RTMS it's all over. OVER!
-Michael Ball, CEO and Creative Director of Rock & Republic
OK you lazy sods, I looked it up for you. Here's the link to the post where the snob links to the snob on the radio (ok, podcast):
http://tinyurl.com/PodacstPost
It is, I believe, his slightly Woodyesque cadence combined with his rapier wit that has lent creedence to the theory that he is one of the chosen ones (not that there's anything wrong with that!)
Now, this is the last time that I will do this for you guys. In future, you will be expected to have read and retained every single BSNYC post (and comments)on BSNYC before expressing any opinions.
Those who do so will also become aware of what in means to have my attention drawn to you as a poster; not good.
Just sayin'...
AnnaZed:
Oi vey!
I think "Woodyesque cadence" is an understatement. My fantasies of RTMS being a woman have been destroyed. Though I'm a little skeptical that he would do a podcast for a guy with a cycling cap as a logo.
http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/bik/787796302.html
Here is an interesting bike that is a "serious deal". It has been ridden "EVERYWHERE" but considering it will "make you a little more of a badass" because of the damage (?), I think it is a small price to pay. Please don't flood him with too many responses as I'm sure he will have an overabundance of buyers to choose from.
I couldn't think of anyone who would appreciate this more than bsnyc readers.
Why did the Times use a photo of a guy wearing flip flops to go along with the article? Other than not wearing a helmet and riding brakeless, wearing flip flops is one of the stupidest things you can do on a bike.
war has been declared on hipster bikes...first stop williamsburg...flat tires for all track bikes...let the fun begin...
i am the anon who earlier pointed out bike snob being possibly a woman. the podcast might not mean anything..."warhol" lectured the midwest.remember JT Leroy?
as someone who studied narratology in college (and thus "Society Cant Use Me") i have studied the construction of the bsny sentences, the way bsny offers anogy, and the stereotypical subject matter bsny critiques; and culturally, they speak to a woman poster low to mid 30s, probably from nj or long island, middle class background.
but i am also unemployed, pot bellied and (i swear) eating a chocolate donut as i type this.
so much for Bakhtin and my class on profiling at the RAND...
THE REAL BACK STORY BEHIND BSNYC's NY TIMES APPEARANCE:
My friends say I'm crazy because I believe in BSNYC. I say he's real because he leaves us presents five days a week.
My friends say no one has ever seen him and therefore, presents notwithstanding, he's just like Santa Claus and isn't real.
My therapist told me about a little girl whose friends claimed that Santa wasn't real. She asked her father who told her to write to their newspaper and if the newspaper said Santa was real, why then of course he was real.
Well, we all know what happened. The paper published the little girl's inquiry and responded, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."
So I dedcided to write the editors of the New York Times, asking them to settle the dispute as to whether BSNYC was real.
Imagine my surprise when I opened the Sunday New York Times Style Section and saw a quote from BSNYC!
Why it was just like a secret coded message assuring me that BSNYC was real,
I can't wait to tell my therapist and friends that BSNYC is real and the Times printed a secret message just for me to prove it.
Hmmmph! Who's crazy now?
...so, anon 6:43pm...
...if you really believe that "war has been declared on hipster bikes...first stop williamsburg...flat tires for all track bikes...let the fun begin..., do you have the sense of fair play & commitment (ie: the heuvos) to walk up & just start letting air out of tires when a buncha fixers are parked in front of a local watering hole...
...that would be the honest way of waging your little war...& i'm thinking there's probably gonna be a few folks standing around outside, "shooting the shit"...
...just wonderin'...
After just summoning up enough courage to jump back on by bike after collecting frequent flier points going over the bars and mangling my hand and having inserts/ surgery I was amazed by the ignorance of the pedestrian colony.
In just 20 metres I just avoided a woman walking blindly across the road after talking to someone in the middle of the road, to be confronted by a pram pushing imbecile, mobile phone in one hand and a coffee in the other blindly crossing the road 3 metres in front of me. Being a little more than wary I let go with a string of deletives that would make a street walker blush. The response from both was that I was in the wrong and should not be there.
Problem is that the non riding public think we are vermin and have no rights on the road
Anonymous said...war has been declared on hipster bikes...first stop williamsburg...flat tires for all track bikes...let the fun begin...6:43 PM
Ah, the pen is mightier, and more sportsmanlike, and less like the actions of an asshole.
Mmmm forgot to get to the point. Anon 2.24 you can stick number plates, registrations, road rules and the like over ever square inch of my bike and nothing will be achieved other than weighing it down and creating another level of big brother bureaucratic navel gazing rules. And as a rider some 25 millenniums ago, it would have been hoped that you may show some empathy ….WRONG
You approve of a drunk and disheveled Rip Torn?
Or have you mistook him for an Orthodox Jew?
Man, woman, hermaphrodite.... he/she could be a transvestite?!
To be sure, we need those crazed drivers to start taking photos of the crazed cyclists taking their photos...
I've heard enough debate here now to understand that most you posting on this blog really, just don't understand. The final word is that as a bicyclist, most state law gives you the same rights as a motor vehicle but that goes along with following the same rules. Bottom line is that unless you follow the same rules that cars are bound by, you are in the wrong, period. One of the rules that cars are bound by is that pedestrians always have the right of way. Calm the fu$k down! I guarantee that the 30 seconds you lose by slowing down for a pedestrian in the road is just about as unimportant as the 30 seconds that SUV driver loses by cutting your sorry ass off at an intersection. If you can't follow the rules of the road...stay off the road and ride on the sidewalks with the 5 year olds.
...anon 12:28am...while in theory, you may be right regarding the written law, you don't seem to have any regard for the practicality of most rider/ pedestrian situations...it's not always quite so black & white...
...i'm of an age & acceptance where personally, i regularly do give people the 'right of way' when i'm out on my bike...not always, but when it's practical, i feel the need to try & promote a certain amount of good will...
...that being said, i don't roll over like a puppy if someone transgresses into my space...hell, dude, i am a 'moving vehicle' & your likely to hear a few choice words if you're basically threatening me by stepping out into my path...
...anyway, i agree that we as cyclists need to better pay attention to traffic laws, but to reiterate, it's never just black & white...sometimes your intelligent response or quick reaction, just might save your life, when encountering one of those 'gray' areas...
Could not care less about the 30 seconds or what ever to slow down. It is the 0.25 seconds notice that a pedestrian gives you prior to walking in front of you or the 2 tonne vehicle pulling right in front of you, when it takes 3 -4 seconds to stop irrespective of who is right or wrong. Solution I will get a person of need to be employed as my personal valet and run 20 m in front of me waving a red flag warning all of my impending arrival.
And most laws require the pedestrian/ driver/ rider to ensure that the passage is safe prior to proceeding in a direction change/ intersection/roadway etc.
If I obey the laws it gives me cold comfort and even less physical security to know that there are numskulls( riders/ drivers/ pedestrians) out there that could not care less and do not wear the consequences of their actions
OK, everyone that found out about RTMS this past weekend, go back and read every post, from June 2007 to now. If you are amused, and enjoy them, continue coming here. Otherwise fuck off.
Likewise, anyone that feels that someone owns the roads, or has ever uttered or typed something about equal rights, equal responsibilities, fuck off. I will operate my vehicle in a way that is least likely to get any of us killed, and I ask you to do the same.
First!
"I will operate my vehicle in a way that is least likely to get any of us killed, and I ask you to do the same."
Couldn't have said it better. The way you negotiate 18lbs. of steel through traffic is a lot different than how you safely handle 4,000lbs of steel. The rules can't apply equally in the real world. That's just common sense. So yes, I do proceed through red lights when I have verified no one is coming in either direction at an intersection. That doesn't make it okay for a car to do that.
Hmmmm...Saturday post. Looks like it has re-upped our troll supply as well as confirmed that RTMS is a conservative Jew.
Mazal tov!
So it seems like the motorists want bicycles to follow the rules of the road-- great. Really.
Believe it or not, I DO follow the rules of the road and MOST of the time this behavior is the best thing to do to keep me alive and kick'n. But, consider...
It's 2 a.m., the bars just got out and there's a red light and no cars at the intersection. Do you think it is safe to sit there and wait for some drunk to plow into me from behind while I wait for the green?
No way.
And since nobody was there, nobody saw me break the rules and if a tree falls in the forest...
Idiot cycles DO suffer consequences-- they get hit!
big fucking deal.
...dear china 12:57pm...how can you save face w/ yer head up yer butt ???...
As for that 6'4" ex-Marine who is going to issue a thumping, be careful he could be the one riding the bike! We're not all little tiny dude's. So we can all curse back and forth, but think twice before getting out of your vehicle.
Frilly, as a women's fashion appreciator, I think I love you: "...like kitten heels for bikes."
!!!
And for those of you who don't know what kitten heels are, I'm sorry...
I have the answer: join the NRA and pack heat when you are riding...
I'm all in favor of registering bikes and mandating insurance if the rider is over 14 years old. I support the police enforcing the rules of the road. But the laws should reflect higher penalties for illegal acts that are more likely to injure or kill someone. There should be double penalties if a motorist knocks down a pedestrian or a biker and bikers should pay double if they knock down a pedestrian.
BTW - I am an ex-Marine (actually once a marine, always a marine) and I am not a physically big man. And I ride a bike, almost exclusively. SO ... don't go categorizing folks ... and think twice about blindly getting into an altercation with anyone, driver or cyclist. The end results could be very bad. Very bad. Semper Fi to all the Leathernecks, Devil Dogs and Teufel Hunden's everywhere.
BTW - I am an ex-Marine (actually once a marine, always a marine) and I am not a physically big man. And I ride a bike, almost exclusively. SO ... don't go categorizing folks ... and think twice about blindly getting into an altercation with anyone, driver or cyclist. The end results could be very bad. Very bad. Semper Fi to all the Leathernecks, Devil Dogs and Teufel Hunden's everywhere.
Anaonymous of 12.28.... that's fine if you live in a country where the motorists obey the rules.
Sadly, where I live they don't. They do not give way to pedestrians or cyclists, even thought they are supposed to. They speed, drink and drive, and your chances of getting hit are much greater than finding some strange girl on the street that'll blow you.
(Yes, I'm 'backposting'.
Former "Avid Cyclist",
Not all of us ride like idiots and bust lights. The most dangerous street for me to ride on is the one I own a house on! I really don't have a problem with drivers performing California stops at stop signs, so why the same drivers that do them can't deal with me track standing looking both ways and going is beyond me. If I see a car I put my foot down and usually wave them on even if I was there first, too many angry and impatient drivers.
Right now you do have an influx of a lot of new cyclists into the community. The individual who rides aggressively would also drive aggressively as well. Face up to this fact and be glad that he isn't driving a Hummer. Oh yeah, a lot of these kids have traded in the skateboard for a bicycle and they cycle like they skate. In most states your bike is considered a vehicle and your drivers license covers both. I ride like I drive.
The last time I saw a cyclist bust a light was Yesterday when I was riding in Paradise Valley, AZ (old rich part of town) He was riding on a 7,000 dollar bike without any water in 115 degree heat. Are you going to tell me that he is typical of most cyclists out there? I would say your wrong, because no serious cyclist is going to be riding a bike in this heat without a bottle of water and no bottle cages on they're bike at least in Phoenix, AZ. I also saw two motorists bust the same light as I waited.
I yell at every individual on a bike riding on the wrong side of the road that they're going the wrong way. It irritates the living hell out of me when I'm flying down 12th street getting every light at 30 mph with traffic in the bicycle lane and some idiot on a bike or jogger (there's a sidewalk, bike lane not multi-use path) is in the lane coming at me and forces me to merge into traffic that's going 45mph.
I do believe cyclists could clean up their act a little, but frankly it's the lame excuse drivers use to justify their aggressive driving habits. I think it's that thing we all did back when we were kids to justify our own bad behavior to our mothers, "Well Jim does, so why can't I? or "Bobby started it". No matter how you cut it your making an excuse to justify your actions based on the actions of others.
If you try to intentionally hit me, throw something out the window, clip me in the ear with your rear view mirror, or rub the length of my body with your car, I will call you on it without flipping you off. I usually weigh if it was done in malice or not, some people are just idiots texting or using a cell while driving and don't mean anything by it. I might even call you out if it was done aggressively (attempted manslaughter). I don't give a damn if your an ex-marine. If you tried to use your vehicle as a weapon to kill me you should have the guts to step outside and do it with your bare hands! At least be a man about it and do it outside of the safety of your locked car.
You should go for a ride, so that you have a little more empathy for those who still do. Get past the lumping a group all together as well. Experience the angry car culture out there outside of a car. Really, the metal around you when driving down the road gives you a false since of security anyway.
WAIT A MINUTE... where's prolly? and how come he wasn't interviewed for the NYT piece.
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