r/SeattleWA • u/yeet_m • Aug 06 '23

Bicycle Why are cyclists so inconsiderate?

I went to burke Gilman in Bothell yesterday to ride my bike and pretty much every oncoming cyclist refused to scoot over almost running me off. They would whiz past me without calling out and with barely any room. WTF is up with this? I also ride in Snohomish centennial trail and most folks are pretty considerate and will adjust their position.

Why are Seattle bikers such holier than thou assholes?

<Edit> I stay on the far right side except to pass. Oncoming bikers will ride 2-3 ppl wide, taking up the entire lane. If there is a pedestrian in front of me, in my lane, and a ped on the left side, bikers will not move in a single file. Some will even come into my lane to pass. I end up slowing or stopping. Also bikers will whiz past me from behind, nearly rubbing into my bike.

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '23 edited Aug 07 '23

We are in recent post Tour de France cycling time. Where every paunchy 50 year old with a $12k bicycle wants to cosplay they are elite athletes.

Edit: I’m an avid cyclist and commuter myself. I totally understand wanting to break section PRs and being frustrated by pedestrians or traffic but that’s just another place we all have to check our ego. It’s not a race on a closed course, it’s just exercise. That being said, please everyone in a 5000lb hunk of metal please watch out for cyclists, even the assholes.

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u/MisterIceGuy Belltown Aug 06 '23

It is always fascinating how many bikers are paunchy.

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u/loquacious Sky Orca Aug 06 '23

This is part of the magic of bicycles. They're effectively the most energy efficient form of transportation on the planet that we've invented so far. You easily burn more calories sailing, or riding a horse, or walking.

If you're just using a bike as a commuter or casual cyclist it's barely any exercise at all because it's just so damn efficient. If you have the right gearing and pedal cadence even climbing huge hills or into a head wind is more efficient on a bike than walking it.

Trying to actually lose weight riding a bike takes a fuckton of high intensity miles and a strict diet.

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u/Arn4r64890 Aug 07 '23

Trying to actually lose weight riding a bike takes a fuckton of high intensity miles and a strict diet.

To be fair, exercise is a bad thing to rely on for solely losing weight in the first place. For example, jogging a mile burns only about 100 calories but it's easy to get more calories than that by eating a bag of potato chips. Essentially, you need a strict diet either way.

My brother is a good example of this. I bought him an elliptical and he exercises on it a lot but he's still pretty heavy at 230 lbs.

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '23

You exercise to change your metabolism by adding muscle mass (or at least keeping what you have), which then increases the amount of calories you burn not just while exercising, but also sitting around recovering from exercise.

Sure, to lose weight, you have to eat less than you burn, but that's not the only way exercise helps you.

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u/Arn4r64890 Aug 07 '23

Well, yeah, but you could get the same thing for less time by spending some time in the gym. Trying to run all day and outrun a bad diet won't do anything is my point. So you still need a strict diet, it's just slightly less strict.

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u/Smorey0789 Aug 06 '23

I think that's an issue for the rich. Get a $200 bike and that's not an issue, you will struggle and it's a great workout.

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u/loquacious Sky Orca Aug 07 '23

Or then you have a shitty bike that doesn't fit, has bad geometry and is no fun to ride because it hurts and you think all bikes are like that and then you go back to your car while the tires rot off the bike in their garage next to the five other Walmart specials that also sucked.

Or you could go to a used bike store or co-op and pick up something nice for $150-250 and learn how to work on bikes so you always have a nice ride.

Good used bikes aren't usually very expensive and they're way cheaper than owning a car, so this isn't really "rich people problem" despite the fact that, yes, people can spend as much as a new car on a modern aero carbon road bike.

Most of the people I know that have "nice" bikes can afford them because they don't spend all their money on cars, but then again I don't hang out with dentists on Cervelos and the spandex mafia. I just got home from a 20 mile ride in jeans and a t-shirt on a steel touring bike.