This will surely ruffle some feathers -

[Marcarl]

road, going into Vanessa.

Coppers know it well,,, keep your eyes open!!!!!! it sure is a fine place to ride though!!

[Marcarl]

Yesterday, hwy 54 between Cayuga and Caledonia, curvy road along a river, speed limit 80 kph,,,, farm equipment doing his thing, then a Ferrari, can't wait to get past a BMW big boat tailing the Ferrari, a SUV, then an 85 Venture 2 up,, then 2 more cages, and then 2 more bikes.. yep you guessed it,,, the last in the line needs to first so he cranks it wide open and passes it all in the nick of time,,,, not in the right hand track though, he gives lots of room so takes the outside track and is not visible to the BMW or the Ferrari,,,, nearly got punched,, ooohhhh that was close,, the 85 already was braking in anticipation, and momma was squeezing the sides of my torso. IDIOT !!!!!!

[Hummingbird]

I suppose I should explain my original post.

 

Saturday, while out for a leisurely ride with one other bike we turned onto a known twistie state highway.

We had traveled a couple miles at 50 - 55 mph and just enjoying the day. As I always do when I'm in the lead, I keep an eye on the rear view for 2 reasons, one for traffic and one for whomever is riding with me.

As we straightened out from a long curve I looked and saw numerous headlights. I thought they were the group of Harleys we had encountered earlier. I was wrong. The very next thing I heard was a singer sewing machine on steroids right beside me. darn near crapped, then another and another. Three of them passed me on a double yellow and a 4th was beside me and decided to go ahead before the oncoming car met us.

He made and by that time I looked back and saw that Bill had pulled into the bicycle lane and slowed considerably. I did as well and the allowed the rest of the 10 bikes to pass unobstructed.

Maybe half of the bikes had passengers and I can only imagine how they felt being thrown into a situation where their life was TOTALLY in the hands of someone they theoretically trusted.

It didn't take but moments for them to disappear as they were then playing catchup with their lead bike.

I just can't get it in my head that they were having a nice ride.

[bluerstd08]

Wow, glad you guys made it through that. I've had that happen a few times on the way into work or just taking a liesurely ride on back twisties. Gotta definately keep our heads on swivels.

[YamaGeezer]

Patooey!

[dynodon]

Bicyclists in Illinois do NOT own the lane the same as a motorcycle or a car/truck.

 

Directly from the Illinois rules of the road:

 

"When passing a bicyclist do so slowly and leave at least three feet of passing space. "

 

I try to give them more when it is available when driving my car, when on my motorcycle, I will move to the far side of the lane, and that gives them a lot of room.

 

I will slow down although that isn't specified in the rules.

[bj66]

I suppose I get a little carried away when passing on a motorcycle, especially trucks and semis. I farm for a living and i have my own semi. I have first hand experience of having a tire let go on my truck. Not a good deal. I cant imagine what it would be like to be beside a truck when that happens. So when passing them I will wind it out and get by as quickly as possible. Usually a downshift, then hammer on it is sufficient. But in certain instance like a gravel truck or something, there may be a 30 mph differential when going by. I dont take them by surprise, if they are using their mirrors at all, they know I am there, and I always bring it back down to reality after the pass is made.

[Karl C.]

Doesn't ruffle my feathers, but I do wonder who is idiotic. I fail to see how someone talking about how fast they can go on a straight away or in twisties has anything to do with a cager failing to yield, running a stop sign or as happened to me last week, pulling over into my lane has anything to do with it.

 

 

I agree with the above quoted words... I have done over 120 on my v65 sabre, no possiblity of a crash with a car due to no cars around... at all... behind me or in front or on the sides...

 

when I get in traffic I drive slower on a bike than I do a car just because I am looking for a problem motorist..

 

So yes there are some bikers that have caused a wreck, most of the time it is motorist.

But to say just because I drove my cycle fast in an area where there are no vehicles doesnt make me cause a wreck...

[1 Canuck]

That really pisses me off. Here in Michigan it's illegal, a motorcycle "owns" the whole width of the lane just like any other vehicle.

 

BTW, bicyclists own the whole lane too. How many of us take 3/4 of the lane when we pass them?

 

I don't think a bicyclist does own the whole lane in Michigan? A motorcycle does. See below.

 

Sec. 660.

(1) A person operating an electric personal assistive mobility device, low-speed vehicle, or moped upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction. A motorcycle is entitled to full use of a lane, and a motor vehicle shall not be driven in such a manner as to deprive a motorcycle of the full use of a lane. This subsection does not apply to motorcycles operated 2 abreast in a single lane.