Because Slashdot seems to lack the ability to do even the most basic of filtering to get rid of bullshit like this. Relying on moderators to burn their mod points to knock this crap down to -1 isn't working.

This is trainable though. Humans, naturally, have a balance of slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers. While to some degree this is genetic, sprinters and weight lifters don't have a higher percentage of fast twitch simply from nature, rather they train those energy systems to perform the way they want. And again, within limits of genetics, almost anyone who is a typical fast-twitch person can retrain their bodies to have a higher slow twitch balance. And vice versa. Look at a guy like Ryan Hall, who was a top level marathoner who retired from marathons, and started lifting weights. Suddenly a guy who was able to run under 2:05 for a marathon is now bulked up and picking up big weights.

If I rode in a city I wouldn't ride these tires. I don't ride in cities. I ride in the country. The roads are generally clean out there.

Almost every person I have stopped to help with a flat bike tire tells me they didn't check their pressure before they rode, or some such lack of maintenance. It's fine if you don't believe me but it's still the truth. Maintain your stuff and it will work as expected.

And since you insist on throwing a derogatory (if stupid) term at me like "shellhead", instead of keeping this conversation civil, I am done.

I think you need to read up a bit on your tire technology.

I ride 25mm Continental GP400SIIs on my road bike. I think I can remember maybe 2 flats in tens of thousands of road miles on them, both times when I went over a thorn or something impossible to see. On my race bike I run 25mm Continental GPTTs which are certainly considered a bit fragile, with latex tubes, I have never had a flat on them in hundreds of race miles. All run 80-90psi

Road bike tires are just fine for the typical road and when well maintained will take quite a bit of effort to flat.

In the US a driver's license only proves you know the meaning of a handful of signs and you showed a guy who doesn't care all that much about his job that you know how to turn a steering wheel, and push a gas and brake pedal. Sometimes they might ask you to prove you can put your car in a parking spot correctly.

It does NOT in any way prove you know how to actually drive a car. Most people do not know how to drive their cars, and it is painfully evident every day I drive around with people breaking the most basic of rules like keeping right except to pass, or properly navigating a double turn lane.

It becomes even more obvious when road conditions become less than ideal. A little bit of rain and everyone is driving even worse than usual. How many people really know how to handle their cars when conditions become slippery? What to do in a slide, or spin and how to recover? They don't teach that stuff and knowing it isn't required for obtaining a license to drive.

Let's also forget about that other strawman that seems to be floating around - that of the cyclist that doesn't own a car at all. Sure in the cities that might be a case but out in areas where you see recreational cyclists, you can guarantee those people also have cars, pay taxes, buy gas, etc.

What ARE you talking about? I spend a significant amount of time, like 99.99% of my road riding time, looking where I am supposed to be going and holding my safe line. I am not terribly worried about anything flattening my tires as I maintain my tires just fine and they can handle a bit of debris. And most roads are perfectly clean enough to ride on without me worrying about it.

Most roads don't need bike lanes, at least out in the country where I ride.

I don't know who you are talking about, but that person isn't me.

How often does this *really* happen? Does it ever happen? I agree that if this isn't just a strawman, then the groups should know better. I never ride with a group larger than 5 or 6 or so, for this very reason.

Most state laws are written in such a way that the optimum solution for all is considered. Most states dictate that cyclists can ride two abreast (which for passing purposes is safer since it shortens the group and the pass takes less time).

Some of this is common sense though. Cyclists should avoid riding on busy roads, or roads with bad sight lines, in large groups, etc. And motorists need to realize the speed limits and such are set where they are for certain roads precisely because slower road users might be present on that road and might be harder to see.

Sure, but you can't claim bicycles are the newcomers here.

Some roads do have legal minimums. Those are called highways (or freeways or whatever). Those have posted signs restricting certain vehicles (bicycles, horses, etc).

Otherwise if a road has no posted vehicular restrictions it should be assumed that all legal road users might be there. Therefore all legal road users, especially those in the most risky to operate vehicles (ie motor vehicles) should be paying attention for the slower road users. It's really a simple concept. Bicycles, horses and buggies, scooters, cars, trucks, etc can all coexist safely on the same roads when everyone is paying attention and following the rules. If you are unable to do this, perhaps you should relinquish your driver's license?

I must be some sort of weirdo mix of stereotypes since I drive a Miata, a pickup truck, AND I am a road cyclist...

Really? All us road cyclists are asshole? Truly all? Or are you just showing your bias?

Basically, yea. As a avid cyclist who rides well over 5000 miles a year, I have seen it all. When I hear about a cyclist getting hit, I certainly mourn it, but if I hear it was the cyclists fault, my sympathy fades entirely. Same with people who die in car crashes caused by their own stupidity. There was a recent local story about a guy who was hit and killed while riding his bike. My local cycling community was outraged, until we learned he was going the wrong way on a one way street and went around a blind corner in the dark. The guy driving the bus that hit him had no chance to react. Sorry, no sympathy, guy was being a moron.

One of my closest friends was hit while riding his bike and had to be life-flighted out. He survived but will never be the same. He was riding in a perfectly legal place, and following all the laws. However he was riding on a busy road during rush hour. Not the smartest move. He is lucky to be alive. He now understands he shouldn't have been riding there.

When I ride, I do it on nearly deserted farm/country roads. The vast majority of people passing me do so courteously because I am not holding them up any and moving into the oncoming lane for a few seconds is safe to do out there. All of the strawman stories in this thread about cyclists holding up lines of cars just doesn't apply to the cycling culture where I live/ride.

It isn't hard to coexist with all road users. This applies to both motorists and cyclists. As a cyclist I implore EVERYONE to pay attention, follow the rules, and we will all get where we are going safely

Every single (not most... every) motorist breaks the law every single (not most... every) day.

That's a good reason to hate assholes. Not all cyclists are assholes. You only probably notice the ones that are.

Kinda like motorists. Most motorists aren't assholes, but then you see that one guy weaving around in traffic and you notice him.

Look up the concept of an "Idaho Stop". In many cases it is safer for a cyclist to only slow down at stop signs (but yield right of way when would be considered typical in a car). The cyclist uses less energy to get back to speed, and the line of cars waiting to get through the top sign has to wait LESS time.

Of course this doesn't apply to cyclists who recklessly blow through stop signs - those guys are on their own.

But you can't pin this on cyclists. How many motorists break laws every day? I can guarantee you that you broke a traffic law if you got in your car today. Everyone does. That pesky speed limit sign is ignored by motorists way more often than cyclists ignore stop signs.

Bicycles are not "new comers". There have been bicycles riding on the roads long before cars were invented. Cars are really the newcomers here. But that's not a useful argument anyway.

What is useful is that bicyclists are legal road users and everyone driving a motor vehicle has a responsibility to pay attention to what they are doing and avoid the slower-moving legal road users.

Mixing bicycles with pedestrians is an even worse idea. At the speeds many cyclists can maintain, especially on road bikes (notice they are called "road bikes", I wonder why the term?), the consequences of a bike vs pedestrian accident can be nearly as bad as a car vs cyclist.

Your fallacy here is that the roads are not "primarily" for motorized vehicles. They are "primarily" for all legal vehicles. Just because one type of vehicle is a majority user doesn't give that type of vehicle the right to monopolize the road.