The verbal abuse the daily, normal, typically everyday people like me and my peers, and perhaps most of you that read this blog, get on this bridge on the weekend mornings, is certainly abusive.
I have always say I have met nice folks with full-on lycra that are very nice and sweet. That does not apply 90% of the time when I happen to be with my friends, on our-OUR Golden Gate Bridge.
So here to share, some of the things that I overheard within 2 minutes. Mind you, as the photos below show, the bridge was rather calm.
Too bad we intruded for these people, to shave 3 seconds of their time and some use of their bitter spit, to let us know what idiots we are.
As we turned the corner (it is pretty sharp) it goes like this:
"You are all idiots"
"Stopping in this spot is DANGEROUS"
"Move out of the f***ing way"
"Riding bikes on the bridge is very dangerous"
In front of me: Matt and Melyssa aka Calitexican
Behind me: Volker – laughing at 'danger'
I just have to laugh, and ride.
These *ssholes that go out of their way to insult us are plain out lame.
Do I see them riding butterlap everyweek?
No.
Do I see them dodging doors day in and day out throughout the city on a daily basis?
No.
Do they have fenders, because when you RIDE so much in the city, you *know* that was urine?
No.
Do they haul their fancy road bike up and down Bart, Muni, AC transit or CalTrain because they commute, went to a party, or are so tired after you went bike camping 100 miles away from here that you are just trying to get home?
No.
Are they having fun?
Certainly not.
So who are the idiots now?
We continued our ride, we can put up with the daily hussle in the city - these posers on lycra don't intimidate us one bit. Suckers.
They have no idea we rode to Fairfax, (about 18-20 miles up from SF) looking freaking happy and had a blast. There is no heart monitor to measure that nor energy bars to put up with us.
Of course, there are a handful that as fast and mean as they look, take a sec of their bridge experience to say normal things, like 'oh hello' or 'good morning'.
To remind you what idiots we are, here are some pictures of our ride.
and also, don't they know we are doing a century in August?! :D
Thanks for insulting, but try again later.
Thanks for insulting, but try again later.
dat's rite!!!
I wear lycra and this post makes me sad. Stopping in the corners on the bridge is dangerous and it's not a bad idea to let people know in a polite way. But I understand the frustration some riders can feel on both sides.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am always amazed at the rudeness of people. It does not have to be this way. The bridge is not a race track. There are plenty of open roads for people that want to speed around on.
ReplyDeleteI love riding my bike fast. But I do so with respect for other riders, cars, pot holes, etc.
There is plenty of room around here for cyclists of all types. Show some respect.
rcpeters/ yeah it is frustrating - however is not like we 'stop' at corners or pose for pictures. it is not our first time going on the bridge we do it quite often, the fact that there is a division with riders is what frustrates me. But like I said, there are always some nice ones that do talk normally and not yell as if we are some cysts on the path. :D
ReplyDeletewhen are we gonna go for a ride?
mark/ ja jaaa - you better!
andyK/ true. i read somewhere somthing alnog these lines: "you can take the bike out of the garage, but you cant take the jerk out of it"
anyways, thanks for all your thoughts all!
I still don't understand why they don't have both sides of the bridge open at all times for everyone. The tourist traffic is ludicrous now on weekends and nice weekdays. There is no reason to scorch on the bridge, but there is also no reason everyone has to be corralled on the same side most of the time.
ReplyDeletemeligrosa - A few of a bike valets are have a Samuel P Taylor camping trip Oct 1, want in? I sure I'll pop up at a butterlap, tweed ride or randomly at some other event.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget that first time we rode up to Fairfax and Cameron (14 at the time) came along. His first ride across the bridge and all the speed creeps screaming at him to get out of the way.
ReplyDelete"LEFT!!!!"
"SINGLE FILE, ASSHOLE!"
There have not been many rides in my life where I have wanted to hit someone, but that was certainly one of them. I derived great pleasure from fixing them with the "Mom Eye" and placing myself firmly next to Cameron's side- go ahead, take me on. I'll put you in time out for a looooooooong time and then send you home for a nap.
Just commenting from Chattanooga to say the highlight of my visit to San Francisco 2 years ago was riding across the bridge and after a day of riding around, coming back on the ferry. Hope to make it out your way again. Luckily, I didn't encounter any rude riders along the way.
ReplyDeleteI console myself with the thought that if these middle aged, lycra wearing, shaved legged ratbags weren't riding bikes, they would probably be driving revved up cars and doing thier level best to kill people.....ian,Melbourne
ReplyDeleteFor all your spittin' & sputterin' I had a hard time following exactly what you were talking about in the original post.
ReplyDeleteStopping on the bridge at the pillars isn't dangerous. Going around them so fast so that you can't stop for someone? That's dangerous. The bike path isn't a freeway.
ReplyDeleteIt always strikes me as rather sad when people who consider themselves 'sporty' forget to be 'sporting'.
ReplyDeleteYou get the same nonsense on a lot of recreational trails as well -- roadies going way too fast for the conditions. If you want to go fast, go hit the open road. Slow down on the trails and narrow bridge crossings.
ReplyDeleteThis also angers me, although I'll have to say that I guess I have been lucky to not get yelled at in my several times across the bridge. I ride pretty slowly on the bridge because of safety concerns.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they're more likely to yell at women because they're less threatening looking? Nah, I'm probably just lucky.
This is a real shame, though. I wish the lycra crew were on our side, but they clearly aren't most of the time.