Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

Commuter Chronicles: Why I loathe bike racers

During this afternoon's commute home, I witnessed a bike racer, who was part of a group of riders, collide with a commuter, causing her to crash on Indian School and the North South bike path. The racer who caused the accident was able to stay on two wheels and sped on to keep up with his pack. I stopped to render aid. If anyone can help identify the racing team, I wish to report the team to their sponsor. The riders all had lime green and white uniforms. One rider had a TNC number on his back. The team name had GELAT in the name but I could not make out the entire name. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Note: The downed rider was okay.

Tags: bicycles, bike, commuting, path

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Permalink Reply by Tricross on June 17, 2009 at 10:00am: Update - It appears that the racing team was from Active Knowledge . I have contact info for the coach and will keep you posted.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by shotsie on June 17, 2009 at 11:14am: Damned spandex racers! Get out of my way, peasants! (I'm glad the commuter is okay, and that you helped her and are trying to track down the culprit..)

That reminds me of my run-in with a spandex-type - On a Fourth of July, I decided to take a ride from South Bay to Santa Monica, along with about a million other bike, skateboarders and in-liners - so, the going was fairly slow, and I waited for a chance to pass some little kids on their bikes. Just as an opening appeared, I heard Ms Spandex shout from about 6 bike lengths back that she was going to pass - but, I've been waiting too, so I go. Ms Spandex dumps her bike, since she had built up a head of speed (remember, there's zillions of people using this stretch). I helped her up, but she swore and cursed me up and down - okay - enuff - I split and continued. About 2 miles up, I noticed someone familiar who passes me, then gets in right front of me - then starts for her brakes - yep, Ms Spandex, weighing 80 pounds less than me, is going to take me out! I hit my brakes before this could happen, and then we heard a little girl crash and start crying. I congratulated Ms Spandex on her choice of revenge - trying to injure me out but taking out a little kid instead - and left her behind to explain to the girl's parents how I caused this to happen.

The majority of bike teams are okay - but a little intimidating because they ride so fast and in a pack, so other users have to move over and let them pass. Share the road, spandex-dudes!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jeff on June 17, 2009 at 1:59pm: that bike path is seriously challenging. i used to ride from venice down to RPV and back. my wife once had an inline skater/tourist cross her on the path in santa monica and they both took a good hit. a lifeguard attended them both and chided the skater since it turns out they're not supposed to be on the BIKE path.

stand-up guy for stopping to help tricross.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by misterhinkydink on June 17, 2009 at 11:17am: I say we confiscate their bikes and sell them on eBay...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by megs on June 17, 2009 at 12:13pm: That makes 2 incidents at that intersection yesterday afternoon involving asshole spandex-clad cyclists (I should probably be nice, but don't really feel like it... I wear spandex sometimes, but the 5pm commute on that trail isn't an optimal time for your training rides unless you want to put up with commuters). I was luckier in that I somehow managed to unclip and not eat asphalt but I had a similar incident at that crossing yesterday afternoon in which the guy HAD to catch his buddies didn't even bother to stop (or glance behind him as far as I could tell).

I was stopped at the south side of Indian School waiting for car traffic when two of them pulled up to my left (effectively blocking the bike path which is something I've always learned was bad etiquette since it blocks oncoming bike traffic). I decided to start slowly, letting them pass me before I turned left (west) down Indian School to head home. Unbeknownst to me, there were apparently two (I think two, maybe only one...adrenaline made it a little fuzzy) more directly behind me who decided they should pass me mid-intersection, resulting in my front wheel colliding with one of them somewhere (front wheel, I think, but again fuzzy) and me somehow retaining control and making it into the westbound bike lane. With nicely tweaked handlebars. Easily fixable but I don't carry a big allen wrench with me so it effectively rendered the bike unrideable.

Granted, I didn't signal (they passed me closely, of course, so sticking my arm out could've easily resulted in contact and between checking for westbound auto traffic, clipping in and trying to ride slowly enough for the two who I knew were there to get past me that's one too many things to handle), BUT the front two were stopped on the wrong side of the path (in my mind, I had the right of way in front of all of them, and I would've signaled had they not been passing me) and the one/two who were directly behind me should've announced their passing (I didn't have headphones so I would've heard them).

Anyway, a long rant, I admit, but it's bad enough having to watch out for cars, motorcycles, etc without having to worry about other cyclists, so just be nice and courteous to fellow cyclists (and STOP for 30 seconds if you cause/think you may have caused an accident, it's not going to make your training totally useless).; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by once banned twice shy on June 17, 2009 at 1:50pm: I know the coach for Active Knowledge. I would be very surprised if he isn't incensed to hear his riders did such a thing. Yeah, all you racer folks--get used to sharing the path and slowing down. Just because you're fast and on a light bike, it doesn't mean you get to roll over anyone you want to. The paths in Albq. are MULTI-USE--which means being courteous to all. Some stupid woman in spandex nearly plowed right into me the other day on the Paseo del Nordeste path because she was so busy keeping her head down so she could keep up speed. Plenty stupid. Plus, guaranteed, if you run into me on your tiny light bike, you are suffering more than I am with my workhorse commuter...

Good for you, Tricross, to stop and help the rider and try to find out which team did this.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tricross on June 23, 2009 at 8:18pm: UPDATE: It's been a week since I witnessed a member of the Active Knowledge racing team collide with a commuter causing her to crash. What looked to be a promising dialogue with the coach of Active Knowledge fizzled away. I followed up with emails and voice mail but no response. All I got was this quip in an email, and I quote, "... I'd love to talk to you about the supposed incident."

I guess it's time to send the letters out to the sponsors.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by once banned twice shy on June 24, 2009 at 11:32am: Tricross:

Did you by chance get the name of the downed cyclist? Maybe you could tell the coach that you have her name and she can most definitely tell him that the incident was not "supposed."

I am not sure the sponsors will care...but good luck.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by bg on June 24, 2009 at 11:59am: It seems that what we need is some place for people to train safely. Surely somewhere there is a place here where the pavement is intact for training but not otherwise used for pedestrians and motor vehicles, yet provides the requisite challenge for riders.

Our community lost a very bright light when Heather Reu died. She would never have put her family at risk and surely thought she was training in a safe place when she was "gunned down" by a thoughtless, careless individual in a motor vehicle.

What do we have to offer to improve this situation? It is not tolerable to continue this way.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by once banned twice shy on June 24, 2009 at 1:10pm: You can join BikeABQ, Albq.'s bike advocacy group. We tirelessly fight for better facilities for cyclists and more awareness as much as we possibly can. With more members, we have more strength. BikeABQ has funded some "Share the Road" PSAs which are currently running on a variety of channels at various times through the day. We'd love to have more and more often...but we need money! With more members, we can raise more money...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rita on June 24, 2009 at 8:57pm: Ever been run down by mall walkers while pushing a stroller? Same thing. Annoying as shit, too.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Doug R on June 25, 2009 at 9:37am: What's the famous line about lead or get out of the way (or something like that?) If you observe these types of cyclists you see alot of macho-ness displayed in what they are doing. They almost appear as if they are on a mission for GOD (scratch that) a mission for their ego. There's a certain "What I'm doing is important so get out of my way." I've seen the same attitude with mountain bikers on our local trails and sadly many motorists on the road. I think that attitude is the key issue here.

How can you solve this issue? You would think that common courtesy would prevent anything being solved or the issue in the first place but.... welcome to the world. If you're a bike commuter maybe a modified cycle would do. You know once like in Ben Hur with the Chariots....something sticking out about a foot or two off each wheel. In case you would have seen the entire racing team crash like in one of those tour de whatever racing clips.....; ▶ Reply to This