The cycling community can thank the large pelotons for the most recent crackdown of cyclists on the Rickenbacker Causeway. Their Wild West mentality has forced the Miami Dade Police Department to ticket cyclists.
For some reason the pelotons believe the rules of the road don’t apply to them. Well, I’ve got news for you, they do. A red light means stop; you should not blow through a red light as if you were riding in the Tour de France, you aren’t. Nor should you take over two or three lanes of traffic in your attempt to attack the peloton. You are not only endangering your life, but the lives of other cyclists too.
Grow-up! You’re giving all cyclists a bad name.
Please check out the Miami Bike Scene. The Miami Bike Scene does an excellent job of maintaining a calender of organized events. You can find an organized ride or race that allows for peloton riding.
7 Responses to Peloton riders need to grow-up! Expect more enforcement against cyclists during the next few weeks.
Leave a Reply
Contact Us!
Planetizen- Can Gentle Gentrification Create 'Shared Neighbourhoods'? May 23, 2013Is revitalization without displacement possible? Although it's a harder and longer process than unmitigated gentrification, Brent Toderian argues that "positive and responsible change" can coexist with the maintenance of existing communities. […]
- City Growth Picks Up, Continues to Outpace Suburbs May 23, 2013New census data shows that America's cities continue to grow at a faster rate than their suburbs, sustaining the reversal of a decades-long trend. […]
- Mapping the United States of Parking May 23, 2013With arresting infographics, architect Seth Goodman aims to expose the absurd parking requirements that can be found in cities across America. […]
- Chicago Plans Largest School Closing in Nation's History May 23, 2013Seeking to trim budgets and 'distribute scarce resources more efficiently,' Mayor Rahm Emanuel's controversial plan to shrink Chicago's school system moved ahead yesterday with the Board of Ed's vote to shut 49 of the city's elementary schools. […]
- Does Delhi's Drive to be a World-Class City Doom Low-Income Communities? May 23, 2013A proposal for a vertical neighborhood in Delhi is long on height but short on insight, according to Greg Randolph of the American India Foundation. Is Delhi ‘poised to repeat the public housing mistakes of the West’? […]
- Developing a Second Life for the Suburban Office Park May 23, 2013Across America, developers and municipalities are trying to adapt a relic of the sprawling post-war suburbs for a more urbane 21st century. Can office park makeovers revive these increasingly barren landscapes? […]
- Canada's Rental Housing Crisis: A National Disaster That Demands a National Answer May 23, 2013With little fanfare, a rental housing crisis has gripped Canada. 42 per cent of young adults live with their parents and hundreds of thousands are on affordable housing waiting lists. It's time for Ottawa to step in, argues Denise Balkissoon. […]
- Should Your City Ban Fluoride? Portland Just Did, Again May 23, 2013Although a growing list of communities (of which Portland is the largest) have banned the addition of fluoride to tap water, such places are doing so against the recommendations of the medical establishment. What's driving the backlash? […]
- A Modest Proposal for Pedestrian-Cyclist Detente May 23, 2013The impending launch of bike-share is sure to escalate the simmering tensions between New York's growing legion of cyclists and its hordes of pedestrians. L.V. Anderson and Aisha Harris propose a 10-point treaty for pedestrian-cyclist armistice. […]
- Paris Develops for the 21st Century, Along its Periphery May 23, 2013After more than a decade of planning, the ambitious Clichy Batignolles project is rising in northwest Paris. The development is an attempt to stay competitive in the global marketplace, without compromising the city's world-renowned charms. […]
- Can Gentle Gentrification Create 'Shared Neighbourhoods'? May 23, 2013
- Green Mobility Network
- An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.
Lol…. Thats all I have to say to the Key Biscayne roadies,
Felipe I hate to tell you, but I see all sorts of riders blowing through red lights on key biscayne, not just the pelotons. You also never see the pelotons riding the WRONG way down the bike lane or on the road like some of the riders I see on key biscayne on cruisers.
Also if only the pelotons are disobeying the law, why is this even an issue for the supposed 100% law abiding non peloton riders? If they never break the law then they won’t even notice the increase enforcement.
Yaniel,
You’re right it’s not only a peloton issue, but the large pelotons take over the entire road and rarely obey any traffic laws.
Let me assure you, this crackdown is is due to the large pelotons. They are blatant offenders and draw a lot of attention to themselves.
It’s time for the pelotons to clean up their act…
y’know, it is kinda cool to live somewhere where something amazing happens that is just a little wild. like speak-easys, or chickens walking around, graffiti art, invasive iguanas on the canal banks, dogs on the beach, or 100 riders pedaling until they puke to stay in the peloton.
there is always going to be someone offended, someone who fears their property value dropping.
the laws are to prevent the drivers from killing the cyclists. Let’s face it–many people driving are distracted, they are angry and frustrated, they are in a rush. and they deserve compassion and understanding. they would love to be out having fun, too. they deserve at least a thumbs up for being patient when a peloton takes over an intersection.
there are plenty of very slow people who can’t make it across the street before the light changes–or maybe they are jaywalkers and not even at a light!! Drivers have to wait. It’s the law. Maybe, if they are lucky, the drivers will get a thank you wave. Maybe the driver thinks, “that could be me one day.” Maybe so many pedestrians will start getting hit, that police will start protecting them from themselves by ticketing jaywalkers. Instead of encouraging people to know and care about their neighbors.
random thoughts!!!
I think that police crack down on cyclists and motorists has also due to recent cycling related accidents and deaths involving motorists, not just to pelotons gone wild. I see police ticketing cars for speeding much more than I see them ticketing cyclist for running a stop or a traffic light. It’s their job to do this, I’m one who’s glad to see them there.
I take exception to the comments that peloton cyclists need to grow up. Miami has a bike scene, it is composed of all cyclists, the fixies, the mountain bikers, the triathletes, people who ride solo and in groups also let’s not forget the ones that have no cars and use bikes as their main transportation. Does it seem fair to start picking on other fellow cyclists? For us to start complaining about one another seems to be out of place. How about showing some tolerance to one another and sound less like bike haters? Besides there’s more safety in numbers.
Felipe
I agree with what you are saying here. When I first moved to Miami from St. Louis and did a few of these group/peleton rides I could not believe how overly agressive they were to each other and traffic around them. On one particular ride the peleton was taking up a lane and a half of a two lane road on the Key. When some motorists honked to try to get around the riders they were cursed at and flipped off by riders in the peleton. The motorists were not doind anything wrong! I quit riding in these groups after the first couple of rides.
To what Yaniel is saying, yes there are other riders out there doing the wrong thing. Altough, not on the scale of what the peletons are doing. A hundred riders blasting through a light that is all ready red causes more of a disruption than a single rider. As for the riders that are not with the peletons and doing the wrong thing they are more than likely learning this behavior by example from watching the peletons.Most recreational riders have no idea as to what the rules of the road are for cyclists, since this is something that is never taught.
Row, I ride the Emerge rides on second Saturdays and the critical mass on last Friday and when these riders are corking the intersections while riders cross they are taught to thank the drivers and engage the ones in the front in conversation if the driver asks what is going on. Maybe the peletons can learn from them.
Sorry Juan, but the last thing I would ever consider myself to be is a bike hater. Yes, it is absolutely fair to pick on the large pelotons that refuse to abide by any road rules. Blowing through a red light with 150-200 cyclists is just wrong on so many levels.
Lastly, I’m not picking on other cyclists, I’m picking on those that flat-out ignore traffic laws, like the large peloton from Aventura. They are perhaps the biggest culprit.