Wow, I truly can't believe this appeared in a paper that I love and work for. Kids, what are you gonna do? Personally, dear readers, I've already had a few personal words with this particular newbie, and I'm hoping to enlist some supporters here on staff to help me tie him down in the parking lot so I can ride my bike over him repeatedly. Wish me luck.

Hey -- I happen to agree with much of this -- I walk to work almost every day and I get near-plowed down by bicyclists who think they can roll through stop signs because they're at the bottom of a hill -- and expect me to get out of their way so they can feel all breezy. As he said above, this is only directed at "Idiot Bicyclists," not bicyclists in general.... plus, in a town where la bicyclette is holy, why not ruffle a few feathers to keep us all on our toes? Tofurkey turkeys indeedy. ;)m.

"It's almost as bad as having to see some poor 27-year-old quarter-life crisis springing himself toward his death, the Financial District, "carving it up," a yuck-yuck Tofurkey on a longboard named Brock."

Not nearly as bad as having to see an intern at an operating newspaper combine a run-on sentence with a dangling participle. Did the Tofurkey name his longboard "Brock"? Is the Financial District causing the 27 year old's death? Is it the 27 year old or the Financial District doing the "carving up"? Reading writing this poor seriously makes my teeth itch.

This is embarrassing.

Is this intern, by any chance, related to Ken Garcia?

Pick your own cliche, then hang it up partner.

Seriously.

I find the worst thing about this blog is the incorrect implication that taking the lane is somehow discourteous or illegal.

Human paraquat? The only mildly witty thing present in that rambling batch of idiocy was ripped straight out of a line from The Big Lebowski. The line also doesn't work when using it *about* hippies, dipshit, it has to be used *by* a hippy (it's a weed-killer. Get it? Like, harshing my buzz? Good job, toolbag.)

Maybe next you can take on people who care about social justice, using a Dazed and Confused reference.

Ah, I see. Ed Anger no longer has a job since the Weekly World News has shut down, so the guardian hired him on.

thanks.

Wow,
you're truly bereft of any intellect. For one, cyclists are suppossed to ride on roads. Two, your ignorance is a sign of your certain lack of intelligence so whoever helped you post this blog of yours needs a raise. Three? Even if I remotely agreed with you, I'd still be bored to sleep by your total lack of humor and any kind of writing talent. But I suppose this goes back to the other idiot that helps you post intricate things like a sentance, so I guess that precludes him or her from that raise I suggested.

=v= Oh joy. Some intern got ahold of the Wow! Gee! We have a blog now! part of the website and is trying to smarm it up like on sfist, only without the occasional glimpse of neural activity we see on that blog.

Wow. So you feel entitled to inflict violence against others who inconvenience you? We can debate the appropriate behavior of lumped-together groups of people: "bicyclists", "motorists," "men," "hipsters" or "interns," ad nauseum, and I have. But when you call for violence I consider that a real threat. I always have. And it deserves a response. If I were this intern's supervisors at the Guardian, I would bar this intern from posting ever again on this site. (We have free speech; he can get his own damned blog.) And, being careful not to call for violence against a whole class of people, interns or motorists or whatever, Steve, I'll help you. I don't know how big he is but I bet a team of us could easily tie him down and then take turns running his ass over.

Fuckin' asshole. I hope he's young, because I'm assuming his youthful exuberance and lack of experience is to blame for his stupidity in this case, and that he'll be more thoughtful in the future.

Even if I did agree with your rant, that is the poorest piece of writing I've seen in some time.

This is pathetic. Learn the laws around cycling before you complain that we take the lane. California Vehicle Code 21202: Cyclist allowed use of full lane.
It's on signs all over town.
And spare us you PTSD post wreck whine. Better yet, spare us your pathetic prose entirely.

Lotto;
An intern would do well to know something about the subject before writing. Your career won't go far with this kind of a start.
Saturday, there's a free course taught by the League of American Bicyclists on bike safety at Crissy Field (www.sfbike.org/edu). You should at least learn about legal, considerate, and safe street practices; then you can rant about cyclists who threaten public safety. Take the class; at least your content will improve.

Does your impatience & frustration stretch to buses? peds? and "lawful" cyclists? I sense that it does.

While there are plenty of thoughtless cyclists out there (and motorists, and walkers, and taxis, and buses, and truckers), your post didn't seem to catch the worst infractions. If you're going to use your hammer, forheavensake, hit the nail!

While it can seem like ALL the cyclists are sociopaths, that is not the case. (More and more that is not the case, as non-bike messangers take up and pedal.)

While it may seem that *most* of the drivers out there are considerate, if there were a camera behind every driver's head, just about all would warrent a ticket(s). Since you seem to be a driver, and if you were honest, I think you'd have to agree, at least to your own culpability.

I guess it takes all types. Jsut ... don't do anything rash, 'k?
-FP

While this writing in this piece is awful, I do agree with him.

As a biker who actually stops at stop signs when there are cars (or other bikes!) waiting their turn, it really pisses me off to see some douchebag hipster on a fixie blow through the stop sign and make people slam on their brakes or jump out of the way.

Come to the mission, take a ride down valencia during commute hours to see just how retarded a good portion of the bike commuters are in this city.

The only thing I agree with in this piece is: WALK!

I walk to and from work every day (2.5 miles each way)

My mode of transportation doesn't require titanium or steel or rubber or oil to grease a chain. Or a whole new wardrobe. Or rallies, or disrupting others, or being antagonistic.

Though I probably do go through shoes more quickly. hmm.... It's still really relaxing!

For shame.

I sympathize with your feelings of second-degree embarrassment, particularly after reading the two follow-up posts to this one.

thank you for writing this. i hate the cyclists that terrorize everyone every weekday on the sidewalks off south beach/mission bay. they are all such self obsessed assholes it's not even funny. i would love to shove stick on all of their front forks to show them how i truly feel as they play pedestrian slalom with all of us walking to work. i hope you all burn in hell!!!!

=v= A new wardrobe? Bushy Hyde sure knows how to zero in on the inconsequential, and how not to bother with fact-checking. Perhaps he or she has what it takes to be an "intrepid" intern.

Walking is great stuff, though you should know that it can be dangerous, especially in this city, overwhelmingly due to cars. This has in fact prompted activism in the form of rallies. If you like walking, you should be grateful for activists who are actually doing something about this problem, rather than spinning us as "disruptive" and "antagonistic."

Biking is great stuff too, of course, and I'm sorry you're so bent out of shape about it. If you're fretting over shoe leather, you should know that bikes are the most efficient form of transportation ever devised, which is more than enough to make up for the materials used in their manufacture.

Seriously, folks. We're not talking about cyclists, motorists or pedestrians...we're talking about a$$holes. The issue has nothing to do with the environment, the law, or bad writing for that matter; where is the common sense and courtesy? I'll take a stab at it and blame iPods, cell phones and a modern mentality that centers on the under-appreciated significance of ME. We need to get out of our heads and into the moment a little more. While legal, maybe it's rude to hold up a line of cars at 10mph in rush hour. While legal, maybe it's inconsiderate not to take turns with some cars at a busy crosswalk. While legal, maybe it's just dangerous to pass a cyclist at the legal speed limit without giving extra lane space to them. What's wrong with everyone? Notice any other extremists in the world today (think of a large white house...) that justify reprehensible behavior with service of the greater good? Self-righteous, self-absorbed bullies taking it out on the rest of us. Not getting enough love and attention? Buy a frickin' dog and stop pissing on the rest of us.

Phil--

Notice, please, that you're contrasting bad behavior that's "rude" and "inconsiderate" with that which you describe as "dangerous". Bikes may create an inconvenience for motorists, but cars kill bicyclists. That's a pretty significant difference.

I would like to salute Mr. Chancellor for a well conceived, and unusually astute, analysis of the biker and his lamentable ways. I am eager to hear more from Mr. Chancellor, who seems to have a sharp eye and a razor wit. Please, Lotto, post more: down with the single speed.

When I walk, I feel more threatened by cars than bicyclists. They are always in a hurry to get to the stop sign/red light, only to stop in or past the crosswalk.

By the tone of this article, this writer seems to be one of those drivers.

Also, don't drive up on me while I am crossing. Please wait and let the next car go instead of sitting in the intersection holding up traffic. Its only going to make me walk slower.

Also, have you ever been 'doored' while riding a bike? It is a severe threat. Last time I was doored, the driver didn't help me off the ground and was more worried about damage to their vehicle than damage to the person they had just violated.

To all bikers, drivers and walkers, SF is all about the stop-n-go, not go-go-go!

What's the hurry anyways? There's a red light dummy!

how sad that nobody on this forum will accept any responsibility for their actions. i am a driver, walker, and rider. i have broken countless laws and when i do, i am wrong, i am impatient and i am selfish. it's time for us all to grow up and obey all the rules of the road. no jaywalking, no crossing against lights, no running red lights, especially while turning right. no jumping the red presuming the crossing traffic will stop on a yellow for us (this is a bike only think i hope)

i have started to make a conscious effort when i drive to stop before the first white line of a crosswalk since that is the legal space for pedestrians to walk when they have the light. it's quite sad to notice when i walk how few drivers do that.

i don't know what to do about all the bikers that ride at full speed on the sidewalks. they are all a real menace and i don't think they care.

James--

False equivalency trap, there--you aren't much of a danger to anyone else as a bicyclist, and no danger at all as a pedestrian. It's clearly far more important to get drivers to mellow out than bikers or walkers--and once the driver problem has been worked out, we'll talk about the bikes and the peds.