The law, Florida 316.2065(5), does not require bicyclists to ride to the furthest right possible. It requires the furthest right practicable (safe). There are exceptions to this and the one that applies most frequently in TV involves undersized lanes (i.e. under 14' wide, per FDOT engineering guidelines). In this case, the lane is too narrow for some motor vehicles to share the lane with a bicyclist and still allow the required 3 foot clearance. Therefore, the bicyclist is permitted to take the lane, as it is safer to do so. Most of the lanes in TV are undersized. Unfortunately, most drivers and bicyclists are not aware of this. The result is that most bicyclists, fearing the ire of angry drivers, ride too far to the right, inviting motor vehicles to unsafely pass them. The few bicyclists who correctly take the lane, invite the angry response of motor vehiclists who, wrongly, interpret bicyclists riding position as "do they think they own the road", instead of that they are riding safely.

Thank you for your excellent post!

I agree with you. Outside of The Villages in many places all you have is the road. And the far right side of the road has all the grates, nails, broken glass and litter. So it's best to take over the lane. But inside of The Villages, for me it is safer on the paths. If you catch me, I'll pull over and let you pass me. It's my guess that Village people are not used to driving with bikes and it's a little late to educate most of them.

Riding the multimodal paths is perfectly fine. As a matter of fact, I often do so, on those rare occasions that I ride in TV. The same safety principles apply to riding paths. As far as educating drivers to how bicycle riders should behave around them, the way we ride our bikes does exactly that. Whether we intend to, or not, we condition people to expect to see, what they are accustomed to seeing.

Ride, be safe, and have fun!

GOLF CART ROAD RAGE - This morning we went for a bike ride returning via Buena Vista golf cart path past Evan's Prairie. A man in a light yellow golf cart with clubs in the back, flew past me and screamed 'get the f*** off the road'. I was over on the right side of the path and he had plenty of room to go around me - golf cart traffic was light and no other carts in sight. My husband was riding ahead of me around the corner and not visible to the driver when he yelled at me. When he caught up to my husband, he did not yell at him - not sure what I hate more - a coward who bullies a girl he thinks is alone or road rage. We tried to catch up to him and I would have called the police but we lost him. He either went straight down BV or turned into one of the golf courses but thankfully it does not appear he went down Pinellas. I did not want to think he lived in our neighborhood. It is so sad on a beautiful sunny day that some people have so much anger / hatred in them. Biker Bob's Wife.

I have had similar experiences on the road but never on the multi-modal paths. I suspect most people who yell at cyclists will only do so from the comfort of a vehicle moving faster than the cyclist.

Sounds like you ran into a mentally deranged cart driver. He may ride that area frequently. If he did that to you, chances are he will do something similar to others, in the future. Be alert and careful, in case he decides to go beyond just hurling insults.

Funny how emboldened some crazies get when they are behind a car or cart wheel. With some of the road rage incidents in the news (weapons etc) they'd better think twice.

I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt, in that he was having a tough day - but nope he's just an angry man. Thankfully we don't have many around here but the rotten sour apples tend to stand out. He'll get his sometime - yelling at the wrong person at the wrong time...

The bikers have the exact rights and responsibilities as every car driver. There is also a minimum distance ( I think three feet) that a car driver must allow when they pass a biker. I too recently saw two decked out bikers on Buena Vista as they ran every red light and drove in the car lane when a cart was available. This act did force autos out into the opposing lanes as they passed. This was not good PR for bikers.

Cyclists are allowed on the roads and have every right to occupy a lane when there is insufficient room for a bike and a car to safely occupy the same lane with 3 feet of clearance. Consider cyclists to be slow moving cars and you should pass them in the left hand lane on 4-lane roads and when it is safe to do so on 2-lane roads. Crossing a double solid line to pass on a 2-lane road is not legal or safe. Many cyclists prefer Buena Vista over the more crowded multi-modal paths for safety reasons. Unless you ride you probably can't appreciate why this is so. While it is possible, I doubt you will find anyone running the lights on Buena Vista at 466 and 466a. Aren't those the only 2 lights on Buena Vista?

it is still illegal here and everyone that does it is endangering themselves and others......and quite honestly I don't want you affecting my safety

I am pretty sure I am not affecting your safety. By the way, there are way more cars rolling through stop signs than cyclists and they are affecting my safely.

it is still illegal here and everyone that does it is endangering themselves and others......and quite honestly I don't want you affecting my safety
__________________ :rant-rave::swear::shrug:
looneycat





:BigApplause::BigApplause:

I am down with that. :22yikes:chilout

Wow. A continuation of the WEEKLY discussion on bicyclists vs vehicles vs carts vs pedestrians that started back in October; blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Unless they die, move or just get tired of putting up with the CRAZIES, no one is going to quit riding bikes, no one is going to quit walking and no one is going to quit driving carts or vehicles. Learn to coexist.