Why every cyclist needs a pool noodle | Hacker News Reader

Why every cyclist needs a pool noodle

qz.com

47 pointsubasu29 comments

Side note: I commute to work on a bike occasionally. My commute isn't long (~3miles) and I try to be considerate and move to the side when possible, stop at stop signs, not run lights, not sneak up while waiting at stop lights, and stay off the sidewalk. You know: behave like a considerate driver sharing the road.

The reason I do this is because all the bikes I see when I drive are flagrantly disregarding traffic laws and acting like they own the road. These pool noodlers seem like they are doing more of the same.

I wish they got pulled over by cops more often because all they are doing is endangering everyone else who is actually sharing the road.

Cyclists are why I have a dashcam.

My response, when I hear someone tell me that they see cyclists breaking the law, is to ask how many - in a given day. Five? Ten? Sure, I could believe that. Then I ask them how many drivers they see breaking the law in a given day...

Bicyclists where I live - even otherwise well-behaved bicyclists - routinely violate traffic laws all the time. I guess we live in different towns, but where I live I don’t also see drivers regularly blasting through red lights when they get tired of waiting.

Thanks for the honesty? Everyday I see dozens of drivers blow through inconvenient stop signs - just like those lawless cyclists. But when they hit people, they maim and kill them. You could argue reckless cyclists are in contention for the Darwin Awards, but they're only going to get themselves killed.

Your last sentence is a fair point. But now I have to ask - where do you live? Is it really a thing to blast through stop signs there? I think I can say truthfully that in MN (USA) people stop at stop signs, always.

Do you live in the US? Because if so, having travelled and lived all over the US, I call BS.

I do, in Portland OR. And I have a dashcam on my bars, so I film plenty of bikes and cars blowing through stops. But I may be a little overly sensitive, I was run over by an inattentive commercial trucker who blew through stop without braking, plowing into an SUV and then rolling over me head-on - when I was stopped at the stop sign at the opposite corner, foot on the ground and everything. I was in a wheelchair for months, and I have quite a collection of Ti implants to show for it all. But I still ride to work every day, and I stop at stop signs, even though that hasn't always worked out so well for me.

That sounds awful. I hope you got a good attorney and only work for the fun of it now.

Yeah, towns vary.

On one end you have places like Copenhagen, where traffic lights are configured for cyclists and cyclists stop.

Most places aren't like Copenhagen. A few years ago I often had to pass through an intersection where cars had to wait for about eight seconds on average and my own average wait was two and a half minutes (one full phase plus a bit). That intersection was a big fuckyou to cyclists.

People learn from their environment and adapt their behaviour.

The length of the pool noodle is equal to the minimum safe passing distance. If you touch it you're breaking the law.

>These pool noodlers seem like they are doing more of the same.

why?

I cycle and also occasionally tow (which puts me in the group of annoying slow road users). My frustration with these type of articles is they only ever ask for the road to be shared, but do not share the road themselves. As a slower road user you should also be considerate of other road users. An example would be when towing and driving at a more sedate pace, when it comes to passing lanes - SLOW DOWN - to allow the pile up of cars behind you to pass. However most people simply maintain their speed, ignorant of the building frustration behind them. By slowing down you might add 30seconds to your travel time, but give 10-20 people back minutes to their travel time (a net win for society!).

In this case if the cyclist periodically slowed down and moved to the shoulder when going downhill (or in general), the pile up of cars and frustration might be mitigated.

"Through my eyeglass-mounted mirror, I watch cars inevitably pile up behind me. When the terrain flattens out and I move back to the shoulder, a stream of cars pass me."

I'd argue that the pool noodle may have unintended consequences, and will most likely increase road rage. It seems to scream EMPOWERMENT ("taking back the road"), but I think it leans more towards SELFISH BITCH.

Thank you for this.

She wasnt commuting here: this was a vacation/personal challenge ride. Meanwhile, cars piled up behind her age probably people going to work or hauling goods.

I really think the bourgeoisie image that modern cycling and it's conspicuous consumption attitude (my coworkers mostly ride 3-5000 dollar bikes) that converted simple affordably machines to status symbols has fueled more resentment from motorists.

My God, thank you for this comment. I live in Minneapolis, which is very bike friendly (at least for the US). The majority of bicyclists are well behaved and just want to share the road, but an alarming number of bicyclists seem to think that taxpayer funded roads were built with only them in mind. The sense of entitlement is astounding.

And not to forget that many of these roads are maintained with fuel taxes.

If cars are piling up behind you, you should pull over to let them pass--even if you are in a car--but only if it's safe to do so. The implication in the article is that it's not safe ("to protect myself from stumbling off the edge"), so the "selfish bitch" is the one screaming at the cyclist, not the cyclist herself.

Read the sentence immediately preceding the one you quoted, her reasoning is to "bask in a glorious downhill". She needs the full width of the road to give a larger margin of error due to speed and to maximize her enjoyment.

A simple considerate solution would be to slow down and pull over.

The crux of the issue is that people of every persuasion, be it cyclist or driver, would never consider inconveniencing themselves or sacrificing their enjoyment for the good of others. i.e. they are selfish.

This also deters the user from speeding between two lanes of traffic that has stopped ... a deed that carries with it some risk and that probably irks some drivers.

I'm a motorcyclist and do this regularly and legally on Sydney's narrow streets. It is quite safe. For leg powered cyclists riding with a reasonable degree of care it is certainly safer than the regular flow of moving traffic.

/r/Motorcycles had this posted a couple days ago:

https://i.redd.it/59jp81szfdy21.jpg

A bicyclist likely would have lost their legs, if they survived at all.

Meanwhile, the risk of lanesplitting is that might sideswipe somebody and need to pay to get their paint fixed.

I'll have to admit, that's pretty clever and the best actual use for a pool noodle I've ever seen. I still don't understand what exactly you're supposed to do with a pool noodle.

I like to sit on them float in an upright position, like being in a chair. You can hold a beer in one hand maneuver around with the other.

I have a 5 year old who comes up with a new use for a pool noodle every time he's in the pool. A raft, an octopus, blowing water through it, a spy glass,... The simplest toys have seemingly infinite uses.

Kids hit each other with them.

Based on my kids enthusiasm it seems to be a good product.

The sad thing is that the type of driver that comes closer than 3 feet to a cyclist has a good chance of being the type of person who would be enraged by this. Could result in more conflict than its worth.

Use a metal pipe. Drivers care more about scratching the paint of their car than they do murdering a human.

You mean, if someone drives too close, you prefer your whole bike to be pushed over? Because that metal pipe would have to be mounted in a secure way / not fall off accidentally.

Only the end needs to be metal. In fact it just has to look metal. Wrapping with kitchen foil would probably have the required deterrent effect. It would also look hilarious.

Good point

Reply on news.ycombinator.com