Hi guys, I used to own an '07 Lexus IS350 but the car was destroyed by vandalism and attempted theft.. I've been terribly suffering from job and financial loss for the last 5 years. I was homeless for 6 months last year. My car was trashed and I had to let the bank to repossess it cause I coudln't keep up with the payment. Been riding my bicycle to work (work part-time) and it's hard for me to keep up as it is 20 miles round trip. Riding my bike on the road has not been good experience for me. They blast their horn at me when they pass by me, yelling at me, and I get pushed off the road, not literally but they pass by me so close to hitting me. I even get cursed at (F words). It doesn't matter during rush hour or 11 o'clock at night. And what's even more ridiculous is that these things happen EVERY TIME when I ride my bike. I don't feel like riding my bike anymore but I have to work....to pay my bills. These drivers are evil on the road why do they attack the biker? I thought cyclists have the right to ride on the public roads. Yes I ride close to the curb not on the middle of the road. Apparently according to these drivers I do not have right to ride on the road as if they own the road.. No I can't ride my bike on the sidewalk because I'm a fast rider I go 20~ 25 mph in some case 30+ mph. And there is not always sidewalk for me to ride on so I have no choice but to take the road. I need a solution to this madness and ridiculousness. Obviously me getting a weapon and start to threat these drivers isn't going to help and I will risk myself going to jail. The only thing I could think of is getting either a fast electric bicycle or electric scooter. I started looking into these things and dug deeper... Found some amazing things about the E-scooter. The normal ones you see in the busy downtown are slow they only go about 15~ 25 mph. But there are fast ones, anywhere from 50~ 80 mph for a scooter! I also looked at electric motor kit for bicycles but the power is limited and you have to mod it to make it go faster. I am not experienced in working on electrical circuit or any of that sort. Highly modified electric bicycles can go very fast, but you risk burning up the motor or electrical parts. Electric scooters can also be modded, but they have fast ones out of the box... not having to mod and risking on breaking seem more reliable to me. I have not decided yet which route to go... and I don't want to buy a car anymore cause of my instability on jobs and my mental struggles. I figured if you get a very fast e-bike or e-scooter you would be more than fast enough to keep up with the traffic... I'm so sick of people passing me dangerously and almost pushing me off the road. I just can't take this anymore...

Check out a few of these videos what Electric bike and E-scooters can do.

Electric kit Bicycle keeping up with the traffic

Electric kit bike in China flying at 58 mph


E-scooter Weped RR cruising at 92 kph

E-scooter Hunter M1

Dualtron Ultra (heavily modified) at 86 mph
Action starts at 4:10 mark

 

I used to hate bicyclists. I would never of course put a cyclist in danger, but I used to be annoyed by them. In the USA the car culture is such that drivers believe they own the road, and see other road users - pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists as a nuisance. Once I started riding a bicycle, my view changed 180° and now I hate inconsiderate drivers more than anything. At least NYC has some bike lanes and building more and more every year, but most of flyover America does not. Gotta be careful out there, and remember that just because you might have the right of way you still have to be very cautious because you won't win in a crash with a car.

 

Thanks for your support and understanding bicyclists' point of view... I do my best to obey the traffic law but these drivers are so self-centered.. maybe they need to retake the driving school to refresh their mind that it is law to have both cars and bicyclists to share the same road. Yeah until I get a bike replacement I will try to take the sidewalk as much as I can and go slow cause I'm tired of these drivers attacking me.

 

Bikes and cars are supposed to share the road. I have never seen a bike come to a four-way stop and apply the proper right of way. I think anyone riding a bike should have a license.

 

maybe that's because most of flyover america has no interest in bicycles.

 

Sometimes you just need to open up your mind and try new things. I used to love mocking cyclists, now I have a $1,200 carbon bike.

 

Nice! And hey, i live in a rural area and i ride a bike for exercise! The roads are mostly empty around here, but cars (mostly trucks) are VERY respectful and typically when they're coming up behind me, they go over the other lane entirely, so no issues here.

 

Lucky you I don't get that luxury. At least once or twice every time I'm on my bike I get attacked in some way that is very offensive.

I didn't know Och has a descent bike (gravel bike I'm assuming?) I have a road racing bike and a mountain bike. I don't mind exercise and used to love riding my bike when I was young but nowadays I'm not anymore because of these drivers.

 

Incorrect. Lots of bike lanes, paths, shops etc.

 

No, I have a regular road bike.

Stay safe out there, make sure you have front and rear lights and maybe invest in a camera. And remember, if some road raging moron is trying to run you over, better let him through.

 

This is the one I got.

https://www.evanscycles.com/speciali...-bike-EV279743

 

Thanks for the advice Och. I have both headlight and taillight on my bike. I'm leaning toward getting an electric scooter soon to close that gap in speed difference between cycling and cars.

That's a nice looking bike. Specialized is a nice reputable brand. It appears to be gravel bike though. My road bike has skinny 23 mm tire 700C and I got tall gearing chainring for high speeds. It is an old Trek 1400 bike from the early 90's and upgraded with high end components later.

 

my post was somewhat of a lame joke and i said most of flyover not all.

having ridden around london's hyde park corner and other areas during rush hour when i was starting out i also consider the risks of bicycle riding somewhat overblown. signal your intentions, have lights, keep strong situational awareness, and keep the hell away from cars as much as possible.

 

If I were a biker in London, I'd probably want to keep away from riding next to those classic double-decker buses. I haven't seen any particular stats on the accident rate of those buses, but they must have one hellacious center of gravity, particularly in strong winds and/or when the upper-deck is loaded with passengers, which, in theory, would make them even more tipsy.

 

Wow check this video out... car versus e-scooter flying down the freeway. Watch the video all the way. The driver in the white car was like