Cycling TO Burning Man

[Navi_Keef]

only a cyclist who commutes can see the ignorance of cagers. can this thread just be deleted now? there is way too much hate here

[Navi_Keef]

before you try and invalidate cyclists, you should probably spend at least a week or two in their shoes..hell maybe even a month! commuting to and from work, to the grocery store, commuting everywhere by bike. not on the sidewalk like you teach your kids to do to stop everytime there is a parking lot exit...on the road putting in some hard miles! wah they dont pay taxes or registration, is that why i pay to renew my registrations each year? i mean if i were taking my car i would be causing more wear n tear on the road that im driving on. hell as a cyclists i would GLADLY pay a yearly registration fee that covers the damage i do to the road on my bicycle! i am completely open to not having to hear the "they dont pay registration" card all the time.

this started off as a thread for cycling to burning man, and people bashing the idea of cycling to burning man, so now we have people bashing the idea of cycling anywhere everywhere all the time...just because you ride a bike on playa does not make you a cyclist or even a supporter of cycling, it just means that you can ride a bike and smart enough to be lazy enough to ride or too broke and cheap for an art car.

[maladroit]

Too much good advice, more like.

Love your Parthian shot here. We've discussed the danger of riding on two-lane highway, speed limit 70mph, blind corners and hills, no shoulder, high wind gusts, crammed full of vehicles the LIGHTEST of which is two tons of hurtling steel, many of them poorly maintained, overheating brakes, with stressed-out and tired drivers.

On top of that, you've just revealed that they're all ignorant too. That doesn't make the drivers any safer to be around.

We all agree it should be safe to ride your bike to Burning Man if that's what you want to do. But it just isn't.

[Captain Goddammit]

So you're trying to say riding a bike on 447 or 34 to Burning Man isn't a bad idea, and that the type of biker who would do it isn't annoying, dangerous and a total pain in the ass?

[maladroit]

I think once you load up your bicycle with all of the gear you need to live on the playa, while wearing dust goggles, and while riding a bike with fatter tires and is cheap enough that you are willing to abuse it by taking it to the playa...you're no longer a cyclist. You're the dreaded guy-on-a-bike. Leave the cyclist stuff behind, in the paved suburban comfort zone where the only preparation you need is to slip your credit card into your Lycra shorts and you'll be fine.

[Navi_Keef]

im not saying that cycling to burning man isnt a bad idea...im saying your arguments are silly as fuck

no kidding riding to burning man is a bad idea, and dangerous, but why continue to argue with ignorant ideas

the past 3 pages are all about "rights to roads" and "they dont pay taxes" i mean come on man, that isnt related to burning man at all.

[maladroit]

Oh, yeah that's all I care about. Don't care about road taxes, everyone pays taxes in some form. Expensive bike = sales tax was paid.

[Captain Goddammit]

I doubt I'm in the minority when I say defending this plan is even sillier, and if that isn't what you're doing, then welcome to the dark side.

[theCryptofishist]

before you try and invalidate cyclists, you should probably spend at least a week or two in their shoes...

I'll get right on that.

[Sham]

The original post disappeared 3 weeks ago, but I think the strong and impassioned responses are for other would-be cyclists from considering a meat head move that would endanger not only themselves, but thousands of others traveling on Highway 447.

For that reason, this is really a worthwhile thread and I am thankful it was started.

[trilobyte]

I think I'm going to stick a fork in this thread and call it done. The original poster appears to have long since abandoned the thread, and the bulk of the responses have just been going around in a circle. There's plenty of solid information in here for future reference (or the OP, should they come back), the rest of us can move on to other facets of planning/helping others plan their adventures.