The Shoal Report

[mstone]

@83(b) 93567 wrote:

Just….grrrrr….

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/08/cyclists-lets-talk-about-shoaling/379232/

That was one of the worst-written articles I’ve seen on that site. I’m still not entirely sure what its point was.

[bobco85]

@83(b) 93567 wrote:

Just….grrrrr….

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/08/cyclists-lets-talk-about-shoaling/379232/

It’s a weird article. Instead of looking at shoaling as a matter of cycling etiquette that doesn’t seem to have been fully established, i.e., a good topic for discussion, the author instead decides to defend shoalers and chastise and ridicule those complaining about shoaling, painting the complainants with a broad brush like there are no other cycling issues they care about. The author uses the cycling equivalent of “first-world problems” (in this case “first-world” means “cycling-friendly”) to dismiss the issue.

The article really ends up adding nothing to the conversation.

[americancyclo]

@83(b) 93567 wrote:

Just….grrrrr….

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/08/cyclists-lets-talk-about-shoaling/379232/

TL;DR

Bikesnob once said…
entitled cyclists
poor attempt at satire?
misses the satire in Gear Prudence
Bikesnob misquote

[cvcalhoun]

@83(b) 93567 wrote:

Just….grrrrr….

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/08/cyclists-lets-talk-about-shoaling/379232/

Honestly, I love it when people shoal me! I know I’m pretty much the slowest cyclist in the city, so they will have to pass me sometime. And shoaling me when I’m stopped at a light anyway is less hazardous than passing me in a narrow bike lane while we’re both moving.

At the same time, I doubt the author of this article would appreciate it if every time he stopped his car at a light, someone zoomed around him, forcing him to pass the same person every block.

[Crickey7]

Shoaling is a manifestation of every individual’s desire to maximize their own well being. The constraints are when doing so impinges on another’s. The author claims the shoaler doesn’t do that, but that claim is laughable on its face. Only one rider can be in front, which most people feel is the best place to be. If someone shoals, then they have in fact forced other people to wait, to ride in more crowded settings, and so on. There’s also a logic to the placement. If I was unlucky enough to miss the light, then my consolation prize is to be in front. If I arrive last, then I haven’t been waiting yet, so I can wait a little longer than those who have. And the rule imposes order where the alternative is a succession of self-serving leapfrogs or people edging forward to the very limits of safety.

I can’t believe anyone would be so brazen as to defend it.

[OneEighth]

“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
– George Carlin

[rcannon100]

7 things you should give up to be a happy cyclist, London Cyclists

6. Give up on worrying about shoaling: Being shoaled is when another, slower cyclist overtakes you as you wait at the traffic light and you know that when the lights turn green you are going to have to manoeuvre around them. This happens surprisingly frequently and it’s one that for some strange reason seems to really bug me. However, I know I’d arrive at my destination a lot more relaxed if I just ignore it.

[AFHokie]

@rcannon100 93600 wrote:

7 things you should give up to be a happy cyclist, London Cyclists

One of the best pieces of driving advice I was told when I first moved to the DC metro area: don’t take it personally.

Every time someone does something stupid or perceived as ‘taking advantage of’ forcing me to react, I think of that and so far it’s kept me from having an irrational moment on the roads both behind the wheel and behind the handlebars.

[jrenaut]

I find the best thing to do to shoalers is to pass them going uphill on the cargo bike. They don’t notice, but it makes me feel better, and that’s what matters.

[baiskeli]

I think people shoal for the same reason pedestrians wait standing two feet into the roadway for a walk sign, or they begin to enter an elevator without waiting for others to exit, or they go through the double door that someone else is using rather than simply opening the other one, even if it is on the other side. I’m not sure what that reason is though – something about not thinking while moving, or thinking about something else while moving, or not thinking when they stop. I don’t know.

[Subby]

It doesn’t bother me because I don’t think people who do it realize that they are breaching etiquette. If getting shoaled is the worst thing that happens to me on a commute, I’m going to be just fine.

[OneEighth]

I think people know perfectly well what they are doing. It’s just another example of an all-elbows, me-first attitude. The fact that some of them may no longer even pause to think through what they are doing doesn’t change a thing—it just underscores how much of a lost cause they are.
That having been said, unless someone starts to seriously impact my ride, I’m with Subby on this.
After all, can’t fix stupid, but you absolutely can control how you react to what happens around you.

[DismalScientist]

@OneEighth 93610 wrote:

But you absolutely can control how you react to what happens around you.

Well, I can’t.

[Crickey7]

They know it’s selfish, they may not know it breaks an actual unwritten code. So here I am. Writing it.

[83b]

@Crickey7 93592 wrote:

[T]he alternative is a succession of self-serving leapfrogs or people edging forward to the very limits of safety.

I’m actually pretty surprised that there aren’t more retaliatory re-shoals. Amazingly, I can’t think of a single time I’ve seen anyone do that.

Also, it’s fairly clear that the author is an inveterate shoaler, trying mightily to defend his choices. Unfortunately, he also lives in my neighborhood.

[Author]

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