This is one of the photos sent around by an outraged citizen to demonstrate cyclists failing to share the road in Montgomery County. It's part of the reason there has been so much discussion about MacArthur Boulevard. I don't believe this is a photo on MacArthur, btw.
Anyway, two thoughts
1. It's entirely possible that the one cyclist who is not on the shoulder is passing the other cyclists or is drifting back after his turn in the front. Passing is an acceptable reason to be side by side, since it's very difficult to pass without doing so. I can bunny hop, but not enough to pass to another rider.
2. These cyclists are pretty close to the next car, so it isn't clear they're keeping anyone from getting anyhwere.
What would be the point in passing the cyclists? There are 3 other cars in front!
Posted by: JJJJJ | July 05, 2011 at 12:37 AM
It is very clear that the motorist is being impeded from tailgating the car in front of the cyclist.
Posted by: Early Man | July 05, 2011 at 07:20 AM
Hilarious!
Posted by: Eric_W. | July 05, 2011 at 07:32 AM
Hope it's not lost on anyone that the motorist is breaking the law by using a hand held device while driving. But since it's to document how cyclists are impeding his progress to catch the next car in front of the group, it must be okay, right?
Posted by: cyclestrong | July 05, 2011 at 07:55 AM
Pics are pointless unless we also know how fast the car is going!
Wait, forgot, in MoCo the speed limit is now a minimum and the max speed allowed is... up to the driver?
Posted by: Joe | July 05, 2011 at 08:38 AM
@cyclestrong: Unless the driver reached way over, this does appear to have been taken by a passenger.
Any idea what that box on top of the dashboard (left edge of the photo) is? Are we in a police cruiser, or a taxicab?
Posted by: Joe D | July 05, 2011 at 08:55 AM
I agree with the conclusion of the original post: This picture is not evidence of anything. Just the same...
Hope it's not lost on anyone that the motorist is breaking the law by using a hand held device while driving.
It looks like the picture was taken by a passenger in the front seat. I see a glove box, not a steering wheel.
Pics are pointless unless we also know how fast the car is going!
Right. Just like we don't know how the fast the cyclist in the lane is going relative to the other cyclists (he may be passing them), we also don't know the speed of the car in front of that cyclist. The car in front may be passing all of those bikes too, meaning that the car from which the picture is being taken may not have been "impeded" by the car in front any more than it was being impeded by the cyclist in the lane. If the cyclist had not been in the lane, we don't know if it would have been a "hurry up and wait" situation. In a static image you just can't know what's going on.
Posted by: NeilB | July 05, 2011 at 09:04 AM
It is indeed hard to deduce anything from a static picture. A couple of points seem to be clear, though. One, there is a fair amount of traffic on the road in question, of both the motor vehicle and bicycle variety. Two, they both appear to using the road at the same time, even if the speed at this particular moment MAY not as high as the drivers wish. Three, either the next car up has just passed some of the cyclists, or they are travelling at the same speed.
Q.E.D., the cyclists are in fact sharing the road, and not impeding traffic.
Posted by: Crickey7 | July 05, 2011 at 09:16 AM
The whole line of cars further in front didnt have trouble passing the cyclists. Whiny Dale Earnhart wannabees
Posted by: SJE | July 05, 2011 at 09:35 AM
No offense to anyone, but the fact that an outraged local motorist would feel compelled to take this picture makes me happy I don't live in Montgomery County! Amazing sense of entitlement out there, apparently. There are jerks everywhere, of course, on all parts of the road, but this person must be absolutely insufferable to feel "impeded" in this situation.
Posted by: Greenbelt | July 05, 2011 at 09:36 AM
Don't know where this is, but it looks residential and that the speed limit would probably be 35 mph. And is that a share-the-road bike sign to the right of the bicyclists?
The peloton should take the road instead of the shoulder, forcing the car ahead to ride on the double lines to maintain 3 feet to pass them.
But it's MoCo, so that's suicide.
Posted by: Shawn | July 05, 2011 at 10:41 AM
The photo was taken from inside a taxi - and not by the driver.
Posted by: washcycle | July 05, 2011 at 10:48 AM
Yeah - you can see the meter just on the left hand side of the image.
And that's almost certainly not MacArthur.
And either a) the brown car in front had no problem passing the cyclist in the lane, or b) the cyclist only took the lane after the brown car passed...unless it was the brown car that bunny-hopped over the cyclist.
Posted by: Bilsko | July 05, 2011 at 01:20 PM
It's hard to see, but the last three riders appear to be wearing a uniform.
And the final rider's leg position indicates he may be about to do the dreaded "butt waggle", which is highly provocative to drivers, kind of like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
Posted by: Crickey7 | July 05, 2011 at 02:12 PM
I don't think I'll ever understand how "Share the Road" means to certain motorists "All things must get out of my way"
Posted by: Pam | July 05, 2011 at 06:15 PM
If impeding means occasionally slowing down a cab to the posted speed limit, I'm all for it.
Posted by: Blue-eyed Devil | July 06, 2011 at 09:26 AM
That's guys from the DC Velo team. This group ride goes fast, very easily hitting 25mph.
Posted by: greg | July 06, 2011 at 10:02 PM