“Their bikes should be licensed to be on the road.”
The two cyclists riding side by side on a two-lane road don’t seem to think they’re doing anything more than enjoying a sunny day and getting some exercise. But for the driver stuck behind them, they’re misusing valuable infrastructure while also ignoring some bicycle-friendly accommodations located just a few yards from them.
In a viral TikTok clip, creator @motorfeed appears to be traveling well below the posted speed limit because the tandem cyclists are taking up most of his lane, even though a clearly visible, unused bike path is to the left of the roadway. With no oncoming cars, he speeds up and passes the pair, honking his horn to register his frustration at being slowed down.
“They take up the road when there’s a perfectly good trail right there, and I’m just stuck behind them right now. Just stuck,” he said in the clip that’s been viewed more than 540,000 times.
The driver found plenty of sympathy in the comments, where viewers argued the cyclists were being needlessly inconsiderate by ignoring infrastructure built specifically for them.
“They should be on the bike path that was built for them,” one commenter wrote.
A Colorado viewer, who suggested the clip was filmed in-state, argued that the state has spent heavily on designated bicycle infrastructure, only for riders to continue using traffic lanes. Others objected to the pair riding side by side rather than single file.
Plenty of viewers pushed back in defense of the cyclists. One noted that a trail is only useful if it actually goes where the cyclists are headed. Another reduced the entire confrontation to the amount of time the driver had apparently lost.
“Gosh. There’s 0.000000002 seconds of your life you’ll never get back.”
The cyclists also appear to have more legal room than some commenters assumed. Colorado treats bicycles as vehicles for purposes of roadway use, and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) says cyclists have the same right to use the road as drivers.
That right doesn’t disappear simply because a paved trail runs alongside the road. CDOT encourages cyclists to use bike lanes and trails when possible, but its own roadway guidance says bicycles may operate on Colorado roads unless cycling is specifically prohibited there.
Riding side by side is not automatically a violation, either. Colorado law allows cyclists to ride two abreast as long as they stay within one lane and do not impede the “normal and reasonable movement of traffic.”
That last part leaves some room for argument in this particular clip. The driver is plainly traveling more slowly than he wants to, though we can’t see his speedometer, but the short video doesn’t show how long he had been behind the cyclists or whether they were impeding other drivers.
Some viewers also accused the driver of breaking the law when he moved across the centerline to get around the cyclists, even though Colorado gives motorists some latitude to do exactly that.
Drivers must leave at least three feet between their vehicle and a cyclist when passing. If there isn’t enough room to provide that space, Colorado law allows a driver to cross a double yellow line when it is safe to do so and no oncoming traffic is put at risk.
If a safe pass isn’t possible, the driver is supposed to slow down and remain behind the cyclists until conditions change.
The clip appears to show an empty oncoming lane when @motorfeed makes his move, though the video doesn’t provide enough context to say definitively whether every part of the pass complied with the law.
The argument then widened beyond road etiquette to who should pay for access to it.
“I will die on the hill that if they are allowed to use the road, their bikes should be licensed to be on the road, at least $25/year,” one commenter wrote.
Colorado does rely heavily on fuel taxes, vehicle registration fees and other motorist-related revenue to fund transportation. But federal money, general fund transfers, retail delivery fees, toll revenue and other state revenue streams also contribute to the transportation system.
The clip itself hardly seems volatile enough to spark thousands of opinions and arguments. It’s two cyclists, one driver and a short stretch of road all trying to coexist.
But those ingredients were enough to spark a heated debate over traffic laws, taxes, infrastructure spending, and who has the strongest claim to the pavement.
Motor1 reached out to the creator via email and direct message. We’ll update this story if they respond.
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– The Motor1.com Team