Posted on 11/10/2013 6:57:21 PM PST by nickcarraway
EVERYBODY who knows me knows that I love cycling and that I’m also completely freaked out by it. I got into the sport for middle-aged reasons: fat; creaky knees; the delusional vanity of tight shorts. Registering for a triathlon, I took my first ride in decades. Wind in my hair, smile on my face, I decided instantly that I would bike everywhere like all those beautiful hipster kids on fixies. Within minutes, however, I watched an S.U.V. hit another cyclist, and then I got my own front wheel stuck in a streetcar track, sending me to the pavement.
I made it home alive and bought a stationary bike trainer and workout DVDs with the ex-pro Robbie Ventura guiding virtual rides on Wisconsin farm roads, so that I could sweat safely in my California basement. Then I called my buddy Russ, one of 13,500 daily bike commuters in Washington, D.C. Russ swore cycling was harmless but confessed to awakening recently in a Level 4 trauma center, having been hit by a car he could not remember. Still, Russ insisted I could avoid harm by assuming that every driver was “a mouth-breathing drug addict with a murderous hatred for cyclists.”
The anecdotes mounted: my wife’s childhood friend was cycling with Mom and Dad when a city truck killed her; two of my father’s law partners, maimed. I began noticing “cyclist killed” news articles, like one about Amelie Le Moullac, 24, pedaling inside a bike lane in San Francisco’s SOMA district when a truck turned right and killed her. In these articles, I found a recurring phrase: to quote from The San Francisco Chronicle story about Ms. Le Moullac, “The truck driver stayed at the scene and was not cited.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Here’s a scenario that I’m sure many bikers are familiar with: you’re waiting to cross the street at a stop sign leading into a busier street. Several cars are waiting to turn into traffic. And every single driver is looking the other way, watching the traffic for a break. They don’t even know you’re there. I will always stare hard at the first driver and force him to feel my presence. After about 15 seconds he will instinctively turn his head and look at me. And they always get that same shocked expression on their faces, like “where the hell did you come from?” Once you see that look, you know it’s safe to cross in front of them.
On every tombstone of every cyclist killed by a vehicle it should read “At least he had the right of way”.
Flat lander....... If there hills and real grades, not so easy.
Best post on the thread.
Yesterday, I was stuck behind a bike rider riding outside the new bike lane.
...well, in that case, blast your horn at the guy and make a show of pointing to newly painted areas...
...I love bicycling...but I don’t love cyclists who ride stupid...and that would include some of the stupid things I’ve done on a bike...
There are many freepers who believe, truly believe, hitting cyclists would be okay.
...I agree with this...and there are many drivers here in southcentral Pennsylvania who would agree also...
...I agree with this...and there are many drivers here in southcentral Pennsylvania who would agree also...
...let me rephrase...I believe many drivers love to yell at bicyclists and give them the finger...but I think most of them would be mortified if they actually maimed ine...
Well said...may I also add that your list could include were they post at?
R.D.
Not the speed demon dropbar bikes, but the laid back hybrid types.
We are extremely fortunate to live in Central Florida which has many beautiful trails. And we ride around 2000 miles per year.
We would NEVER ride our bikes where we had to share the road with cars and trucks.
Alligators, snakes, wild turkeys, armadillos, rabbits, squirrels and other wildlife are a much lesser threat than a side-view truck mirror in the back of the head.
...but, oh so wacky and politically out of control.
I quit riding bicycles from that day forward and haven't gotten on one since.
yep just like the sign at the complex.. they still do it!! not to mention all the day labors riding bike on the sidewalk!! not watching for cars slowing down to make a turn!!!
Bet nobody parks their car on that road.
choose your risk. Flat tire or a personal view of the underside of someone’s car tire.
>>Ride all you want, but have lane discipline. Don’t ride on sidewalks either, if for no other reason than someone may be walking a large breed dog with a barely latent prey drive, like my American Bulldogs from my friend’s pack of wild hog catchers. You can’t pedal that fast.
So, stay off the road and stay off the sidewalks?
Can your bulldog outrun a 9mm? I carry and wear a camera when I ride. I will kill your feral mutt if you can’t control it.
I live in a rural area where the roads are narrow with lots of hills. I was trying to get home one day and had a pack of about 6 cyclists blocking the road. When I finally got to a place I could pass them, as I was going past I gunned the engine of the diesel truck I was driving (ford excursion), just to show my annoyance more than anything. I looked in my rearview mirror to see the reaction and you couldn’t see them for all the black diesel smoke my truck spewed out when I gunned the engine. I didn’t mean to do that, but it sure felt good.
Nice of you.
“All the exercise haters screech about cyclists not staying in bike paths, having never tried riding in one.
So everyone that doesn’t like poking along behind a group of spandex wearing idiots is an “exercise hater?” I exercise daily, 7 days a week, 365 days a year but I don’t impose my activity on anyone else. I always try to be considerate of other people. You never know when that person poking along behind you is trying to get to the hospital, or home because they are sick, or a loved one is hurt....
And that fecal attitude gets innocent bikers in deep bandini.
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