Bicycles on the road

Have been cycling today. As always, I am astounded by the fact that some car drivers were very considerate and nicely swung around me - and yet, some others did not consider me worthy of their fu#@&$ing minimal movement of their steering wheels to give me some breathing space.

I am still seething, a few hours later, at one particular asshole in a white sedan, that did a close approximation of the maneuver shown in the post quoted below.

There is a reason I'd never have a gun. Temper! I would show my displeasure right there and then.

I am always toying with the idea of setting up something on a bike that would record passing traffic, like in that video. Especially license plates.

In my revenge dreams, after getting off my lightweight bicycle, I am getting into my heavy-duty truck and rolling over the idiot's car in his own driveway. A bit of monster-truck action.

A good thing I am scared of the law...

yeh I know

some fool opened his door

just a little look

but no

took my niece out on her pushie

the other day

in Berkley California

it is a very pushie educated community

heaps around

oh and it was a local

she's ok

day in hosp,

back on the bike again.

Deserve ain't got nothin' to do with it but he got hit due to riding in the lane instead of the shoulder. It's legal to do so in my state as well and also one gets grazed if one does do.

Is "grazing" cyclists a prerequisite for drivers in your state? Does the steering wheel not work except only on curves?

You need to care for yourself instead of insisting that cagers respect your space. You can huff, puff and labor it all you wish here, but it isn't a reality out there.

If there is a shoulder ride on it. Else risk the graze.

I stick to the shoulder.

It's a nice dream, one that we all share occasionally. Most of us don't follow through with our thoughts - thank goodness. Here's one guy who followed a couple of kids for something like half an hour, through the first punch, got his ass kicked, took a gun from his wife, pulled the trigger - luckily, the gun wasn't loaded -, reloaded it, shot out the windows and was arrested.

Link

I'm betting he and his wife wish that they hadn't done anything now. He'll do time now....guaranteed.

That guy deserved to get his ass kicked. He'll get Attempted Murder for that one... People are crazy out there.

His wife was stupid to hand him a gun. They should have gotten back in the vehicle and left after the ass-kicking. They had a kid in their vehicle also. Pure stupidity.

Truly. I wonder if he'll think twice before he acts the same way over a minor incident. He might be the one getting shot at next time.

I've said it many times. The road is NOT the place to "teach somebody a lesson," and even if it were, YOU are not the teacher.

Years of screaming this to myself has no doubt saved me from several unhappy endings.

He'll have several years to ponder his actions before he's on the road again. His choice? Dunno.

can you teach my wife this.

please

nothing else. lol

I didn't say I expected anyone to "care for me". I'm quite capable of taking care of myself.
On the other hand, why shouldn't I expect cagers to respect my space? I respect theirs. Doesn't matter what I'm riding, driving or pushing. Some people are just assholes, plain and simple. But with more and more people having video cameras, more of these assholes are getting what "they deserve". Jail time.

Then you wonder why cyclists take the lane...its harder for a coward to run someone off the road when they are in the middle of the lane so to me, the asshole cagers are the cause of cyclists "taking the lane".

I'll bet if the laws were toughened regarding hitting or running people off the roads, shit like this would become a rare occurrence...

Because they will not. You can expect what you choose but wishing and hoping ain't gonna get it done. It'll just get you killed.

The laws exist but aren't enforced. Let me give you a superb example which is ONE of many I personally know about.

A group of riders was on the shoulder when a car ran into them from behind. The result was one dead, his wife badly injured and many other injuries among the group and all had badly damaged or totaled bikes.

The cager claimed she swerved to avoid an oncoming car nobody in the bike group saw. She was charged with Careless driving but got off due to her ghost car defense. So she faced NO consequences for, due to no good reason, killing one, injuring many (one seriously) and doing much property damage.

Now had she run into, on that same shoulder at that same spot, a sheriff giving another cager a ticket, she'd have for sure faced vehicular homicide charges and convicted. The only difference is that she hit one of us instead of one of them.

This is the way things are. It's not the law but the attitude that if we are killed riding, we brought it upon ourselves FOR riding.

We are all aware that it's an activity with risk, but I'm not going to cower over to the far right all the time. There are situations where you have to be aggressive, and take all or part of the lane. You just have to do it. If you don't understand that, you are putting yourself in more danger, IMO. Some people should stay on the MUP's.

So this lady in a silver Subaru Baja rolls up on us, slows down, and yells something out the window that ended in 'jackass.' I didn't hear it all. We were within 12-18" of the edge of the road, on a mile long straightaway when this happened.

So yesterday, same lady is passing us (coming at us) with her middle finger flying.

This AM I called the sheriff. I want something noted officially in case she snaps and actually does something to someone.

...and who gets the call for some strange reason? My buddy the town cop! Why the county sheriff called a town cop is beyond me, but there ya go. He said he was going to run the plate. I haven't heard anything back from that, but like I said: I want something on record showing that this particular person is harassing cyclists. Its been proven to help out in CO when cyclists have encountered idiots on the road that finally do something life-threatening (as has been posted in links in this thread)

So if you're riding out of Warrenton, VA and see a silver Subaru Baja with 'slvrfsh' plates, be warned.

M

Your response is both mind-boggling and confusing.

I wonder how you do in group rides? Centuries?

I'll assume you are not some troll but just another clueless road user. I wonder if you are the same guy who rides his moto in the left lane and refuses to yield to faster riders?

why don't you read his post

or do you have no comprehension skills

instead of casting aspersions

half the problem is aggressive packs of pushbicyclists

now I know why you do it

but as I've stated before it causes accidents

puts you and others at risk

I hate going around a blind corner

finding a car coming at me

as they are trying to pass aggressive packs of cyclists

claiming their right on the road

I don't blame the car as they will always do something silly

I blame the packs of cyclists

for putting me in a life and death situation

have a think about where you do your riding

same problem with the packs of pirates

cheers

Fun ride over the weekend. Puttering around in the mountains.

Came upon a bicycle race. Ug. Didn't realize it at first, as I was passing first one bicycle, than several bicycles. Finally noticed the tags on their backs.

Continue passing where possible (not easy with bicycles riding three abreast), until I come to the big clot. About 100 riders in a pack, spanning the entire roadway on both sides of the yellow stripe. Complete with cars in front and in back, just to make sure no one passes them, and to help force cars coming the other way onto the shoulder of the road.

Lovely way to spend nearly an hour. Slowly working our way up the mountain, and then down the other side. Well, at least being real racers they were moderately quick. We went up at about 15-20 mph. OK, it was 50 mph road, but what the heck.

One set of peddlers in that race gave me a new problem to ponder. They were deliberately trying to crash one another. I held back for a bit, considering my options. Finally decided the best thing was to pass them, but on the far side of the roadway.

It was a group ride I described where one was killed, another badly injured and all lost bikes and sustained injuries.

BTW, do you know how to comprehend what you read or do you form an idea of what the meaning is and then read a post?