Bicycle thread

[Mr Head]

I got into work today about 8, almost mid-day for my usual. We had a meeting and talked about all the stuff to get done. Decided I'd get to work the overnight shift, so I headed home and decided I'd might as well go for a short ride to maybe wear myself out a little for a nap.

Little Ride:


This ended up not working out quite like I'd planned. I got about a half hour nap before some salesman called and woke me. I guess that Do Not Call thing expired?

Anyway on the way out I spied a yellow jersey up ahead as I was just getting loose. Wicked it up and caught him on the hill, where else?
We cycled through one minute pulls in a little two man break, and then as we got to the bridge I was done.

So much for my high level of fitness.
Felt OK even with the headwind. I just put my head down and spun the pedals. Turned around at the hour, and headed back to the hill. Up the face again though not to the top. Hot by then.

[Gummee!]

Guess its better than nothing

M

[Aurelius]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Guess its better than nothing

M

Roadies around here flagrantly disregard traffic laws and think nothing of holding up traffic for miles. They are justifiably despised by every driver and motorcyclist. It's a wonder there haven't been more incidents of road rage like this.

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Guess its better than nothing

M

Def in 2 minds over this. Sure, he's a dick but it sounds like the cyclists were too and they ran into the back of HIM.

[k7]

Originally Posted by Mercury264

Def in 2 minds over this. Sure, he's a dick but it sounds like the cyclists were too and they ran into the back of HIM.

Every had a driver do a fast and hard brake-check on you? I've had it done to me going downhill and guess what, it's either react or run into them. I clearly got lucky and was able to swerve around them.

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by k7

Every had a driver do a fast and hard brake-check on you? I've had it done to me going downhill and guess what, it's either react or run into them. I clearly got lucky and was able to swerve around them.

Well, unless he swerves into your path, wouldn't that be your fault ?

[zippy]

Originally Posted by Aurelius

Roadies around here flagrantly disregard traffic laws and think nothing of holding up traffic for miles. They are justifiably despised by every driver and motorcyclist. It's a wonder there haven't been more incidents of road rage like this.

So true. This is why I usually ride solo on road rides. Heck last Sunday I was almost run off the Pinellas trail by a group riding three wide coming head on. That is just blatant ignorance.

[Aurelius]

Originally Posted by zippy

So true. This is why I usually ride solo on road rides. Heck last Sunday I was almost run off the Pinellas trail by a group riding three wide coming head on. That is just blatant ignorance.

I always ride solo and try to stay off the road if at all possible. One of the guys in my Sunday motorcycle groups is a roadie who sees no problem at all with bicyclists hindering motorized traffic. He went as far as to deny that there was any statute requiring cyclists to ride single file on any public road where their slow speeds impede traffic. When I offered to e-mail him the Florida statute, his response was, "I don't want to see it." It's that kind of mind bending arrogance that causes bicyclists to become the targets of road rage. They go out of their way to antagonize the public and then have the nerve to whine that they're being unfairly targeted.

[k7]

Originally Posted by Mercury264

Well, unless he swerves into your path, wouldn't that be your fault ?

That's exactly what the dr. did.

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by k7

That's exactly what the dr. did.

I didn't read that in the report.

[k7]

Originally Posted by Mercury264

I didn't read that in the report.

I've been following this one for sometime - the dr. passed them, cut over and slammed on his brakes. Maybe those guys were wrong for riding side-by-side - I doubt it's illegal under CA law - dunno - but he got what he deserved and now, even the dr. appears to recognize that he was wrong. That could be "pre-sentence remorse" though.

[fullmonte]

During a road ride, as I was putting the water bottle back into its cage last night, my thumb nail snagged the rear brake cable. Instant mph drop. Were it not for my cat like reflexes, the rear tire would have locked up and things would have gotten nasty in short order. This is a first in 20 years and many thousands of miles. Just because your muscle memory allows you to put the bottle into the cage without looking, don't assume its always safe.

[YakSpout]

Originally Posted by k7

I've been following this one for sometime - the dr. passed them, cut over and slammed on his brakes. Maybe those guys were wrong for riding side-by-side - I doubt it's illegal under CA law - dunno - but he got what he deserved and now, even the dr. appears to recognize that he was wrong. That could be "pre-sentence remorse" though.

This happened a few years ago and those of us in LA watched it pretty carefully. Mandeville Cyn road is a huge draw for cyclists and the La Grange team has a weekday morning training ride there. Most residents are cool with the cyclists and vice-versa.

Some factors to consider:

This particular driver was pretty well known to be aggressive and occasionally dangerous to cyclists. (Multiple complaints to police about his road rage and a few anecdotes posted to local bike forums with his description and plate number.

The cyclists were side-by-side and it's legal to take the lane in CA.

They were descending a hill (about 4% in that spot) and doing just over the 25mph speed limit.

The good doctor drove on wrong side of the road alongside the riders while both sides shouted their unhappiness at each other.

The doctor then cut in front of them and braked hard.

The more seriously injured cyclist had his nose nearly taken off when he put his head through the rear windshield of the doctor's car. I've seen the pics and it's the reason for the guilty charge of mayhem.

(CPC Sec. 203. Every person who unlawfully and maliciously deprives a human
being of a member of his body, or disables, disfigures, or renders it
useless, or cuts or disables the tongue, or puts out an eye, or
slits the nose, ear, or lip, is guilty of mayhem.)

The doctor didn't render aid to either of the injured men and continued to berate them while the paramedics were working on them and in the presence of the LAPD.

[barnyard]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Guess its better than nothing

M

Good article. Sometimes, riders do bring this stuff on themselves. I would love to see our local popo writing some tickets to riders for running stop signs, riding on the wrong side of the street or riding way too fast on the sidewalk.

It would not take that many tickets to send a very loud message to my local community.

[Aurelius]

Originally Posted by YakSpout

The doctor didn't render aid to either of the injured men and continued to berate them while the paramedics were working on them and in the presence of the LAPD.

And this guy is a doctor?! Makes you wonder how many patients he might have killed.