On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 21:28:38 +0100,
Biggles said:<snip> Slapped the car? -
hello no, he passed so close I had to push against the car to avoid
falling off.
Something I did discover when I thumped a car for the first time about a
year ago (done it once more since) - this is by far the best way to get
away from a car that is driving much too close.
Even if you've left plenty of escape room to your left and aren't
cycling in the gutter, if a car gets too close and you don't expect
it/the car is slowing down because of the car in front of you so doesn't
actually go past you can't steer away from the car. Any attempt to steer
left just causes you to tip towards the car and forces you to steer back
again. Any attempt to steer right means you're likely to clip the car
(and hence fall off).
Just the action of swinging your arm at the car can be enough to make
the bike fall to the left and allow you to steer away.
Don't know if anybody else has found this (or has any other tips for
getting away from a car that is within inches of your elbow.
Tim.
--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.