More wrong way riders

A little courtesy does go a long way, it seems. As for the voluntarily
deaf rider, I would suggest hand signals (pointing to the other curb)
and try to ride to his right. That way if anyone gets hit, more likely
it won't be you!

- -
Comments and opinions compliments of,
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

My web Site:
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To E-mail me:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

"Kristian M Zoerhoff" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I had my own wrong-way rider experience this afternoon.

I was out cruising the neighborhood ahead of the village-wide garage
sale that starts tomorrow, as some early birds were already set up, and
I encountered a pack of pre-teen girls, riding 3 abreast, coming right
at me against traffic (in the street, not on the sidewalk). I gave them
a quick "Ride to the right, please," (trying my best to stay polite) and
they obliged without a word (that I could hear, anyway).

I almost did the same to the guy riding wrong-way on the sidewalk
yesterday morning, but he would never have heard me over his headphones
:-/

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_ [email hidden]
(_)/ (_)

A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a wrong way Hispanic rider in
the wee hours before dawn.
I was commuting on in to work and had just turned onto a major divided road
and got up to speed, when out of the darkness a rider appeared heading
straight for me.
I only had a split second to react, if I was looking down or something it
would have been all over. So I veered out to the left and flashed right on
by him.
The guy was on a dark colored bike, no reflectors, no lights, and wearing
dar clothing, you couldn't get any more invisible at night going the wrong
way on a road where motorists typically zip by at over 50mph (who obeys
50mph speed limits anymore).
He appeared to simply not know what to do, the road has nice curbs, no
sidewalks, no shoulders, and a high speed limit.

"Earl Bollinger" wrote: A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a
wrong way Hispanic rider in the wee hours before dawn.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earl, why did you feel compelled to mention his ethnicity?

Leo Lichtman said:

"Earl Bollinger" wrote: A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a
wrong way Hispanic rider in the wee hours before dawn.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earl, why did you feel compelled to mention his ethnicity?

Maybe it was in the interest of accuracy. Perhaps it was because he was
thinking of the possible language barrier that prevented him from
stopping to lecture the rider. Since he didn't make any disparaging
remarks based on ethnicity does it really matter?

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Quoted message said:

That's my honest take on it and it's not my intention to offend. I'm sure
that I with my strange American customs and affectations must seem really
strange to the locals when I visit Mexico or Italy.

brink

Yeah, dude, just don't wear the fishing vest when you visit Mexico or Italy.
I was in Spain recently and saw a few Americans wearing those and I have no
idea what they were thinking when they dressed like that. The khaki pants
with the zip-off legs marked them as tourists for sure, but those vests with
a thousand pockets? What WERE they thinking!

Pat in TX

Quoted message said:

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Earl Bollinger" wrote: A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a
wrong way Hispanic rider in the wee hours before dawn.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earl, why did you feel compelled to mention his ethnicity?

Harder to see in the dark. I almost hit a black guy at night who was running
across the road. The only thing that gave him away were his white kicks.

In article <[email hidden]>,

brink said:

I have no idea how much "How To Ride" info is available in Spanish ....

That would be an awesome translation project. I wish I knew Spanish.

--
fneep

"Kevan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

brink said:

I have no idea how much "How To Ride" info is available in Spanish ....

That would be an awesome translation project. I wish I knew Spanish.

This might be of interest: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/exec_sum.htm

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Sorry, to follow up, but I should have also included this:
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/materials/html/flyer-020-s.htm

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

In article <[email hidden]>,

Claire Petersky said:

This might be of interest: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/exec_sum.htm

Awesome. Thanks!

--
fneep

C A III A said:

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Earl Bollinger" wrote: A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a
wrong way Hispanic rider in the wee hours before dawn.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earl, why did you feel compelled to mention his ethnicity?

Harder to see in the dark. I almost hit a black guy at night who was running
across the road. The only thing that gave him away were his white kicks.

The only thing you can do to redeem yourself is to go out and almost
run into a few white guys. Does it ever snow where you live?

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Mark Hickey said:

C A III A said:

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Earl Bollinger" wrote: A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a
wrong way Hispanic rider in the wee hours before dawn.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earl, why did you feel compelled to mention his ethnicity?

Harder to see in the dark. I almost hit a black guy at night who was running
across the road. The only thing that gave him away were his white kicks.

The only thing you can do to redeem yourself is to go out and almost
run into a few white guys. Does it ever snow where you live?

Here in my neighborhood in a moderate sized city in the southern US, I
often narrowly avoid hitting folks with dark skin and clothes that are
jaywalking. It has zero to do with race, just skin reflectivity.

During the day, you can protect yourself from really pale mofos with
some polarized sunglasses.

"Kevan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

brink said:

I have no idea how much "How To Ride" info is available in Spanish ....

That would be an awesome translation project. I wish I knew Spanish.

--
fneep

I think it is more complicated than that though.
Many of the people from Mexico and below, do not really speak Spanish.
So you would need to have more than one version of the booklets and stuff.
Plus many of the poorer ones aren't really literate either, someone would
need to read it to them.
But it would make for a great project and campaign to get the word out
though.

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Earl Bollinger" wrote: A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a
wrong way Hispanic rider in the wee hours before dawn.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earl, why did you feel compelled to mention his ethnicity?

Why not?
I don't remember encountering any white people riding the wrong way on roads
and highways down here in Texas yet.
Since I almost got killed that way once I have been a lot more alert to
encountering another wrong way rider like that.

Earl Bollinger said:

A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a wrong way ...

Not quite a year ago, there was a fatal two bike collision on a marked
time trial course in an industrial/office part of Plano. One of the
riders (not the survivor) was about to ride in the HotterNHell Hundred,
so it was in mid August. This wasn't your typical riding against
traffic situation, but I mention it just to point out that if you are
not expecting to encounter a wrong way rider, things can get real bad in
a short time. In my neighborhood, I can usually spot them from far
away, but that's not always the case.

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Earl Bollinger" wrote: A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a
wrong way Hispanic rider in the wee hours before dawn.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earl, why did you feel compelled to mention his ethnicity?

I got called on this sort of thing. I wrote a post on a local board about
some of the people I see commuting the opposite direction to me on their
bikes. Only one person did I describe by race/ethnicity, a black woman. It
caused me to reflect, because one of the cyclists coming the other way that
I didn't describe in those terms was also African American. For him, though,
I didn't think of him as "that black guy" -- his skinniness is probably more
of a physical characteristic, and now that I've chatted with him once, I
think of him as "that racer guy", as I found out he does bike racing. So why
did I think of the woman specifically in terms of race? I'm not sure. Maybe
because I see so few black women cycling?

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Claire Petersky said:

... Maybe
because I see so few black women cycling?

That's a whole other topic. Cycling is likely still viewed by many
(without regard to race) as somewhat of an elitist sort of activity
because of the expensive bikes, clothing peculiar to the sport, etc.
that some noncyclists may feel are required to get into it.

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Earl Bollinger" wrote: A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a
wrong way Hispanic rider in the wee hours before dawn.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earl, why did you feel compelled to mention his ethnicity?

I got called on this sort of thing. I wrote a post on a local board about
some of the people I see commuting the opposite direction to me on their
bikes. Only one person did I describe by race/ethnicity, a black woman. It
caused me to reflect, because one of the cyclists coming the other way
that I didn't describe in those terms was also African American. For him,
though, I didn't think of him as "that black guy" -- his skinniness is
probably more of a physical characteristic, and now that I've chatted with
him once, I think of him as "that racer guy", as I found out he does bike
racing. So why did I think of the woman specifically in terms of race? I'm
not sure. Maybe because I see so few black women cycling?

I don't understand why some people get bent out of shape when ethnicity/race
are used to describe someone. It's no different than calling someone "the
guy with the mohawk" or "the girl with the blonde hair".

"Gooserider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Earl Bollinger" wrote: A few months ago, I almost had a head on with a
wrong way Hispanic rider in the wee hours before dawn.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earl, why did you feel compelled to mention his ethnicity?

I got called on this sort of thing. I wrote a post on a local board about
some of the people I see commuting the opposite direction to me on their
bikes. Only one person did I describe by race/ethnicity, a black woman.
It caused me to reflect, because one of the cyclists coming the other way
that I didn't describe in those terms was also African American. For him,
though, I didn't think of him as "that black guy" -- his skinniness is
probably more of a physical characteristic, and now that I've chatted
with him once, I think of him as "that racer guy", as I found out he does
bike racing. So why did I think of the woman specifically in terms of
race? I'm not sure. Maybe because I see so few black women cycling?

I don't understand why some people get bent out of shape when
ethnicity/race are used to describe someone. It's no different than
calling someone "the guy with the mohawk" or "the girl with the blonde
hair".

Because it can be different and often is.

I agree with you in principle, people are way too sensitive about it --
actually, sensitive isn't the right word... more like indiscriminate
(pardon the pun) with their offense.

Anytime you stand out in a crowd because of some physically defining
characteristic, you will be referred to by that characteristic in many
situations.

I love to play basketball and in pickup games where nobody knows anyone
else's names, this is principle is abundantly clear. You're not "brink,"
you're "big man." The little point guard type is "little guy." If you're
the only white guy out there, you're "white dude." Etc.

The problem is when mentioning race is tantamount to a code word for a
prejudice about the person being described. I hear it all the time used as
such. I'm also not stupid and I realize that we all have prejudices,
whether racial, or cultural, or material, or bike vs. car... and actually
prejudice *can* be a good thing (gasp!) because the person who goes through
life never picking up on cues about other people around him can end up with
problems that people more attuned to others would easily avoid.

Please understand that when I say "prejudice" I'm not really referring to
race. I'm referring to the dozens of factors about a person we may be able
to assess when we interact with them. As a rider, I will treat very
differently a situation where I must interact with a big truck full of
teenagers than I would a middle-aged woman driving a sedan.

brink