Cyclist rant

psycholist said:

I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.

The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane highways that
cuts through our little area. There weren't any other cars on the
stretch of road I was traveling.

I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as if they were
reasonably experienced riders. They were riding 2-abreast. They
were just dawdling along. The rider on the left was weaving all
over. We were approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to pass
because, the way they were riding, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't
make a turn right in front of me. Neither rider seemed interested in
showing me any consideration whatsoever. Despite the very open road,
I had to just sit in behind them and wait. It's not that it was any
big deal to wait 15 seconds until we got past that intersection, but
I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and inconsiderate of traffic.
When I ride with friends, we ride 2 abreast and talk often enough,
but if we're on a more major highway and/or if we know there's
traffic approaching from behind, we always fall in single file.

But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for no reason
whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a good number of the
rednecks in pickups among whom I have to ride every day, so I'll have
to watch my backside more closely.

I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so often.

I just composed a well-thought-out reply to this...EXCEPT I missed the fact
that you were /driving/ not /riding/!

Never mind.

Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little toot?" S.

psycholist said:

I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.

<snip all to typical experience>

Quoted message said:

Bob C.

As a roadie, mountain biker, and driver, I see this all too often as
well, and it pisses me off. I had a "local" driving against me in the
opposite lane last evening, as I was riding alone, up against the side
of the road, beep 3 times so that I would not miss his salute. I can
only imagine this was from experience with the likes of guys you
describe above, or he is just a [censored]-head.

Then again, what group doesn't have bad eggs which end up being our own
worst enemies? Unfortunately with our group, someone often pays with a
car/bike altercation, and the bike loses.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado
(remove ".nospam" to reply)

Did you tell them you were coming up on the left or anything? Maybe they
didn't even know you were there.

Curt

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

Quoted message said:

I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.

The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane highways that cuts
through our little area. There weren't any other cars on the stretch of
road I was traveling.

I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as if they were
reasonably experienced riders. They were riding 2-abreast. They were

just

Quoted message said:

dawdling along. The rider on the left was weaving all over. We were
approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to pass because, the way they

were

Quoted message said:

riding, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't make a turn right in front of me.
Neither rider seemed interested in showing me any consideration

whatsoever.

Quoted message said:

Despite the very open road, I had to just sit in behind them and wait.

It's

Quoted message said:

not that it was any big deal to wait 15 seconds until we got past that
intersection, but I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and inconsiderate of
traffic. When I ride with friends, we ride 2 abreast and talk often

enough,

Quoted message said:

but if we're on a more major highway and/or if we know there's traffic
approaching from behind, we always fall in single file.

But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for no reason
whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a good number of the rednecks
in pickups among whom I have to ride every day, so I'll have to watch my
backside more closely.

I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so often.

Bob C.

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

Quoted message said:

Did you tell them you were coming up on the left or anything? Maybe they
didn't even know you were there.

Curt

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

Quoted message said:

I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.

The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane highways that

cuts

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

through our little area. There weren't any other cars on the stretch of
road I was traveling.

I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as if they were
reasonably experienced riders. They were riding 2-abreast. They were

just

Quoted message said:

dawdling along. The rider on the left was weaving all over. We were
approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to pass because, the way they

were

Quoted message said:

riding, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't make a turn right in front of

me.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Neither rider seemed interested in showing me any consideration

whatsoever.

Quoted message said:

Despite the very open road, I had to just sit in behind them and wait.

It's

Quoted message said:

not that it was any big deal to wait 15 seconds until we got past that
intersection, but I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and inconsiderate

of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

traffic. When I ride with friends, we ride 2 abreast and talk often

enough,

Quoted message said:

but if we're on a more major highway and/or if we know there's traffic
approaching from behind, we always fall in single file.

But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for no reason
whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a good number of the

rednecks

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in pickups among whom I have to ride every day, so I'll have to watch my
backside more closely.

I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so often.

Bob C.

"The other day I was DRIVING down one of the main 2 lane highways ... "

Bob C.

psycholist said:

I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.

The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane highways that
cuts through our little area. There weren't any other cars on the
stretch of road I was traveling.

I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as if they were
reasonably experienced riders. They were riding 2-abreast. They
were just dawdling along. The rider on the left was weaving all
over. We were approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to pass
because, the way they were riding, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't
make a turn right in front of me. Neither rider seemed interested in
showing me any consideration whatsoever. Despite the very open road,
I had to just sit in behind them and wait. It's not that it was any
big deal to wait 15 seconds until we got past that intersection, but
I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and inconsiderate of traffic.
When I ride with friends, we ride 2 abreast and talk often enough,
but if we're on a more major highway and/or if we know there's
traffic approaching from behind, we always fall in single file.

But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for no reason
whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a good number of the
rednecks in pickups among whom I have to ride every day, so I'll have
to watch my backside more closely.

I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so often.

Are you sure they were aware of your presence? Some cars these days are very
quiet, and if you're riding into the wind you may not hear anything behind you
anyway.

Matt O.

S o r n i said:

Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little toot?" S.

no such thing as a friendly toot, imo. rather like a friendly smack upside
the head. nothing wrong with a "you're being a jackass" toot, tho.
--
david reuteler
[email hidden]

David Reuteler said:

S o r n i said:

Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little toot?" S.

no such thing as a friendly toot, imo. rather like a friendly smack
upside the head. nothing wrong with a "you're being a jackass" toot,
tho.

I disagree with the first part. If someone is unaware that a car is behind
them and seeking to pass, a soft tap on the horn to alert them doesn't seem
particularly menacing or intimidating to me. (A full-on honk is different,
however.)

Bill "agree on the 'UB a jackass' toot, though" S.

In that case, you should develop more patience for people.

Curt

Quoted message said:

"The other day I was DRIVING down one of the main 2 lane highways ... "

Bob C.

I keyed on, "I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and inconsiderate of|
traffic." And remembered Chapter Eight of Bicycle Transportation. Seems to
indicate that 'THAT' isn't very inconsiderate and even less than your
'fifteen seconds'. Did you blast the exhaust over pressure pedal, a.k.a.
'throttle' at them as you passed?

Chill. Ride

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
| I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.
|
| The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane highways that cuts
| through our little area. There weren't any other cars on the stretch of
| road I was traveling.
|
| I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as if they were
| reasonably experienced riders. They were riding 2-abreast. They were
just
| dawdling along. The rider on the left was weaving all over. We were
| approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to pass because, the way they
were
| riding, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't make a turn right in front of me.
| Neither rider seemed interested in showing me any consideration
whatsoever.
| Despite the very open road, I had to just sit in behind them and wait.
It's
| not that it was any big deal to wait 15 seconds until we got past that
| intersection, but I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and inconsiderate of
| traffic. When I ride with friends, we ride 2 abreast and talk often
enough,
| but if we're on a more major highway and/or if we know there's traffic
| approaching from behind, we always fall in single file.
|
| But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for no reason
| whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a good number of the rednecks
| in pickups among whom I have to ride every day, so I'll have to watch my
| backside more closely.
|
| I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so often.
|
| Bob C.
|
|

David Reuteler said:

S o r n i <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little toot?" S.

no such thing as a friendly toot, imo.

I disagree, but how a horn is interpreted depends on where you are. Throughout
Latin America, a quick toot is considered friendly, and people will toot and
wave as they pass fellow humans. Some French cars even have two horns -- tooty
country horns (Hallo!) and blaring city horns (Get out of my way!) Southerners
don't seem to use horns unless they're really [censored], so I wouldn't try a
"friendly" toot around here. This is unfortunate -- the usual annoyed redneck
tactic is to creep up behind a cyclist and rev the engine! I'd much prefer a
friendly toot.

Matt O.

psycholist said:

I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.

The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane highways that cuts
through our little area. There weren't any other cars on the stretch of
road I was traveling.

I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as if they were
reasonably experienced riders. They were riding 2-abreast. They were just
dawdling along. The rider on the left was weaving all over.

Yeah. That happens sometimes.

Quoted message said:

We were
approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to pass because, the way they were
riding, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't make a turn right in front of me.
Neither rider seemed interested in showing me any consideration whatsoever.
Despite the very open road, I had to just sit in behind them and wait. It's
not that it was any big deal to wait 15 seconds until we got past that
intersection, but I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and inconsiderate of
traffic. When I ride with friends, we ride 2 abreast and talk often enough,
but if we're on a more major highway and/or if we know there's traffic
approaching from behind, we always fall in single file.

Perhaps the clue is "if we KNOW there's traffic..." IOW, maybe these
guys didn't know. I've done that inadvertently, I'm sure. The
"friendly little toot" strategy might have worked perfectly.

I've (very rarely) seen riders being real jerks, purposely blocking the
road, deliberately enraging drivers. That deserves a rant. But if you
saw a simple mistake, just remember that nobody's perfect.

--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

"Matt O'Toole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

David Reuteler said:

S o r n i <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little toot?" S.

no such thing as a friendly toot, imo.

I disagree, but how a horn is interpreted depends on where you are.

Throughout

Quoted message said:

Latin America, a quick toot is considered friendly, and people will toot

and

Quoted message said:

wave as they pass fellow humans. Some French cars even have two horns --

tooty

Quoted message said:

country horns (Hallo!) and blaring city horns (Get out of my way!)

Southerners

Quoted message said:

don't seem to use horns unless they're really [censored], so I wouldn't

try a

Quoted message said:

"friendly" toot around here. This is unfortunate -- the usual annoyed

redneck

Quoted message said:

tactic is to creep up behind a cyclist and rev the engine! I'd much

prefer a

Quoted message said:

friendly toot.

Matt O.

You must live near me.

Rev ... Rev ... squeeeeeel!

Bob C.

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

Quoted message said:

In that case, you should develop more patience for people.

Curt

Quoted message said:

"The other day I was DRIVING down one of the main 2 lane highways ... "

Bob C.

I'll say this as patiently as I can. You can't read and you apparently
missed the point.

Bob C.

They knew I was there. They just apparently didn't care.

Bob C.

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

Quoted message said:

I keyed on, "I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and inconsiderate of|
traffic." And remembered Chapter Eight of Bicycle Transportation. Seems

to

Quoted message said:

indicate that 'THAT' isn't very inconsiderate and even less than your
'fifteen seconds'. Did you blast the exhaust over pressure pedal, a.k.a.
'throttle' at them as you passed?

Chill. Ride

I don't understand. Are you saying there's some book out there that says
it's OK to do what these riders were doing? If so, then it's stupid and
it's going to get somebody killed. I was quite patient with it. I didn't
honk, toot, gesture. I waited patiently until it was safe to pass, then I
passed. But all the rude rider needed to do was ease over to single file
for a second. It wouldn't have delayed him one bit and it would have
allowed me to pass.

The law where I live as that bicycles are to ride as far to the right as
practicable. He wasn't doing that. Not even close. He was simply being
rude and arrogant or he was clueless and he needs to get a clue. I was
quite tempted to stop farther up the road and await his arrival so I could
give him one. But my wife was along and she would not have approved.
Incidentally, her comment to me as we passed the riders was, "I hope you
don't ride like that." I assured her I didn't.

Bob C.

No I didn't miss the point. I understand they were in your way and rode
tandem when they shouldn't have. They were wrong, but relax. Look at what
cyclist put up with really. It is worse than ever now that people are in a
rush to get no where and possibly the worst invention for cyclists...the
cell phone.

Relax. You got around them within seconds anyway. Give the guys a break.

Curt

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

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

In that case, you should develop more patience for people.

Curt

Quoted message said:

"The other day I was DRIVING down one of the main 2 lane highways ...

"

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Bob C.

I'll say this as patiently as I can. You can't read and you apparently
missed the point.

Bob C.

On Wed, 02 Jun 2004 18:07:17 GMT, "Matt O'Toole" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

no such thing as a friendly toot, imo.

I disagree, but how a horn is interpreted depends on where you are.

Sounds reasonable, but I think it's also a matter of who you are.
I'm often startled by even a minor blip from a horn, and often
offended, even if I think it wasn't supposed to be offensive.

As such, I temporarily got in the habit of revving my engine to
notify others with a less sharp noise, but apparently most people
believe that to be an obnoxious "I'm trying to race" noise.

Seems to me, the
___...---***```***---...___
pattern of engine revving sound is more gentle than the
***************************
pattern of even a short honk, but well...that's just me.
--
Rick Onanian

On Wed, 02 Jun 2004 15:08:26 -0400, Rick Onanian <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Seems to me, the
___...---***```***---...___
pattern of engine revving sound is more gentle than the
***************************
pattern of even a short honk, but well...that's just me.

I hope the ASCII art looks similar on everybody's screen, but it
probably won't.
--
Rick Onanian

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 14:45:44 -0400, "psycholist" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I don't understand. Are you saying there's some book out there that says
it's OK to do what these riders were doing? If so, then it's stupid and
it's going to get somebody killed.

In some situations its easier to pass bikes that are two abreast than
a longer line of cyclists that are single file (and I do have some
experience - there was a ten year period that I did sagwagon on
everything from bike races to LAW GEARs to large club rides - probably
averaging about 20 a year). Unfortunately, in most of those cases, the
majority of cyclists don't have the experience to do it right (go two
abreast and open clear pass-to spaces).

Even when it is just two cyclists, in most cases it doesn't make much
difference, although it can. More often it gives an appearance of
blocking more than it does in reality. And as some believe the best
thing is to force the auto into the other lane rather than gamble on a
close pass in the same lane, I would guess that they would argue that
two abreast is fine in most cases.

Yours may well have been one of the cases where it made a difference.
Doubt these two would have read a book anyway to know whether or not
they were doing right.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...