Got back after real cool morning hanging out with the a.b crowd followed
by lunch with a friend in Lygon street. Got home, laid out all my gear
for tomorrow (I'm [censored] in the mornings), took all the commuting stuff of
the bike and blinked. It actually looks like a road bike now.
Took it out for an easy hour, mainly to check everything's working and
test out Hammer Gel. Man that stuff gives you a rush! And yes you do
need water to wash it down.
Anyway before I got that far I rolled up to the stop light at the
junction of Center Dandenong Road and Warrigal Road. As I passed the
two stopped cars in the right lane a third car tried to cut in to the
left lane as I was level with it. He didn't succeed though very nearly
crashed in to the car in front of him.
I reached the stop line and set my foot down. As soon as my foot hit
the floor I had `bloody cyclist, get out of the way'' hurled at me from
said motorist.
Predictable conversation ensued, I informed him that I'm a lawful road
user doing nothing wrong, he started threatening me yadeyada. I took
down his rego, wrote down what happened and made a complaint at Moorabin
Police station. They were great about it all, policeman on duty didn't
even need prompting about the cyclists are vehicles thing and said that
it'd be followed up and the owner of the car would be spoken to.
He also said that cyclist safety is currently one of the top priorities
in the area and a pet project of the station Sargent's which is
encouraging.
It's the first time I've actually done something about road hostility
and it feels good. Things are not going to change unless enough noise
is made by those of us that know enough about our rights so I encourage
you all to report any instances of road hostility that you encounter.
You may think that it won't make a difference but one thing's for
certain, doing nothing is guarantee of nothing changing.
It's 19:30 and I feel totally pumped. I think I've overdosed on carbs
today, hope they don't evaporate overnight.
Have a great Sunday all, no matter what you're doing
PS. Suzie really enjoyed herself today, she thinks you guys are great.
--
Cheers | ~~ __@
Euan | ~~ _-\<,
Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)