Cowcatching cager
#1
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Cowcatching cager
Today I was on my usual ride, which is on a causeway where hundreds of people ride in the morning. Its two lanes in each direction, spd limit 40 mph. On one section there is a bike lane that is about 5-6 ft wide. There are groups of riders spaced out about every 500 meters or so, some groups bigger than others so sometimes they take part of the first lane of traffic.
There was this idiot woman in an SUV driving in the right hand lane, going at least 50mph, and honking at every cyclist she came up to and buzzing them within a foot or two, even though car traffic was almost non-existent and the left lane was completely open and free! I don't get it. Why do cars try to kill us?
There was this idiot woman in an SUV driving in the right hand lane, going at least 50mph, and honking at every cyclist she came up to and buzzing them within a foot or two, even though car traffic was almost non-existent and the left lane was completely open and free! I don't get it. Why do cars try to kill us?
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Il faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace
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Il faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace
1980 3Rensho-- 1975 Raleigh Sprite 3spd
1990s Raleigh M20 MTB--2007 Windsor Hour (track)
1988 Ducati 750 F1
#2
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Whatever you do don't yell or curse at her...simply wave and smile. That way she will learn to love cyclists and never put their lives at risk again. That's what I call being a good Steward for cycling.
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Indeed. She will feel bad enough when she finally does kill a cyclist. No need to hurt her feelings by yelling at her too.
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Must be a Floridiot thing.....
I just got back from an A1A ride along the beach and saw some
incredibly stupid stuff. Way moreso than usual. Im always ready
for it, but today did test all my Fool-Fu skillz
I just got back from an A1A ride along the beach and saw some
incredibly stupid stuff. Way moreso than usual. Im always ready
for it, but today did test all my Fool-Fu skillz
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☞-ADVOCACY-☜ Radical VC = Car people on bikes. Just say "NO"
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#6
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Get the license plate number?
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A full water bottle makes a very satisfying thump when it's thrown hard and accurately into the side of a JAM's SUV.
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That driver must be a miserable person with a miserable life to feel the need to bully some cyclists from her SUV.
/at least I tend to comfort myself with such thoughts when confronted by this sort of situation.
/at least I tend to comfort myself with such thoughts when confronted by this sort of situation.
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Cowcatching cager
Cars never try to kill us. Drivers do, though.
Call police. Follow up.
Inadequate response? Deal with your local cycling advocacy organization to meet with the police to sort it out. Go prepared with rationales.
Inadequate response? Media.
And never underestimate the power of a civil lawsuit.
I, myself, don't hand things over to the police anymore and expect that it'll be handled.
When I was younger, while working with the Canadian federal department of Fisheries and Oceans, I was literally held captive by a drunk skipper of a fishing boat. (Warning--long post ahead)
After I requested to be let off on the shore, he physically threatened me ("stay on the boat or I'll kill you"). The reason? He'd objected to being held to the terms of his contract, which included having personal flotation devices for each person aboard the boat (i.e., none for me), and following scientific protocol for taking biological samples (the whole purpose of our being out there). Oh, did I mention the kerosene-soaked cabin floor from the heating stove?
He ended up running the boat aground. He finally backed it off the shore, then headed for the open water off the west coast of British Columbia.
He headed it out for the open water, after putting down the stabilizers and nearly going overboard in the process. After a while, he went below decks, where he passed out. I piloted the 38' troller for several hours, bringing it back to shore in gale force winds, having called the Coast Guard.
I had taken photos of the cabin, strewn with debris from the collision, with him still lolling in the pilot's seat.
Hours later, the Coast Guard and RCMP boarded and found him and the deckhand passed out, clearly inebriated.
I'd had seven years of experience in the field at that point and had never had anything like this happen to me. I asked to press charges against the skipper (unlawful confinement, threatening assault, etc.), but the RCMP officer said it would all be taken care of. I submitted the film of the occurrence to the officer
The skipper got a 24-hour dockside suspension and his vessel's license (a very costly item) was revoked...from the end of that year's season until the beginning of the next.
In other words, he got to sleep it off.
Civil suits are underrated and often overlooked.
Allan
P.S. I have a raft of examples from my and others' experience with traffic incidents where allowing the authorities to 'deal with the situation' led to nothing (if one calls a perpetrator laughing at having been called on their transgressions, with no repercussions, 'nothing').
Call police. Follow up.
Inadequate response? Deal with your local cycling advocacy organization to meet with the police to sort it out. Go prepared with rationales.
Inadequate response? Media.
And never underestimate the power of a civil lawsuit.
I, myself, don't hand things over to the police anymore and expect that it'll be handled.
When I was younger, while working with the Canadian federal department of Fisheries and Oceans, I was literally held captive by a drunk skipper of a fishing boat. (Warning--long post ahead)
After I requested to be let off on the shore, he physically threatened me ("stay on the boat or I'll kill you"). The reason? He'd objected to being held to the terms of his contract, which included having personal flotation devices for each person aboard the boat (i.e., none for me), and following scientific protocol for taking biological samples (the whole purpose of our being out there). Oh, did I mention the kerosene-soaked cabin floor from the heating stove?
He ended up running the boat aground. He finally backed it off the shore, then headed for the open water off the west coast of British Columbia.
He headed it out for the open water, after putting down the stabilizers and nearly going overboard in the process. After a while, he went below decks, where he passed out. I piloted the 38' troller for several hours, bringing it back to shore in gale force winds, having called the Coast Guard.
I had taken photos of the cabin, strewn with debris from the collision, with him still lolling in the pilot's seat.
Hours later, the Coast Guard and RCMP boarded and found him and the deckhand passed out, clearly inebriated.
I'd had seven years of experience in the field at that point and had never had anything like this happen to me. I asked to press charges against the skipper (unlawful confinement, threatening assault, etc.), but the RCMP officer said it would all be taken care of. I submitted the film of the occurrence to the officer
The skipper got a 24-hour dockside suspension and his vessel's license (a very costly item) was revoked...from the end of that year's season until the beginning of the next.
In other words, he got to sleep it off.
Civil suits are underrated and often overlooked.
Allan
P.S. I have a raft of examples from my and others' experience with traffic incidents where allowing the authorities to 'deal with the situation' led to nothing (if one calls a perpetrator laughing at having been called on their transgressions, with no repercussions, 'nothing').
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However I think it's the "I'll show them whats right, how they shouldn't be riding here" mentality. They THINK they're teaching you a lesson or something, that they're in the right.
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My two cents: Use intellectual force with other human beings (no matter how bullheaded they may be) - leave the brute force for the cager's loose dog.
-Kurt
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handle bar mounted 50cal. Just kidding. everytime I have had a problem with women acting stupid yelling at me or cutting me off it is a great big fat woman who just got off the couch. This also has applied to jogging. My theory is they hate themselves becasue they are fat and know they should workout and loose weight but have a list of excuses why they cant. They see us out there it makes them angry we are doing it and they "cant" or wont.
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But if someone's going to intentionally f*ck with me (like the woman driver in the OP) it's Game On and I'll return the favor. If they want to stop and discuss the matter, I'll do that too.
Someone intentionally giving "close shaves" to numerous cyclists at 50 mph is engaged in a crime. They don't deserve my respect, and "smiling and waving" has zero "intellectual force" in that scenario.
#15
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You guys don't carry a pocket full of steel bearings for people that like to threaten you with their car while driving right behind you?
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-Kurt
P.S.: I wouldn't try it. No sense in giving them an excuse to ram you over, eh?
#17
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Just kidding.
When someone buzzes me, I just take a deep breath and remember that they are probably late to their anger management class.