mconlonx

A friend sent me a link to this article:

Witnessing a Hallmark moment
by Randy Moser in Vol. 15 / Iss. 07 on 09/10/2008, Mountain Xpress, Asheville NC

This weekend, my wife and I met up with three bicycle-insect creatures. I knew we were in for a treat when the first peeled off through two lanes of traffic without signaling.

The other two were heading in the same direction we were. I had plenty of time to contemplate their spandex butts as they careened down the narrow road two abreast, taking up an entire traffic lane. They suddenly slowed down to kiss. It had all the charm of houseflies mating in mid-air. The one without the helmet veered into the other lane, causing traffic in the other direction to stop and preventing us from passing.

It was a Hallmark moment: He glided back and whispered something to her. She laughed. He patted her lower back. My wife and I were riveted to this little drama, forced to watch it unfold at 15 mph.

When I could finally pass safely, I mouthed a polite [obscenity] to let this young gentleman know how much I appreciated the show and his disregard for the rest of us. He flipped me the bird and I saluted him in return. We’d had our time together, and I was happy to say goodbye. But when we came to the stoplight at the end of the road, they caught up. The male leaned into my car window, breathing heavily and indignantly.

He was upset. I’d interrupted his perfect Sunday ride. I told him that I didn’t appreciate his unsafe behavior or being trapped behind him while he and his girlfriend smooched. He informed me, reciting statute and law, that he and his bug-mate had every right to ride two abreast in the narrow road. When I returned home, I felt compelled to check with the police.

“If they were impeding or blocking traffic in any way, they should have gone one after another,” the dispatcher said. “If an officer had seen this type of thing he would have had a word with them.”

I bicycle to work almost every day. If I was limping along with a line of cars behind me or wanted to gab to my wife, I’d pull over. Why? Because I’m an adult and understand that while the road might be my occasional playground, it’s also a public thoroughfare. If we want others to take us seriously, we have to act like grownups who understand this basic premise. As more of us turn to bicycling, I think it’s important to call road jerks to task. After all, they’re setting a bad image for all of us.

As I pulled away from this happy pair of smug bugs, the male gave me the finger again and the girl pantomimed a gorilla. I would have signed back something about petulant brats, but I couldn’t manage it safely while driving.

— Randy Moser
Asheville

***********************

There are a few comments there as well.

Hickeydog

Sounds like both parties were in the wrong.

And this should get interesting, so :

apricissimus 

How dare someone wear spandex! I mean, this is really beyond the pale. This is the main cause of rage right here. For some reason the mere sight of spandex flips a rage switch in motorists (and in a lot of cyclists!). It's like a bull seeing a matador's red cape.

trafficcasauras

knowing Asheville is a tourist town (call it like i see it), i still don't know what several of the comments mean about tourists trying to take more of the road than local people. can someone explain?

BTW, with more and more people commuting on bicycles, its about time to stop stereotyping cyclists as 'recreational'. although i can see why people would tend to call it recreational since it is so much more fun than siting in a car.

hurricane harry

He spent more time writing the story, than he did waitng to get around them. Stupid turtle in his shell, a reptile moment.

mconlonx

Yeah, but it's pretty good writing for what it is... reminds me of David Sedaris. Better than a lot of unthinking anti-bike screeds I've seen posted here. I'm a bit conflicted about this. I think the author was having a bad hair day when he ran into some inconsiderate cyclists. Period. Enough fault to go around with all parties in the story, and in the end, no one died or got hit.

apricissimus 

Probably embellished the story a little bit too to make it a better read.

frymaster

+1

i often wonder how many of these "scofflaw cyclist" stories are pure fiction and how many are just embellished.

genec

And in the end, the writer missed his golden opportunity... while he was fuming about the young lovers, he should of instead reached over to his own lover and planted a big one on her... thus taking advantage of a romantic moment.

So much for Hallmark.

CB HI

Sure you do Randy!

gcottay

It's possible that Randy Moser is a fine person in real life, only getting into self-reflective name calling as a literary device.

ritepath

When you care enough to send the very best....They'll get over it, you'll get over it, life will move on.

Treespeed

Who wants to bet that Mr. Moser also yells at kids to get off his lawn?

randymoser

This is the Randy Moser that wrote that letter to the editor. Before I sent it, I forwarded it to a bicycle friend and he told me I should check out this forum to get a feel for the potential backlash. I suppose his assumption was that here any bonehead on a bike would be defended no matter what he or she did. I guess he was right.

That same friend sent a link to this thread. Curious.

Working backwards…

I’ll take up that bet, Treespeed. It’s troubling that you think you can make that sort of leap based on an op-ed of around 500 words. What other super powers of perception do you believe you possess? Can you see through walls, too? Can you read Sarah Palin’s mind and if so what’s in there?

I’ve already moved on, Ritepath. The one good thing that came of this is I adjusted my own riding style. This encounter led me to check out the North Carolina bike laws and got me to thinking how a lot of the urban riding I’ve done involves me acting like a dick.

I appreciate the benefit of the doubt, Gcottay… I think…

CB, dude, come on… Is it really that hard to take on face value that I’m a bicyclist myself? My wife and I own three vehicles: A car, a motorcycle, and my Trek. She takes the car to work. My job is only four miles from where I live and it only makes sense to bike in. I guess you share Treespeed’s magical powers..?

I don’t need an opportunity to love up my honey, Genec. Jules was as outraged about these people as I was. Stupidity isn’t an aphrodisiac for us.

No embellishments, Frymaster, but at least a few omissions to make it PG13. When I criticized him for not wearing a helmet the bike dude leaned into the car like he was going to hit me, and I unbuckled my belt instinctively. I’ve had family members punched while in a car, seat belted back, and I didn’t want this to happen to me. I’m not proud of doing this, but thought I should come clean for full disclosure.

Plus I’m sure CB and Treespeed have already divined the truth.

MConlonx is a jerk. Period.

Sort of ironic to criticize the amount of time I might have spent writing an editorial when you’ve got around 200 posts on this forum, Hurricane Harry. I guess it’s not writing in general you oppose, but writing you disagree with…? In any case, I’m an ex newspaperman, so writing comes easy.

Western North Carolina isn’t particularly bike friendly, Trafficcasauras. The roads are narrow and twisty, often with no breakdown lanes. Two miles out of town and you’re in Southern country and almost everyone drives a truck. It takes getting used to, whether you’re on a bike or auto, and I think there’s always a clash between locals and tourists no matter where you go.

I suppose I am spandex intolerant, Apricissimus. I’ve never understood how people can spend so much money on apparel and not wear helmets or pads of any kind. It reminds me of nothing so much as Harley guys spending bug bucks on leather chaps, then going out without a lid.

Yes, it’s you’re right to spend money the way you want, but it’s also my right to think you’re a moron if you put fashion over safety. At its heart, this is probably a class issue for most people…

Well, I guess that’s it.

Thanks,

Randy

genec

OK Randy... what irritated you more, the "bicycle-insect creature" that "peeled off through two lanes of traffic without signaling?" Or was it the "happy pair of smug bugs" "that suddenly slowed down to kiss?"

Or is what really upset you was that you were forced to "watch it unfold at 15 mph?"

Care to share with us the type of road this was... major arterial, or quiet residential?

And no, I am not defending the cyclists, as they may not have acted in the most mature and proper manner. But really what was it that caused your irritation, their actions, or the fact that you could not just "zoom zoom" away in your car?

srmatte

+1 for Randy

I love it

apricissimus 

Just for your future reference, it's for comfort. Lycra makes spending more time in the saddle far more comfortable than regular clothing. But the questions remains (and not just for you): why does anyone care what people wear?

randymoser

I think that’s a fair question, Genec. I suppose what bugged me was his disregard for others. (I should also note that the female wasn’t riding erratically and I might have reacted to the fact that the male was endangering her life in an attempt to be cavalier.) If a faster cyclist comes up behind me on the road, I do whatever I can to allow him or her to pass safely. Maybe I’m nuts, but I don’t see why this shouldn’t be the case just because the person in back of me is in a car.

The road was a narrow residential street with wide sidewalks and cars parked occasionally in front of apartment buildings. It was the type of street that gives you just two lanes when there are no parked cars.

I understand what spandex does, Aspricissimus. I wear bike shorts sometimes when I go for longer rides or tour on my motorcycle.

I know that it’s unfair to judge people by how they dress – I cite Sarah Palin’s publicist for proof – but it might just say something about you if you invest $500 on an outfit that prevents chaffing, but nothing on a $50 piece of kit that keeps your brains from spilling out onto the sidewalk. I’ll defend your right to be an idiot, but only if you don’t question mine to judge you on how you behave.

Randy

dynaryder

The cyclists were being goofballs,plain and simple. Randy,you did escalate things by cussing at the guy and flipping him off;honking(not excessive) should have been sufficient. But then the guy took it further by confronting you and taking his attitude. I don't see a prob with the way you described them,even the spandex comment.

You could have handled your end a little better,but those other folks were just being d-bags.

mconlonx

+1: been called worse by better...

Awesome. One whole post here on Bikeforums and you instinctively pick up that fence-sitting is not encouraged in A&S. You win at teh interwebz!

frymaster

you know, really, i could write a half dozen little vignettes like this about motorists a week if 'disregard for others' is the criterion.

of course, if i called drivers 'motor insects creatures' or 'petulant brats' or admitted on this board that i "mouthed a polite [obscenity]" at some driver, i'd be called "anti-car" and accused of giving cyclists a bad name or something.

so, randy, i'm sorry that you were inconvenienced for a few moments on your sunday drive and had to actually slow down to '15 miles an hour' on a 'narrow residential street'. obviously this event has caused considerable consternation to you if you feel that you need to spend hours discussing it on the internet. please keep in mind, however, that this is a forum for cycling advocacy and not a place for you to vent about your inconveniences while driving. for that activity i would reccommend a driving forum.

randymoser

Frymaster, I have maybe a half hour invested in this whole thing. It is not a cornerstone event in my life. Writing the editorial took maybe 10-15 minutes and I probably spent more time reading the posts here than writing my responses. Again, maybe this is because I have a writing background.

I think everyone has had to slow down behind a bicyclist, jogger, skateboarder, etc… and I’m certainly not complaining about this. I’ve been on the other side and been forced off the road, yelled at, had things tossed at me and all that. This is not about bicycling; this is about attitude. That you seem to be unable to separate the two speaks volumes…

I didn’t start this thread, dude. This letter appeared in my local alt weekly and someone else posted it here. I’m not venting anything on this forum. I’m just responding to attacks. I don’t think I’m being defensive, but it seems appropriate to say something when people call you names.

Randy

frymaster

ah. the topic is attitude. so, have you written similar vignettes about the motorists who have forced you off the road, thrown things at you &c -- those activities certainly seem like much more fertile subject for an editorial on 'attitude'?

i don't think i ever called you a name. or at least certainly nothing as creative as 'insect creature'.

randymoser

I’ve written about a lot of things.

The point of my letter was that as a bicyclist, I thought it was important to call other riders out when they act like boneheads. We can hold specific people responsible for their specific actions and we can try to learn when others do things that piss us off.

I don’t think I’ve called anyone a name here and have mostly just answered questions when they’ve been directed at me. I’m not anti-bike. I don’t lecture folks about wearing helmets unless they’re idiots in some other respect. In general, I bet I’m the same type of casual rider as most people here.

I have never had a confrontation with another bicyclist – or a person in an auto, for that matter – which is why this event seemed important enough to write about. Had we exchanged happy insults on the road (as happens every day), I probably wouldn’t have even remembered him by the time I got home.

I will rescind my blanket statement about cyclists being bug creatures. It was a gross stereotype and I apologize for it. I’m just not hardcore enough to need a full bodysuit. For you guys going 20 miles a day each way to work, sure, it probably makes sense. I’m sure there are lots of good reasons for dressing like a superhero.

Randy

genec

A fellow cyclist once asked me why I was "always dressed in orange or yellow." Comes down to this... as a cyclist, I have a narrow profile... at times I may be no wider than a telephone pole... yet I want to be seen.

I try to watch out for traffic issues and foresee what is about to happen, but without eyes in the back of my head, there is no way I can know what is going on everywhere around me. When I'm on a bike, I envision myself as invisible... (Casper mode), yet I hope that others DO in fact see me... and with that in mind... I tend to wear bright and gaudy "costumes."

My "costume" usually consists of a cheap Target international orange long sleeve shirt with a bright SEE ME green vest... and a good pair of Pearl Izumi shorts, (considerably less than $500, BTW). I want contrasting designs and colors that turn heads... for a reason. I want to turn heads.

Even when I ride in a jersey, again, I tend to pick colors that are towards the red/yellow/orange end of the spectrum.

For some reason this whole "superhero" thing tends to amuse motorists... I'm just glad they saw me, it means I met my goal.