Road Cycling - Is It just Me??

There is always a discussion on road rage here in NJ. Most of the riding I do here is very enjoyable. Most driver's here give you the courtesy of using the road.

But lately for some reason there has been alot of RV's driving here.I don't know if this problem is because of most of them are driven by seniors but they won't move out an inch to give you some room. You can be riding on the shoulder in the dirt and they still want more room.

I have been cycling for over 25 years now and just last year while training in Florida an RV brushed the side of me.

Anybody else had this happen to them? Or is it just my luck lately?:rolleyes:

The problem is that you can drive and RV, which has the mass and bulk of a full fledged semi, with just a plain ol drivers license. Walk into a cruise america store and rent a four wheel equivalent of a bomb (Al Qaeda, anyone?) with less oversight than if you were to try and buy a handgun.

The brushback may not have been intentional. Many folks do not realize how wide/long thise vehicles are. As a cyclist, you should be on the lookout for two things:

--rear view mirrors that stick out way into your lane and can bonk you on the head, and

--stairs to enter the RV that are not put up when they drive away. They can wipe your bike out from below. Many RV's have
automatically folding stairs, but not all.

I have not had that much problem with RV's. In fact I am eternally grateful to the RV in alaska that, coming in the other direction, killed a rottweiler that was chasing after me. Divine retribution? Roughstuff luck? Who knows.

roughstuff

No kidding, I live in fear of being bonked on the head by one of those mirrors. The problem is that around here most of those vehicles are driven by women blabbing on cell phones while they transport their kids around town.

It's a real concern. As Roughstuff mentioned above, we must be alert.

I've never been actually brushed by a motor vehicle, but have had many close calls, some obviously intentional, some through driver ignorance.

Another scary situation is those large trailers usually pulled by landscapers hauling tractors, mowers etc.
These things are made of welded angle-iron and as wide as a RV. The driver of the tow vehicle probably isn't aware of the danger to cyclists.
When empty they bounce all over the road, cutting an even wider swath.
When I see one of these things coming I willingly surrender my legal road space.