bobthib

Today I took the Lambo tandem for a little spin on the way to pick up my grandson at school. I was heading north on a 4 lane divided city street. I stopped at a light in the far right of the right lane. When the light changed I took off and continued north. There was a 8 - 10 mph breeze from the north, so I was doing about 17 or so. A few cars passed giving me a wide berth. Then this one woman in a crapolla honks. I glance over my shoulder and shes there behind me. There are no other cars in the left lane.

I continue on, expecting her to pass. She does not. I glance back again and she is still there. I keep going, expecting her to pass. She still does not. There are not right turns, so that's not what she is waiting for. I glance back again and she is still there, shadowing me at about 17. I pull out and take up the center of the right lane. I continued on until she got the idea and pulled into the left lane and passed. After she cleared, she pulled back in the right lane.

I was unable to catch her at the light as she pulled from the right lane over to the far left turn lane and made a left. I was a bit pissed, but nothing I could do.

What would you have done?

10 Wheels

You did the correct move.

I carry two golf balls and toss um straight up in the air when they stay behind me honking.

doctor j

Stupid on her part. Drives me nuts as well.

Monoborracho

You did the right thing. Never worry too much about the car that sees you and honks. They're telling you how self important they are. Take the lane so they don't crowd you and wave when they pass.

WORRY about the guy who hits you and says "I never saw the bike, officer, really".

Allegheny Jet

Make the best of the situation and believe that she is checking you out and honked her approval. That's what I do.

DX-MAN

If I check 'em a 2nd time and thy're still there, I give them a big stupid wave, as if to say, "COME AROUND, IDIOT!" If that doesn't work, f*** 'em.

That's on my good days; other days, they're lucky if I acknowledge their existence beyond 'talk to the finger'.

prathmann

Yes, just ignore them. I still remember a somewhat extreme case like this on one of our group rides. It was early on a Sunday morning and we were on a main street passing by a shopping area when a car pulled up behind us and started honking. Three lanes in each direction and no other traffic anywhere in sight, but she stayed right behind us and kept honking her horn. Finally some riders thought maybe it was someone who was late and had wanted to join the ride so one person turned around and rolled up to the driver's window. No, she just thought we should all be riding in the right side gutter or on the sidewalk. When we started up again she finally pulled around to pass and then pulled over to the far left lane to make a turn only half a block ahead.

lhbernhardt

Pull out your cell phone and take a picture or two. Make sure you get the license number.

L.

lphilpot

What if I don't want the guy in the Civic behind me to check me out? You know, the one with the twitchy horn finger than blows it about 30 times in 15 seconds? 'course a bike lane would have been handy about then, but it was just a 2 inch drop off the pavement to the 10 inch wide dirt shoulder (I decided to stay on the pavement and he came on around eventually).

skilsaw

Snot rockets work.

kr32

Not good

akohekohe

+1

cranky old dude

Silly man! She was obviously trying to tell you that your stoker had fallen off!!

You were in the right. You did nothing wrong. No harm came of it.

I'm a wuss. I simply would have pulled over and gotten her in front of me where she could cause the least amount of damage. I generally don't enforce my "Right" to be on the road with a bike and my body as the results of a clash can hurt. I never spar with a car.

I don't care if getting off the road and allowing the idiots to pass by tends to promote their lack of understanding of the laws. It's easy for me to evade foolish and ignorant / arrogant drivers such as she, and I choose to do so. I only resort to enforcing type of actions when my vehicle outweighs theirs.

I'm probably wrong for being this way but, oh well.....

BluesDawg

Pulling into the center of the lane (after establishing that she was not going to pass) was the right thing to do and it worked. If that had failed, I would probably do as Cranky suggested and pull over and let the dummy pass. Depends on how I felt about it at the time.

BikeWNC

It's Florida. At least she didn't run you over. She could tell there was something in the road but wasn't able to make out what you were. Count your blessings.

billydonn

^^^^ this^^^^^

Plus the cell phone photo is a good idea too. If I was riding alone I would pull over and stop earlier than if I was with a group. Stupidity is on her part of course.

Retro Grouch 

Oh oh! Now you're going to get me into trouble.

We recently had a pretty good snow storm in St Louis. As a result, doring my regular walk I had to deviate from the sidewalk onto a 4 lane street for a short distance. Now on Sunday morning there is very little traffic on this street. I had one person actually change lanes to pass more closely by me in the curb lane and two people steadfastly remain in the curb lane even though there was no traffic at all using the center lane. All female. I think they were trying to tell me that I didn't belong in the street and should be slogging through the snow on the uncleared sidewalk.

CACycling

Only thing I'd do different is that, if I needed to take the lane after the light, I'd have stopped in the center of the lane instead of far right. People are a little less likely to get behind you if you show from the beginning that you are taking the lane.

I have a place on my daily commute where the road widens to 2 lanes in each direction right before a light. I stop in the left tire track to let those behind me know I'm taking the lane. It doesn't stop all the idiots from changing lanes to get behind a bike that will be going slower than they'd like but it stops most (except this one guy in a Ford Ranger that will get behind me every time. He honks and yells till he finally changes back into the lane he started in and passes me).

jackb

I would have waved her around or pointed to the left lane.

Garilia

Maybe it's time for a new sticker on your bike "Horn broken, watch for finger."

alanknm

I would just have waved her around as well.

Never, ever, underestimate the stupidity of any, and I mean any, driver.

dengidog

I had a local woman decide to provide me advice. I was at a traffic light, waiting to turn left, in a 4 lane road where the left lane must turn left (only with an arrow) and the right goes straight ahead. I was on the right hand side of the left lane, close to the car in front of me, over enough not to bother the car behind me, and leaving plenty of room for cars on the right to pass on through. The woman on the left rolls down her window to tell me that I should be on the other side of the road (where there is NO shoulder), pedaling against traffic, to turn left and cross over with no signal, etc! I thanked her politely for her concern, but told her that I was fine. She wasn't happy w/me.

When the light changes, I stay on the far right of the left lane, hand signal (also have a blinky light to make sure they see me), make a VERY wide turn so that I don't block anyone, and continue. Never had a problem and I'm following the rules of the road. Meanwhile, I've watched the locals ride up the opposing side, nearly get creamed and then play chicken with traffic.

Mexican drivers aren't exactly the world's best, but most are pretty good about giving me a wide berth. The blue rinse set of the ex-pats, though....shudder!

Daspydyr 

You did good. What more can you do for a driver like that? She may have thought that she was being cautious, but I bet her kids call her controlling.

OLBKR

10 Wheels,
Just have to ask....Do you really toss golf balls at unknown possibly crazy tailgaters? You know...the ones driving 3,000 pound behemoths a few feet behind your 20 pound bike? And who possibly hate bikers as evidenced by their honking and tailgating? Do you have a death wish or were you kidding?

zonatandem

Keep pedalin' . . . .