evanatorx

Well...I was on a ride with my pal today in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. We were headed to the scenic Dundas where there are multipe escarpment (large glacial formed cliff like mountain) climbs. We headed along King street, which is the opposite of Main street, only it heads west, judging from the word main, you already know it's freakin busy during rush hour, which is when we rode.

We were almost at the bridge that takes us over the highway and out to the west-end when suddenly a brand new black honda civic juts out from a small parking lot, yeah it scared me and i swerved. By the way, we were rding on the side walk, can't ride on a super mega busy road. I yelped ****!! look out, warning my friend of the danger. Later, after about 100m of riding, mr. civic pulled up beside us with the window down.

"What is wrong with you! Why are you riding on the sidewalk! I nearly hit you becuase I didn't see you!" *distant honks* "Why, why I outta get out and hit you now! How'd you like that! (hypocrit?) "And you pulled off all swearing at me, like what the F**k is that! (hypocrit again?)

The honking was coming from the car behind him, he stopped to turn at an extremely busy intersection and held up traffic for a few blocks, people were P-I-S-S-E-D!

"Uh, hey, alot of people are getting angry at you becuase you are stopped here, i suggest you leave!" I said,

We muttered something else that I didn't have the patience to listen to then drove off.

This next part I shouldn't have done.

As he drove away, and I was feeling irritated, yet slightly courageous, i yelled *******! just in his earshot. Next thing we knew, he drove his lil' car up and on to the lawn of a supermarket...Dayum

We bolted up the side street as fast as we could becuse he was serious about hitting us...he was getting out of his car, but we were long gone. We were going a good 37km/h uphill until we took cover in a driveway...wow, that guy meant business....

Now this guy was a business man, he was obviously heading back to his nice home in the westdale village after a long days work, he wore a blue dress shirt, and black pants, gave me the idea that he MIGHT have a good paying job... But seriously...he had as much time to waste after work to be able to hassle to 16 year old kids? wow...


K, so I can drive, i have my G1 liscense, which alows me to drive on city streets with a G2 or G driver with at least 4 years experience, la dee da dee daa...I drive home from work at mcdonalds everyother time I work, and I never pull out of that parking lot as fast as he did, and they are on the exact same street.

But the funny thing is, after detouring for about 8 minutes, we saw mr. civic rollin along in his car going out to the highway, I geuss he was waiting for us...What a creeper

The moral of this very long thread is, if drivers start messing with you, just ride away, be the better man and give cycling a good rep

-ev

Quick_Torch C5

You may have a bright future ahead of you , kid....just stay away from dem ricers

AlucardZero

Honda Civics don't neccessarily means a ricer, though a lot of the times it does get riced. Anyway, here's what I imagine saying to someone that MIGHT yell at me for making a mistake...

Say this fat person(won't be too rare in the states) gets all pissed and says that you shouldn't be riding a bike, I always imagine saying "You could use this bike more than me, fatty" Ahh

Anyway, key his car if he rams you, or call the cops and get him a hefty ticket.

Quick_Torch C5

Honda Civic= Asian car= term -Ricer.(alot of Asians eat/grow rice, get it?)
That being said, I have owned many Asian cars(Supra, Eclipse GSX, Etc.), and definitely not all are bad at all.....but they are ricers, nonetheless. Plus,I'm just poking fun

Funkychicken

you'd be surprised how hard it is to key a car these days.

.... not that i've tried.

DevilsGT2

Shoulda scrapped.

wethepeople

You can damn well bet that if you lipped me off in ear shot I would spin my truck around quicker then you would think any old lifted bronco could. It's happened before.

37km/h uphill, bull****.

Jinker

Not excusing the driver in any way, but the lesson you should take from this is to not ride the sidewalk.

Riding on the sidewalk is one of the best ways to get smoked by an inattentive driver. It comes second or third to riding at night with no lights and riding the wrong way on the side of the street.

The thing is, drivers pulling onto the street (or turning off!) only look about 10 or 15 feet either way on the sidewalk, looking for peds. Cyclists (who are moving a lot faster than pedestrians) just don't register.

That's not to say that there aren't specific situations where hopping a curb and riding on the sidewalk is the reasonable course of action, just be aware of the risks so you can mitigate them.

1) Pedestrians are unpredictable, like to jump out of doorways without looking both ways, and out of parked cars. Even ones that see you can get spooked and move in unpredictable ways, say nothing of the ones who hear you coming from behind.

2) Riding on the sidewalk offers terrible sight lines for seeing cars pulling out of blind alleys, between houses etc.

3) Drivers on the street are not accustomed to checking long distances both ways down the sidewalk before pulling off the street into a lane or entrance to a lot. Also, you can be obscured by parked cars. This applies at intersections too.

What that means? When riding on the sidewalk, keep your head on a swivel, be extra suspicious of any places cars will pull out or pull in unexpectedly. Slow the heck down, to give you time and space to maneuver or stop if necessary, as well as make any accidents you get in much less serious.

old and new

A good start.

BugsInMyTeeth

I used to live in Hamilton, and know exactly the place you speak of.

Used to ride Dundas Valley alot. Nice place.

bhtooefr

Hahahah, this just got posted in Advocacy & Safety. (That's why I'm here, actually.)

Read: Prepare to be flamed.

Anyway, he was right - you shouldn't have been in the sidewalk. Believe it or not, it's safer on the roads.

If I'm on the sidewalk with my bike, I'm walking it.

muteseh

Don't ride on the sidewalk, kid.

bhtooefr

Actually, I should explain WHY it's safer to ride the road.

First off, vehicles see you. They're expecting slow pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks, not fast bicycles. When you're on the road, at least you're being seen.

Second, that slow pedestrian traffic. If they don't get out of the way quickly enough, or react incorrectly to your presence, or YOU react incorrectly to THEIR presence, guess what happens.

muteseh

Kablooey!

LowCel 

I would say that 3/4's of cyclists, or bike riders I should say, that get hit by a car are riding on a sidewalk. In most places it is even considered the cyclists fault since it is illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk. Hate to say it but I don't think the civic driver is to blame.

Flak

Cars aren't expecting to deal with fast moving objects on the sidewalk, thats probably why he didnt see you.

Stay off the sidewalk unless you're walking.

mmerner

yep, it's illegal for a reason. But that guy shouldn't have threatened you either.

ghettocruiser

I find it interesting that people who have no knowlege of local laws and riding conditions still feel compelled to judge the relative safety and legality of sidewalk use.

I've spent a fair bit of time in Hamilton, but I am not familiar with that particular stretch of road, and I am not going to second guess these riders choice to use the sidewalk in this scenario.

Perhaps the fact that they were on the sidewalk caused the problem they describe. Perhaps it was not a factor. Perhaps it was safer. I wasn't there, I don't know.

But somehow many posters here seem to know all about it.

Flak

Obviously he felt a reason to be on the sidewalk or he wouldnt be there. However if you make that call, it's not reasonable to get pissed at a car who is looking for slow moving pedestrians to not see, and be surprised by, a relativly fast moving cyclist. I've been known to hop the curb every now and then to maintain forward progress, but i do so fully understanding that i shouldnt really be there. Each time is a judgement call, and in this kids case, it backfired.

The driver sounds like a complete A-hole, and the OP sounds like a smart mouthed teenager. Im having trouble feeling sorry for either of them to be honest, but the fact remains, he shouldnt have been on the sidewalk....and if he decides to ride it anyway it should be at his own risk.

dminor 

It is not illegal in the state of Washington (thank God; sometimes it's the only safe place to be). There is a city ordinance against it in Spokane that applies to the downtown business core only. Everywhere else it is legal.

The biggest problem is that car drivers are not in tune to looking for ANYTHING coming on a sidewalk - - bikes, pedestrians, skateboards, scooters, runners whatever - - they just don't look. I can't tell you how many near misses I've had when I'm out running. Any more, if I am running on a sidewalk, I do it opposite 'pedestrian-normal' and go on the side WITH the traffic; because car drivers will generally at least give a token look to their left before entering a roadway. And when I run on a shoulder against traffic like you're supposed to, I know I'm taking my life in my hands at every intersection and driveway.

Malistryx

I drive on that stretch of road a few times a week, the only place its bad enough to make it unsafe enough to justify being on the sidewalk is through the heart of the downtown area where the sidewalks are too narrow/cluttered to ride on anyways, the rest of the road is busy but not horrible to ride on.

I actually use that stretch of road to get from my job in downtown to my weekly team rides in Dundas Valley

So while the driver flipped out and reacted badly, it's really not a good idea to be on the sidewalk there because people are trying to hurry out to King to be able to get to the highway so they will just glance at the sidewalk to make sure its clear of pedestrians.

gattm99

I hate to say this but you were being a punk, yeah he started it and yeah he is a dick, but if you are going to yell at someone as they pull off you better be prepared to back it up. Personally I would have opened the guys door for him right their and invited him out of the car. Then he could beat me up right there with all those people watching, or get beat up.

g0tink87

you and your buddy should have beat the crap out of him in front of everyone who was driving by.
That be great to see some guy in a suit getting his ass handed to him buy to guys dressed in bike gear. lolol

evanatorx

yeah, try doing that during rush hour gas guzzler!

evanatorx

wooow....after reading more replies i had to say...i don't think you guys realize.

There are a myriad of streets closed for spring construction, and the only way to go west in my city would be to go that way...trails weren't an option becuase we were making stops...I ride road bikes too, and hell yeah i ride on the tarmac.

But seriously, we didn't want to go out of our way to avoid a short ride through the city, for the mst part we were riding on the road to get there, minus the extreme rush our traffic on a 4 lane road...it's damn near a highway!

I am going to address the people who are questioning my 'toughness' I only weigh 98 pounds...get the picture?

we DID ride that fast up the hill...(it wasn't.....well...big)

And lastly, the moral was not to mess with the driver....not....whether i though he was wrong or not...


But wait...there's more...damn i should read before replying...

I wasn't actually angry with the guy, I just raised my voice to warn my buddy, and becuase It scared the livin daylights out of me...

thanks to those who replied...