calRider

I was out on my typical noon solo ride today on a rural road and almost got run over.

There I was riding along about 1-2 feet off the white line and I heard a car approaching from the back--no big deal, happens all the time. These are 12 foot lanes with no shoulders, so I like to ride a bit off the line to indicate to drivers that they won't be able to safely pass me without crossing the double yellow line. This is is really important when there are oncoming cars--by riding out in the lane, I'm trying to tell drivers that they'll have to wait behind me until oncoming cars pass...it has always just seemed safer that way.

Of course, as this car approached from behind, there was an oncoming car. Not a single car has passed me in the last five minutes, and now, all of the sudden, it's rush hour. Anyway, the car stepped on the gas, veered over the yellow line and passed by without hitting me. As he passed, I could hear another car right behind him, and as I thought to my self, "wow, this is going to be close (because of the oncoming car)," I hear brakes lock up: the deep throaty sound of new tires grabbing, intermittently, onto the dry pavement. Not a lot I can do at this point. Then, this black truck--towing a flat, unloaded, trailer--passes me in the grass on the right. Although he's been on the brakes, he's probably still going 45 MPH on this 55MPH road (not sure what the speed limit is on the grass, though).

He missed me by about 2-3 feet. As he passed by me, time seemed to slow down, and in that split second while his hood was literally an arm's length away, I had time to think about how there was nothing I could do to get out of this guy's way--it's all up to him. Then, the millisecond passed, and he's on the brakes skidding through the grass and dirt. I thought for sure that he'd end up in the trees, but he managed to stop.

As I rode up, this manbearpig, jumped out of the truck. If you've ever seen the movie Idiocracy, you've seen this guy: basketball shorts and a gray wife beater draped over a body that considers 12oz curls to be the only necessary exercise. I ask him if he's ok, but he's just screaming at me how i don't need to be 2 feet out in the lane and that the law says I should be right on the white line...blah, blah, blah. I can tell by his beer gut that he's an expert on bicycling laws so I just ignore him, turn around and wave as a I ride past him on my way home....what was I gonna do? Stand there and argue with an amped up hillbilly while wearing Lycra? That scenario has no good endings.

The worst part about the experience for me is knowing that I had to rely on someone to dodge me--I didn't have any control over my fate at that instant: either he was going to hit me, or miss me; there was no way I could have dodged him. Today, he missed me...and my wife and kids thank him (or would, if I ever told them about this--which I won't).

I posted this story so that others could examine the situation and see how they would have reacted. I can tell you that from now on, I'm going to keep riding in the lane when it's too narrow for a car to safely pass me without going over the yellow line, but I'm going to fade as far right as possible as they pass.

I think this near fatal accident was caused because the driver of the truck couldn't see me until it was too late--possibly because the car in front of him was blocking his view. A contributing factor was that the first car to pass me made the wrong decision when he stepped on the gas to go around me; he should have slowed down and waited for the oncoming traffic to pass--instead he was reckless. The driver of the truck may have been following the first car too closely, or approaching too rapidly. Maybe he did have time to see me and thought that he could get around me, but realized too late that the oncoming traffic was now too close? I don't know. If I had been riding right on the white line and this guy had tried to squeeze between me and the oncoming traffic, he probably would have hit me with his mirror or, certainly, with the trailer he was towing.

There's a good possibility that riding out in the lane saved my life today. As I see it, the driver was presented with three choices: hit the oncoming car; hit me; or go off on the shoulder. If I had been riding on the line, he probably would have thought that he could skirt past me with no problems, and probably would have hit me. So, if that's the case, why would I now move right as cars go to pass me? Well, I'm thinking that it gives me some protection in cases where drivers make really bad decisions. Riding out in the lane is only effective you're seen, this guy didn't see me (I assume) until it was too late. Next time, I'm hoping that if I move right, it won't be a truck towing a trailer, but a compact car who can more easily squeeze between me and oncoming traffic. I'm playing the odds, I guess...I think that's all I can do.