Originally Posted by
pgpdlr
A short rant about last eves ride. Go out after work for a short ride before sundown. I have the right of way on a small downhill, straight road, traffic light green ahead-doing a moderate 20-25mph. White helmet, red shirt-I'm pretty visible to all; and lo and behold a p/u coming in the opposite direction makes a left turn right in front of me! HUH?! As I am about to T-bone the side of the truck I am YELLING for the driver to stop, look, his window is open-apparently the guy was in another world. Long story a bit longer, I was able to slow down a bit, but skidded into the side of the truck, hitting it with my left hip and shoulder and falling onto my right shoulder. Bike is unhurt. I am a bit sore, but I don't think the driver would even have stopped if I hadn't started shouting out his license plate number and walked to the side of the road and began to rumage in my bag for a pen and paper, phone, etc. neither of which I had (and I usually carry a phone-for emergencies). Got his number, his explanation, "I did not see you"-my reply, "don't you usually look before turning"-the guy was a bit flustered, and apologetic, but I reminded him that he could have easily run me over, and in the future he should watch the road when he drives or will kill someone. Probably should have reported this-but as there was no injury to speak of; I did not choose to make a federal case of the incident. MORAL of story: RIDE DEFENSIVELY!-many of the drivers on the road have only their radios, ipods, cellphones, hackberries, a/c,..... to worry about-certainly not thinking about bicyclists.
Sorry for the rant. Ride on.
Use a neon yellow shirt. Red will look black to the eye in low light conditions. White helmets blend in with urban scenery.
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --
the tiniest sprinter