Got it, you see potential doom and take evasive action like Bikewise did. I'm curious how necessary that evasive action is all those times? Because I've never had to run myself off the road for a car. Never. I ride from an old residentual neighborhood through downtown busy streets, 7 laners out of downtwon, into residential areas, then poorly maintained lower-income neighorhood 2 lane roads (stupid government, only takes care of the rich peoples streets), out into industrial areas, pass the airport (sometimes through it, due to construction), back into 5 lanes & 2 lanes into residentual areas with lots of road construction (rich area), by golf courses, a big 2 lane 4 way roundabout clusterf*ck, and up & over and down & under a few overpasses along the way...... this is each way, and I've never had to dive for a ditch, morning, noon, or evening.
Then there's my weekend rides to the middle of nowhere Ohio.
Never once had I dove into the curb, the ditch, a poor unsuspecting pedestrian....
Originally Posted by
Fugazi Dave
First of all, that's not reality. It's a cynical **** sandwich and I'm not taking a bite.
Have you considered that maybe he was overly trustworthy in all his safety gear? The best safety device you have at your disposal, by far, is that hunk of gray matter inside your skull.
Now, I'm sure that he was a hell of a good rider and that he wasn't overly trusting of his safety gear to keep him safe without adequate mindfulness. He got the bad end of an unfair deal to be sure, and his loss is a tragic one.
Some people do trust in it too much, though, and when they get pegged it's because they weren't thinking, weren't paying attention, weren't keeping or using the awareness that's so critical to staying safe.
This is why I yell at every person I see riding with headphones. This is why I yell at people texting while riding. If you're not paying attention you're inviting disaster.
You really yell at guys with headphones? You know they can't hear you, right? I'm just picturing you riding down the street with your mirror attached to your head yelling at everyone. Are you the crazy guy I see out there on the big cruiser with the flag??
j/k
Anyways, you are absolutely right, he could've been overtly trusting of his saftety gear and he may have not noticed the truck coming at him when he was sandwiched between a turn lane and the regular lane at 6 in the morning on Saturday on his way to lead a ride.
Possible.
I don't know what to tell you, I don't ride with mirrors, I can see how it can help in some situations and I can see how it can be a bad distraction. I can see how it helped bikewise and how it helps Ibikeowa, but I can see how it may have got me killed yesterday when someone (again) coming in the opposite direction took a left turn and almost plowed into me, there were cars & buses behind me, it was downtown Columbus on High St, and I'm glad I wasn't watching them, that I didn't have a mirror in the general direction of that guy and that I was focused on the situation ahead of me.
Quick question, what do you do about the blind spot the mirror creates to your front left? Do you shake your head a smidge to see beyond that circle? It seems like it would be annoying, especially in the drops.