AlmostTrick

To each their own. Pedal On, Mister bikesafer.

Bekologist

Hardly. I didn't suggest a mirror to you for example!

I find it astonishing there would be TWO cyclists with such miserable, tortured tales of riding posting about their experiences at the same time! this must be what threw you, CBHI - you and this 'bikesafer' guy have similar tales of woe and cameras to record perceived indiscretions ladled upon them by motorists.

two different threads, similar content. wow, the world is a complex place, eh, cbhi?

Bekologist

Bikesafer, I'm giving you some helpful advice, you appear to be riding around with a HUGE chip on your shoulder coupled to an exaggerated, maadaptive reaction to motorists that mostly seem to be passing you safely, if not legally in wisconsin. Your modus operandi is a classic!

how many years of this angst laden riding do you think you have to do before the motorists all pass you with the legally circumscribed three feet of clearance? Suggestion: don't hold your breath.

You DO you know its legal for bicyclists to operate their vehicles on the shoulder in wisconsin? I sincerely doubt WDOT is going to ban bikes from stretches of wide, clean shoulder. I'd like to see the google street view of that location you posit bikes are 'not allowed' on the shoulders!



I'm sorry you're so miserable on your bike. I suggest a mirror when people are having such a maladaptive time operating bikes on public roads from their fear of passing traffic.

dynodonn 

When it comes to Bek, I wouldn't use the word "suggesting".

Bekologist

oh, no, it's a suggestion. but you did take his comments out of context.....here's some more of the quote....

my suggestion to use a mirror is by no means mine alone. i believe even john f. subscribes to mirror use these days.

There is NO WAY for a bicyclist to be able to effectively monitor overtaking traffic to determine their passing clearance by backwards glances alone. use of a mirror is sound operating advice for every rider, not just for those so overwhelmed with angst over 'unsafe' passes.

Bekologist

isn't he a cameraman at the station that aired that 'story?' it's spit and shinola. However, i do sincerely hope it raises the awareness of motorists in wisconsin, so some of them pass with the 3 feet of clearance bikesafer already appears to be getting in a majority of those vid clips.

CB HI

Yet your the one that got punched by a motorist after yelling at him and he got away with it.

Bekologist

now hold on there, champ.

I've never punched by a motorist, but YOU have been in a physical fight with a motorist.

interesting transposition of experiences, there, slugger. An ignoble try, yet addled.

CB HI

So your bridge confrontation story thread was just a fairy tale. You were so proud how it made the paper.

At least the motorist that punched me, ran away crying "stay out of my space, don’t come near me, stay away".

Bekologist

no, the motorist never got out of the car as he was aware i would have ripped him a new one. and this was picked up as a story by the local paper here, so i'm pretty sure it actually happened. don't make me search for the link, i don't obsess about motorists for years like some riders do.

oh, since you brought it up, here's the link..... and it appears the only hitting being done that time was me hitting the motorists passenger side window as he tried to hit me - with his SUV. I'm surprised YOU remember one of my road ragers, i had totally put that one behind me.

road rager

Why don't you set aside the box of strawberries, there captain - do you have any advice for good ol' 'bike safer', there, CBHI? any words of wisdom?

My suggestion for the use of a mirror by a person intently focused on unsafe passers is quite sound.

CB HI

'bike safer' is doing just fine, too bad you and some others here have to jump all over his case in such an obnoxious manner.

CB HI

And with your edit and added link, it seems to show that bikesafer is handling the motorist better than you and clearly does not need your rants.

bikesafer

I understand that people are saying I should have pulled off the road to allow the plow to go by. I would like to know how many of them pulled their cars off the road when a plow came up behind them? I understand a car is less at risk from a plow than a bike rider, but it wasn't an issue of him not seeing me, the plow driver yelled at me to get off the road, so he just purposely buzzed me with a multi-ton plow.
Also there was no place to safely pull off without the risk of falling and the area just a few hundred yards ahead had already been cleared of snow so he could have pulled around me there.

I do know it is legal but NOT required to ride on shoulders, and I also know that if there is a sign banning ALL through traffic on a shoulder, bikes are by definition not allowed there. I don't need street view on google I've seen the actual street view hundreds of times, and I can read the sign.

If you think a motorist passing 6"-18" away from a bike with a 30-40 mph speed differential is safe, further conversation with you on this topic with you is likely pointless.

dynodonn 

Bek, If this is only a suggestion, I can only guess what it would be like if you start making demands.

Bekologist

The person who is exaggerating the UN-safe qualities of the occasional close pass is YOU, my friend. By obtusely failing to wear a mirror you leave yourself WIDE OPEN to the 'wind blast' from pickup trucks pulling past you at a slight speed differential.

FAIL, bikesafer.

Look: this thread is about some 'wierd' cyclist getting his chamois in a bunch over what he deems 'close' passes, but several of the posters to this thread have reviewed the videos and share my opinion that a lot of those passes hardly qualify as 'unsafe'.

The value of a rear view mirror for cyclists is firmly established, yet the fella with the multiple video cameras wants to play the martyr and the victim rather than take steps the majority of high mileage cyclists take to enhance their roadway safety from, you guessed it, overtaking traffic.

Bekologist

sorry, captain ,but you and he are a LOT more bent out of shape by motorists than I. heck, you even remembered a road rage incident that happened to me while I had let it healthily pass me by!

Bekologist

that was to hopefully overcome the obtuseness he's suffering by continuing to fail to wear a mirror, a primary safety aid for bicyclists in dealing with overtaking traffic.

the "I can't ride my bike on the shoulder because I'm a vehicle " is classic, and strongly implicates a certain dysfunctional malady bikesafer is apparently suffering under.

I'm fairly confident that Wisconsin signage prohibiting vehicles from the shoulders are regulatory signage for motorized traffic that does not apply to bicyclists. I am confident this is codified in the wisconsin signage standards. I'd really want to see a google street view of this 'wide, paved' shoulder biksafer thinks he is prohibited from using. I would put money on bikesafer being incorrect.

The forums good buddy 'chipseal' also had this perception problem.

crhilton

So while you're nervously watching the road behind you what will you be using to monitor the other 98% of the dangers on the road that lie in front of you?

crhilton

It's more than you've ever done.

Bekologist

oh, I'm not disputing his video segment has had more 'impact' than my efforts, which have primarily been letter campaigns to the local paper, advocacy work at the state level, and volunteer efforts with the local and state transportation agencies to enhance my community for bicycle traffic.


I'm commenting this fella is miserable and martyrs himself while failing to take steps common among experienced, high mileage cyclists take by using a primary safety aid for dealing with, you guessed it - overtaking traffic.

crhilton

You don't have to pull over for the plow, but seeing as how you're on a bike and can fully clear the roadway for him I'd probably pull off for him. Not for my safety, but so the road is better plowed.

Motorists don't pull over for plows because they outrun them.

I'm not saying you have to, just that it would be helpful to everyone and isn't a big deal.

crhilton

He rides his bike, a lot, and video tapes it. A local news crew martyred him. They do that to everyone in some areas.

crhilton

It's not.

Bekologist

you think that's how cycling with a mirror works?

are you honestly trying to dispute the value of a rear view mirror for cyclists? what a curious perspective on an established roadway safety tool for bicyclists.

genec

Do you ask the same question of motorists with their 3 mirrors, or motorcyclists with their 2 mirrors, or truck drivers with their many mirrors? What a foolish question. If you cannot dedicate just a tiny bit of your awareness to what is happening all around you, you probably should not be cycling on roadways with motor traffic.