An instance of taking the lane...
10-24-12 | 10:05 AM
#26
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,606
Likes: 703
From: Layton, UT
Bikes: 2011 Bent TW Elegance 2014 Carbon Strada Velomobile
Today, I was 'taking the lane' to/from, a doctor's appointment. Two motorists' honked at me(one of them was having a love affair with her horn....yes looking behind me, I did see a woman in the drivers' seat), and another motorist told me to get off the road. I told them all rather loudly to 'shut up!!!!'. I never gave up the lane to any motorists'.
Sign language....Although, I could confuse them and tell them they're number 2, euro style.
10-24-12 | 02:26 PM
#27
24-Speed Machine
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,056
Likes: 2
From: Wash. Grove, MD
Bikes: 2003 Specialized Allez 24-Speed Road Bike
Not 'tough', but 'absolute' in my right to be on the road. I have a 'thick skin' from experience. Every time I 'played the game'(hugged the curb, got on the sidewalk), I have had more close calls and accidents, than when I was on the road 'taking the lane'. The only time I was hit from behind, was when I was stopped in a dual-turn(both directions) lane, waiting to merge into traffic southbound, after crossing the northbound lanes.
I was also talking earlier, with a handyman that is working on my neighbor's house. He commented that AAA finally admitted, the DC-Metro region has the worst traffic congestion in the U.S.
Of course that is debatable. But it would account for a lot of the frequent hostility from motorists', towards cyclists.
I was also talking earlier, with a handyman that is working on my neighbor's house. He commented that AAA finally admitted, the DC-Metro region has the worst traffic congestion in the U.S.
Of course that is debatable. But it would account for a lot of the frequent hostility from motorists', towards cyclists.
Last edited by Chris516; 10-24-12 at 02:33 PM.
10-24-12 | 02:27 PM
#28
24-Speed Machine
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,056
Likes: 2
From: Wash. Grove, MD
Bikes: 2003 Specialized Allez 24-Speed Road Bike
10-24-12 | 06:32 PM
#29
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,251
Likes: 4
From: Newark, CA. San Francisco Bay Area
The CHP disagrees with you moving out of the bike lane for that reason, the same CHP that will ticket drivers if they don't completely change lanes for them. Even with your left wheel on the line, it looks like you'd still be in the door zone.
10-26-12 | 08:39 PM
#30
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 523
Likes: 6
From: Monterey Bay area, California
Bikes: Terratrike Tour, recumbent tadpole tricycle.
I'd tell the LEO that I didn't want to be in the door zone, because I like my face just the way it is, and would prefer to keep my teeth a little longer. I've had a couple of people open doors as I was passing, and if I had been in the bike lane, I'd have run into them. All it takes is a moment of mental drifting, on my part, it seems I have to babysit most people out there... I don't go out in the traffic lane except for good reason... I prefer to stay out of the way whenever possible. It's when drivers perceive you are just being an oppositional little cuss, that the trouble starts... I've had cars pass me with plenty of room only to have a conniption over a pair of cyclists, riding side by side ahead of me, one in the bike lane, the other in the road. All the same, the very occasional admonishment to "get outa the road" generally happens when there's no other place for me to ride. Oy. Vey.
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What do you call a cyclist who sells potpourri on the road? A pedaling petal-peddler.
What do you call a cyclist who sells potpourri on the road? A pedaling petal-peddler.
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