OldsCOOL

In a case like that I am getting my phone out in a very deliberate and visible manner and/or riding to the steps of the cop shop. End of story. Been there, done that.

eschlwc

^ i liked the post about carry a mace.



seems really heavy, though.

[psst. he meant mace brand pepper spray.]

oh. well, that's got to be a lot lighter.

Oldguyonoldbike

Oops. Not only did I just service my Campy BB, but I also replaced a cracked lock ring. I guess I really screwed it up big time. Funny, though, it seems to ride better than before, but then again I don't know what I'm doing.

SJX426 

What I do is my business. The focus for me, no matter what means of transportation, is all about safety. The laws are not the real objective, safety is. I will break the law if the situation threatens my safety and I am the only one qualified to judge my safety.

I am a strong believer in individual freedom and support your right to make your decisions freely without my telling you what they should be. If you ask, you will get a response in terms of a recommendation, not a scolding. I respect your experience and accept the resulting decisions. I don't believe I am here to judge you unless you ask me to.

momo608

Sad to say but most people are totally full of it. Old cars bring out more liars than old bikes do but that's probably because there is more money and effort at stake. It's a safer bet to assume your being mislead on any topic than to assume you getting a straight response.

"There are two things you can say for sure about human beings: our opposable thumbs make us great at using tools, and we are all big, fat liars. By age four, 90% of children have grasped the concept of lying, and it just gets worse from there."
"Just how bad is it? According to a 2002 study conducted by the University of Massachusetts, 60% of adults can’t have a ten minute conversation without lying at least once. But even that number makes it sound better than it really is; those people in the study who did lie actually told an average of 3 lies during their brief chat. And I know you’re sitting there right now insisting you would be part of the 40% that didn’t lie. That’s what the liars in the study thought, too. When they watched the taped conversations back, they were shocked at how many fibs they had told."

USAZorro

See, I would lie by not arguing with them so as to not delay the hasty departure I would be intent on making.

OldsCOOL

"Dont ask me no questions....and I wont tell you no lies"
-Lynyrd Skynyrd

ksryder

On a club ride the other day I was telling someone about my experience with traffic on a particular highway during a recent ride to a town 80 miles away. Another gentleman butted into the conversation to tell me all about how I took the wrong route and how he would never have gone on that road and instead he would've gone down to this other road and blah blah blah.

I informed him that I'm perfectly capable of reading a map and that I had my own reasons for choosing the route I chose. He kept going on about it.

Then I noticed he had platform pedals and a big squooshy wal-mart saddle. Also we dropped him as soon as we left the parking lot.

This is not a regular ride for me, as it seems there is always someone there who feels it is his god given mission to inform other people that they're biking wrong. (I say "his" because it is always a male. Every time.)

OldsCOOL

That's what I'm talking about. Right there.

qcpmsame 

Ryp,

Sounds like a few of the newer guys, in 50+ Forum, fit the description of your "local expert", must be one of them that looked you up. Best watch out for him......

Bill

Gerryattrick

Never mind the traffic laws, I can tell you're a real rebel by the way you ignore the laws of capitalisation.

RobbieTunes

Perhaps it doesn't. I understand you complained about the other cyclist. I wouldn't have followed you like the other guy. But, if I was sitting there, unwilling to run the light, stopping for no one, in full view of a car that I do not wish to consider me one of "those cyclists," and another cyclist did what you did, I'd probably look at the motorist and shrug. I'd perfectly understand what you did and why you did it. I'd recognize that good will was lost with your action and try to gain a bit of it back with mine.

Your action had an unwanted consequence. Remove your action and perhaps nothing would have been said.
Doesn't mean the other cyclist wasn't out of line, he was, but it doesn't mean you didn't prompt his rolling meltdown.

Cars often do not "see" bicyclists, as we do not trigger the fight or flight reflex necessary for activity. The eyes of a motorist see the bicycle, the brain doesn't register a threat, so the body does not act on that threat. Pure and simple. Which makes us invisible at times. The advantage we have is we know that, and can avoid those situations. We also have avenues of escape, evasion, and the ability to ride in a small space, all available to us to remain from harm's way. Using those advantages to display our disregard for traffic laws, regardless of how safe it is does not come across well. I, too, have a left turn in traffic, at a light. I sit up there, and wait, and try to get turned and out of the way as quickly as possible, but I don't run the light, unless there is no one.

The last thing I want to do is plant a small seed of resentment in a motorist. I've been on a group ride where a motorist simply ran over our rear rider, killing her. Many drivers in the area said she deserved it, riding on the road like that. They were wrong, of course, but she's still dead.

3alarmer 

...you are correct on a lot of things in this, but we are on different saddles in terms of the reasons (and there are a number of them) that many of the motoring public have disrespect for people on bicycles. And in the majority of cases these reasons are ones that are pretty resistant to change, no matter how stellar an example I set as a rider..

There are a number of poorly designed intersections here where it is obviously safer for me to stop, then if there is no cross traffic, run the light and get out of the intersection before I become another "in the way bicyclist" for the guys at the light turning right. There is an unfortunate conflict designed into my city's traffic patterns with the very layout of the roads and bike lanes.

I don't expect to live long enough to see it resolved, but I am not so naive as to think adherence to traffic engineering that puts me at risk on a daily basis is the answer to this problem. Apologies.

Grand Bois

At least he can spell.

crank_addict

Some nutcase story's on this thread.

Somewhat on topic but cute. Happened a few days ago while riding with the granddaughters in college town.

We approached a busy roadway intersection and also part of the main bike path. Awaiting for the crossing signal, two young college aged (male and female) came from behind and butt in front. Perhaps a little courtesy would have been more appropriate but they probably figured the youngsters were slow including me pulling a trailer. The signal changed and we all proceeded and now on the pathway. The nimwit college girl starts to play with her dumb phone, texting or whatever, wanders on the left side of the path into oncoming traffic. The boyfriend (?) wanker also is pooping along.

The youngsters are becoming more spirited in riding and can scoot along nicely. Anyways I can sense one is contemplating of what to do and how to pass these college kids. I didn't say anything just yet and only wanted to observe how the girls handle the situation. The college kids did step it up a bit but Missy Text So Important remained doing her thing plus in the left side blocking. Granddaughters stayed on their tails. Eventually the college kids seemed to tire and split apart to both sides of the pathway. Granddaughters were well in front of me and they zoomed past them. But when I passed the college kids, gave them a 'loser-loser'. hehe

Ratzinger

What is that?

Velocivixen

@OldsCOOL - Wow. I'm not sure what I would have done. Sort of depends on my mood. I get men telling me stuff about bikes sometimes, like they think I just don't know anything. I will sometimes follow along with their conversations, using appropriate terminology and go into great detail about stuff bottom bracket threading or whatever....they usually just stare at that point.

If I was in a fun mood, recognizing this sort right away, I might flash a big smile and say, "Cool. So what do you do for fitness now?" If I was in a different mood I might ask, "Are you drunk or what?" or "Sir, please remove your hands from my property and step away".

Sometimes I think this behavior is just someone's way to draw you into a conversation, because by that type of approach they know they're bound to get some sort of reaction. They've likely done it before.

Gerryattrick

Thanks for correcting me. I'm from the UK where we get these things wrong all the time.

randyjawa 

I actually had to do this one morning, as I was unloading a half ton full of bicycles, which I was delivering to the Bicycles for Humanity storage/shop facility. I did this early in the mornings, before the business traffic and parking meters took over the down town area, making unloading very difficult.

Just as I finished pulling the bikes out of my truck, a fellow came up to me and started bugging me for a monetary handout. I said no, but politely, and for good reason (that is another story). He kept at it, getting closer and closer to me. I warned him to go away or I would call the police. He kept at it, so...

I pulled out my cell phone, to call the police. He immediately shot out his right hand, placed it near my phone and that was that. The phone went dead - instantly. That was when the other me took over.

I pulled my Olfa knife out of my apron, slid the blade out and warned the guy for the last time (Being pretty old and not much of a warrior, anymore, I was now feeling genuinely threatened). I was quite prepared to slash the son of a b and assumed an aggressive stance, in preparation to do so). He left.

I then went inside the B4H facility and called the cops. Apparently, though I did not witness their involvement, they arrested the guy a short while/distance later, trying to force other people to give him cash. Sadly...

Had I cut the guy, I would have been in serious trouble. He, according to the police, was unarmed, relying on his intimidating manner to be his only weapon. Oh, almost forgot...

He used a magnet, sewed into the cuff of his long sleeve shirt, placed near my phone, to cancel its electronics out, rendering my phone useless until I rebooted it.

Sorry, no pictures of this event, but it did happen.

crank_addict

Just poking at them and hint about their ignorance. My granddaughters remained patient and calm but recognized what fools the college kids were.

On a serious note, with all the car drivers texting, it's bad enough and heightens the risk to cyclist. But its also on busy cycling paths where cyclist are texting. The younger generation are completely zoned out with their heads buried into the device. Quite rampant in the populated college area.

What gets me is the courteous car driver having to contend with moron texting cyclist oblivious to their surrounding or worse weaving into car traffic.

Kactus

See... you just need to learn the US way to speak proper English.

himespau 

Wow, I'd never heard of the magnet trick before.

Ratzinger

I asked because I don't know what it means to "give someone a 'loser-loser'".

eschlwc

yeah, the original scripts for both 'the wild one' and 'rebel without a cause' merely featured brando and dean writing poetry of their own design. focus groups applauded the stories, but the catholic league of decency felt the plots were much too rebellious for young viewers.

eschlwc

thank you, robbie.