Cyclosaurus

One of these days I'm going to make a realistic-looking giant lion, tiger, alligator, or T-rex head that can be worn like a backpack. Then I'll ride the same route on busy streets a few times, sometimes wearing the head, sometimes not. Using a go pro I'll be able to record and later quantify how drivers react. It's my hypothesis that wearing a giant predator head will cause drivers to pay more attention and give me more room (due to the is-a-threat instinct kicking in). Perhaps I'll also ride with a pink bunny or something non-predatory to control for the condition of an unusual sight.

GovernorSilver

tsl, I'm glad you got out of it alright. The way you handled the situation is an inspiration to me. Sounds/looks like you have a cool job.

Ubermich

How about something that looks like an oncoming locomotive in the distance? Take THAT oblivious driver!


On the OP, your rig is taller and longer than the CR-V. Do you think Mr. Prius really lost you or do you think he intentionally pulled in front of you? Or maybe he thought you must be turning right too and there was room enough? Did you signal the right turn before he pulled next to you?

BobbyG

Smart, classy, mature response...thanks!

tsl

No.
Yes.
No.
Yes. But that shouldn't matter since if I'd been going straight, he still would have been turning in front of me.

This was a classic case of "Must pass bicycle", something that happens routinely. Last night a Benz coupe had to pass me 50-75 feet before turning into a side street. No turn signal in my mirror, flicked it on as s/he went by, as if to say, "Dude, watch this! I'm cutting you off!"

If I wrote about every right hook or other bonehead move, my post count would be in the triple digits. I was also left-crossed mid-block last night, less than 100 yards from the library by someone who absolutely had to make a K-turn in front of me. Car horns behind me and behind that idjit were blaring at the idjit. So I was seen by every other car on the road, except the idjit.

Since these things happen regularly and routinely, I'm primed for evasive action. (Two interactions like that per day is about right.) What prompted this thread wasn't that it had happened, it was the irony of the bonehead right-hooking a library trailer while pulling into the library. "Must pass library to get to library."

For the record, he was picking up something on hold. I'd look up what was so urgently needed, but that would violate our patron privacy rules and NYS privacy laws.

Jim from Boston

+1 dittoes. My rule is ”Make yourself as visible as possible, and assume no one sees you.”

chandltp

So maybe I missed it, but I'm curious if there was a shoulder or bike lane where you were riding? If so, is that where you were?

For the record, I'm not trying to imply that you could or should have done anything differently. I'm just gathering data for my own information.

Cyclosaurus

I like that idea

no motor?

Glad you and the book trailer made it out OK. I was thinking of you Tuesday when I rode to the library to drop off some books too. I didn't have any near misses there then though although I did have an older geezer in a Cadillac get mad at me when I wouldn't pull out in front of him before he finished turning without using his turnsignal.

tsl

I know where you're going with this, but I won't comment, and don't try to bait me into it either. I stay out of A&S because IME, it stands for Arguments & Sniping.

See Gurgle Maps for 310 Arnett Blvd, 14619. (If you switch to satellite view, you'll see our solar panels on the roof.)

I was moving along at about 15 MPH. The car pulled alongside me, paced me for a bit. The driver looked right at me. Then, just past where the blue SUV is in the Street View, he stepped on it to turn right in front of me into the parking lot. Had I not both braked and turned, I'd've T-boned his front door.

tsl

Oh man. You made him seek out another target?

wsgts

Congrats on keeping emotions together, I have noticed myself not doing so well in that department lately.

T

RidingMatthew

thanks for posting this @tsl that is a lot of solar panels and impressive that you cover most of your energy that way. Even with snow..

I am amazed at how flat and straight the streets are. So cool to look at.

no motor?

And lived to tell about it!

tsl

I recorded only seven (7) feet of climbing on Tuesday for my two-mile round-trip to the farmer's market with the trailer. This explains why I can use my 12-23 "flatlander" cassette, even when towing the trailer fully loaded.

As for flat, the city is built on the ancient lakebed. Lake Ontario used to be much bigger. East-west is nearly dead flat. The Erie Canal has two locks for 60-70 feet of total rise within a mile of each other just outside the city. The next lock in either direction is about 35 miles. Did I say flat?

North-south you get the gradient as the lake has receded. There's a 270 foot drop between where I live and the six or seven miles to the current shoreline. But it goes in several steps, reflecting long periods of stable climate punctuated by several rapid changes.

The 19th Ward, where my library branch is, was laid out in the early 1900s, when grids were imposed on all things. I live in a gridded section across town (12th Ward) that was laid out in the mid-to-late 1800s. I like the gridded sections of the city because there's always a nice, quiet side street just one block off the main drag. OTOH, all those nice quiet side streets means a lot of four-way stop signs.

EDIT: Whoops! Should have fact-checked first. According to nycanals.com, our two local locks have a combined lift of 50.5 feet. Then it's 16.1 miles east to lock 31, and a whopping 64.2 miles west to lock 34. While the numbers are different, in words, mighty flat still applies.

RidingMatthew

@tsl all the stop signs could be annoying but it sure looks different than the road lay out in my neck of the woods.

PatrickGSR94

I love grid layouts. Where I live it consists of collector streets and arterials in a loose grid of about 2 miles between each east/west street, and 1 mile between each north/south street. Then everything in the middle is a spaghetti hodge-podge of developments, with almost no connections between them save for a few here and there.

Suburbia at its worst. Sucks.

Oh and hills, hills for days.

Not Memphis. I'm outside of Memphis in a more hilly area, unfortunately. I wish I were back in the city.

gregjones

At my age.....no hotspot....no need to ask.

Glad that you survived intact.

We old hippies need to remember to act that way. Sometimes I think that a cool head is the surprise that drives home the critical point.

gregjones

^^^THIS^^^

I don't think a driver seeing a rider makes any difference if the sight doesn't pause between the ears.

I've gone the full his-vis route this summer. The only actual difference I see now than before I bought all the bright stuff is that it takes longer to get ready to ride.

Walter S

+1. High vis doesn't hurt anything. But don't go thinking you're all safe with a bunch of reflectors and lights. Then you ARE in trouble.

tsl

Who you callin' old?


Not only that, if you look again, you'll see the conversational jujitsu moves I put on him. First, he's from a culture that values politeness, and my first response was, "That wasn't very polite". After that, nothing was about me. It was about how he'd feel for smushing that little kid who isn't as experienced as me.

tsl

No, the hi-vis, lights, reflectors and all doesn't hurt anything. I'm also not 100% convinced that it helps on the road. After all, smartphones are far more interesting than me or anything else outside the windshield.

But I dress for the jury in the civil court case. It won't be hard to convince seven out of twelve drivers that, "With all that stuff, yes he should have seen him."

Playing the long game.

Walter S

That's good if it makes you ride safer and less likely to be the target of an automobile. But when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter who's at fault. It only matters that you're hurt (or dead). Convince all the people you want to that you should have been seen. That won't undo any of the harm - except possibly see your spouse get a better settlement.

GovernorSilver

I still don't see a problem with anything tsl did. Seemed like he had the right mindset too.

tsl

Crap! You're saying I have to get a spouse now?