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Down Hill Sprint

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Old 07-18-07 | 08:34 AM
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Down Hill Sprint

So, I'm sprinting (for me) on a down hill, I hit 45 (in a 35) and a F*ing cager passes me. Now I'm completely in the middle of the lane due to my speed, it's a double yellow, down a hill, with a blind corner just past the bottom, and I'm going 10 over the speed limit, WTF was the guy thinking?
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Old 07-18-07 | 08:36 AM
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Bike = in my way = must pass irregardless of speed

Though I frequently have cars on mountain canyon roads that refuse to pass on downhills. Probably has something to do with winding 2 lane canyon roads and me flying down at a high rate of speed even when I am trying to slow down.
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Old 07-18-07 | 08:40 AM
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Originally Posted by squegeeboo
So, I'm sprinting (for me) on a down hill, I hit 45 (in a 35) and a F*ing cager passes me. Now I'm completely in the middle of the lane due to my speed, it's a double yellow, down a hill, with a blind corner just past the bottom, and I'm going 10 over the speed limit, WTF was the guy thinking?
Happens to me all the time on my commute home. 25 MPH zone, long, sweeping curvy downhill, 35-40 MPH and someone always has to pass me. Then they slow down and get in my way when they realize they're going 15-20 over. That really cheeses me off.
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Old 07-18-07 | 09:25 AM
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Originally Posted by squegeeboo
So, I'm sprinting (for me) on a down hill, I hit 45 (in a 35) and a F*ing cager passes me. Now I'm completely in the middle of the lane due to my speed, it's a double yellow, down a hill, with a blind corner just past the bottom, and I'm going 10 over the speed limit, WTF was the guy thinking?
Same thing that every shipdit who passes me on my daily downhill is thinking: I can't let the guy on a bicycle beat me and my car.
I typically reach 38mph (35mph limit) and take the entire lane, much to the chagrin of the drivers behind me who would rather be doing 50mph down this hill. It heads into a city's main drag where the speed limit is 25mph. I've had people blow past me on the right doing at least 65mph in the 25mph zone, in an RTO lane, just so they could cut me off and get in front of me (only to get stuck at the same red light a quarter mile up the street, directly in front of me, where I get to point and laugh.)
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Old 07-18-07 | 10:21 AM
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ah, good stuff. Not many hills I take that I can get going over the speed limit here. I'd love to ride fast down the mountain roads. I'd have to make it up them first. Wow.

CliftonGK1, like your sig. I have kids racing to keep up on our street all the time. I'm glad they're out on bikes and I try to set an example, sometimes having to explain the rules of the road and why they need to pay extra attention on the road and not looking down hammering the pedals wildly. The same ones say "wheelie, wheelie" when they see me come down the street on motorcycle. I do not.
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Old 07-18-07 | 10:38 AM
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That happens to me alot going downhill in school zones. Supposedly 15mph speed limit with the kids running around. I'm going a cautious 20mph and cars just have to pass me at ~30mph+ while dodging kids. I shudder to think how fast they would have to pass me if I decided to actually pedal down that hill at 30mph.
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Old 07-18-07 | 10:49 AM
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Yeah same thing last night.. blazing down the hill 42 in a 35. Lady moves up on my tire [ the other lane is open] then changes lanes to pass. Cuts back in front of me, brakes hard, and stops at the signal . I fliter past her less than 5 seconds later.

Her window was down on the passenger side so i asked her if she was in a hurry or something. She stared straight ahead as I rode past her. Silly lady.

I guess they just can't stand the thought of a bike going faster than them
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Old 07-18-07 | 10:57 AM
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i don't think there is anything i can do on a bike that would completely discourage a car from passing. even if i'm in the middle of the lane, they squeeze by or lay on the horn until i move.
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Old 07-18-07 | 12:08 PM
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Thanks for all the reply's guys. I forgot to mention that 50% of the time theres a cop sitting right around the blind corner to ticket people shooting down that hill (it's adjacent to a park, so they patrol it a bit heavier) so it was yet another reason for the cager not to pass, but oh well.
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Old 07-18-07 | 02:43 PM
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I've been honked from behind for taking the lane at 65 km/hr in a 40 km/hr zone.
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Old 07-18-07 | 03:40 PM
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Old 07-18-07 | 11:19 PM
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I always give people a big thumbs up when I pass them. You can't convince them of anything, might as well make them scratch their heads a bit.
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Old 07-19-07 | 07:48 AM
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
Bike = in my way = must pass irregardless of speed

Exactly.

My house is 2 miles into my neighborhood, all at least slightly downhill with a 25mph speed limit. I am never going under 25 and people are just itching to get past me. On the last big drop before my turn I'm going 35-45, depending on the bike, and cars are speeding up, faster than they would normally go, to try to get past me.

The worst part is they had 1.5 miles of WIDE one-way street to pass, but they almost always wait until the lanes merge back and we hit the hill. These are probably the same idiots who moved into the neighborhood and got the speed limit dropped from 35 (which it had been for 4 years without incident) to 25 to "protect their kids".
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Old 07-19-07 | 10:34 AM
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Originally Posted by squegeeboo
I hit 45 (in a 35)
Breaking the law? You should know better!

Yeah...there's just something about a guy on a bike going faster than me in a car. It just ain't right!
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