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After four years of nearly daily commuting, I have yet to overcome my fear of buses. They're big, boxy, take up the whole lane, have big blind spots, and are driven by people with highly variable skill levels and attitudes about bikes. My fear isn't so great that they affect my choice of routes, but every time I get passed a bit too closely by a big bus going a bit too fast, I have to grit my teeth and use the f word.
By far my biggest fear, though, is of car doors suddenly opening in front of me. |
Having to get up 20 mins earlier in the morning to ride my bike rather then drive. That scares me.
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Originally Posted by mds0725
(Post 8441606)
What about the neighborhood being Jewish makes it scary for commuting?
http://www.google.com/search?q=hasid...e=utf8&oe=utf8 Apparently the Hasidim are upset that hipster cyclists are riding through their neighborhood in revealing clothing. Well, revealing by Hasidic standards. And they're supposed to be really bad drivers. |
Originally Posted by Schwinnrider
(Post 8442376)
He probably should have said "Hasidic neighborhood"
http://www.google.com/search?q=hasid...e=utf8&oe=utf8 Apparently the Hasidim are upset that hipster cyclists are riding through their neighborhood in revealing clothing. Well, revealing by Hasidic standards. And they're supposed to be really bad drivers. |
Originally Posted by ibcrewin
(Post 8436012)
For me it has to be the potholes once I get into manhattan. The cabs, boxtrucks, even wandering pedestrians were scary when I first started but I'm quickly realizing the gotham city pavement can be really brutal when your running 700x25's.
Severe potholes, massive road construction, road debris that can easily puncture your tires... The list goes on. NYC streets have to be some of the worst in the nation, if not the worst. Me on a rigid steel frame tiny folding bike. No shocks. No suspension. No balloon tires. I take it like a man and eat potholes for breakfast lunch and dinner but let me tell you they taste horrible! I often lift off the seat but some of the potholes are so deep that the bike literally jumps up to meet my loins in the middle and my crotch officially does not it one bit! :eek: Today, I'm going to give my loins a break and hit the Hudson Greenway and avoid the streets as much as I can. Potholes be damned! :notamused: |
Originally Posted by Schwinnrider
(Post 8440092)
Potholes and road problems are visible and avoidable.
You've got to be able to keep up with traffic on most of our streets so you'd be going at a pretty fast clip making it even more tricky to avoid pothole because they jump up on you and FAST. :twitchy: Anyway, I already know that I'm going to die under the wheels of a yellow school bus in Williamsburg... I avoid Williamsburg, LOL! :thumb: |
Bears scare me to death.
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Originally Posted by Schwinnrider
(Post 8442376)
Apparently the Hasidim are upset that hipster cyclists are riding through their neighborhood in revealing clothing.
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I knew about the Hassid vs Hipster thing last summer.
I read about it in the New York Post while my lips were moving. (Not a New York Times reader):) |
Originally Posted by lil brown bat
(Post 8436192)
The scariest part for me are amateurs. Drivers and peds who are regular commuters know how things go, but occasional visitors -- tourists, people in town on business, whatever -- aren't used to the multi-mode traffic mix, the unpredictability, and the things you need to do to go with the flow. I have no worries riding along Huntingdon next to the Mass Pike offramp and have a bus come off the ramp alongside me -- that driver and I both know what we're doing and we'll sort it all out before the next light. It's the family from Connecticut in town to see the Red Sox that terrify me.
I'd also whittle it down to tourists and lost people. Tourists sometimes think that streets are made for standing and shooting pictures or that the city is just one giant park. Lost drivers are looking at street signs, not traffic, and they're doing all the wrong things as drivers -- not signaling, turning or stopping suddenly, wandering off-line, etc. If I rode through different parts of town, I'd probably have different concerns. |
Originally Posted by bragi
(Post 8441758)
After four years of nearly daily commuting, I have yet to overcome my fear of buses. They're big, boxy, take up the whole lane, have big blind spots, and are driven by people with highly variable skill levels and attitudes about bikes. My fear isn't so great that they affect my choice of routes, but every time I get passed a bit too closely by a big bus going a bit too fast, I have to grit my teeth and use the f word.
By far my biggest fear, though, is of car doors suddenly opening in front of me. See this current thread on the Advocacy and Safety Forum, "Getting Doored - Who's at fault?" http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=510155 I have buses on my route too but they are manageable. The biggest problem I have though, is that since they stop so frequently that I wind up playing leapfrog with them for several miles. Also as I pass them on the left when they are stopped, I have to anticipate discharged passengers walking in front of the bus into my path. |
A downhill curve, on a greasy, oily road, in the rain. :eek:
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I almost got a door prize the other day but staying alert saved me. Heavy traffic on my left, parked cars on my right, I'm in the clearly marked bike lane, 3.5 - 4 feet away from parked cars. See a person in a car through the rear window. (I always scan rear windows, side view mirrors, etc.) Start ringing my bell. quickly glance over my shoulder to see if I will get hit if I dodge to avoid a door prize. Yep, I'd get run over. Start hitting my breaks all while ringing my bell. Moron swings door wide open, clearly not looking, all while I'm yelling, ringing my bell like a madwoman and hitting the breaks. It all happened in a matter of a few seconds but luckily I was able to squeeze by and narrowly miss the door prize and/or running over his lard ass. Ugh. :notamused:
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I saw some crews working on the potholes up here, but we're getting 15" snow by Monday morning so I guess winter isn't quite over. Dam, just when we got to see the grass again ...
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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
(Post 8445326)
I have buses on my route too but they are manageable. The biggest problem I have though, is that since they stop so frequently that I wind up playing leapfrog with them for several miles. Also as I pass them on the left when they are stopped, I have to anticipate discharged passengers walking in front of the bus into my path. But hey, at least they signal. Gotta give them credit for that. |
I have one high-speed merge across several lanes of traffic on 8th street in SF. Bike lane's on the right side of a one way street, but I need to make a left turn. I have about one block to successfully do it. It gets my heart pumping every time.
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tehdely
tehdely - you have a plan B? One day you may not be able to merge because of traffic conditions.
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I live in a small city and the thing that scares me the most is the Fedx and other delivery trucks usually driven by an impatient young doosh who yells "you're not a car" as he cuts you off.
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Scariest moments:
1) I once had my front tire get caught in groove on road. Woke up on my back. I look for that now. 2) Riding on a path and seeing a snake almost all the way across the path bathing in the sun. I barely missed him. 3) Going down a big hill at over 40 mph in the dark with no shoulder (taking one of the lanes) and a good amount of traffic. 4) Usual encounters with jerk motorists. 5) Sudden road obstructions that I didn't see coming (there's one pothole that's literally a foot deep around here), tree branches in paths, etc. |
I actually like buses. No driver's side doors and they run interference in intersections.
Wet metal is the scariest thing I ever have to deal with in the city. |
Scariest moments:
1). Potholes 2). Cars passing by INCHES from me 3). Realizing I forgot to re-charge the batteries when my headlight dims 4). Cabbies and bad drivers in general |
My scariest moments are realizing I forgot something and I am to far and late to turn around to get it. Also, drivers who turn into me without looking.
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My fear is coyotes. I like them for the fact that they keep the rabbit population down but somtimes we get pretty close before we see each other in the dark.
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Originally Posted by Catgrrl70
(Post 8437960)
People ask me about this and are usually suprised when I don't say "downtown." Downtown is one of the easiest parts since traffic is "calmed" because of the lights and other traffic. I can zip through, keeping up or passing traffic. The worst part is Marginal Way E during/after a heavy rain. The roadway is in horrible condition and huge puddles form, covering the northbound bike lane and the southbound shoulder. One cannot see where the grates, potholes, cracks, old RR tracks, gravel, car parts, glass, once a computer, bolts, screws, pieces of wood, mudflaps and whatever else is under there. The other day I moved to avoid one of the huge puddles, which then covered up a hole. I hit it so hard I thought I had popped BOTH tires - but nope. Bike made it through ok, and I was lucky I didn't crash in front of the vehicle behind me. Which reminds me I have to complain to the city AGAIN about this route. Oh, and now the Port warned users of this route that we can expect more trucks (18 wheelers) backed up along this roadway starting next week due to new Port ID regulations. Fantastic!
Metal + Water + Your Tire = your balls shrivel back up into your body. |
Originally Posted by Lycc825
(Post 8451920)
Metal + Water + Your Tire = your balls shrivel back up into your body.
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1) getting a flat with only 5 minutes to spare
2) drowsy, texting, breakfast eating, homwork-doing new drivers once i get close to the high school. yeah, that's about it. |
Motorized vehicles.
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Diarrhea
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Motorize vehicles with diarrhea.
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Originally Posted by Heather H
(Post 8436066)
I always thought the scariest part would be cars, but for the most part, I know what the cars are going to do, and they aren't as scary as I thought they'd be.
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