missjean

So, I've got my Dad (who is 82 & has mild Alzheimer's) in the car with me this morning. It's a beautiful day and there are quite a number of people out riding their bikes.
Up ahead are 2 guys riding side-by-side & they are not moving over, but no worries, the road is straight and there is no one coming, so I pull way over into the other lane to pass them.

But, then, as we pass my Dad gives them the finger!!! I say "DAD, what did you do that for??!!" He says "They didn't move over."

Him doing that was bad enough, but on the back window of my car is a yellow sticker that says "We are traffic! Share the road." and the local bike club sticker.

BluesDawg

DnvrFox

My smile for the morning. Good for dad.

CraigB

That's just priceless.

OldsCOOL

I guess dad isnt a biker but it sounds like the Alzheimers was in clear remission for the time being.

NOS88

I guess that fits into the category of "I can't believe he did that".

stapfam

I am a cyclist and I drive a car. Driving the car and I respect cyclists- but I sometimes wish I didn't. DAD had the right idea- just a pity he showed it.

ahsposo 

At least he didn't throw something...

Retro Grouch 

That's good! It shows the Alzeheimers hasn't affected his dexterity.

miss kenton

Too funny!

Pamestique 

My father just passed away (last weekend) at 87 - he suffered from Alzheimer's as well.

He was my dad, but as the disease progressed he got testier and more difficult. One of our last trips together, I attended his internment camp reunion with him. He refused to stay in the hotel because for some reason he thought the manager was prejudice and didn't like Japanese people. Like a kid he refused to even set foot in the room and sulked outside until we got other rooms (which weren't as nice but for some reason placated him). I had to show him "Dad, look around, everyone in the hotel this weekend is Japanese! Not just you!".

Enjoy the tame moments - they do become precious few.

t4mv

Man, I can't wait 'til I get to be like your dad! I think aging must erode the filter between restraint and impulse...

DiabloScott

I got flipped off by an old guy on the passenger side once. His driver (maybe a daughter) pulled out from a parking space in front of me and I yelled at her, then he flipped me off when they passed me. Two blocks later they were stopped at a stop light in the far lane and I was in the curb lane waiting and he tried to pretend he didn't know I was there.

Retro Grouch 

Me too.

I've assigned different duties to each of my kids. One daughter gets to determine when it's time to move me into a home. My pharmacist daughter makes the medical decisions. My CPA daughter makes the financial decisions. When the home calls to complain about me groping the nurse's aids, my sons have to deal with that. I don't get mad - I get even.

overthehillmedi

I don't know about groping the nurse's aids but the nurse's aides........

cyclinfool

I told my daughter when she decided to be a nurse that it was good because for several years I got to change her diapers - soon it would be her chance to return the favor.

CbadRider

And to think he probably would have grounded you if you'd done the same thing when you were younger.

JonnyHK 

Nevermind troublesome passengers, my dad (75, Alzheimer's) is still driving. Mum is trying to work out how to stop him without a confrontation (he's getting testy and difficult now). I suggested leaving his parking lights on while the car is in the garage. Flat battery, whoops! Gee, you'd better take the bus or tram!

hikeandbike

I love the dad stories. Wish mine was still here. I remember when he taught me to drive and made my first insurance payment. I worked that summer and paid him back by buying him a ten speed. He didn't ride it much but showed much appreciation. He was a good guy.

DnvrFox

Seems to me you have some responsibility here - someone is going to get killed. Is there some reason you can't intervene with taking those car keys or demanding your mom take them?

pinsonp2 

My Dad (who passed away this past March from Alzheimers) took the distributor cap off of my Grandmother's car to prevent her from driving once her Alzheimers set in.

P2

freedomrider1

The old your number 1 salute,ha ha

JonnyHK 

I'm living in another country at the moment, so direct action is hard.

Dad is still physically able, so Mum is not willing to risk a serious confrontation. There is also no simple legal way to do it. You can lose your licence for being blind or having epilepsy, but just going a bit ga-ga isn't covered until you are a long way gone (ie so far that he won't notice or fight it).

So stealth it has to be!

Problem is that Dad is pretty mechanical, so he'll work it out reasonably quickly if a part like a distributor is deliberately taken. Small innocent errors - like the lights draining a battery - might get a couple of tries before he works it out. Maybe a flat tyre or two. How about a loose wire here or there. I'm thinking that Mum isn't up to siphoning the fuel from his tank!

Whilst Dad is getting lost, I think his motor-skills (pardon the pun) are still fine enough for driving around the neighbourhood. Alzheimers or not, he's probably no worse than most men his age.

However, I do admit that I'd avoid being a passenger in his car.

unterhausen

my dad (sensibly) gave up driving at 85. Before he died at 89, he was getting more and more belligerent about getting a drivers license. I don't think he could have actually made it to the car, but he wanted to be able to drive.

I sympathize with the OP, my dad did a lot of things that I would rather he not do. Totally out of character too. Things he would have been angry about if he had seen someone else do them only a decade earlier.

sknhgy 

Aren't there states where it is illegal for bicyclists to ride side-by-side? I believe Illinois is one of them, but I wouldn't know. I always ride alone. Maybe your dad was right?
Sounds like those bikers could have been impeding the flow of traffic.

(625 ILCS 5/11‑1505) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11‑1505)
Sec. 11‑1505. Position of bicycles and motorized pedal cycles on roadways ‑ Riding on roadways and bicycle paths.
(a) Any person operating a bicycle or motorized pedal cycle upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as close as practicable and safe to the right‑hand curb or edge of the roadway except under the following situations:
1. When overtaking and passing another bicycle,
motorized pedal cycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction; or

2. When preparing for a left turn at an intersection
or into a private road or driveway; or

3. When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions
including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, motorized pedal cycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes that make it unsafe to continue along the right‑hand curb or edge. For purposes of this subsection, a "substandard width lane" means a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle or motorized pedal cycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

4. When approaching a place where a right turn is
authorized.

(b) Any person operating a bicycle or motorized pedal cycle upon a one‑way highway with two or more marked traffic lanes may ride as near the left‑hand curb or edge of such roadway as practicable.
(Source: P.A. 95‑231, eff. 1‑1‑08.)


(625 ILCS 5/11‑1505.1) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11‑1505.1)
Sec. 11‑1505.1. Persons riding bicycles or motorized pedal cycles upon a roadway shall not ride more than 2 abreast, except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for their exclusive use. Persons riding 2 abreast shall not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic and, on a laned roadway, shall ride within a single lane subject to the provisions of Section 11‑1505.
(Source: P.A. 83‑549.)