Amusing bit of courtesy
 

While on a ride tonight, my friend and I got passed by some teenage kids doing at least 90mph in a 35mph zone. The funny thing was, they gave us a couple of quick toots on their horn to let us know they were coming, and they gave us a really wide berth when they passed.

And who says kids have no respect nowadays? :D

LoL. Shouldn't have been doing 90 to begin with, but I myself have done it, and atleast they did it as properly as you can...

Funny, last night I was finishing up a 20 mile ride and was going down a road that was 55 mph. all cars were giving me about 2' of space. I got to a long straight stretch and wanted to shake out the arms and legs a bit, so I looked back to see if there were any cars coming. None, so I took turns shaking my arms, etc. I was about done, bike was swerving a bit and I looked back again to see a car about a 1/4 mile away. I could here them slow down , then they totally moved into oncoming lane, must be they were a bit freaked to see me swerve around.

Haha. Their speeding kind of negates their courtesy. Almost. They could've easily just sped by at 239842304mph with zero warning an inch from your handlebars.

One of the joys of living in downtown Dallas is getting to ride around in downtown traffic. Yesterday I was riding in the bus lane and got honked at by some kids who didn't think I turned the corner fast enough or something. I'm still VERY new at this, so it rattled me a bit.

Honks are terrible the first few times. But then, you find that mental "zone" while riding that filters such things after a while.

I've been riding regularly, off & on, since 1989, and honks still cause my adrenalin to spike.

And my middle finger to pop up.

Give em the dallas wave, everyone uses it from their cars so why not bikes too?? Its easy just close hand to a fist and extend middle finger, once your a pro you can holler a few explatives as well. :rolleyes:

I think thats good. You never know when a honk could be important information. I think thats a healthy fear.

Funny thing, I've just gotten into the "ignore the honks" mode, then on my ride home from work yesterday I heard some frantic honking as I was taking a left-turn through an intersection. I ignored it, but it just didn't stop, so after turning of from the main road to a side road, I stopped and turned around, just to see my wife coming up in her car behind me telling me she was on her way to Home Depot to spend some of my hard-earned money.....

In France by law drivers have to warn cyclists of their approach by giving a couple of toots on the horn. This is all done very politely as the French respect bikers and will applaud and cheer on a cyclist as they struggle up a hill. Believe me it's the place to be if you're a cyclist.

Exactly... especially when you know you are doing it all right... it is a shot out of the blue... a "WTF."

The other thing that pisses me the HELL off. guys and their dual exhaust. I mean come on Its cool I will agree. But one time I was going up a pretty nasty hill and I hear a reasonable sounding truck behind me so I push it. I was like doing 21-25 on the mountain and out of no where he revs up and BOOM. I was freaking out, I thought I had an 18-wheeler passing by me. I died, my body tensed up. As he was flying by me I was screaming. It really scared the crap out of me.

As a guy who used to drive a lifted chevy with dual exhaust, This made my laugh out loud!!! I can just see a terrified cyclist getting passed, all the while the cyclist is yelling out loud, thinking he's about to die. Sorry the scene just makes me laugh really hard!!! I've been terrified myself when cars pass way too close, I even let out a scared holler the other day myself. I know how it can be! Big rigs are especially intimidating!

First, heart momentarily stops. :eek:

Second, adrenalin kicks in. :mad:

Third, loud swearwords flows out. :mad: :mad:

Fourth, speed increases and feel sense of invulnerability :D


If the car touches my bike (as it seems to happen too frequently) multiply above mentionned effects by 10.

Honks used to make me jump, but i'm alright with em now. The worst is when a dog is riding in the car and barks while they pass. I almost fell sideways over a guardrail and down the side of a mountain thanks to that :eek: :D

I just biked home from work and had 2 RCMP officers on bicycles following me for quite a few blocks and it was amazing how much more courteous the car drivers were....