From our house it's about nine mostly flat miles to the Chuck E. Cheese where the birthday party was held, which was the destination today with my 7 year old in tow behind my mountain bike on the Piccolo trailercycle.

About a mile from our house I noticed the signal turn red at the light ahead, looked back to make sure it was clear, merged left, and stopped behind the second car at the light. Moments later the light turned green, the two cars went, so did we. I noticed a car was approaching from behind so when we were about half way into the intersection and I looked back (over my right shoulder this time) and merged right towards the curb. As the car was about to pass us, the JAM started honking. Not a friendly toot, mind you, but a solid seconds-long hold-it-down-as-hard-as-you-can. The stuff you've seen on some of Al's videos. I looked over inside the car, and it was 70ish geezer angrily flapping his lips (I couldn't hear anything he was saying) and waving his hand up and down and all around while his wife (presumably) was looking straight ahead, like a zombie, ignoring the whole thing. It was strange because we were in no way holding him up, so it was a classic "I feel the need to teach this jerk-on-bike-with-little-girl-in-tow a lesson". Whatever, this kind of stuff doesn't happen to me very often, nor does it really bother me. What bugs me is the prevalence of this "bike don't belong in the road" attitude. For every JAM that honks like this, I'm sure there are a hundred that simply mutter the same thing in silence. Anyway, he kept going and I probably wouldn't have given it much of a thought again except then I noticed that the black and white car immediately behind him was one of San Diego's finest! I'm not sure exactly when I grasped it, because it took a few moments for my mind to get wrapped around the unbelievable luck we were having. But at some point I was looking over at the officer/driver of the patrol car, and he was looking over at me, we nodded at each other, and he turned on his lights! I slowed down to savor the scenario as it unfolded in front of us for the next few minutes... By the time I pulled up next to the guy, the officer had already pulled him over, walked up to the car, and was giving him the "he has the same right as you to be on the road" lecture. The old guy had an entirely different demeanor, of course, and was expressing concern for "the little girl", saying he was trying to let me know how unsafe it was. The officer calmly noted that honking angrily and attempting to scare the father is an odd way to express concern for the girl, and explained why doing so can cause a cyclist to crash. At that point I interrupted, told him my little girl was 7 and that I was her 46 year old father, and that keeping her safe was my most important task in life. I looked at the officer, said "thank you", and we took off. A couple of blocks later my girl said, "Papa, that police man stopped that man". Yes, honey, he stopped him for honking at bicyclists - he's not supposed to do that". A few minutes later the officer passed us, but I never saw the JAM again. The sad thing is, I bet he's a decent guy and really believed he was doing a good deed.

I read this and seriously laughed out loud HH. I am really glad you were able to get some satisfaction from the police. It always makes me feel good when people post stories like this.

But from one friend to another, it made me laugh knowing you from this board and knowing that you are the only person I know that would have the cajones to not only approach an Officer in the middle of a traffic stop, but then interrupt his lecture to add your own two cents.

Not that I think what the Officer had to say was more important than what you did. It's just that most people wouldn't do that. Glad you got to the party safely, and I hope you had a good time.

P.S.: I also went out with the family today and took my son for his first "long" ride on his new Hardrock sport. It was 12 miles and I was able to do a lot of safety teaching and teach him that 12 miles was really no big deal on a bike. We covered it in a little over an hour and hardly broke a sweat.

P.S. x2: I love the old black and whites. I still wonder why departments ever went away from them.

But you ride her in traffic in a trailer ??
You really, really need to re-evaluate this thought process.
Insanity.

Classic! I'm glad you shared that experience! Thanks for making me smile today.

Why would you say that? A trailer is allowed on roads and provided the cyclist is operating his vehicle safely, predictably and legally, there should be no greater danger to the occupant of the trailer than the occupant of a car. Don't tell me you subscribe to the myth that cycling is dangerous.

I used a trailer when transporting my son to school for years and while I avoided busy streets (wasn't hard as there were few on that route), I found motorsists remarkably cautious and respectful of the brightly coloured trailer with two warning flags mounted behind it, often waiting patiently on narrow one-way streets until it was safe to pass. Only a very few impatient drivers ever passed, but they never really endangered us.

The driver was at fault in the situation HH described, NOT HH.

good story, HH. But I don't know that *I* would take my kid out in a trailer in traffic. too much **** could happen. but I'm a wuss that way. I don't have kids, but I wouldn't take my dogs out in a trailer either! even if they were superintelligent and could shoot deathrays from their eyes. well, especially not then, because I'd have a lot of explaining to do when That happened, and I'd be locked up forever and scientists would take my dogs out to area 51 to study them and then I'd never see them again..... and that would suck. but... good story!

I ride with my little one in a trailer in traffic. Not a big deal, IMHO.

Nice little story. Someday I hope to have such luck with the right witnesses.

I do have harrassment and witness story though: Last week at 6:30pm a friend and I were cycling about within a bike lane on a multilane 45mph road - it was toward the end of rush hour flowing counter flow, so traffic was fairly light. A JAM passed us and honked and shouted at us to get 'our gay asses off the road.' He then slowed to our speed but kept one car length ahead. The guy I was with told him to f off and then pulled out his cell and loudly called out the plate numbers. We were adjacent at this point - the driver going off like an idiot. Anyway, he sped off and we continued. A moment later a guy in a car who had witnessed had pullled ahead and to the side of street and as we passed asked if they guy was harrassing us, I said 'Yes' My friend said 'Don't worry we took care of it' Moments later another driver pullled up next to us and asked if that guy (the original one) was giving us a problem. We said no. About a mile later a police car passed us with lights on. I doubt it was related (after all they would have asked us and also response wouldn't be this quick), but it was fun to imagine one of the two kind drivers had called them.

It was really nice to know that two random drivers noted the minor harrassment we had and took the initiative to see what was up.

Al

Just like anyone who drives a mid-sized car with their child in it on roads frequented by tractor-trailers, right?

.. to clarify for the rest, a piccalo trailer makes a bike more into a tandem, its' not a kid in the back "Burley" style trailer.

so HH, you experienced a JAM. and a cop actually was behind you. amazing. what would the outcome have been if the cop wasn't there? just another typical interaction with a JAM.

happens all the time.

Cyclaholic recently got physically tagged by one down under- actually hit him in the trailer- and you scorned him for 'pointing out the obvious.' nice one ,helmet head.

Oh man I am so glad this happened to you.... for one, you finally expressed the core of all my rants: Too often I feel "yet again" like I have to "train" the entire freaking driving world...

Sure it "doesn't bother you," but in reality, there it is in a nutshell... the prevalence of this "bike don't belong in the road" attitude.. This is exactly the root of "the Notion" and of the bulk of my rants.

Second... it happened to you and you cannot deny it... that "attidude" that you so often say you just ignore. Man, when it is right in your face for the umpteenth time, it is just so old.

Of course only you would have Obie right behind the JAM and have it dealt with righteously right on the spot.

Me, I gotta deal with it myself (remember Road II... )

Buy a lottery ticket... it was your day!

HH, nice story. Guy got what he deserved, not sure if I would take my child in a trailer on a busy road. I'd maybe try to find a less busy road if possible.

But next time can you have a few more paragraphs to make it a little easier to read? My eyes got lost as I was reading it.

I figured you would say something like this. I was anticipating your "only you" reaction since it happened. It is pretty funny, isn't it?

I have to say, the cyclist I was 6 years ago would be a lot more reluctant to ride the way I do now, particularly with my child in tow. For anyone in San Diego who has ever ridden from the Mission Beach area to the Sports Arena area... you know the traffic situation is not pretty. But we went over the bridge, controlling the right lane, and had a "blocker" behind us the whole way.

Once you take the concept of owning total responsibility for your own safety (and the child you are towing) to heart, and understand how to do that and what it entails, it becomes a lot less scary.

you sound so flippant and nonchelant about JAMs with your child in tow- do you find having a little child hanging off the back of your bike affords you similar protections as the weekend peloton, HH?

What the heck is a jAM?

A child in a bike trailer with a competent cyclist at the helm, is in a much safer position than a child in a car. Riding in a car is a much more dangerous way to travel. The only safer way to travel is by school bus.

Oh heck yes.

Like Noisebeam, I too long for the day when the right witnesses are available.

And like you said, it doesn't happen often, but behind every "instance" are the 100 or so motorists that wanted to do it. Those are the ones that give you the looks and the arms in the air and shoulder shrugging as they pass by... often with a bit of "power display" in their haste to move on.

Yeah, it can be ignored, but man it gets so old.

On the plus side, I can't help but wonder if, as gas reaches $4.00 a gallon, we are not starting to get a bit of "respect" or even "sympathy" from the public... a'la the old gas wars of the '70s, back when I first took up cycling as regular transportation. Of course there will always be the buttheaded JAMs that will feel they own the road, like the gas guzzing Hummer drivers...

Jack A$$ Motorist.

Beyond "cager..." a cager being a motorist that can't thing outside of "the box."

A JAM is a rude abusive motorist that has their head "where the sun doesn't shine."

I like that term, as it distinguishes nicely between the motorist who is a jerk, and the motorist who is not (cager seems to fail to make that distinction in the way I have seen it used in this forum in particular).

When you combine the prevalence of this attitude with the lack of moral or social conscience of a criminal you get the type of whacko that tagged me last Friday. You think it's rare? well I totally disagree, I think there are far more belligerent people behind the wheel that will tag you and your child just for the hell of it than you care to admit to.

I have a trail-a-bike and a Phillips kiddicarrier, I often tow both as a road-train. Thats 3 kids under 5 years old and the 3 most important people in the entire universe to me. There is no way on earth I will take any of them onto a public road while there is the remotest chance of encountering one of those whackos. It's the sidewalk to the mup, to wherever the mup allows us to go, and that's it for us. Fortunately we have a wealth of segragated cycleways here that take us everywhere we go and beyond.

Is this a statement of fact? If so, what is it based on?

The sad thing is most people believe we need the cops to spend all their time catching murderers and people like that. The thing is, something about traffic can make otherwise law-abiding ordinary people turn into vigilantes. A lot more motorists than you would think believe when they see a bicyclist that they have a right, even a duty, to play judge, jury and execututioner if need be. Teach us a lesson. They even think they're doing us a favor.

This is why so many people won't take any chances biking on busy roads no matter what you offer them as far as facilities or classes. Add kids into the mix, and most people will think you're nuts. But that still doesn't give them the right to risk your life to give you their opinion. If they are really that concerned, they should call the police and let the police handle it.

These are the same school buses with a high centre of gravity, a distracted driver, no seat-belts, steel tubed seats at head high., right?

HH, I am glad to hear that with the help of local enforcement, you were able to teach at least one driver that we [bikers] belong on the road too.

But all this about kids in trailers, trail-a-bikes, etc. is crazy talk! I don't know if you guys realize this but every day we take our lives into our own hands by virtue of going about our daily business. (For example, you could die in the shower by slipping on the soap and banging your head. Are you going to stop cleaning yourself then??)

Yes, we take steps to ensure our safety and we certainly go to great lengths to protect our children. But we can't simply stop doing what we need to do (like getting ourselves from point a to b with our kiddos) because of 'what ifs'. As HH pointed out, our personal safety is our personal responsibility. Take it seriously or live in a sequestered box.

PS: I mean all of the above in the kindest, most non-judgmental way possible