Cyclist rant

psycholist wrote:
> I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.
>
> The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane
> highways that cuts through our little area. There weren't
> any other cars on the stretch of road I was traveling.
>
> I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as
> if they were reasonably experienced riders. They were
> riding 2-abreast. They were just dawdling along. The
> rider on the left was weaving all over. We were
> approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to pass because,
> the way they were riding, I couldn't be sure they
> wouldn't make a turn right in front of me. Neither rider
> seemed interested in showing me any consideration
> whatsoever. Despite the very open road, I had to just sit
> in behind them and wait. It's not that it was any big
> deal to wait 15 seconds until we got past that
> intersection, but I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and
> inconsiderate of traffic. When I ride with friends, we
> ride 2 abreast and talk often enough, but if we're on a
> more major highway and/or if we know there's traffic
> approaching from behind, we always fall in single file.
>
> But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for no
> reason whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a good
> number of the rednecks in pickups among whom I have to
> ride every day, so I'll have to watch my backside more
> closely.
>
> I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so often.

I just composed a well-thought-out reply to this...EXCEPT I
missed the fact that you were /driving/ not /riding/!

Never mind.

Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little toot?"
S.

Did you tell them you were coming up on the left or
anything? Maybe they didn't even know you were there.

Curt

"psycholist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.
>
> The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane
> highways that cuts through our little area. There weren't
> any other cars on the stretch of road I was traveling.
>
> I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as if
> they were reasonably experienced riders. They were riding
> 2-abreast. They were
just
> dawdling along. The rider on the left was weaving all
> over. We were approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to
> pass because, the way they
were
> riding, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't make a turn right
> in front of me. Neither rider seemed interested in showing
> me any consideration
whatsoever.
> Despite the very open road, I had to just sit in behind
> them and wait.
It's
> not that it was any big deal to wait 15 seconds until we
> got past that intersection, but I couldn't imagine being
> THAT rude and inconsiderate of traffic. When I ride with
> friends, we ride 2 abreast and talk often
enough,
> but if we're on a more major highway and/or if we know
> there's traffic approaching from behind, we always fall in
> single file.
>
> But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for no
> reason whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a good
> number of the rednecks in pickups among whom I have to
> ride every day, so I'll have to watch my backside more
> closely.
>
> I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so often.
>
> Bob C.

"curt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Did you tell them you were coming up on the left or
> anything? Maybe they didn't even know you were there.
>
> Curt
>
>
> "psycholist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage
> > roadie.
> >
> > The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane
> > highways that
cuts
> > through our little area. There weren't any other cars on
> > the stretch of road I was traveling.
> >
> > I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as
> > if they were reasonably experienced riders. They were
> > riding 2-abreast. They were
> just
> > dawdling along. The rider on the left was weaving all
> > over. We were approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid
> > to pass because, the way they
> were
> > riding, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't make a turn
> > right in front of
me.
> > Neither rider seemed interested in showing me any
> > consideration
> whatsoever.
> > Despite the very open road, I had to just sit in behind
> > them and wait.
> It's
> > not that it was any big deal to wait 15 seconds until we
> > got past that intersection, but I couldn't imagine being
> > THAT rude and inconsiderate
of
> > traffic. When I ride with friends, we ride 2 abreast and
> > talk often
> enough,
> > but if we're on a more major highway and/or if we know
> > there's traffic approaching from behind, we always fall
> > in single file.
> >
> > But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for
> > no reason whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a
> > good number of the
rednecks
> > in pickups among whom I have to ride every day, so I'll
> > have to watch my backside more closely.
> >
> > I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so
> > often.
> >
> > Bob C.
> >
> >

"The other day I was DRIVING down one of the main 2 lane
highways ... "

Bob C.

psycholist wrote:

> I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.
>
<snip all to typical experience>
> Bob C.
>
>

As a roadie, mountain biker, and driver, I see this all too
often as well, and it pisses me off. I had a "local" driving
against me in the opposite lane last evening, as I was
riding alone, up against the side of the road, beep 3 times
so that I would not miss his salute. I can only imagine this
was from experience with the likes of guys you describe
above, or he is just a ****-head.

Then again, what group doesn't have bad eggs which end up
being our own worst enemies? Unfortunately with our group,
someone often pays with a car/bike altercation, and the
bike loses.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)

psycholist wrote:

> I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.
>
> The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane
> highways that cuts through our little area. There weren't
> any other cars on the stretch of road I was traveling.
>
> I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as
> if they were reasonably experienced riders. They were
> riding 2-abreast. They were just dawdling along. The
> rider on the left was weaving all over. We were
> approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to pass because,
> the way they were riding, I couldn't be sure they
> wouldn't make a turn right in front of me. Neither rider
> seemed interested in showing me any consideration
> whatsoever. Despite the very open road, I had to just sit
> in behind them and wait. It's not that it was any big
> deal to wait 15 seconds until we got past that
> intersection, but I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and
> inconsiderate of traffic. When I ride with friends, we
> ride 2 abreast and talk often enough, but if we're on a
> more major highway and/or if we know there's traffic
> approaching from behind, we always fall in single file.
>
> But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for no
> reason whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a good
> number of the rednecks in pickups among whom I have to
> ride every day, so I'll have to watch my backside more
> closely.
>
> I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so often.

Are you sure they were aware of your presence? Some cars
these days are very quiet, and if you're riding into the
wind you may not hear anything behind you anyway.

Matt O.

S o r n i <[email protected]> wrote:
> Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little
> toot?" S.

no such thing as a friendly toot, imo. rather like a
friendly smack upside the head. nothing wrong with a "you're
being a jackass" toot, tho.
--
david reuteler [email protected]

David Reuteler wrote:
> S o r n i <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little
>> toot?" S.
>
> no such thing as a friendly toot, imo. rather like a
> friendly smack upside the head. nothing wrong with a
> "you're being a jackass" toot, tho.

I disagree with the first part. If someone is unaware that a
car is behind them and seeking to pass, a soft tap on the
horn to alert them doesn't seem particularly menacing or
intimidating to me. (A full-on honk is different, however.)

Bill "agree on the 'UB a jackass' toot, though" S.

In that case, you should develop more patience for people.

Curt

> "The other day I was DRIVING down one of the main 2 lane
> highways ... "
>
> Bob C.

I keyed on, "I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and
inconsiderate of| traffic." And remembered Chapter Eight of
Bicycle Transportation. Seems to indicate that 'THAT' isn't
very inconsiderate and even less than your 'fifteen
seconds'. Did you blast the exhaust over pressure pedal,
a.k.a. 'throttle' at them as you passed?

Chill. Ride

"psycholist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.
|
| The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane
| highways that cuts through our little area. There weren't
| any other cars on the stretch of road I was traveling.
|
| I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as if
| they were reasonably experienced riders. They were riding
| 2-abreast. They were
just
| dawdling along. The rider on the left was weaving all
| over. We were approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to
| pass because, the way they
were
| riding, I couldn't be sure they wouldn't make a turn right
| in front of me. Neither rider seemed interested in showing
| me any consideration
whatsoever.
| Despite the very open road, I had to just sit in behind
| them and wait.
It's
| not that it was any big deal to wait 15 seconds until we
| got past that intersection, but I couldn't imagine being
| THAT rude and inconsiderate of traffic. When I ride with
| friends, we ride 2 abreast and talk often
enough,
| but if we're on a more major highway and/or if we know
| there's traffic approaching from behind, we always fall in
| single file.
|
| But here's this inconsiderate jerk just blocking me for no
| reason whatsoever. He probably managed to tick off a good
| number of the rednecks in pickups among whom I have to
| ride every day, so I'll have to watch my backside more
| closely.
|
| I wish cyclists weren't their own worst enemies so often.
|
| Bob C.
|
|

psycholist wrote:

> I live in a very rural area and I'm a high-mileage roadie.
>
> The other day I was driving down one of the main 2-lane
> highways that cuts through our little area. There weren't
> any other cars on the stretch of road I was traveling.
>
> I came upon two cyclists on road gear and decked out as if
> they were reasonably experienced riders. They were riding
> 2-abreast. They were just dawdling along. The rider on the
> left was weaving all over.

Yeah. That happens sometimes.

> We were approaching a crossroad, so I was afraid to pass
> because, the way they were riding, I couldn't be sure they
> wouldn't make a turn right in front of me. Neither rider
> seemed interested in showing me any consideration
> whatsoever. Despite the very open road, I had to just sit
> in behind them and wait. It's not that it was any big deal
> to wait 15 seconds until we got past that intersection,
> but I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and inconsiderate
> of traffic. When I ride with friends, we ride 2 abreast
> and talk often enough, but if we're on a more major
> highway and/or if we know there's traffic approaching from
> behind, we always fall in single file.

Perhaps the clue is "if we KNOW there's traffic..." IOW,
maybe these guys didn't know. I've done that inadvertently,
I'm sure. The "friendly little toot" strategy might have
worked perfectly.

I've (very rarely) seen riders being real jerks, purposely
blocking the road, deliberately enraging drivers. That
deserves a rant. But if you saw a simple mistake, just
remember that nobody's perfect.

--
--------------------+ Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove
rodent and vegetable dot com, replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

David Reuteler wrote:

> S o r n i <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little
>> toot?" S.
>
> no such thing as a friendly toot, imo.

I disagree, but how a horn is interpreted depends on where
you are. Throughout Latin America, a quick toot is
considered friendly, and people will toot and wave as they
pass fellow humans. Some French cars even have two horns --
tooty country horns (Hallo!) and blaring city horns (Get out
of my way!) Southerners don't seem to use horns unless
they're really ****** off, so I wouldn't try a "friendly"
toot around here. This is unfortunate -- the usual annoyed
redneck tactic is to creep up behind a cyclist and rev the
engine! I'd much prefer a friendly toot.

Matt O.

They knew I was there. They just apparently didn't care.

Bob C.

"Doug Huffman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I keyed on, "I couldn't imagine being THAT rude and
> inconsiderate of| traffic." And remembered Chapter Eight
> of Bicycle Transportation. Seems
to
> indicate that 'THAT' isn't very inconsiderate and even
> less than your 'fifteen seconds'. Did you blast the
> exhaust over pressure pedal, a.k.a. 'throttle' at them as
> you passed?
>
> Chill. Ride

I don't understand. Are you saying there's some book out
there that says it's OK to do what these riders were doing?
If so, then it's stupid and it's going to get somebody
killed. I was quite patient with it. I didn't honk, toot,
gesture. I waited patiently until it was safe to pass, then
I passed. But all the rude rider needed to do was ease over
to single file for a second. It wouldn't have delayed him
one bit and it would have allowed me to pass.

The law where I live as that bicycles are to ride as far to
the right as practicable. He wasn't doing that. Not even
close. He was simply being rude and arrogant or he was
clueless and he needs to get a clue. I was quite tempted to
stop farther up the road and await his arrival so I could
give him one. But my wife was along and she would not have
approved. Incidentally, her comment to me as we passed the
riders was, "I hope you don't ride like that." I assured
her I didn't.

Bob C.

"Matt O'Toole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> David Reuteler wrote:
>
> > S o r n i <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Bill "nothing wrong with giving 'em a friendly little
> >> toot?" S.
> >
> > no such thing as a friendly toot, imo.
>
> I disagree, but how a horn is interpreted depends on where
> you are.
Throughout
> Latin America, a quick toot is considered friendly, and
> people will toot
and
> wave as they pass fellow humans. Some French cars even
> have two horns --
tooty
> country horns (Hallo!) and blaring city horns (Get out of
> my way!)
Southerners
> don't seem to use horns unless they're really ****** off,
> so I wouldn't
try a
> "friendly" toot around here. This is unfortunate -- the
> usual annoyed
redneck
> tactic is to creep up behind a cyclist and rev the engine!
> I'd much
prefer a
> friendly toot.
>
> Matt O.
>

You must live near me.

Rev ... Rev ... squeeeeeel!

Bob C.

"curt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:%[email protected]...
> In that case, you should develop more patience for people.
>
> Curt
>
>
> > "The other day I was DRIVING down one of the main 2 lane
> > highways ... "
> >
> > Bob C.

I'll say this as patiently as I can. You can't read and you
apparently missed the point.

Bob C.

No I didn't miss the point. I understand they were in your
way and rode tandem when they shouldn't have. They were
wrong, but relax. Look at what cyclist put up with really.
It is worse than ever now that people are in a rush to get
no where and possibly the worst invention for cyclists...the
cell phone.

Relax. You got around them within seconds anyway. Give the
guys a break.

Curt

"psycholist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "curt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:%[email protected]...
> > In that case, you should develop more patience for
> > people.
> >
> > Curt
> >
> >
> > > "The other day I was DRIVING down one of the main 2
> > > lane highways ...
"
> > >
> > > Bob C.
>
> I'll say this as patiently as I can. You can't read and
> you apparently missed the point.
>
> Bob C.

On Wed, 02 Jun 2004 18:07:17 GMT, "Matt O'Toole" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>> no such thing as a friendly toot, imo.
>
>I disagree, but how a horn is interpreted depends on
>where you are.

Sounds reasonable, but I think it's also a matter of who you
are. I'm often startled by even a minor blip from a horn,
and often offended, even if I think it wasn't supposed to be
offensive.

As such, I temporarily got in the habit of revving my engine
to notify others with a less sharp noise, but apparently
most people believe that to be an obnoxious "I'm trying to
race" noise.

Seems to me, the ___...---***```***---...___ pattern of
engine revving sound is more gentle than the
***************************
pattern of even a short honk, but well...that's just me.
--
Rick Onanian

On Wed, 02 Jun 2004 15:08:26 -0400, Rick Onanian <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Seems to me, the ___...---***```***---...___ pattern of
>engine revving sound is more gentle than the
> ***************************
>pattern of even a short honk, but well...that's just me.

I hope the ASCII art looks similar on everybody's screen,
but it probably won't.
--
Rick Onanian

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 14:45:44 -0400, "psycholist" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I don't understand. Are you saying there's some book out
>there that says it's OK to do what these riders were
>doing? If so, then it's stupid and it's going to get
>somebody killed.

In some situations its easier to pass bikes that are two
abreast than a longer line of cyclists that are single file
(and I do have some experience - there was a ten year period
that I did sagwagon on everything from bike races to LAW
GEARs to large club rides - probably averaging about 20 a
year). Unfortunately, in most of those cases, the majority
of cyclists don't have the experience to do it right (go two
abreast and open clear pass-to spaces).

Even when it is just two cyclists, in most cases it doesn't
make much difference, although it can. More often it gives
an appearance of blocking more than it does in reality. And
as some believe the best thing is to force the auto into the
other lane rather than gamble on a close pass in the same
lane, I would guess that they would argue that two abreast
is fine in most cases.

Yours may well have been one of the cases where it made a
difference. Doubt these two would have read a book anyway to
know whether or not they were doing right.

Curtis L. Russell Odenton, MD (USA) Just someone on
two wheels...