Near Miss Today.

scotty72 said:

Well, It was only a matter of time...

Only been back on the bike for a few weeks now and already some dip-sh-t in a 4wd decided to merge left right through me. (left - turn lane opens up. I keep in the lane to go straight - clown accelerates to level with me, honks horn then swerves at me)

Now, did I get angry? No.

However, my right foot (size 11) did leave one hell of a dent in his rear door. One extra benefit of a near lifetime of cycling = strong legs). Petty I wasn't wearing steel studded footy boots.

Of course, I was just knocking on the door to make him aware of my presence.

Anyone else had similar near misses?

Scotty

i've had a couple this year

but i find, being careful, defensive and courteous helps avoid near misses

a couple of months ago, i was riding down adelaide st about 40km/h... couple of cars turn right in front of me down constitution rd... then one young lady in a golf leave it so close that i came within a beezdik of hitting her passenger door.... locked up both my wheels trying to stop (yeah, i know it ain't effective)

more recently, i had an idiot (tradesman ute) on a roundabout turn left in front of me who was going straight.... that was ok because i am ready for this usual lack of respect, BUT he was going so slow that

scotty72 said:

Well, It was only a matter of time...

Only been back on the bike for a few weeks now and already some dip-sh-t in a 4wd decided to merge left right through me. (left - turn lane opens up. I keep in the lane to go straight - clown accelerates to level with me, honks horn then swerves at me)

Now, did I get angry? No.

However, my right foot (size 11) did leave one hell of a dent in his rear door. One extra benefit of a near lifetime of cycling = strong legs). Petty I wasn't wearing steel studded footy boots.

Of course, I was just knocking on the door to make him aware of my presence.

Anyone else had similar near misses?

Scotty

i've had a couple this year

but i find, being careful, defensive and courteous helps avoid near misses

a couple of months ago, i was riding down adelaide st about 40km/h... couple of cars turn right in front of me down constitution rd... then one young lady in a golf leave it so close that i came within a beezdik of hitting her passenger door.... locked up both my wheels trying to stop (yeah, i know it ain't effective)

more recently, i had an idiot (tradesman ute) on a roundabout turn left in front of me who was going straight.... that was ok because i am ready for this usual lack of respect, BUT he was going so slow that i almost was stopped waiting for him to go around.... his stoopid apprentice was grinning ear to ear

Had a near miss yesterday, for anyone who has ever been to the northern beaches of Cairns you will know that there are big roundabouts here. Anyway just thought I'd go out for a ride, got to a large roundabout and was going to ride straight through it, I stopped and gave way to cars coming from my right then I continued through. I was about halfway round and cars were stopping to give way to me but I must have been hidden from the car in the outside lane who didn't seem to work out that the other cars are stopping so maybe there is something coming through so he slams on his brakes and I have to swerve into the inside lane of the roundabout, he blasts his horn and I can see he is yelling at me so from me all he got was the international signal of watch out: one finger.

robalert said:

i find, being careful, defensive and courteous helps avoid near misses

I know, but this was a case of sticking my leg out in self defense combined with a vent of frustration.

Just the stupidity of this guy, could easilty have waited 5 secs for me to get out of the way. But, he speeds up to get along side, honks his horn at me then swerves. This wasn't a case of a confused old lady not knowing what to do - it was a deliberate attempt to scare me off the road.

Unfortunately for him, I'm too stupid to scare that easily 🙂

Scotty

By the way, found your UWS shortcut - thanks

Olsilverback said:

Had a near miss yesterday, for anyone who has ever been to the northern beaches of Cairns you will know that there are big roundabouts here. Anyway just thought I'd go out for a ride, got to a large roundabout and was going to ride straight through it, I stopped and gave way to cars coming from my right then I continued through. I was about halfway round and cars were stopping to give way to me but I must have been hidden from the car in the outside lane who didn't seem to work out that the other cars are stopping so maybe there is something coming through so he slams on his brakes and I have to swerve into the inside lane of the roundabout, he blasts his horn and I can see he is yelling at me so from me all he got was the international signal of watch out: one finger.

Yeah, know those roundabouts. On the way up to Smithfield (I think) where the giant skyway starts.

Do you often try those mountains up to Kuranda? Can't recall how big they are, but they seemed impressive from the skyway.

scotty72 said:

Yeah, know those roundabouts. On the way up to Smithfield (I think) where the giant skyway starts.

Do you often try those mountains up to Kuranda? Can't recall how big they are, but they seemed impressive from the skyway.

Yep thats them. Havn't tried those mountains yet but I know several guys who do that twice a week, when I get a bit more experience I will follow them up maybe once a week. I don't know exactly but just had a look at the local maps and it is around a 600m climb in 10-15km. Im not worried about the hill, I'm worried about the traffic because if you've ever been up there you see there is the road then there is a very steep drop, there is no room to move out of the way.

scotty72 said:

I know, but this was a case of sticking my leg out in self defense combined with a vent of frustration.

Just the stupidity of this guy, could easilty have waited 5 secs for me to get out of the way. But, he speeds up to get along side, honks his horn at me then swerves. This wasn't a case of a confused old lady not knowing what to do - it was a deliberate attempt to scare me off the road.

Unfortunately for him, I'm too stupid to scare that easily 🙂

Scotty

By the way, found your UWS shortcut - thanks

glad u found it scotty

also, i wasn't havin' a go at you... i can understand why you returned the favour... hopefully it'll make him think twice about hassling a cyclist.... hopefully

no prob

by the way, that UWS shortcut is a shocker 🙂

I think I prefer Victoria Rd.

Scotty.

Had one yesterday arvo too. I was coming off the bike path to turn left on to a road. There are bridgeworks going on at the moment, so effectively, the bike path comes through a dead end, and the 50-60m of road is for local traffic only.

Imagine my surprise when I made the slight left hand turn from the dead end and see a bloody ute coming straight at me (not going slow either) on the wrong side of the road!!

Funny thing is, he was insistent that I was in the wrong. I accept motorists who apologise and let them know how close it was, but as this guy was so arrogant, I decided I had a few minutes to spare and stood in front of him until he had to go back to get onto the correct side of the road to continue on his way.

well done, but keep safe.

scotty72 said:

well done, but keep safe.

just got back from 5 weeks in France and a few days of riding in Austria on the new tandem.
2200kms and not one beep, yell or any agression. If the road was narrow, every time the vehicle behind would wait patiently behind until it was safe to pass.
A cyclists paridise and its summer over there.
Not enjoying being back in Sydney traffic.

Ride safe.
Remeber the moron in the car will always come out best in a collision.

Cheers

Geoff

scotty72 said:

no prob

by the way, that UWS shortcut is a shocker 🙂

I think I prefer Victoria Rd.

Scotty.

sorry, i forgot to ask whether you ride a road bike or a mtb/hybrid:o

don't take the short cut if you ride a road bike

it is a better option if you value safety over a few bumps... also you get used the final pinch if you are heading west