M
Mike S.
Guest
I was riding up the 101 here in San Diego yesterday. (as an aside, it was cool enough to have to
wear arm and knee warmers) and noticed a disturbing trend among the riders I was near. Seems that
some guys have the mistaken belief that they can run red lights on their bicycles.
What's up with that??
Please help my understand why an otherwise law-abiding car driver suddenly feels that he/she's not
bound by the rules of the road just because they're riding a bicycle.
All I can think of is that those of us riding the same stretch of road on a more or less daily basis
have to deal with the drivers of the cars that said cyclist just ****** off by running the red light
in plain view of however many cars are lined up at the light. Next time these drivers are confronted
by a cyclist doing something ordinary like riding along minding our own business, they may decide to
take out their frustration on said cyclist.
If we're trying to get respect and a slice of road, why ******** drivers by doing something as
stupid as "saving" 30sec to 1min out of your workout by running lights? So you don't keep up your
average speed. So what? Is it that important that you're willing to risk your (and MY) life for
another mile an hour?
On the weekly SDBC ride last Sat. I was honked at by some idiot in Rancho Santa Fe. Seems that I
wasn't moving out of his way fast enough. As a note, RSF is fairly "rural" the road was two lanes,
no center stripe, with trees in the way of visibility on both sides of the road. He wanted to pass
me around a blind corner, endangering both himself, the possible oncoming driver, me, and the guy
that I was riding with. Best of all, he turned right onto his street not 50-100m from where he
passed me! All I could think was: if I were driving a tractor, would you have gone around me around
a blind corner? The answer was: probably not. Since I'm on a bicycle, I'm fair game for harassment
'cause I'm "in the way." I didn't cuss at the guy, I didn't flip him the bird, I just shook my head
and shrugged my shoulders as he turned down his street.
I wanted to follow him home and try and explain my actions, but I figured I was going to go **** up
a rope anyway, so I let him drive off.
I'm constantly amazed at some of the ******** stuff that both cyclists and drivers do. Has common
courtesy gone the way of the dodo bird? When did things change?
Mike
wear arm and knee warmers) and noticed a disturbing trend among the riders I was near. Seems that
some guys have the mistaken belief that they can run red lights on their bicycles.
What's up with that??
Please help my understand why an otherwise law-abiding car driver suddenly feels that he/she's not
bound by the rules of the road just because they're riding a bicycle.
All I can think of is that those of us riding the same stretch of road on a more or less daily basis
have to deal with the drivers of the cars that said cyclist just ****** off by running the red light
in plain view of however many cars are lined up at the light. Next time these drivers are confronted
by a cyclist doing something ordinary like riding along minding our own business, they may decide to
take out their frustration on said cyclist.
If we're trying to get respect and a slice of road, why ******** drivers by doing something as
stupid as "saving" 30sec to 1min out of your workout by running lights? So you don't keep up your
average speed. So what? Is it that important that you're willing to risk your (and MY) life for
another mile an hour?
On the weekly SDBC ride last Sat. I was honked at by some idiot in Rancho Santa Fe. Seems that I
wasn't moving out of his way fast enough. As a note, RSF is fairly "rural" the road was two lanes,
no center stripe, with trees in the way of visibility on both sides of the road. He wanted to pass
me around a blind corner, endangering both himself, the possible oncoming driver, me, and the guy
that I was riding with. Best of all, he turned right onto his street not 50-100m from where he
passed me! All I could think was: if I were driving a tractor, would you have gone around me around
a blind corner? The answer was: probably not. Since I'm on a bicycle, I'm fair game for harassment
'cause I'm "in the way." I didn't cuss at the guy, I didn't flip him the bird, I just shook my head
and shrugged my shoulders as he turned down his street.
I wanted to follow him home and try and explain my actions, but I figured I was going to go **** up
a rope anyway, so I let him drive off.
I'm constantly amazed at some of the ******** stuff that both cyclists and drivers do. Has common
courtesy gone the way of the dodo bird? When did things change?
Mike