Today I lived out a dream. Sort of like when you think of a snappy
comeback later on, only this time I'd had it happen to me enough times
that I was able to think of the snappy comeback right away. Details:
I was pedaling my 29"er at a moderate rate on an empty sidewalk cleared of
most of the snow. As I was crossing the somewhat snowy street where I had
a green light, a car came too fast around the corner, cutting me off. The
car was driving too close (legally speaking) to the corner, and this gave
me too little time to slow down, esp with the snow. The car slowed a bit
in order to negotiate the turn. Just before I would have hit the car, I
jumped off the uni and swung it hard-ish into the lower side of the car,
denting in (or cutting) a square area near the gas thingy. It helped that
I had metal pedals. The car never slowed, but if it had, I'd have
apologized for accidentally bumping it with my uni when I had to jump off
in order to avoid it when it cut me off.
I still haven't leapt onto a dog-walker*, but as I've written in the past,
it always helps to be prepared.
David
* Dog-walker: If a dog-walker is letting a dog off a leash (illegal in
NYC) and the dog suddenly runs in your path, avoid the dog. But if the
only way to avoid hurting yourself is to use the dog-walker as a bummper,
don't hesitate. Best to avoid this by slowing down ahead of time. I've
ridden past many dogs leashed and otherwise and have never had to dismount
bc I always take it slowly.