Stupid Car Tricks

[ericmurphy]

I'm heading towards a stop sign, doing about 25 MPH. I can hear an SUV behind me (isn't it always an SUV?), and brace for some kind of stupidity. Sure enough, about 75 feet (or approximately three seconds at my speed) before I get to the intersection, I hear the idiot leaning on the horn. I've already begun braking, but I refuse to move over, because why should I? I'm doing over the speed limit (which is only 20 MPH here), and I'M 75 FEET FROM THE STOP SIGN.

So the driver of the SUV tries to pass me between where I am now (about 30 feet from the stop sign) and the intersection. She (yes, not all idiot drivers of SUVs are men) tries to pass me by pulling into the oncoming lane. Her problem is, I'm still taking the lane, and I'm stopped at the stop sign. She's directly to my left, so she can't pull back into my lane. Which means she's stuck in the wrong lane, blocking oncoming traffic. So now, she has to wait for me to make my left-hand turn before she can go anywhere, because there's oncoming traffic which is blocking her from cutting me off and proceeding through the intersection.

I think there's something about driving an SUV which drives your IQ down even further than where it would be if you were just driving a car.

[Tom Robison]

And I thought it only happened here in the state of Southern California. I see you folks in "The City" have your share of "soccer mommies" driving their suburban assault vehicles like they own the road.

I agree with you...many drivers check their common sense and courtesy when they get behind the wheel. They also don't know the the vehicle code which states bicyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as other motor vehicles. That question needs to be on the driver's test. If you get wrong on the test, you don't get a license. That might wake 'em up. (Doubtful.)

Tom

[pale scotsman]

Taking up a whole lane down here is suicide. Ya got to share the road so as to not piss of the rednecks.

BTW I see where you are coming from but 95% or more won't, don't, can't, and shan't.

[Needs Help]

....ahhh, why couldn't a police officer have come along just then. :)

[Kevan]

The Westchester cyclist has near worn out his welcome during the typical weekend morning rides here. The population of us two-wheeled buggers has doubled and the patience has been tried from steering wheel and handlebar alike.

While my routes seek out the calmer roads there's no avoiding the busier ones and so many of these main roadways are in such a poor state around here. Taking this past Saturday's ride for an example, one of my pals shared with us before starting out his story about a women who had done an endo-crash the prior weekend, going down hill at over 30 mph. Well needless to say, no one is particularly happy to hear such stories when they themselves are just about to push off from the curb on their own ride. Frankly, I felt like a cat running thru one of Sandy's dog pounds, I tell ya. As we proceeded down this one busy road we were forced more and more into the center of the lane since the shoulder was full of cracks and divots. Even with no cars behind us, cars from the opposing lane were yelling at us to move over, but we safely couldn't.

Simply, we're misunderstood. I think if I could get word out to the car drivers in my area of what's going on they might better understand. Even us cyclists, when behind the wheel as most car drivers, wish to avoid similar obstacles of a bigger nature. Surely, I can make them understand what us thin wheels are thinking... ;)

What's the point... :confused:

[Tom]

I'm going to take a left down a side road, at the point where the road I'm on goes through a 90 degree right hand bend. I check back, no cars. I move to the middle of my lane, thinking it might not be smart to take a left off the right shoulder. I see a black Explorer coming from ahead. I slow to a near standing stop to let them go by, it's way too close for me to cut in front of them. So guess what. They straighten out the corner, coming across the yellow line right at me! No intent, just completely clueless. Fortunately the driver side window was open and so loudly and bluntly (no swearing!) I instructed them on proper driving technique as I hastily returned to the right shoulder.

The thing is, they were passing, on a busy Saturday morning, a very popular farmstand/flower/restaurant place. Nobody was pulling out at the time, but you'd think they might slow down a touch at a spot where somebody might be coming out of one of the two driveways.

Sheesh.

[Too Tall]

Join the club....but do watch your six.

[Andreu]

What really amazes me is how people (car drivers usually) can get so angry with cyclists (or anybody for that matter) 8:00 am on a Sunday morning. Are they in a rush to get to church or are there lots of devil worshippers about that just don´t get Sundays?
I guess the rest of the week drivers have a good "excuse" to drive like morons because their world´s will fall apart if they dont get to work on time or they miss the latest bargain at the shops.
Life just gets curiouser and curiouser.
A

[Ken Lehner]

I always remember the rule of thumb that says that your IQ is inversely proportional to the speed at which you approach red lights/stop signs. In a car, that is.

[William]

Two incidents on the same ride.

1.) I'm hammering down a well paved side road coming to the top of a decent. I look over my shoulder at the top of the hill and no one is coming up behind me so I start slamming the gears and sprint over the top and start flying down the hill. It's not a long one but I get to about 45 to 50 mph going down. As I come around the last turn before the bottom I see a car sitting on a side street ready to pull out. The guy is looking right at me. Now, I'm wearing my old OSU, orange, white and black stripped jersey. I look like Tony the Tiger (tm) on a bike and stand out like...well...like...Tony the Tiger (tm) on a bike. Like I said, the guy was looking right at me, but I checked the road for on-coming anyway (no cars), put my fingers on the brake levers ( I knew no one was behind me). Sure enough, the guy pulls right out in front of me. I keep hammering, swerve around and pass him on the left with a few choice words as I go by. When the guy catches up to me he's giving me the finger. Funny, they never want to stop and discuss.

2.) On part of my ride I had to ride on a more well traveled road for about 5 miles or so. Sections of the shoulder are in bad shape so you have to ride well into the road. On one section I sense a vehicle on my left but not in my peripheral vision yet. I glance over and see the front end of a pick-up pacing me, the adrenaline starts pumping and I'm thinking, "Ok, here we go". What's it going be, profanities, a bottle, spit, or start running me off the road? Just as I'm ready to hit the brakes, the guy starts pulling by. I can tell he's gesturing but the reflection on the side window makes it hard to see what he's doing. I'm about ready to gesture back when, as the back of the truck comes by when I notice a fork mounted Trek road bike in the back. Then I can see in his back window that he's giving me a wave and a thumbs up. Cool, BUT DON'T FREAKING SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT MAN!!:no:


Any ride where you make it back home in one piece...is a good ride.:)


William

[H.Frank Beshear]

Sunday coming up the short sharp rise to my road a large brown suv pulls up behind me. I live at the crest of a hill so I pull as close to the edge as I can to let the thing go by as I start to climb thinking he'll go around me. He stayed a respectable distance back, I climbed as hard as I could, and when came to my turn signaled and gave him a wave. He beep beeped his horn and waved back. Very nice, first time for everything I guess. Take care Frank

[Dekonick]

Another nice story -

Had a bad run with flats (as yall have probably already read)
but to my suprise lots of cars and trucks slowed and asked if they could help!

And also to my suprise - (while riding with a friend who has an older Specialized Epic 7speed -I dont know how he rides the thing!) during a time of mechanical breakdown on a popular rails to trails path (B&A trail) got passed by lotsa fellow cyclists and no one stopped or slowed to offer aid! I always offer help when I see someone 'en pane'

Coulda used help too - he had a serious gash to his rear wheel (he had no pump, spare tube, patch kit... and had never changed a tire himself! I taught him the basics after that) and I didnt have anything to fix the gash. The tire had a bubble after inflating the replacement tube. We were able to limp to a local sop and get him new tires.

Heh.

Rule: When taking firends out for a ride that dont ride often, check their bike first. I did this, cleaned and lubed it, fixed derailleur limits and adj. cables. told him he needed tires, but that he would be ok for this ride. OOPS!

[dgauthier]

So now, she has to wait for me to make my left-hand turn

You did clearly signal your intention to turn left as you approached the intersection, didn't you?

[William]

Coulda used help too - he had a serious gash to his rear wheel (he had no pump, spare tube, patch kit... and had never changed a tire himself! I taught him the basics after that) and I didnt have anything to fix the gash.


Dekonick.

FWIW,
I always carry an empty Power Bar wrapper with me. Necessity is the mother of invention.
I flatted once that resulted in a pretty good gash in the tire. I was trying to figure out how the heck I was going to get back without the tube working it's way out and flatting again. Then it dawned on me, I had just downed a Power Bar and had put the wrapper in my jersey pocket. I took the wrapper and folded it length wise and laid it in the tire over the gash, put the new tube in, re-seated the tire, pumped her up and was good to go. It held for the 20 or so miles back home. That mylar/foil/space age aluminum wrapper stuff held tight.

William (Mr. Tool Time) :rolleyes: :D

[Russ]

So how much does it cost to get a license here? $20.00 in most states... Do you guys think that getting something for $20.00 is going to teach anybody anything?

My point is, if we had to pay 3 grand for a license, and this price would include driver e_d_u_c_a_t_i_o_n, then we would see a real change! If I am not mistaken, this is the price people pay in some European countries...

[ericmurphy]

You did clearly signal your intention to turn left as you approached the intersection, didn't you?

And, believe me, I made sure I had eye-contact before I crossed the path of a 4,500 pound SUV with an angry and embarrassed driver in it.

[Dekonick]

Its funny - about drivers lic. in europe!

I know in Belgium all you needed to do (pre 1980) was show up at the town center and pay - no test, nothing. AND they were good for life.

No wonder Belgians cant drive...

***********

Its different now. There is a test (and its comprehensive, hard to pass the first time from what I hear) and ya gotta be at least 18. (I wish we had that law in the US - let the kids ride bikes until they are 18...perhaps small scooter type motorized vehicles - at least this way while they learn about the road they arent driving 2 ton death machines...)

:D

[Tom]

When you're too small to throw the bales on the truck, or even to stack them fast enough to keep up with your father and older siblings, you drive the hay truck. It had a bad clutch and sketchy brakes. You drive it on fields that are bumpy and steep, if you take the sidehill wrong you'll dump the load and your older brother. They get mad when you do that. Sometimes, the truck's brakes don't exactly fail but they don't exactly work, either, and you find yourself heading downhill toward the woods and you'd better think quick. You learn to plan and have a good idea what you're going to do when things go wrong, because they will go wrong.