"I am frightened to go out training": Pro rider’s emotional video after close pass fr

[GregL]

Originally Posted by Spdntrxi

Headphone use is a big no-no in my book. I don't even want to do group rides with ppl with headphones. Yes I almost have been taken out by one..broke spokes but I saved my front wheel and didn't crash.

Headphones, cell phones, and aerobars: three things that should never be used on group rides. No exceptions, period. And no snarky comments about TTT practice...

Greg

[hokoman]

Some of you are victim blaming - earphones are irrelevant in this situation. She only talks about how impatient someone was who couldn't wait to pass. Let's focus on how crazy some motorists are and what we can do to protect ourselves. To go OT - Yes I have worn 1 earbud when out on a ride, but I can say I have the volume on so low, that I can hear just fine. I run with both of them in sometimes and never have them to a level where I can't hear someone talking to me. If I got hit by a car, the last thing I want to hear about is - 'well, you shouldn't have been running with earphones on' or 'you should have worn more reflective material' - how about, when you're driving a 3,000+ pound car, watch where the hell you're going and try not to kill/get people killed.

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by hokoman

Some of you are victim blaming - earphones are irrelevant in this situation. She only talks about how impatient someone was who couldn't wait to pass. Let's focus on how crazy some motorists are and what we can do to protect ourselves. To go OT - Yes I have worn 1 earbud when out on a ride, but I can say I have the volume on so low, that I can hear just fine. I run with both of them in sometimes and never have them to a level where I can't hear someone talking to me. If I got hit by a car, the last thing I want to hear about is - 'well, you shouldn't have been running with earphones on' or 'you should have worn more reflective material' - how about, when you're driving a 3,000+ pound car, watch where the hell you're going and try not to kill/get people killed.

I read that when it first came out. No sympathy from me because I deal with the same stupid stuff too.

...and yes, I've been hit.

You wanna be a pro road cyclist? Suck it up Buttercup.

No. I don't wear ear buds. I want to use ALL my senses 'just in case.' In fact, the most frequent thing I do is cock my head and listen for cars coming up from behind. I'm rarely surprised.

I do, however agree with the statement that drivers don't treat driving with the respect that it deserves. Piloting a multi-ton projectile that can injure and kill and you're doing what instead of paying attention?!

M

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Gummee

I read that when it first came out. No sympathy from me because I deal with the same stupid stuff too.

...and yes, I've been hit.

You wanna be a pro road cyclist? Suck it up Buttercup.

No. I don't wear ear buds. I want to use ALL my senses 'just in case.' In fact, the most frequent thing I do is cock my head and listen for cars coming up from behind. I'm rarely surprised.

I do, however agree with the statement that drivers don't treat driving with the respect that it deserves. Piloting a multi-ton projectile that can injure and kill and you're doing what instead of paying attention?!

M

Paceline: Come for the bike talk, stay for the patronizing sexism.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by Gummee

I read that when it first came out. No sympathy from me because I deal with the same stupid stuff too.

...and yes, I've been hit.

You wanna be a pro road cyclist? Suck it up Buttercup.

No. I don't wear ear buds. I want to use ALL my senses 'just in case.' In fact, the most frequent thing I do is cock my head and listen for cars coming up from behind. I'm rarely surprised.

I do, however agree with the statement that drivers don't treat driving with the respect that it deserves. Piloting a multi-ton projectile that can injure and kill and you're doing what instead of paying attention?!

M

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Paceline: Come for the bike talk, stay for the patronizing sexism.

In his defense, I called Kawhi Leonard a buttercup too for his little thigh bruise (im kidding)

But seriously, regarding the writer to your response, says he has been there too is laughable. F ^&KING LAUGHABLE. Personally, I could not imagine going the speeds with the focus a pro rider does on training rides and dealing with cars. To me, it really sounds stupid unsafe.

And regarding Kawhi Leonard, I played basketball the other day with other 40+ year olds. My shoulder really hurt but I was tough enough to handle the grind of an old man pick up game on a Sunday morning. Last year, he should of toughen up because WE all been there... Psst.

[Jere]

Originally Posted by GregL

Headphones, cell phones, and aerobars: three things that should never be used on group rides. No exceptions, period. And no snarky comments about TTT practice...

Greg

I totally agree if riding a bike is so boring that you need something to listen to
maybe you should move on.
Damn it !
I think I may Have became that Grumpy Old Man.
Get off my lawn
Jere B

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by Gummee

(...) I don't wear ear buds. I want to use ALL my senses 'just in case.' In fact, the most frequent thing I do is cock my head and listen for cars coming up from behind. I'm rarely surprised.

I do, however agree with the statement that drivers don't treat driving with the respect that it deserves. Piloting a multi-ton projectile that can injure and kill and you're doing what instead of paying attention?!

You're kind of coming from two viewpoints at once, Gummee. Alert listening only goes so far. For example, it isn't going to save a cyclist who's mowed down from behind by a texting driver who's drifted onto the shoulder. If she's riding where she's supposed to, her earbuds aren't the problem.

You are correct the problem rests with drivers. When you combine aggressive drivers (a small percentage, thankfully, where I live) with inattentive drivers (typically effing with their phones, and a huge percentage), more than half the drivers on the road shouldn't be behind the wheel. I can't think of anything that will help the situation, other than automated driving.

[gemship]

I've read most of the posts here and now it's my turn,....Macy Stewart you must pay the toll to the troll Seriously she shared a moment of weakness on her Instagram for all to see. I guess she just had to vent. I could say HTFU and maybe be right on about that when it's fortified by her use of ear buds but hey what do I know, people vent all the time. Have any of you guys looked at the rest of her Instagram? It's filled with fun filled moments, they all seem sunny and bright. In a race, in training, post race, sun fun and buns. This girl is hot stuff. Oh to be young again...I mean she's got it in spades. She's got natural beauty, radiant health and youth. Not to mention a first world kinda waspy privilege. Honestly I imagine she's got boat loads of talent and she's just getting faster at her game of cycling. However I do think it a bit naive to think car drivers will yield their will to hers. It's a dangerous activity cycling on the street. Whether your a commuter or a stupid fast pedestrian in training. Good luck to Macy Stewart in her quest for fun and glory and home cooked Aussie goodness. I think she had a wake up call and I imagine it won't be her last because thats life in the fast lane. Honestly earbuds or not it sucks to ride bicycles on the side of the street because of those not so little things called cars. The things we do for love

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Gummee

I'll disagree with the bike paths part of that vehemently. I see more stupidity on bike paths than pretty well anywhere else.

People seem to turn off their brains because 'it's safe.' That leads to accidents between various path users...

The next bigger problem are intersections. Just Sat I had a classic problem with a separate bike path: driver wasn't looking for a cyclist when they were turning. That was from both my right and my left (left turner across traffic and someone waiting to turn right) where neither of them 'saw me.' The guy turning left stopped in the middle of the oncoming 2 lanes because he wasn't expecting a cyclist to be in that spot. SURPRISE!

I'd much much rather have wider lanes and no paths than a separate path and be considered something other than another road user.

M

MUPS(MultiUsePaths) or 'bike lanes and/or wide shoulders'..I'll take the wide shoulders any day..let me out of their dopey way...'take the lane' is equally dopey, even if you are in the 'right, don't want to be 'dead right'.

Intersections can be a BIG problem as well BUT I'm not in enough of a hurry that I'll sit there and wait till I know everybody sees me, if I gotta turn(left) or need to go straight...making sire the left turner sees me.
Distracted drivers is the elephant in the room. Isn't getting better, nor will it anytime soon.

[djdj]

Man, this thread is a potpourri of debates: road v. path, earbuds v. not, man v. woman. Can we add clinchers v. tubulars? Campag v. Shimano?

[paredown]

Fact:
There are far more cars on the road than when I first started riding. A typical urban area may have 2-3 times as many cars on the road, and a lot of arterial streets are still the same;

Fact:
Most drivers do not get good driver training (as compared with Europe, for example), so they are less likely to have been taught the basics of defensive driving wrt to bicycles or other slow-moving vehicles;

Fact:
Most motorcycle accidents happen in intersections with left turning vehicles. My experience on a bike concurs--drivers will not see you if you are traveling through an intersection;

Observation:
Drivers today seem to lack patience and/or common courtesy--the 'whip around' at speed is the standard maneuver for any obstacle/slow moving vehicle--often with no regard for oncoming traffic. (I see it all the time around here with garbage collection--the traffic who should stop and wait will whip around the garbage truck, regardless of your approach in your car even at speed--never mind on a bicycle...);

Observation:
Despite lots of room to make a wide pass, motorists (who should know better) will treat a double center line as an absolute thing, and not cross over to give you a wide berth--again with the bad driver training;

Observation & Fact:
The typical driver today did not grow up at a time when widespread riding for recreation was common. I've even heard this from English friends which surprised me, because I think of it as a 'land of cycling'--but apparently the last generation who did this was the early baby boomers who came of age in the '60s. Fewer than 25% of the US population of any age group 18 or older rode a bike in the last 12 months (https://www.statista.com/statistics/...ke-riders-usa/) And far fewer kids ride bikes to school--according to the National Center for Safe Routes to School’s 2011 report, in 1969, 48 percent of children between 5 to 14 years of age usually walked or bicycled to school. By 2009, that percentage had plummeted to 13 percent.

So drivers typically have little experience as cyclists themselves; are usually the product of inadequate driver training, are unlikely to get coached about the special care needed around cyclists (in part because they are unlikely to encounter any while doing their driver training) and share in the wider society's increased pace/tension/inattention while driving. Throw cell phones into the mix, and it is a very scary time to be a cyclist.

A little emotional outburst seems justified to me.

[joosttx]

Its her job too.

Originally Posted by gemship

I've read most of the posts here and now it's my turn,....Macy Stewart you must pay the toll to the troll Seriously she shared a moment of weakness on her Instagram for all to see. I guess she just had to vent. I could say HTFU and maybe be right on about that when it's fortified by her use of ear buds but hey what do I know, people vent all the time. Have any of you guys looked at the rest of her Instagram? It's filled with fun filled moments, they all seem sunny and bright. In a race, in training, post race, sun fun and buns. This girl is hot stuff. Oh to be young again...I mean she's got it in spades. She's got natural beauty, radiant health and youth. Not to mention a first world kinda waspy privilege. Honestly I imagine she's got boat loads of talent and she's just getting faster at her game of cycling. However I do think it a bit naive to think car drivers will yield their will to hers. It's a dangerous activity cycling on the street. Whether your a commuter or a stupid fast pedestrian in training. Good luck to Macy Stewart in her quest for fun and glory and home cooked Aussie goodness. I think she had a wake up call and I imagine it won't be her last because thats life in the fast lane. Honestly earbuds or not it sucks to ride bicycles on the side of the street because of those not so little things called cars. The things we do for love

[Tony T]

I could never understand why these self-absorbed drivers trying to save a few seconds don't realize how they will lose hours of their self-absorbed lives if they hit the cyclist.
I also have noticed that these a-hole drivers are the ones that I remember, however, they are, in my experience, the minority of drivers in my area, but it only takes one to ruin your day.

….and I use earbuds when riding and they do not interfere with my hearing what's going on around me.

.

[unterhausen]

reminds me of my carbide scriber on a stick project. "why'd you scratch my car?" "why did you hit me?"

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Paceline: Come for the bike talk, stay for the patronizing sexism.

No sexism. I say that to guys that are 'too scared to ride with cars' too.

You want to be a roadie? Deal with it. Part of the day-to-day existence on a road bike is dealing with people who are rude/unsafe/etc.

I don't like it either, but I don't go around whining about it.

M