Cycling harassment (Read 756 times)


Hip Redux

    I agree that large groups are usually the worst behaved - however, I get harassed while riding solo, so you know, that sucks for me.

     

    The other day I was out and a car - possibly thinking they were doing the right thing and alerting me to them passing - laid on the horn as they were passing me.  It startled me so much, I swerved onto the side of the road.  Holy hell, people, no honking!

     

    xhristopher


      The other day I was out and a car - possibly thinking they were doing the right thing and alerting me to them passing - laid on the horn as they were passing me.  It startled me so much, I swerved onto the side of the road.  Holy hell, people, no honking!

       

      I've had the same reaction from being randomly honked at from ignorant drivers and know it's unnerving and unnecessary. On the bus part of my commute this spring I saw the driver honk and scare a cyclist so I gave her hell when we got to the station then filed a complaint. Being on her schedule I never saw her do it again.

      zoom-zoom


      rectumdamnnearkilledem

        The honking thing really pisses me off and makes me think the drivers who do it are idiots.  Do they REALLY think I can't hear their 150+bhp engine approaching when I'm not encased in metal, glass, and plastic?  Do they honk at pedestrians, too?  My dad (who hasn't been on a bike in 30 years, easily, and has huge motorist-entitlement issues) actually said to me recently "well, cyclists can't hear cars."  I was like "are you fucking daft, old man?  What makes you think we can't hear you?  We're not encased in any sort of sound insulation and we don't have our own engine drowning-out noises around us."  Also, most of us either have a mirror and/or are turning our heads to check what's behind us every few minutes.  We're certainly more aware of what's behind us than a motorist would be sans-rearview mirrors.

        Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

        remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

             ~ Sarah Kay

          ... Holy hell, people, no honking!

           

          I agree with that. 
          Although most of the time, the driver in that case is innocently talking to us without realizing that it scares the weebeejeebees out of us.

          A car riding the rumblestrip and hitting the bumps in the middle of the road between lanes is the best form of communication you can have for a biker (not the strips on the side of the road!!!).  (side thought.... Up north, I'm not even sure they have those because of the snow plows though.  It seems that they would break the bumps as they're clearing the snow)

           

          Last evening an hour or so before sunset, when I was running through my neighborhood, there was a biker  that was riding 2/3 of the way from the right  side of the road.  It was a 2 lane road both directions in a residential hub street with a grassy divider between the north and southbound traffic.  I was running on the sidewalk, and when she passed me, my initial though was "wow, move to the right a little bit, lady".  She was, however, riding straight and appeared to be in control of her bike.  A few seconds later, a car approached from behind her in the left of the 2 lanes, and because of where she was riding, the car had to slow down dramatically and hit the brakes as she passed the biker with extreme caution.

           

          That biker could have avoided that situation by riding in the proper location.  The biker looked experienced and skilled, but I'd never ride that line on a road.  It looked scary even before the car approached.  I don't think, though, that se was experienced and skilled based on where she was riding.

           

          Ride with caution and communicate with hand signals and head nods.

          Drive with caution and communicate without using the horn please Smile.  .

          Life Goals:

          #1: Do what I can do

          #2: Enjoy life

           

           

            ... My dad ...actually said to me recently "well, cyclists can't hear cars."

             

            One of the scariest rides of my life was this spring doing an +/- 70mile ride in coldish temperatures with a solid 20+mph cross wind from my left and through my left ear.  I wasn't able to hear anything!  I was doing a 15 mile loop, and the +/- 6 miles that I was heading west every loop were brutal.  Scary stuff.

            Heading north, south, and east were fine.  Heading west was bad.


            Fortunately, it was early enough on a Saturday morning where there wasn't ANY traffic.  As such, my worry was for nothing other than self-induced-anxiety caused by mother nature.

            Life Goals:

            #1: Do what I can do

            #2: Enjoy life

             

             

            zoom-zoom


            rectumdamnnearkilledem

              A car riding the rumblestrip and hitting the bumps in the middle of the road between lanes is the best form of communication you can have for a biker (not the strips on the side of the road!!!).  (side thought.... Up north, I'm not even sure they have those because of the snow plows though.  It seems that they would break the bumps as they're clearing the snow)

               

              Love 'em, too!  We have them on some busier, wider roads here in MI.  They are generally on roads with good shoulders for riding.  Funny thing is the 2 roads I've traveled often that have them make a lot of cyclists nervous because they are so heavily traveled by cars, but these roads also have like 8' shoulders that are generally very clear of debris and really good quality asphalt.  I've never had issues on these routes.

              Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

              remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                   ~ Sarah Kay

              zoom-zoom


              rectumdamnnearkilledem

                 

                One of the scariest rides of my life was this spring doing an +/- 70mile ride in coldish temperatures with a solid 20+mph cross wind from my left and through my left ear.  I wasn't able to hear anything!  I was doing a 15 mile loop, and the +/- 6 miles that I was heading west every loop were brutal.  Scary stuff.

                Heading north, south, and east were fine.  Heading west was bad.


                Fortunately, it was early enough on a Saturday morning where there wasn't ANY traffic.  As such, my worry was for nothing other than self-induced-anxiety caused by mother nature.

                 

                Yeah, high wind days are the only time when hearing could be somewhat impaired, but that's when I use my eyes or mirror to be aware of what's approaching from behind.  Or I just don't ride.  When it's that windy I'll grab my running shoes, instead.

                Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                     ~ Sarah Kay

                   

                  Illegal?  To shoot someone for disrespecting you?  Uh, yeah, that's illegal.  Unless they are clearly and imminently trying to kill you it's illegla.

                   

                  This cyclist did just that and was charged.  (Really they both deserved to be charged)

                   

                  My God! It really happened. I was just kidding.

                  5k - 20:56 (09/12), 7k - 28:40 (11/12), 10k trial - 43:08  (03/13), 42:05 (05/13), FM - 3:09:28 (05/13), HM - 1:28:20 (05/14), Failed 10K trial - 6:10/mi for 4mi (08/14), FM - 3:03 (09/14)

                  Mysecondnewname


                    Here's a slightly older article on the cyclist/runner feud in Central Park

                     

                    http://nymag.com/guides/summer/2008/47976/

                     

                    In 2012, a speeding cyclist ran over a blind guy causing serious injuries:

                     

                    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/daily-news-exposes-central-park-bike-chaos-blind-marathon-runner-richard-bernstein-struck-speeding-cyclist-article-1.1137413

                     

                    and the blind guy (who happened to be an attorney) decided to sue someone

                     

                    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/blind-marathoner-richard-bernstein-hit-cyclist-central-park-file-suit-new-york-article-1.1157949

                     

                    which may have resulted in this

                     

                    http://www.streetsblog.org/2012/09/28/central-park-roadways/

                     

                    I wonder if the "solution" has helped...

                     

                    Rodney King's aphorism comes to mind...

                    bap


                      The advantage of living in a city like New York, is that anyone who harasses you has to stop at the next traffic light. Except those darn bottom aperture cyclists

                      Certified Running Coach
                      Crocked since 2013

                      heelgrad92


                        The advantage of living in a city like New York, is that anyone who harasses you has to stop at the next traffic light. Except those darn bottom aperture cyclists

                         

                        Ha!  When I was in law school at UNC, my roommate was a medical doctor and triathlete.  Near the end of a ride in Chapel Hill, a pickup truck passed him  on an offramp from Hwy 54, and the passenger opened the door of the truck into him.  He got knocked off his bike into the ditch, but the traffic at the end of the offramp had stopped at the stoplight.  So he got up, ran to the truck, flung open the passenger door, pulled the guy out,  and kicked the dog sh!t out of him.  My roommate got arrested for assault, but he had no regrets.

                        zoom-zoom


                        rectumdamnnearkilledem

                          My roommate got arrested for assault, but he had no regrets.

                           

                          See...and that's fucked-up.  He had every reason to beat the ugly out of that loser.  The passenger is lucky he only got a beating and didn't kill your roommate.  Being Bubba's bitch in prison would have been a lot less pleasant than a beating, I'm thinkin'.

                          Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                          remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                               ~ Sarah Kay

                          mab411


                          Proboscis Colossus

                            The advantage of living in a city like New York, is that anyone who harasses you has to stop at the next traffic light. Except those darn bottom aperture cyclists

                             

                            What a magnificent phrase.  I may have to throw that into my bag of terms I use in place of less savory language while teaching.

                            "God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people

                            mab411


                            Proboscis Colossus

                               

                              See...and that's fucked-up.  He had every reason to beat the ugly out of that loser. 

                               

                              Yeah, but that's the thing about our society...we're supposed to let the police handle the "justice" in that situation.

                               

                              ...but I will freely state, his roommate's solution was almost as gratifying to read as I'm sure it was to execute.

                              "God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people


                              Feeling the growl again

                                 

                                Yeah, but that's the thing about our society...we're supposed to let the police handle the "justice" in that situation.

                                 

                                ...but I will freely state, his roommate's solution was almost as gratifying to read as I'm sure it was to execute.

                                 

                                Reminds me of the punks who thought it was funny to throw a full can of soda into the back of a certain runner I knew as they passed at a pretty high rate of speed.  Being teenagers they did not think ahead that they should not do this a half mile before arriving at their home, nor know that this was a 1:52 800m runner....

                                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                                 

                                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills