smurfalicious
08-19-2008, 08:48 PM
I was going to post this in commuting, or maybe crazy drivers, but there were just too many incidents today so I have to know if anyone else experienced it.
I took a different route to work as I left my replacement headlight on the counter at the bike shop. I was coming to a stop at an intersection at a bottom of a hill. There was a big gravel truck dead set on turning right so I decided the smart thing to do was wait beside the next car in line and make sure she saw me. She wasn't signaling and we were pretty much at the light. As I rolled up to her she decides to cram herself behind the gravel truck and pull into a driveway and pretty near over top of me. I reefed on my brakes and yelled some choice words. It was 7:40 per my Cat Eye, if she was due somewhere at 7:30 she was already good and late, and early for 8:00, no excuse. Dangerous with me there or not.
After I picked up my headlight I rode back towards the MUT and waited patiently at the crosswalks. Several people kept going after they lost their protected left turn which I expect, but as I crossed the road brakes squealed as someone making a right hand turned failed to notice TWO cyclists.
Further down the road I hit another light and waited with another rider. He took off a skosh before me and Little Miss Mall Shopper stopped for him and then tried to plow forward into me. I amazed myself by how quickly I dropped my wrists to grab my brake levers as hard as I could. Fear is a wonderful thin sometimes.
By this point I was rattled and ready to wait at the bus stop to get two blocks to work. Riding in downtown Denver at dusk was not this scary, in fact it was quite pleasant. My last prize winning idiot was turning into McDonald's and looked right at me and proceeded. I slowed as best as I could, and as soon as I did he decided to plow forward like I was yielding to him. No, you jerk, I'm trying to avoid an accident. It was his lucky day because angry as I was, I wanted to put a Campagnalo rim shaped dent into his brand new Dodge Magnum.
It took a while to shake it off at work. I was pretty spooked to have that much trouble in a supposedly bike friendly town. I wasn't riding aggressively or being stupid to the best of my knowledge. I would really rather have a bike lane on that road though. The MUTs are great for people who pedal like they've got all day, but I feel much safer in the bike lane where people are a little more aware of me than they are when I'm 15 feet over on their right.
I took a different route to work as I left my replacement headlight on the counter at the bike shop. I was coming to a stop at an intersection at a bottom of a hill. There was a big gravel truck dead set on turning right so I decided the smart thing to do was wait beside the next car in line and make sure she saw me. She wasn't signaling and we were pretty much at the light. As I rolled up to her she decides to cram herself behind the gravel truck and pull into a driveway and pretty near over top of me. I reefed on my brakes and yelled some choice words. It was 7:40 per my Cat Eye, if she was due somewhere at 7:30 she was already good and late, and early for 8:00, no excuse. Dangerous with me there or not.
After I picked up my headlight I rode back towards the MUT and waited patiently at the crosswalks. Several people kept going after they lost their protected left turn which I expect, but as I crossed the road brakes squealed as someone making a right hand turned failed to notice TWO cyclists.
Further down the road I hit another light and waited with another rider. He took off a skosh before me and Little Miss Mall Shopper stopped for him and then tried to plow forward into me. I amazed myself by how quickly I dropped my wrists to grab my brake levers as hard as I could. Fear is a wonderful thin sometimes.
By this point I was rattled and ready to wait at the bus stop to get two blocks to work. Riding in downtown Denver at dusk was not this scary, in fact it was quite pleasant. My last prize winning idiot was turning into McDonald's and looked right at me and proceeded. I slowed as best as I could, and as soon as I did he decided to plow forward like I was yielding to him. No, you jerk, I'm trying to avoid an accident. It was his lucky day because angry as I was, I wanted to put a Campagnalo rim shaped dent into his brand new Dodge Magnum.
It took a while to shake it off at work. I was pretty spooked to have that much trouble in a supposedly bike friendly town. I wasn't riding aggressively or being stupid to the best of my knowledge. I would really rather have a bike lane on that road though. The MUTs are great for people who pedal like they've got all day, but I feel much safer in the bike lane where people are a little more aware of me than they are when I'm 15 feet over on their right.