not fun any more

[lph]

OK, so I'll joke about death-defying stories of surviving traffic, but some days it's just not fun. Came down a hill this morning in the bus lane, my brakes are pretty bad so I wasn't going that fast until I could see that I had a totally clear stretch and a green light ahead of me. The car lane to my left was packed.

So I finally let up the brakes and started pedalling. That's when the van parked up on the sidewalk on my right pulled out in my lane without any notice at all. My brakes were *just* good enough to stop, since I also veered into the gap between the van and the cars on my left. Otherwise I would have slammed right into him.

He probably took a glance in his rearview mirror, saw no cars, and just pulled out in a hurry.

I do not want to die like that.

[Duck on Wheels]

Whew! So glad you managed that maneuver! Once your heart rate is back to normal, you might want to pedal over to the nearest bike shop and get those brake pads replaced. And maybe write a red hot letter for Dagbladet, or VG, or Aftenposten, or one each about how drivers need to wake up and see bikes and pedestrians too. I know we're smaller than a bus, but we're not invisible!

[Grog]

Glad you're okay, LPH!!

I'm always very careful when passing on the right, even on a 'bike lane' (which sometimes is a bit of an exaggerated term). It's the last place drivers will think of looking. (Actually, when NOT on a bike lane, here, you're not supposed to pass on the left.)

But I might have done just like you. Glad you're okay...

[lph]

Yep, further on there's a bike lane, and I'm very wary of passing cars there if there's any chance they could even think of wanting to veer right. I saw a cyclist almost squished by a bus in the bike lane yesterday, she naively thought the bus would respect the bike lane all the way through the intersection, which it never does.

But I was smack in the middle of the empty bus lane today, and the van guy was parked up on the sidewalk/bus stop, going nowhere. Until he suddenly finished whatever he was doing and pulled out into my lane without blinking or checking. And drivers say cyclists behave erratically!

Usually I get all riled up and full of adrenaline, today I just went weepy and scared. The bike's been to the shop and now has brand-new brake pads that work marvellously. I don't need to give Murphy any help...

[sbctwin]

Wow, have the trembles quit...been in similar situations and that is not any fun!!!! Becareful on the new breakpads too, because they may stop you faster than you anticipate and put you over the handlebars (did that, too...just didn't realize the "better" stopping power I had ). On my commute home, I have a very steep hill to go down. I ride the brakes the entire way because my speed can get very high. I have more "freaks" testing me coming out of side streets on my right...scares me sometimes at what some drivers think they can get away with. I try to always ride defensively, no matter what the conditions.

[Geonz]

Take courage.... we're the minority out there.

THose kinds of situations, I HATE. I **try** to get myself visible, or far enough out so that I have an escape route, which fortunately with our traffic level is usually manageable.

(Courage, of course, is available from your pharmacist in quick-acting or sustained response capsules; inhalers are being developed...)