Shaking My Confidence

[VeloVT]

Trek,
I think you misread my post. I wasn't riding on the sidewalk, I was riding on the road, to the right of and moving somewhat faster than traffic. I was right beside the van when it turned, and probably at that moment I was in his blind spot, but if I were a car he cut off because I was in his blind spot, that would not be an excuse sufficient to justify it.

By mentioning looking for pedestrians, I was trying, perhaps clumsily and at any rate probably unnecessarily, to draw an analogy between the driver's obligation to make sure there was no one on the sidewalk before turning to cross it, and their obligation to make sure there wasn't a bike on the road beside them before turning.

[Trek420]

I'm sorry, you're right, I miss read, you're right, you're always right, I'm wrong oh heck, do I go back and delete the whole thing...then your post doesn't make sense....

Look TE, an example of an apology, there, now it's on topic ;-)

[VeloVT]

you're always right

eek: I hope not!! I don't want to be that person.

On the other hand...
Can you tell my bf that ???

[Trek420]

Can you tell my bf that ???

Sure, be right over. All part of the service we provide on TE.

Do you want that as a phone call, in writing, or just show up at the door wearing the armadillo costume and the propeller beanie and tell him?

[bacarver]

I was enjoying a perfect ride yesterday and then the van full of brats appeared. The van got close and I heard young men screaming at me. I looked to my left and saw that they had opened the sliding door and were leaning toward me so they could make sure I heard them scream. I hate to admit it but my anger flared and I did an "F and F" (gesture and one syllable curse word). Images of Jill Behrman flashed through my mind. (She was a cyclist from Bloomington IN who was thrown into a van during a bike ride several years ago.)
Then one mile down the road THEY DID IT AGAIN! This time I got the license. I rode to the police station and talked to an officer who was polite but hardly seemed that concerned.
I wasn't bothering anyone. I rarely have problems like this. I have had a can of beer thrown at me. (Good thing it was empty.)
I am feeling disappointed with myself due to my response. I think that a police car could have been following me or that children may have seen and heard my performance.
I do plan to control my reaction in the future, but how do you deal with the anger when you are used as a target for juvenile entertainment?
Maybe these punks need to go for a ride with me sometime . . . I'll show them some real exercise and recreation.
Barb

[Mr. Bloom]

I've been involved in situations where:

• I've let the "F" fly
• I've let the "Finger" wave
• I've gotten really mad

I get mad at myself when I let someone push me to the brink

But, following all that, I've decided in advance what I will do the next time something really stupid/unsafe happens.

My goal: I'm trying to not be mad or surprised, but rather go into auto-pilot by immediately focusing on License # and Vehicle Description...THIS TAKES PRACTICE to get good at it - particularly in a stressful situation.

THEN, I'm resolved that IF something bad happens, I am fully prepared to go straight to the police and FILE a complaint...no discussion...just file a complaint.

I believe confidence comes from preparation.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I would go back to the police station and demand to talk to someone else if the same person seems unconcerned.
What those teens did is DANGEROUS and under some circumstances it could cause the death of a cyclist. They will continue doing it if they are getting away with it.
Demand action.

[PscyclePath]

Trek,
I think you misread my post. I wasn't riding on the sidewalk, I was riding on the road, to the right of and moving somewhat faster than traffic. I was right beside the van when it turned, and probably at that moment I was in his blind spot, but if I were a car he cut off because I was in his blind spot, that would not be an excuse sufficient to justify it.

By mentioning looking for pedestrians, I was trying, perhaps clumsily and at any rate probably unnecessarily, to draw an analogy between the driver's obligation to make sure there was no one on the sidewalk before turning to cross it, and their obligation to make sure there wasn't a bike on the road beside them before turning.

Liza:

You were the victim of the classic "Right Hook, version II" as described at "How Not to Get Hit by Cars" (An excellent site to bookmark and re-read from time to time on slow days.) The proximate cause was your "filtering" up the right hand side of the lane, and passing on the right. Motorists, especially those who already perceive themselves to be in the rightmost lane, don't look for cyclists or anyone else to be passing them there, and you put yourself in a perfect condition to be hit, or at least cut off and forced to do an emergency/quick turn to dodge them.

Rule #1: Don't pass on the right. This sort of collision is very easy to avoid... just don't pass any vehicle on the right. The traffic law in most states require overtaking vehicles, which includes cyclists, to pass on the left unless there are two or more marked lanes.

When there's a single, narrow lane, and it's not safe for cars to pass you without moving into the path of oncoming traffic, you should take the whole lane... e.g., riding farther to the left. Taking up the whole lane makes it harder for drivers to pass you to cut you off or turn into you. Don't feel bad about taking the lane: if motorists didn't threaten your life by turning in front of or into you or passing you too closely, then you wouldn't have to. If the lane you're in isn't wide enough for cars to pass you safely, then you should be taking the whole lane anyway.

If a car ahead of you is going only 10 mph, then you slow down, too, behind it. It will eventually start moving faster. If it doesn't, pass on the left when it's safe to do so.

Again remember that when you're following a slow-moving vehicle, ride behind it, not in its blind spot immediately to the right of it. Even if you're not passing a car on the right, you could still run into it if it turns right while you're right next to it. Give yourself enough room to brake or do an emergency turn if the car turns in front of you.

Maybe I'm a little sensitive to this sort of stuff right now... I just retired a good and faithful helmet last night, my pert near new Livestrong one, when I had a little encounter with a UPS truck and loose gravel/trash on a wet shoulder last night. I was fortunate, and only nursing a little road rash on the right elbow rather than a concussion or worse.

Tom
(Always wear your helmet, but ride like you don't)

[onimity]

Barb,

That's great that they found the kid! Hopefully the kid will learn a valuable lesson early on & his parents will have his neck for it...but 15?!? Can he legally be driving a vehicle without his parents in the car?

Honestly, it scares me that kids that young are allowed to operate a motor vehicle on public roads.

Anne

[bacarver]

I know that the van is owned by parents who have a 15 year old son. I'm sure the son was involved in the screaming drive-by. The plates have the wheel chair emblem indicating some type of handicap. There were at least three screaming idiots in the van. I don't know who was driving. Hmmm . . .
Several possibilities come to mind. This happened soon after school let out for the day.
I would think that the average parent would be FURIOUS with the 15 year old.
This kid still has a lecture coming from the police officer. (Yay)
Kids here have to be a few months past 16 to drive and this is with guidelines.
I can just hear the parents now. "YOU'RE GROUNDED!" "NO VAN FOR YOU FOR A MONTH!" "TELL YOUR FRIENDS YOU WON'T BE SEEING THEM FOR AWHILE!" "YOU WILL SHOW RESPECT TO ALL BIKIES!" "YOU COULD HAVE WRECKED THE VAN!" "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER!"

(This just gets better and better!)

Barb

[Tri Girl]

Amanda, how scary. Glad that you're ok and that you went for a long ride alone today! It IS hard to get back out there and feel confident, but you will before long. Do you have a rearview mirror so you can see upcoming cars behind you before they get close? I used to secretly make fun of those silly looking mirrors, but now I wouldn't be caught dead on the streets without it. I like that I can see what's coming up on me, and that I can be on the lookout for crazy hooligan drivers before they sneak up on me. I'm dorky on my bike now (especially when I commute). I have a neon green/yellow vest and my mirror. At least I know they can see me- problem is that sometimes they don't care if I'm there or not. Ex: the other day on a deserted stretch of road- three lanes wide- the car in my lane would NOT move over and buzzed me. There were THREE freakin' lanes for him to move around me. Grrrrr... He got the f word from me. I'm quick to anger sometimes, and now maybe I'll consider turning that anger into memorizing his/her plates.

Barb- I hope the officer puts the fear into that hoodlum-y boy. Hopefully he scares the crap out of him. And since I teach, I guess I know better than to think that the parents will be disappointed and punish him. There are so many parents who will defend their child to the death (even in the midst of alarming evidence), that I hope his parents are truly good and will come down hard on him.

[Mr. Bloom]

OK, I'll come clean, I didn't follow my own advice.

Today someone came too close to us, I signaled to him to get over...he gave me a "signal back".

SOOOOOOOO......I chased him! I almost caught him too! I was simply going to inform him that I was within the law and he wasn't!

Don't worry, there wasn't ANY traffic and I wasn't being unsafe, but I do wish I had caught him.

Can you see where on the ride this happened?????

[northstar]

I got buzzed by a honking Suburban yesterday on a residential street with virtually NO traffic, and I was riding about three feet from the right curb. (They started laying on the horn about a block back, buzzed within two feet of me, then layed on the horn again and sped away.)

I think I am going to start playing a game with myself on the bike where I read plates of vehicles that pass me and chant/repeat them to myself for a block or so every once in a while. I was TOTALLY shaken up by what happened and now that I know MN has a website where you can submit reports of aggressive driving (and apparently they send the owner of the vehicle a letter) I want to be sure I can start feeding in the reports when needed.