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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066

    not fun any more

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    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.
    Last edited by lph; 11-21-2006 at 12:33 AM.
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Trondheim, Norway
    Posts
    1,469
    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!
    Half-marathon over. Sabbatical year over. It's back to "sacking shirt and oat cakes" as they say here.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    3,932
    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...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    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...
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Posts
    627
    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.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    3,151
    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...)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    3,932
    oh boy! lph sorry about that, I didn't get the story right the first time.

    that's really scary indeed. but it's the cost of riding in traffic. Emily was referring recently to 'innocence lost'. It's probably something like that. I guess we can't be more innocent on our bikes than in our cars...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Mrs. KnottedYet
    Posts
    9,152
    Lph, sorry about that but glad you're ok.

    It may be time to find a way to reconnect with what makes it fun or even take a little break or like Duck on Wheels says, rant and rave a little "Dagbladet, those frackin' drivers!!! "
    Fancy Schmancy Custom Road bike ~ Mondonico Futura Legero
    Found on side of the road bike ~ Motobecane Mixte
    Gravel bike ~ Salsa Vaya
    Favorite bike ~ Soma Buena Vista mixte
    Folder ~ Brompton
    N+1 ~ My seat on the Rover recumbent tandem
    https://www.instagram.com/pugsley_adventuredog/

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    Quote Originally Posted by Geonz View Post
    (Courage, of course, is available from your pharmacist in quick-acting or sustained response capsules; inhalers are being developed...)
    Love it

    My favourite quote is by Anaïs Nin:
    "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to ones courage."

    Thank you for all the support!
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Dallas
    Posts
    1,532
    That's so scary.

    Would it work to have an airhorn mounted on the handlebars and let it rip when necessary?

    “Hey, clearly failure doesn’t deter me!”

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    I'm seriously considering it.

    In the meantime my own personal comes-with-the-model already installed airhorn is doing the best it can.

    "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!"

    "IDIOT!"
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    3,932
    I find that when I hear a loud noise, driving or cycling or otherwise, I do not necessarily stop dead in my tracks.

    A loud voice though would have more of a specific effect I think. Good for you lph for using yours at full capacity!!! It worked for me once (someone trying to right hook me while talking on the phone).

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    3,151
    I *think* mine worked for me thisw morning... a big lab type critter came tearing out after me... I do have to change some of my habits because the specific words were not ones I want to say accidentally I'm afraid they were rather loud... next time around the loop 20 min. later I had my spray ready ... but he didn't show. COuld have been I was moving mroe slowly... or could have been an owner heard my expletives... anyway, I'm going to practice saying ... flocking? petulant? ...

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    I can teach you some Norwegian ones to use?

    (Trek, Duck and UK, please close your ears and eyes)

    "FAEN I HELVETE LIGG UNNA DIN SKABBETE KJØTER ELLERS KJØRER JEG DEG FLAT!"

    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    8,548
    Quote Originally Posted by lph View Post
    I can teach you some Norwegian ones to use?

    (Trek, Duck and UK, please close your ears and eyes)

    "FAEN I HELVETE LIGG UNNA DIN SKABBETE KJØTER ELLERS KJØRER JEG DEG FLAT!"

    Oh, I love swearing in other languages! you get such a reaction and none of the embarrassment!
    Mimi Team TE BIANCHISTA
    for six tanks of gas you could have bought a bike.

 

 

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