What are they (cars) thinking when we...

04-06-2004, 09:05 PM

So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast down
Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a rather large
tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist) wasn't feeling super-fast
this morning, so he decided to ride towards the edge of the road to allow
the guy to pass him.

Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going well
into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later and it would
have been blammo, as a car came by.

In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to keep
the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to this-

When we're heading up the hill, which has many blind corners, I routinely
give hand signals to hold cars back (keep them from passing) when I can see
ahead and there's a car heading down. Likewise I'll give hand signals to
cars coming down the hill, telling them to slow down, when there's a car
coming up from behind us.

So I'm thinking, are the car drivers actually appreciative of this, or
totally clueless and think that we're just in their way? Not that it would
matter, as it's the prudent thing to do, as, in my opinion, if something we
can do while riding makes the world just a bit better or safer place, we
ought to do it.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

04-06-2004, 09:19 PM

In article <K_Lcc.47325$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].prodigy.com >,
"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:
> So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast down
> Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a rather large
> tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist) wasn't feeling super-fast
> this morning, so he decided to ride towards the edge of the road to allow
> the guy to pass him.
>
> Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going well
> into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later and it would
> have been blammo, as a car came by.
>
> In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to keep
> the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to this-

In my opinion, the truck driver should have known better.

> When we're heading up the hill, which has many blind corners, I routinely
> give hand signals to hold cars back (keep them from passing) when I can see
> ahead and there's a car heading down. Likewise I'll give hand signals to
> cars coming down the hill, telling them to slow down, when there's a car
> coming up from behind us.
>
> So I'm thinking, are the car drivers actually appreciative of this, or
> totally clueless and think that we're just in their way? Not that it would
> matter, as it's the prudent thing to do, as, in my opinion, if something we
> can do while riding makes the world just a bit better or safer place, we
> ought to do it.

Nothing wrong with being a nice guy, I guess. But I gotta wonder:
just how far are we supposed to go, doing other ppl's thinking
for them?

cheers,
Tom

--
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Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

04-06-2004, 09:19 PM

In article <K_Lcc.47325$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].prodigy.com >,
"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:
> So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast down
> Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a rather large
> tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist) wasn't feeling super-fast
> this morning, so he decided to ride towards the edge of the road to allow
> the guy to pass him.
>
> Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going well
> into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later and it would
> have been blammo, as a car came by.
>
> In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to keep
> the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to this-

In my opinion, the truck driver should have known better.

> When we're heading up the hill, which has many blind corners, I routinely
> give hand signals to hold cars back (keep them from passing) when I can see
> ahead and there's a car heading down. Likewise I'll give hand signals to
> cars coming down the hill, telling them to slow down, when there's a car
> coming up from behind us.
>
> So I'm thinking, are the car drivers actually appreciative of this, or
> totally clueless and think that we're just in their way? Not that it would
> matter, as it's the prudent thing to do, as, in my opinion, if something we
> can do while riding makes the world just a bit better or safer place, we
> ought to do it.

Nothing wrong with being a nice guy, I guess. But I gotta wonder:
just how far are we supposed to go, doing other ppl's thinking
for them?

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

04-06-2004, 09:19 PM

In article <K_Lcc.47325$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].prodigy.com >,
"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:
> So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast down
> Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a rather large
> tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist) wasn't feeling super-fast
> this morning, so he decided to ride towards the edge of the road to allow
> the guy to pass him.
>
> Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going well
> into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later and it would
> have been blammo, as a car came by.
>
> In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to keep
> the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to this-

In my opinion, the truck driver should have known better.

> When we're heading up the hill, which has many blind corners, I routinely
> give hand signals to hold cars back (keep them from passing) when I can see
> ahead and there's a car heading down. Likewise I'll give hand signals to
> cars coming down the hill, telling them to slow down, when there's a car
> coming up from behind us.
>
> So I'm thinking, are the car drivers actually appreciative of this, or
> totally clueless and think that we're just in their way? Not that it would
> matter, as it's the prudent thing to do, as, in my opinion, if something we
> can do while riding makes the world just a bit better or safer place, we
> ought to do it.

Nothing wrong with being a nice guy, I guess. But I gotta wonder:
just how far are we supposed to go, doing other ppl's thinking
for them?

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

04-06-2004, 09:46 PM

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 05:05:46 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast down
>Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a rather large
>tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist) wasn't feeling super-fast
>this morning, so he decided to ride towards the edge of the road to allow
>the guy to pass him.
>
>Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going well
>into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later and it would
>have been blammo, as a car came by.
>
>In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to keep
>the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to this-
>

For his *own* sake he should take the lane until he is certain that
the truck can pass him safely. If that truck comes around the curve
and sees a car heading towards it, the driver's immediate reaction
will be to avoid the head-on collision. Meaning swerve to the right.
Meaning into the bicyclist.

04-06-2004, 09:46 PM

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 05:05:46 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast down
>Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a rather large
>tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist) wasn't feeling super-fast
>this morning, so he decided to ride towards the edge of the road to allow
>the guy to pass him.
>
>Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going well
>into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later and it would
>have been blammo, as a car came by.
>
>In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to keep
>the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to this-
>

For his *own* sake he should take the lane until he is certain that
the truck can pass him safely. If that truck comes around the curve
and sees a car heading towards it, the driver's immediate reaction
will be to avoid the head-on collision. Meaning swerve to the right.
Meaning into the bicyclist.

04-06-2004, 09:46 PM

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 05:05:46 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast down
>Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a rather large
>tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist) wasn't feeling super-fast
>this morning, so he decided to ride towards the edge of the road to allow
>the guy to pass him.
>
>Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going well
>into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later and it would
>have been blammo, as a car came by.
>
>In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to keep
>the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to this-
>

For his *own* sake he should take the lane until he is certain that
the truck can pass him safely. If that truck comes around the curve
and sees a car heading towards it, the driver's immediate reaction
will be to avoid the head-on collision. Meaning swerve to the right.
Meaning into the bicyclist.

04-06-2004, 10:08 PM

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

> So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast
> down Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a
> rather large tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist)
> wasn't feeling super-fast this morning, so he decided to ride towards
> the edge of the road to allow the guy to pass him.
>
> Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going
> well into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later
> and it would have been blammo, as a car came by.
>
> In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to
> keep the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to
> this-
>
> When we're heading up the hill, which has many blind corners, I
> routinely give hand signals to hold cars back (keep them from
> passing) when I can see ahead and there's a car heading down.
> Likewise I'll give hand signals to cars coming down the hill, telling
> them to slow down, when there's a car coming up from behind us.
>
> So I'm thinking, are the car drivers actually appreciative of this, or
> totally clueless and think that we're just in their way? Not that it
> would matter, as it's the prudent thing to do, as, in my opinion, if
> something we can do while riding makes the world just a bit better or
> safer place, we ought to do it.

I don't know what they think. They're probably just impatient and stupid. Most
of this kind of behavior I see around here is by kids -- cars with VA Tech
stickers on them. It's easy to forget that some college kids are barely 18,
with very little driving experience, and they do really stupid things. The most
common bad situation around here is being passed on a hill with a sharp, blind
crest. This happened to me a few weeks ago, almost resulting in a head-on
collision, with me in close proximity. I could easily have been hit by one of
these cars, had they collided. There's even a double yellow line at that spot.

So I don't know what to do. I guess I should take the lane, and signal cars not
to pass. But that could be taken as a challenge, encouraging them to swing even
wider around me, dead into the oncoming lane. In that case, my sense of self
preservation says to hug the side of the road, so the idiot can squeeze by
without causing a head-on collision. If they're hell-bent on passing, there's
really nothing I can do. The best strategy may be to just stay out of the way.
So this one's a tough call sometimes.

Matt O.

04-06-2004, 10:08 PM

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

> So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast
> down Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a
> rather large tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist)
> wasn't feeling super-fast this morning, so he decided to ride towards
> the edge of the road to allow the guy to pass him.
>
> Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going
> well into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later
> and it would have been blammo, as a car came by.
>
> In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to
> keep the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to
> this-
>
> When we're heading up the hill, which has many blind corners, I
> routinely give hand signals to hold cars back (keep them from
> passing) when I can see ahead and there's a car heading down.
> Likewise I'll give hand signals to cars coming down the hill, telling
> them to slow down, when there's a car coming up from behind us.
>
> So I'm thinking, are the car drivers actually appreciative of this, or
> totally clueless and think that we're just in their way? Not that it
> would matter, as it's the prudent thing to do, as, in my opinion, if
> something we can do while riding makes the world just a bit better or
> safer place, we ought to do it.

I don't know what they think. They're probably just impatient and stupid. Most
of this kind of behavior I see around here is by kids -- cars with VA Tech
stickers on them. It's easy to forget that some college kids are barely 18,
with very little driving experience, and they do really stupid things. The most
common bad situation around here is being passed on a hill with a sharp, blind
crest. This happened to me a few weeks ago, almost resulting in a head-on
collision, with me in close proximity. I could easily have been hit by one of
these cars, had they collided. There's even a double yellow line at that spot.

So I don't know what to do. I guess I should take the lane, and signal cars not
to pass. But that could be taken as a challenge, encouraging them to swing even
wider around me, dead into the oncoming lane. In that case, my sense of self
preservation says to hug the side of the road, so the idiot can squeeze by
without causing a head-on collision. If they're hell-bent on passing, there's
really nothing I can do. The best strategy may be to just stay out of the way.
So this one's a tough call sometimes.

Matt O.

04-06-2004, 10:08 PM

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

> So on this morning's regular King's Mtn road ride, we're heading fast
> down Skyline towards Sky L'onda, with one of our guys in front of a
> rather large tank truck of some kind. I guess he (the cyclist)
> wasn't feeling super-fast this morning, so he decided to ride towards
> the edge of the road to allow the guy to pass him.
>
> Well, of course the tank truck passes him... on a blind corner, going
> well into the other lane! What an idiot. About five seconds later
> and it would have been blammo, as a car came by.
>
> In my opinion, the cyclist on our ride should have taken the lane, to
> keep the guy from passing in a dangerous area. Which brings me to
> this-
>
> When we're heading up the hill, which has many blind corners, I
> routinely give hand signals to hold cars back (keep them from
> passing) when I can see ahead and there's a car heading down.
> Likewise I'll give hand signals to cars coming down the hill, telling
> them to slow down, when there's a car coming up from behind us.
>
> So I'm thinking, are the car drivers actually appreciative of this, or
> totally clueless and think that we're just in their way? Not that it
> would matter, as it's the prudent thing to do, as, in my opinion, if
> something we can do while riding makes the world just a bit better or
> safer place, we ought to do it.

I don't know what they think. They're probably just impatient and stupid. Most
of this kind of behavior I see around here is by kids -- cars with VA Tech
stickers on them. It's easy to forget that some college kids are barely 18,
with very little driving experience, and they do really stupid things. The most
common bad situation around here is being passed on a hill with a sharp, blind
crest. This happened to me a few weeks ago, almost resulting in a head-on
collision, with me in close proximity. I could easily have been hit by one of
these cars, had they collided. There's even a double yellow line at that spot.

So I don't know what to do. I guess I should take the lane, and signal cars not
to pass. But that could be taken as a challenge, encouraging them to swing even
wider around me, dead into the oncoming lane. In that case, my sense of self
preservation says to hug the side of the road, so the idiot can squeeze by
without causing a head-on collision. If they're hell-bent on passing, there's
really nothing I can do. The best strategy may be to just stay out of the way.
So this one's a tough call sometimes.

Matt O.