BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

If the driuver had run him down, that driver probably wouldn't even get a ticket.

Oh, for the day when subject headers will say

"something for jackasses who speed through neighborhoods to consider."

This is completely insane. What is this world coming to?

Lately my thing has been yelling "turn signal!" Part of me wants to just yell louder, but I probably should give that up (despite the handful of cars I've seen mid-turn in an intersection with no signal. ugh.)

I'm always kind of worried about this sort of thing. Sad to see my worries validated.

RF - on turn signals - I find it easier mentally to just assume that their turn signals are out and they're on their way to the mechanic (or have an appointment) to get them fixed. Way less stressfull for me that way. Statistically I know this is an inaccurate assumption, but fundamentally my peace of mind is more important to me and finding excuses for reasonable people to drive in a less than idea manner settle on my mind a lot easier than seeing jagoffs everywhere.

that being said, it fails about half the time (there are excuses, and then there are actual jagoffs).

And I wouldn't worry too much about this happening to you - the story made it sound like there was an exchange and escallation beyond the random "slow down!" yell. It's something to keep in mind, but I don't think it should be enough to change societal norms - you should still be allowed to caution strangers publically performing unsafe actions. Just be smart about it.

Anyone remember the cyclist in Monroeville who turned this story the other way a few years ago? Guy in a truck was harassing him, threatening his life and whatnot with it, and the cyclist caught up to the truck and fired through the side window, at least striking perhaps killing the guy driving the truck. Cyclist most definitely went to jail, as he should have being that if you're firing through a side window there is no way the truck can be in imminent danger of hitting you. Trucks don't move sideways very well.

I can't find the news reports of it, I'm sure it's archived somewhere.

I remember that story well, I should be able to find the original news story. I actually looked up the guy and found his name in the department of corrections, I think he was in a correctional facility in Mercer county. I thought about trying to visit him and writing up his side of the story for some publication.

Already mentioned before, but cburch and i had a guy Stop and get out of his vehicle in the middle of the street to fight us after cburch told him to stop texting and driving.

I hope they find the guy and charge him with Homicide. This makes me very sad.

My impression is that the truck had returned several times to try to hit the cyclist. I've only read one news story about it, but what I heard impressed me as a miscarriage of justice.

Roll. Past. Conflict.

Please. I'd rather go on more rides with you guys than have you righteously dead or unjustly imprisoned. Not saying turn in to silent doormats, but some crazies it's not worth pressing the matter once it gets to the point of people doing clearly crazy shit. Don't let their crazy infect you - stay sane. Please.

Deep breath. Stay safe.

I've had a dude rev up in front of me, stop and get out of his car and come after me. Big fat dude in an 80s era boat. That was fun.

Yeah. I just keep riding. I don't stop, wave, or care. I'm sure that increases some people's anger though.

As for this whole incident: effed up!

I've tried the oft-mentioned smile/wave/thumbs up thing a lot lately. I like it. Today I smiled and waved at an angry mother who was driving her daughter to school, but felt the need to get right on top of me while she was behind and passing me on liberty in the strip. (That right lane is mine, and you can't have it.)

sorry for the rambling, I've been message board-less for some time now.

As a general matter, if I'm not able to have a conversation with somebody I don't think whatever I'm going to say will be very constructive.

For example, a kid honked at me while going down 885 on Lebanon Rd today. I restrained my initial desire to give him the finger and instead semi-chased him down the hill to the stop light.

I said to him and his two other passengers (also kids, might have been coming from CCAC) "Excuse me, I don't understand why you honked at me." "What?" "I said I don't understand why you honked at me." "Oh, well you were crossing the white line."

I then started to give the spiel about how cyclists have a right to use the road and how PA defines bicycles as vehicles, but cut myself off three words into it because I don't think "the law" means much of anything and I'm not in the road because "the law" says I can.

Instead I said, "Well the reason I'm over the white line is because whenever there is an accident or something they sweep all the debris into the shoulder so it's full of glass an other stuff. That and a bunch of other reasons is why we're in the lane. So you have to, well you don't have to, but I think just passing us is the best thing to do because we're not going to move out of the way because you honk at us"

That's pretty close to verbatim the conversation I had with the guy. Then the light changed and they drove forward. I rang my bell.

So I think the next time he passes a cyclist, maybe he won't honk and he'll think of all the crap in the shoulders

"What would you prefer I do, sir" in an English accent has been really confusing people lately.

@pierce @orionz thank you for you perspective. For whatever reason, this summer has been quite exasperating. Each time I get on the bike it seems I am more and more frustrated and stressed by bad drivers, bad bikers and bad peds. again, thanks, I think your words will help me loosen up a bit.

Oh, trust me, I have had plenty of times where I was winning the war on words.

Texting and driving terrifies me and I see more and more and more drivers doing this. I have been wanting to knock on car windows and ask drivers to stop. Not in a mean way, just please stop -- something like hi, I am a mom and I need to be alive.

I actually yelled up the other day, someone was looking down at their lap on a green light. I said "If you would get off the effing phone, LADY, we could go!" It got the attention of the other vehicles in the left turning lane who missed the light because they were not close enough to the sensor.

It worked. I stayed out of her way too.

@dmtroyer: It's funny/sad: I get more fired up about stupid cyclists than I do about stupid drivers (never enough to say anything, though). Perhaps I just expect the worst from drivers, but not from cyclists....

@pierce, I have had the exact same thing happen to me on 885. Three late teen/early 20's kids blare the horn at me as they go past (with about 20 feet of passing distance) near the get-go. I once caught up with them at the light and in a calm voice asked if anything was wrong. I said well something must be wrong for you to blast your horn the whole way past me. Again , it wasn’t me looks all around. Then the light changes and the sheep yell *Faggot* at me as they pull away. If I remember right it was a red or maroon old ford probe or some such.

I had to laugh, three young bucks afraid of a middle aged guy in spandex. It actually made my day!

I love the tough guy attitude people have when they think they can't be caught. They turn into little chicken shits when you actually catch up to them and speak.

bjanaszek, I find myself annoyed with all the new riders in the area since school is back in. People who think they are faster than but loose their legs once they pass used to be my favorite but my new favorite are the ones who I pass only to have them wobble past into a busy intersection.

rsprake: Yes! And yesterday, on three different occasions, I had riders passing me while turning at an intersection. I am not a speedy commuter, but I'm no slow poke, either.

Quartuccio's law, proven again!

Sprake... Most are chicken shits. I was just talking with a cop friend of mine who has observed some interactions and most often the cyclist "wins".

As for people losing their legs, Ill post this here... I don't think of myself to be fast, but I will hold 20-22 on some flats at a leisurely pace. I got passed on the way to work yesterday by some female rider, with panniers, who was going at least 25...

There is always someone faster and no one cares how fast you are. Plus there is not an underground criterium race that happens to coincide with your commute.

i always think of bsnyc when i encounter those people, and it makes me giggle. shoalers and cat-6ers thinking they need to be ahead of you. then you're clipped in and gone by the time they flip around their toe clip. why did you have to go ahead of me at the stop light when i was the only one there? if cars do that, i occasionally move back in front of them. but only rarely and in controlled circumstances (e.g. i'm going straight and they're turning left).

but yeah, if you can turn everything into a joke that makes you giggle, it no longer becomes frustrating. the ones that bother me the most are the kids on the sidewalk, since i work at cmu, and that seems to be the only place students are willing to ride, despite the throngs of pedestrians also trying to get somewhere uninjured.

I don't give a rats ass about being passed, I just don't want to be passed in traffic only to have to pass them 30 seconds later because they ran out of breath and couldn't keep the same pace. I gladly let riders pass me. I am fairly slow and proud of it.

I have to admit, being used to empty suburbanite roads, that being passed by cyclists still startles me. Not like "you're too close" startle, but a "Aa! you're quieter than a car and bigger than a raccoon!"

Quickly followed by that feeling of "Ooo! Another cyclist! Yay!" Hasn't gotten old yet.

Quieter than a car and bigger than a raccoon!

How can this phrase be marketed... I love it.

some kind of cycling super-hero, I think.

quieter than a motor vehicle,

larger than a raccoon,

faster than your average pedestrian,

he's CommuterMan, the Fender-tastic Cyclist!

More violence over someone yelling at an erratic driver.

oddly enough i saw a guy get out of an eclipse downtown to confront a pedestrian shared words as he took the Ross Street crosswalk between the Mellon buildings.

Is taking the crosswalk like taking the lane?

well, since orange mitsubishi eclipses are the most popular car in Westmoreland county, I could see how they would have difficulty identifying the owner or driver. after all, we're not talking about something rare or non-descript like a gold colored vehicle of unidentified make and model.

Now that I'm riding through Downtown on a regular basis, I've started yelling "turn signal please!" and "red light means stop, thanks!" Then again, I've also been known to yell "yield to pedestrians, it's state law!" in crosswalks... Maybe I should stop.

None of this is ever especially aggressive, and I tend to talk to myself while riding/walking/driving anyway. Oddly enough, despite lots of time spent walking and a fair amount of time spent on a bike, the only serious road rage incidents I've experienced have been while driving (people getting out of their cars and coming at me... scary stuff).

I had a taxi cab driver get out of his car when I smacked his window for passing me with <6". I just hauled ass past him while he stood there grumbling in the middle of the street.