In "44 Said Pass," I experienced 44 safe passes (all illegal) in double yellow zones. I didn't tell y'all about the 45th pass - and it was one that would have fit right in with the video in the March 20 post, at least in my mind.
I was getting fascinated by the illegal pass totals, but otherwise minding my own business, when I suddenly got the dimbulb notion to try a gutter bunny lane position with the double yellow. Within half a minute, WHOOSH - right off the port bow - a passing SUV did NOT cross the double yellow at all. My tolerance for close passes has dropped dramatically in the last couple of years, and I doubt a watching cop would have even frowned, but it startled me. Had I jinked left momentarily to avoid a pothole, it could have been REAL ugly.
Lesson 1, if you're gonna do stupid stuff and get yourself killed, ditch the headphones, wear your helmet, and make sure you have clean underwear on so you don't embarrass your mom.
Lesson 2, motorists may be pretty decent around North Texas, but they can still be scary if given the wrong impression. Duh.
Lesson 3, if I'd gotten smooshed, none of you would have gotten the data on motorists, cyclists, and double yellow lines. I guess I need to live a little longer, call it a sacrifice for science's sake...
7 comments:
Today was a bad day on the bike for me. Four close calls in about 12 miles, although one was a fellow cyclist on the KT. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, I don't know. I'm not sure this bike commuting thing is going to work out for me.
Stuart, drop me a line describing the incidences, and maybe we can analyze what's happening.
Notice Steve's post.
Also, I was concerned (via your prodding) that it takes a fast cyclist to operate vehicularly, so I've taken to riding my balloon-tired grocery-getter to the office, riding in work attire, slowly so as to not break a sweat (I'm using DART for part of this trip). In Casa Linda and Downtown traffic, I've found a slow speed (10-12 mph? Any slower and I wouldn't be able to stay upright) to be just as effective.
Drop me a note telling me what happened, where you were, where you were in your lane, and where the offender was. Maybe we can figure something out.
I should probably clarify two things. First, bike lanes would not have helped with most of my traffic issues. Second, traffic issues were only part of what was getting me down yesterday.
1) Riding a crappy bike because I'm afraid it will get stolen.
2) Dealing with multiple changes of clothing.
3) Having to carry lots of stuff with me including a heavy laptop on my back.
4) It was too F'n hot yesterday afternoon and it is only May. (Plus dealing with other weather issues.)
5) Why don't any of my fellow cyclists return my friendly half wave? :(
I started experimenting with cycling to work because I enjoy cycling and I thought it would be a good way to get more ride time. It is not the cheapest or fastest way to get to work. Ultimately, if I am not enjoying it, what's the point?
PM: I don't think I've ever suggested that "it takes a fast cyclist to operate vehicularly". I did once say something like, "if you think 15mph is slow, you obviously don't 'get it'" but that was more about the attitude than about the speed.
Steve, You are one brave dude! We've discussed how good it would be to do a video comparison between riding on the edge and in the lane, but I just don't have the guts to ride on the edge.
Like you, my tolerance for close passing has decreased significantly in the last few years.
PM, I think my current state of mind occurred via 2 epiphanies. One was the remarkable transformation of riding father left. The other was that it made no difference if I did it at 20mph or 10mph. What a relief that was!
Stu, I woulda waved to you! I got a few friendly waves from cyclists when I was riding there, but not many.
It wasn't bravery, it was more like a kid deciding to see if that pit bull will really bite when teased. After all, it'd merely snarled many times before.
I HAVE, however, come up with a scheme for a safer "narrow two lane road" test that may be interesting to many readers of this blog. IGOR, IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!
I suspect that a variation on my experimental technique would also be helpful to stu42j to see if he might be doing something to provoke the big beasts of the street. We'd need someone willing to be an observer/reporter on his "scary" stretches.
I suggest that analysis of stu's route might help as well. I have systematically improved my own route in the month I've been riding it and it gets more pleasant with each change. 20 miles each way.
No close calls today (I lost my taste for teasing pit bulls), and I'll lay heavy odds I was slower than ChipSeal going uphill into the wind.
I got buzzed similarly this week. I was also hugging the gutter. There are points in the road where I do this on purpose; for instance on my regular commute route there is a spot just after a traffic like where cars stack up behind me. I control the lane through the light, then give way after I'm safely through and the lane widens.
When I got buzzed it was because I stayed over to the right a little too long and a little too far to the right and a Ford Focus almost clipped me with its mirror.
Cars are generally very good in this area, but it still makes sense to at least take the right wheel track after the initial knot of traffic gets by.
I hate it when I'm first at a light and cars stack up behind me. We don't have wide enough lanes to move over, but I will sometimes pull off the road after crossing the intersection and wait for the platoon to go past. It's worth the extra ten seconds.
I was amazed at how many wide lanes you have there on 2-lane roads. We have very few and the impetus is to stripe them off. It's a two-fer of bogus "traffic calming" and advertising that you're "accommodating cyclists." Such thoughtful accommodation. We get the debris lane and motorists don't have to consider us at all when passing.
Be grateful you had PM looking out for you all these years.
Post a Comment