On Sep 21, 10:17*am, Tom Sherman °_°
wrote:
On 9/20/2010 2:19 PM, DennisTheBald wrote:

On Sep 16, 7:17 pm, Frank *wrote:
On Sep 16, 5:02 pm, *wrote:

On Sep 15, 6:08 pm, Tom Sherman °_°

*wrote:
Today while driving my work truck, I passed a cyclist [1] that was
riding less than ½ foot from the white line on a two-lane road. *I felt
like stopping and yelling "take the lane" at her.

[1] *With more than 12 feet of lateral clearance.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

Whatever else you may or may not do at other times, when you're
driving in your truck you're a motorist.
While I certainly wouldn't purport myself to speak for all cyclists it
has been my observation that in general cyclists love unsolicited
advice on how to cycle from motorists. *Resist such urges.

I resist such urges. *But the behavior of gutter bunnies dismays me.

I passed a guy riding even worse just four days ago. *The country road
was deserted, visibility excellent, I moved entirely into the opposing
lane to pass him, and yet he was _on_ the white line, less than 6"
from where it dropped down at least an inch into gravel.

Worse, I recall earlier this summer driving on a narrow country lane.
In this case, we were heading west, and a lycra cyclist on a nice
looking bike was heading east on the proper side of the road. *A
pickup truck was approaching the cyclist from his rear, and it was
clear we'd all be at the same place at the same time. *I thought "That
guy needs to take his lane NOW."

He didn't. *Instead, he rode off the pavement, continuing riding in
the grass at the side of the road, maybe a foot from the edge of the
pavement. *That's where he was when the pickup truck squeezed between
us. *If the cyclist had hit a bump in the grass, he could have been
flattened.

We have a right to the road. *We shouldn't risk our lives out of
timidity or slavish "politeness."

- Frank Krygowski

yeah, gutter bunnies drool.
And if you find yourself cycling along in the same direction with such
a person it might be appropriate to engage in some casual conversation
where you might mention the somewhat counter intuitive idea that
riding further to the left is actually safer. *Conversations among
cyclists are one thing, unintelligible shouts through the window of a
motor vehicle are quite another.

Yes, which of course is why I did not actually yell anything.

Motorists fall way below gutter bunnies on the drool-o-meter.

Well, I am not hauling a few hundred pounds of testing equipment around
a multi-county area on a cargo trike, since I there is no way I could
keep my schedule.

My girlfriend has been yelled by another lady, "Go home asshole!"
which we don't know how to interpret, "Take the lane" or "The whole
****ing road is mine!"