Dealing with traffic while commuting

Oh, I know, but it sounds like he intentionally tried to kill
you. Naturally that's not "illegal" if you're the nut behind the
wheel. I just find it frustrating, that's all.

No, he didn't intentionally try to kill me. He just didn't know
I was back there, that's all. Why would he consider that there
might be a vehicle behind him on a city street.

It was my responsibility to assume that he was an idiot and not
place myself in a position where a random brain fart on his part
could get me killed.

OK, I'm over analyzing this. I should have been in his mirror,
let's get real. I wasn't, and the event was three years ago.

I wasn't legally at fault but in terms of being a commuting
cyclist I was technically at fault for not reading the situation
correctly and positioning myself at the optimum place on the road.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________
------------------"Buddy Holly, the Texas Elvis"------------------
in.edu__________

"Eric S. Sande" wrote in message
...
Not a regular practice of mine, just when I'm feeling like it.

I was following too closely (stopped at a traffic light in the lane)
one day when the son of a bitch put it in reverse and backed over me.

[snip]

Of course it has never happened to me again, but once is enough.

[snip]

Well, it's certainly true that in general it's safest to leave some room
between you and the car in front. I do confess, there's times when I'm
feeling impudent, and I decide to break that safety rule.

Recently I was pulling up to a light, and so had already taken the center of
the lane to declare my ownership. Some twitbrain in a large white commercial
van pulled around me into the next lane, gunning it, and then pulled in
front of me, cutting me off and forcing me into a screeching halt. I could
have accepted this, *barely*, if he had then taken a free right (the
majority of the traffic at this intersection turns right) and wanted to get
around me in fear that I would block his ability to do so. However, this was
not his intention. He was just sitting there, waiting for the light to turn
green so he could go straight.

It was a fine and dewy morning, and the back of his van was covered in a
slightly dampened dust. This was the medium, and the van back windows were
my canvas. The light's a long one, so I pulled up right to the back of the
van and leaned forward. I wrote SMILE and RELAX with my forefinger both
forwards and in backwards mirror writing, so he could read the words if they
were in his rear-view mirror or if he turned his head around. Then I made a
half dozen little smiley faces to decorate the blank spaces. I was in the
process of admiring my work when the light turned green. He took off, and
that was that.


Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Eric S. Sande" writes:

I was following too closely (stopped at a traffic light in the lane)
one day when the son of a bitch put it in reverse and backed over me.

One day I was waiting for a light behind a car, which soon edged
forward a few feet. Then its driver apparently thought better of
it and backed up a little. No problem there, except that he
forgot to shift back into drive. I responded by moving from the
center of the lane to the far left side, next to a raised median.
The car behind me then pulled up next to me, and its driver
rolled down his window and said to me, "Smart move." (All I
could think was, "So why did you pull forward then?") Luckily
the driver of the car in front caught himself before the light
changed.
--
Ben Pfaff
email:
web: http://benpfaff.org

On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 03:10:48 GMT, "Claire Petersky"
wrote:
front of me, cutting me off and forcing me into a screeching halt. I could

It was a fine and dewy morning, and the back of his van was covered in a
slightly dampened dust. This was the medium, and the van back windows were
my canvas. The light's a long one, so I pulled up right to the back of the
van and leaned forward. I wrote SMILE and RELAX with my forefinger both
forwards and in backwards mirror writing, so he could read the words if they
were in his rear-view mirror or if he turned his head around. Then I made a
half dozen little smiley faces to decorate the blank spaces. I was in the

Wow. That's some strong restraint...must be that meditative cycling.
I doubt I could have written nice stuff.
--
Rick Onanian

"Rick Onanian" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 03:10:48 GMT, "Claire Petersky"
wrote:
front of me, cutting me off and forcing me into a screeching halt. I
could

It was a fine and dewy morning, and the back of his van was covered in a
slightly dampened dust. This was the medium, and the van back windows
were
my canvas. The light's a long one, so I pulled up right to the back of
the
van and leaned forward. I wrote SMILE and RELAX with my forefinger both
forwards and in backwards mirror writing, so he could read the words if
they
were in his rear-view mirror or if he turned his head around. Then I made
a
half dozen little smiley faces to decorate the blank spaces. I was in the

Wow. That's some strong restraint...must be that meditative cycling.
I doubt I could have written nice stuff.

I guess I was in a different mood this afternoon than that morning described
above. I got cut off, on the way home, similar situation, by a bronze Tahoe.
I was tempted to write in the dust on the back of his vehicle, "I drive a
large SUV to make up for my inadequately sized penis" but the light at that
intersection was much shorter, and even if I abbreviated my message to
"...small dick" I knew I'd never have time to finish it.

On a different note, though, this morning I was waiting at the long light at
Dearborn and Rainier (like he
http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/commute4.html), and pulled up right
behind someone's smaller sedan. There was a baby, about 5 months or so, in a
rear facing car seat. The baby at first didn't see me, but I managed to
catch her eye, and then she stared at me with that baby-like intensity they
can get sometimes. I smiled and made lots of googly faces and stuff for her,
and she stared and stared, probably trying to map my face, with the
sunglasses and helmet on top, to all the other human faces she had seen in
her short life. Finally, just before the light turned green, she spat out
her pacifier and gave me a smile.



Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky