Even in enlightened California (taking the lane)

On Jul 4, 8:26 am, "(PeteCresswell)" wrote:
Per Dan O:

So I finally look over and he's holding up traffic and foaming at the
mouth.

After serving as treasurer of a 1,200-member civic association
for seven years, I came away with the belief that, out of every
thousand people, at least 2 of them are stone crazy at any given
time - and it's not always the same two.

I believe it's actually all of us - every last one of us. We're all
of us messed up; we just cope with life variously.

But to smother the passion is to waste life. Getting it right and
making it positive is the elusive purpose of life.

(Sorry for the non-tech :-)

On Jul 4, 8:43 am, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 4 Jul 2012 00:39:35 -0700 (PDT), Dan O
wrote:

raamman is absolutely right - avoiding confrontation is the best
policy. Road rage is very upsetting and risky biusiness. Yes, I
could keep their hostility to a low simmer by righteously submitting
to the ways of a "legitimate road vehicle", instead of blowing their
minds (and the lids off their resentment pots) with outlandish - but
functionally harmless - hijinks. I won't "grow up" WRT to Ride Bike!
(suppress / repress the inner child), but I should have suppressed /
sublimated the cynical adult and given camo truck guy a smile and
friendly wave instead of the finger (he still might have tried to kill
me, though).

Your negotiated settlement with the camo truck driver obviously
failed. Lacking tolerance, apparently by both parties, your options
are to either escalate the confrontation by adding ordinance and
armament to your bicycle, or getting the hell out of there before the
hostile camo truck driver uses his superior mass to your detriment.
Appeals to a higher authority are only useful for cleaning up the mess
after the damage is done. Discretion really is the better part of
valor. Calculate the odds of success. If they are too low, run.


Passions run high. I am in an elevated state of passion when "getting
it on" on my bike. Cagers stress bias current is pretty wound up at
rush hour at the end of another tough day more gone than not.

(The situation actually escalated quite a bit from where I left off -
very upsetting it was. I'm trying to learn from my experiences.)

On Jul 4, 8:51 am, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:26:23 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

Per Dan O:
So I finally look over and he's holding up traffic and foaming at the
mouth.

After serving as treasurer of a 1,200-member civic association
for seven years, I came away with the belief that, out of every
thousand people, at least 2 of them are stone crazy at any given
time - and it's not always the same two.

It's much higher than that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorder
In the United States 46% qualifies for a mental
illness at some point.
(...)
In the United States the frequency of disorder is:
anxiety disorder (28.8%), mood disorder (20.8%),
impulse-control disorder (24.8%) or substance use
disorder (14.6%).

Hmmm... that totals to 89%. I guess everyone in the US is nuts.


(See my earlier reply to Pete :-)

On Jul 4, 8:54 am, Frank Krygowski wrote:
Dan O wrote:

Yesterday I'm cruising into town and this pickup truck passes me - not
giving much room, but giving extra "vroom" (accelerating past). The
pickup is modified into a box van - painted Viet era camo green.

So he's stopped at the light halfway through town, and I come up
behind at the right - but not past - as the light goes green. "Vroom"
away he goes toward the other end of town.

So next he's queued up at a four-way stop near the other end of town.
I hop onto the sidewalk, past the queue, veer into empty parking lot
at the corner, check the street, cross the street into another parking
lot, back onto the sidewalk, then roll back onto the right edge of the
road.

So how many seconds did your squirrely riding gain you? Probably no
more than the time saved by the typical motorist fighting to pass a
cyclist before the next red light.

Camo truck pulls up alongside and hangs there. I hear him yelling
something about pick the sidewalk or the road and stay there idiot
obey the law. I don't think I violated any laws (not that I'm above
violating some laws if the right opportunity presents ;-), nor have I
impeded, endangered, or hurt anyone in any way - just having a blast.

Every yahoo inventing his own chaotic motion in traffic feels he's
perfectly justified.

But this guy is steaming (I guess maybe 'cause the inferior bicyclist
beat him across and out of town) - I've offended his sensibility.

Thanks, Dan. You've generated another series of "Those f****ng
bicyclists..." tales for the rest of us to fight past.



So I finally look over and he's holding up traffic and foaming at the
mouth. So I raise a finger and keep riding.

Classy. :-/

raamman is absolutely right - avoiding confrontation is the best
policy. Road rage is very upsetting and risky biusiness. Yes, I
could keep their hostility to a low simmer by righteously submitting
to the ways of a "legitimate road vehicle", instead of blowing their
minds (and the lids off their resentment pots) with outlandish - but
functionally harmless - hijinks.

Thanks, Dan. You can also try going to music concerts and singing
different songs in a loud voice during the performance. Or watching a
movie while standing in front of the people seated behind you. Or
barging your way into the front of a line of people waiting to buy ice
cream.

Heck, the possibilities for your kind of fun are endless!


didn't read your post - stopped at "how many seconds did you save...
", skipped to "possibilites for fun" - because, yeah - that's where
it's at :-)

(I knew my post would stir you up, though ;-)

On Jul 4, 8:54 am, Frank Krygowski wrote:
Dan O wrote:


snip


So next he's queued up at a four-way stop near the other end of town.
I hop onto the sidewalk, past the queue, veer into empty parking lot
at the corner, check the street, cross the street into another parking
lot, back onto the sidewalk, then roll back onto the right edge of the
road.

So how many seconds did your squirrely riding gain you? Probably no
more than the time saved by the typical motorist fighting to pass a
cyclist before the next red light.

Camo truck pulls up alongside and hangs there. I hear him yelling
something about pick the sidewalk or the road and stay there idiot
obey the law. I don't think I violated any laws (not that I'm above
violating some laws if the right opportunity presents ;-), nor have I
impeded, endangered, or hurt anyone in any way - just having a blast.


snip


Thanks, Dan. You can also try going to music concerts and singing
different songs in a loud voice during the performance. Or watching a
movie while standing in front of the people seated behind you. Or
barging your way into the front of a line of people waiting to buy ice
cream.


Okay I read your post. This last paragraph is so Frank. All those
things are hurting, impeding, infringing, etc. on other people's
interests. The "offensive" activity on my bike is functionally
harmless. Your analogy is not even remotely analogous.

snip

On Jul 4, 8:54 am, Frank Krygowski wrote:
Dan O wrote:

Yesterday I'm cruising into town and this pickup truck passes me - not
giving much room, but giving extra "vroom" (accelerating past). The
pickup is modified into a box van - painted Viet era camo green.

So he's stopped at the light halfway through town, and I come up
behind at the right - but not past - as the light goes green. "Vroom"
away he goes toward the other end of town.

So next he's queued up at a four-way stop near the other end of town.
I hop onto the sidewalk, past the queue, veer into empty parking lot
at the corner, check the street, cross the street into another parking
lot, back onto the sidewalk, then roll back onto the right edge of the
road.

So how many seconds did your squirrely riding gain you? Probably no
more than the time saved by the typical motorist fighting to pass a
cyclist before the next red light.


As mentioned earlier, it's mostly not about saving time (though it all
adds up with consistent optimization); it's more about having fun with
what I *can* do.

(I do, however, get a lot of miles out of things like brake pads and
SPD cleats.)

Camo truck pulls up alongside and hangs there. I hear him yelling
something about pick the sidewalk or the road and stay there idiot
obey the law. I don't think I violated any laws (not that I'm above
violating some laws if the right opportunity presents ;-), nor have I
impeded, endangered, or hurt anyone in any way - just having a blast.

Every yahoo inventing his own chaotic motion in traffic feels he's
perfectly justified.


My "chaotic" (all quite reasoned to me, but everybody has their own
perspective, and are entitled to their own opinion) motion was all
*out* of traffic.

But this guy is steaming (I guess maybe 'cause the inferior bicyclist
beat him across and out of town) - I've offended his sensibility.

Thanks, Dan. You've generated another series of "Those f****ng
bicyclists..." tales for the rest of us to fight past.


Unreasonable. I didn't sign up as Ambassador. **** your submissive
PR bull****.



So I finally look over and he's holding up traffic and foaming at the
mouth. So I raise a finger and keep riding.

Classy. :-/


Smug, supercilious :-/

(And a virtual finger to you, too ;-)

snip

Per Jeff Liebermann:
Hmmm... that totals to 89%. I guess everyone in the US is nuts.

That would be "nuts at some point in their life..." - and that
sounds about right, or even conservative to me. Certainly I
would be counted among The Elect.

I was going on about 2 out of every 1,000 people being "nuts
right at this moment..."
--
Pete Cresswell

Per Dan O:
Passions run high. I am in an elevated state of passion when "getting
it on" on my bike.

When I used to hammer all the time everywhere I rode, I think my
adrenaline levels were constantly elevated and I was not in what
I would call a totally-rational frame of mind.
--
Pete Cresswell

On Jul 4, 11:49 am, "(PeteCresswell)" wrote:
Per Jeff Liebermann:

Hmmm... that totals to 89%.

There's a lot of overlap and co-morbidity.

I guess everyone in the US is nuts.


Yep - everywhere else, too.

That would be "nuts at some point in their life..." - and that
sounds about right, or even conservative to me. Certainly I
would be counted among The Elect.

I was going on about 2 out of every 1,000 people being "nuts
right at this moment..."

Fair enough. It's all a matter of degrees.

On Jul 4, 12:47 pm, Phil W Lee wrote:
Dan O considered Wed, 4 Jul 2012 00:39:35 -0700
(PDT) the perfect time to write:



On Jul 3, 11:27 pm, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

snip


I suspect that the local planners are into expediency. Give the
bicyclists an alternative route, and they will come. Unfortunately,
there are a few recalcitrants that prefer to live dangerously. You
can lead a bicyclist to water, but you have to practically drown them
before they'll learn to drink nicely.

Alternate routes abound.

Legitimate ones?


Well, I guess that depends on who you ask :-) Personally, if they get
me where I want to go, that's a major factor in the "legitimacy" of a
"route" (to me... personally). If they also happen to have something
exciting (in a positive way) - off-road sections, interesting
transitions (e.g. Frank's unthinkable culvert) - all the better.

snip