Urge to yell at a cyclist

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.

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