Warm weather bringing out the morons

On Feb 23, 8:33 am, "Roger Zoul" wrote:

(1) Headphones and earbuds are two different things
(2) one cannot depend on hearing while cycling
(3) only a moron wouldn't understand (1) & (2)


It seems that cyclist divide into two groups.
1) a minority that need to have music while they ride and argue that
it creates no greter risk, and
2) all the other cyclists

I've not seen any statistics that prove either side's position. My own
view is that it (listening to music) is just one more distraction and
that it must have some negative contribution to safety.
But it certainly isn't going to help anyone's argument to be calling
folks names. Didn't that go out of vogue in 4th grade?

gds wrote:
:: On Feb 23, 8:33 am, "Roger Zoul" wrote:
::::
::: (1) Headphones and earbuds are two different things
::: (2) one cannot depend on hearing while cycling
::: (3) only a moron wouldn't understand (1) & (2)
::
::
:: It seems that cyclist divide into two groups.
:: 1) a minority that need to have music while they ride and argue that
:: it creates no greter risk, and
:: 2) all the other cyclists
::
:: I've not seen any statistics that prove either side's position. My
:: own view is that it (listening to music) is just one more
:: distraction and that it must have some negative contribution to
:: safety.
:: But it certainly isn't going to help anyone's argument to be calling
:: folks names. Didn't that go out of vogue in 4th grade?

Well, read the subject line!

Where is your proof that cyclist who ride with music are a minority? I've
seen professional cyclist doing it. Likewise, one could claim that lots of
activities that cyclist do have some negative contribution to safety.

Those of you who consider people who cycle with music to be unsafe, idiots,
and morons have absolutely no understanding of those who are able to do so
in a safe manner. It seems to me that if you don't feel comfortable cycling
with music, then all you have to do is not do so, rather than ranting on
with your unfounded opinions and name calling.

On 2007-02-23, Roger Zoul wrote:
:: OK, so maybe that just makes him a typical teenager, but it
:: annoys me (too many iPod-addled joggers around here).

Who is the moron here? You actually expected to educate a WWR while riding
down the street, by shouting "Other side"?

I expected him to get the f*ck out of my lane, yes. He's still a moron.

What does his having an iPod have to do with anything?

It was there, he ****ed me off. It might be completely irrelevant, but
the fact is, the only time I see cyclists wearing headphones around here,
it's the stupid ones. Wrong-way riders, unlit night riders, etc. If
I saw more responsible riders sporting headphones, I'd be less likely
to suffer the knee-jerk reaction that I do. But it just doesn't seem
to work that way around here.


--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_
(_)/ (_)

On 2007-02-23, Roger Zoul wrote:

Well, read the subject line!

As writer of the subject line, yeah, it's juvenile. I will point out
that I did not call this guy what I did because of the headphones; it
was the wrong-way riding that triggered that judgement. The headphones
do trigger a primal reaction in me, though, because of the huge number
of close calls they've caused me on MUPs (especially with joggers).

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_
(_)/ (_)

On 2007-02-23, Roger Zoul wrote:

Who is the moron here? You actually expected to educate a WWR while riding
down the street, by shouting "Other side"?

In my previous repsonse to this post, I failed to point out that I actually
have a pretty good track record of getting WWRs to switch the the correct
side of the road; in fact, prior to today, I can't remember anyone refusing
to do so. Maybe the law of averages finally caught up with me, and I just
wasn't ready for it.

All the same, if I see a car on my side of the double yellow line coming
at me, I'm making damn sure he knows I'm unhappy, even as I take evasive
action. I view this as exactly the same situation, and just as dangerous.
I freely admit that others may be more forgiving of WWRs than I.

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_
(_)/ (_)

In article ,
Kristian M Zoerhoff wrote:

1. Yesterday afternoon, I'm riding along, when I spot 5 teenagers
walking along the other side of the road approaching me.

"Hey, A**hole!"

What the? I've no idea what prompted this. I should have ignored
it, but was in a foul mood, so I pulled a Baka and confronted
them, resulting in them backing down; no firearms, thankfully.

Teenagers are generally pretty easy to back down; yapping chihuahua
syndrome. (exceptions noted and validated)



2. Today, riding down to my father-in-law's, I see a wrong-way
rider coming at me, so I point across the road and shout "Other
side." He shakes his head, and I repeat (yes, I hate wrong-way
riding). He shakes it again, and forces me out into 45 mph
traffic to go around him. He's got an iPod glued into both ears.
OK, so maybe that just makes him a typical teenager, but it
annoys me (too many iPod-addled joggers around here).

Soon, we will have what i call Amateur Saturdays on the Fox River Trail.
This isn't an indictment of their character as people (exceptions
noted, ibid) and more of an observation of the general cluelessness
people have about shared use trails + good manners + cabin fever.


Good luck, and take heart: it's supposed to sneaux this weekend.

..max
who was HOPING to take off the Nokian '294's this weekend...

Kristian M Zoerhoff wrote:
:: On 2007-02-23, Roger Zoul wrote:
:::
::: Well, read the subject line!
::
:: As writer of the subject line, yeah, it's juvenile. I will point out
:: that I did not call this guy what I did because of the headphones; it
:: was the wrong-way riding that triggered that judgement. The
:: headphones do trigger a primal reaction in me, though, because of
:: the huge number of close calls they've caused me on MUPs (especially
:: with joggers).

The problem, if you ask me, it not with headphones, but with the people not
thinking about the fact that they need to hear others nearby. You blame the
headphones when I think you'll never get people, as a whole, to appear to be
anything but clueless.

Kristian M Zoerhoff wrote:
:: On 2007-02-23, Roger Zoul wrote:
:::
::: Who is the moron here? You actually expected to educate a WWR
::: while riding down the street, by shouting "Other side"?
::
:: In my previous repsonse to this post, I failed to point out that I
:: actually have a pretty good track record of getting WWRs to switch
:: the the correct side of the road; in fact, prior to today, I can't
:: remember anyone refusing to do so. Maybe the law of averages finally
:: caught up with me, and I just wasn't ready for it.
::
:: All the same, if I see a car on my side of the double yellow line
:: coming at me, I'm making damn sure he knows I'm unhappy, even as I
:: take evasive action. I view this as exactly the same situation, and
:: just as dangerous. I freely admit that others may be more forgiving
:: of WWRs than I.

I disagree that it is really that dangerous. Are you riding on the
sidewalk? WWR rarely, IME, ridng the wrong way in the full lane. When I
see one, and I frequently do, I just take the lane and let them hug the edge
of the road. Only once was I surprised by a WWR at an intersection where I
was to make a right turn. She caught me off guard because I was looking for
traffic and NOT look where she was, since cars don't come from that
direction. There certainly wasn't time for me to yell at the poor clueless
lady to get to the other side of this huge divided road, so I just went
around her, rather than trying to make a scene or a point, which might have
gotten one of us killed.

On 2007-02-23, Roger Zoul wrote:

The problem, if you ask me, it not with headphones, but with the people not
thinking about the fact that they need to hear others nearby. You blame the
headphones when I think you'll never get people, as a whole, to appear to be
anything but clueless.

You are almost certainly correct. Unfortunately, you can't really see
cluelessness, so people attach it to objects they can see, if only on a
subconscious level. In my case, it's become (rightly or wrongly) attached
to headphones. I'll probably get over it someday.

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_
(_)/ (_)

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
Kristian M Zoerhoff wrote:
:: On 2007-02-23, Roger Zoul wrote:
:::
::: Well, read the subject line!
::
:: As writer of the subject line, yeah, it's juvenile. I will point out
:: that I did not call this guy what I did because of the headphones; it
:: was the wrong-way riding that triggered that judgement. The
:: headphones do trigger a primal reaction in me, though, because of
:: the huge number of close calls they've caused me on MUPs (especially
:: with joggers).

The problem, if you ask me, it not with headphones, but with the people
not thinking about the fact that they need to hear others nearby. You
blame the headphones when I think you'll never get people, as a whole, to
appear to be anything but clueless.
I do not wear noise cancellation ear buds and I do hear Ambulances before
anyone else. If they are wearing them so loud they do not hear traffic I
think they must have ear damage. Just let nature take it's course.