the penultimate harassment

On 14 Mar 2005 15:19:21 -0800, Maggie wrote:

Tom Keats wrote:
In article ,
"greggery peccary" @.@ writes:

You can't put a shopping bag on the handlebar? OOPS. I did that
Saturday. Am I ousted from the kewl bicycle riders union? I passed the
supermarket, I needed bread. It was a light plastic bag and it had a
handle. It was nicely slung over the handlebars all the way home. It
had a nice slogan on it. It read....SHOP-RITE. So I biked and shopped.

Don't worry Maggie, we can save you! We call them panniers (sp?). And
if you want to be stylish you can get them in matching colors for your
bike. Now while I have trouble with matching color of my sock
(they're white ;-) I prefer to use a trailer, hey I've got to eat!
Ride to work, work to eat, eat to ride (I think that' how it goes).

--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only)
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II)
http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog

"Pat" wrote in message
...

"greggery peccary" @.@ wrote : damn somebody just drove past me on my
ride
home and sprayed what looked
: like tear gas at me! they missed. it hung in a big gasseous cloud on the
: ground behind me as i rode away. yesterday almost got in a fight with
some
: assholes yelling at me as i minded my own buisness in the bike lane.
: everyday now it's something WTF? i am starting to seriously question
whether
: most people out there are really "civil" or if they are just like
children
: attacking anything aberrent.
: i going to start carrying rocks. maybe make a little bag for them on my
: handlebar. no more mr nice guy... :-(

I have this fantasy of carrying a gun with paint pellets in it and marking
the idiots' car or pickup truck as they go by....BTW: where are you
riding?
What city?

Pat in TX
:
:


seattle where people are nicer, but also more passive aggressive

"greggery peccary" @.@ wrote in message
...

everyday now it's something WTF? i am starting to seriously question
whether
most people out there are really "civil" or if they are just like children
attacking anything aberrent.
i going to start carrying rocks. maybe make a little bag for them on my
handlebar. no more mr nice guy... :-(

Although I do encounter unpleasant people every so once in a while,
generally I do not have problems with other motorists. Since we are riding
more or less in the same area, I wonder why you are having such
difficulties.

I recommend beginning your rides with an intention focused on respect. I
would word it something like, "everyone respects me and my place on the
road". It would be helpful if you say it outloud before you ride, if you
don't feel too silly about that. It would also help if you visualize in your
imagination you riding along and motorists providing you with this respect
before your ride. If you have a prayer or a meditation practice, you may
want to include this visualization in your practice. I have more about the
practice of intentions he
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Intentions.htm

Another visualization for you to tuck into your metaphorical pannier. I
often think of myself owning the pavement from the centerline to the edge of
pavement, whether that is at the curb or beyond the fog line at the far end
of the shoulder. I am the queen of this portion of pavement as I roll along.
Because I am magnanimous, I allow cars to pass me. On occasion, for my
personal safety, I may assume my claim to the pavement that is already mine.
But generally, I don't need to do that, so I am gracious to the other
roadway users.

The advantage of this attitude of magnanimousness and graciousness is that
when you ride with it, you are more likely to get it in return from other
road users. You are also riding from a position of power, as opposed to
victimization. A rock carrier believes himself to be a victim before he even
gets on the bike. You don't want to be a victim of traffic. You are instead
a sovereign of the road.

Another problem with carrying rocks is that you are setting an intention for
hostility and confrontation, making it more likely to manifest. So please
don't do that.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Brady Montz" wrote in message
...
"greggery peccary" @.@ writes:

damn somebody just drove past me on my ride home and sprayed what looked
like tear gas at me! they missed. it hung in a big gasseous cloud on the
ground behind me as i rode away. yesterday almost got in a fight with
some
assholes yelling at me as i minded my own buisness in the bike lane.
everyday now it's something WTF? i am starting to seriously question
whether
most people out there are really "civil" or if they are just like
children
attacking anything aberrent.
i going to start carrying rocks. maybe make a little bag for them on my
handlebar. no more mr nice guy... :-(

And I question if you meant to use the word "penultimate," and wonder
about the potentially ultimate harassment that can result from your
proposed use of rocks.

--

2nd to last, yes, because i am almost ready to start harassing back. if it
were an occasional thing it would be NP; but there is something about me, or
the way i look, or something which invites this kind of crap from people. i
say nothing, stay on the bike lane and try to blend in as much as possible.
even when i walk down my street bums will see me from a block away. two days
ago i was panhandled so aggressively it was borderline robbery. it was all i
could do to get rid of him, either that or a fist in the teeth (and the
latter would get me in trouble). ya putting a big dent in someone's vehicle
is not cool, and definitely not something i would ever consider doing unless
they did something like, oh say: spray me with f'ing tear gas for no reason
at all! i am wondering when do you all fight back? (maybe that's the real
reason for this post-and maybe a little sympathy...)
-a

"Tom Keats" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"greggery peccary" @.@ writes:

i going to start carrying rocks. maybe make a little bag for them on my
handlebar. no more mr nice guy... :-(

"He's five foot two and he's six feet four,
He fights with missiles and with spears ..."

Don't do it! Too much risk of collateral damage,
for one thing. And a bag of rocks just doesn't
look good on a bike; that would almost be as bad
as shopping bags slung on the handlebar.

Such incidents often seem to occur in closely-timed
clusters, but they never really indicate any trend.

What helps me get over such negative experiences is
to make a point of creating positive ones -- eg:
chatting a little with fellow riders, complimenting
them about their kewl bikes, etc. Maybe negative
reactions to negative experiences engender more
negative experiences, and positive ones engender
positive ones. I live in the optimism that's how it
works, anyways. At any rate, Mr Nice Guy is immutably
irrepressible, so I think he'll stick around.


cheers,
Tom


ya thanks, maybe i should go on a group ride. my late commute is lonely all
year long...

Maggie wrote:

You can't put a shopping bag on the handlebar? OOPS. I did that
Saturday. Am I ousted from the kewl bicycle riders union? I passed the
supermarket, I needed bread. It was a light plastic bag and it had a
handle. It was nicely slung over the handlebars all the way home. It
had a nice slogan on it. It read....SHOP-RITE. So I biked and shopped.
Makes sense to me.

Maggie,

You are supposed to put a milk crate on the rear rack of your bicycle
for stuff like this. The crate should be fastened to the rack with a
combination of Jubilee clips (hose clamps), cable (zip) ties, and
electrical tape.

--
Tom "Anti-Fabrizio" Sherman - Earth (Illinois)

In article ,
Tom Sherman writes:
Maggie wrote:

You can't put a shopping bag on the handlebar? OOPS. I did that
Saturday. Am I ousted from the kewl bicycle riders union? I passed the
supermarket, I needed bread. It was a light plastic bag and it had a
handle. It was nicely slung over the handlebars all the way home. It
had a nice slogan on it. It read....SHOP-RITE. So I biked and shopped.
Makes sense to me.

Maggie,

You are supposed to put a milk crate on the rear rack of your bicycle
for stuff like this.

And it works quite well, too. Especially for tall & wide,
fragilethings like potted plants. And a milk crate provides
a good location for rear flashers and reflectors. But for
Maggie, I think those pannier-like folding baskets that go
on rear racks might just be the ticket, if they're easily
removable. I've seen some nice ones (that don't rattle)
in my travels around town.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Tom Keats wrote:

In article ,
Tom Sherman writes:

Maggie wrote:


You can't put a shopping bag on the handlebar? OOPS. I did that
Saturday. Am I ousted from the kewl bicycle riders union? I passed the
supermarket, I needed bread. It was a light plastic bag and it had a
handle. It was nicely slung over the handlebars all the way home. It
had a nice slogan on it. It read....SHOP-RITE. So I biked and shopped.
Makes sense to me.

Maggie,

You are supposed to put a milk crate on the rear rack of your bicycle
for stuff like this.


And it works quite well, too. Especially for tall & wide,
fragilethings like potted plants. And a milk crate provides
a good location for rear flashers and reflectors. But for
Maggie, I think those pannier-like folding baskets that go
on rear racks might just be the ticket, if they're easily
removable. I've seen some nice ones (that don't rattle)
in my travels around town.

I saw a Jack Russell riding in a bicycle mounted milk crate.

--
Tom Sherman - Earth (Illinois)

In article ,
"greggery peccary" .@. writes:

ya thanks, maybe i should go on a group ride. my late commute is lonely all
year long...

I figure /every/ ride is more-or-less a diffused group ride,
in that the other riders one encounters at stop lines or bike
parking facilities or whatnot are generally approachable and
open to some friendly conversation.


cheers again,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
...
"greggery peccary" @.@ wrote in message
...

everyday now it's something WTF? i am starting to seriously question
whether
most people out there are really "civil" or if they are just like
children
attacking anything aberrent.
i going to start carrying rocks. maybe make a little bag for them on my
handlebar. no more mr nice guy... :-(

Although I do encounter unpleasant people every so once in a while,
generally I do not have problems with other motorists. Since we are riding
more or less in the same area, I wonder why you are having such
difficulties.

I recommend beginning your rides with an intention focused on respect. I
would word it something like, "everyone respects me and my place on the
road". It would be helpful if you say it outloud before you ride, if you
don't feel too silly about that. It would also help if you visualize in
your
imagination you riding along and motorists providing you with this respect
before your ride. If you have a prayer or a meditation practice, you may
want to include this visualization in your practice. I have more about the
practice of intentions he
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Intentions.htm

Another visualization for you to tuck into your metaphorical pannier. I
often think of myself owning the pavement from the centerline to the edge
of
pavement, whether that is at the curb or beyond the fog line at the far
end
of the shoulder. I am the queen of this portion of pavement as I roll
along.
Because I am magnanimous, I allow cars to pass me. On occasion, for my
personal safety, I may assume my claim to the pavement that is already
mine.
But generally, I don't need to do that, so I am gracious to the other
roadway users.

The advantage of this attitude of magnanimousness and graciousness is that
when you ride with it, you are more likely to get it in return from other
road users. You are also riding from a position of power, as opposed to
victimization. A rock carrier believes himself to be a victim before he
even
gets on the bike. You don't want to be a victim of traffic. You are
instead
a sovereign of the road.

Another problem with carrying rocks is that you are setting an intention
for
hostility and confrontation, making it more likely to manifest. So please
don't do that.

--
Warm Regards,


Claire, i appreciate your sentiment and the funny thing is that this is the
reason i am getting so frustrated...ie because i do just that! i visualize
and anticipate getting along with motorists. i am always meekly and
smilingly avoiding motorists. i use the bike lane in the middle, just over
enough to get doored so as to not delay the cager's need to pass without
fear. my statements here do not reflect my riding (or daily) attitude, they
are a vent of frustration because i really cannot figure out why im having
these problems. Tom says " Such incidents often seem to occur in
closely-timed clusters, but they never really indicate any trend". my
question then is: how many years do these clusters last? maybe it's the
criminal mind's detection of the meek, rather than his detection of the
(rock)-as it were. predators know prey. he will spray tear gas on the unwary
old nerd on a bike but i doubt he would do that to an anarchist with a rock.
it is the lot of the freak...well the freaks have to be fierce. yes i need
to meditate...on a rock (or maybe with one balanced on my head); whatever i
do, i will ride on.