Odd interaction with a road rager

Calm n Collected wrote:
One neighborhood boy thought it was cute to ride his bike in the other
lane towards an oncoming car like you see in movies with two cars
racing towards
each other.

That's the big reason that we have bicycle helmets now.


What reason?
With or without a helmet you need a closed casket funeral when a kid
gets splattered on the front of a car in a head-on.

Mitch.

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 20:45:40 -0400, Ron McKinnon
wrote:

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 22:44:44 -0400, Roger Zoul wrote:
I suggest that, in the future, you do your best to avoid second encounters
with stupid people driving cars (assuming the first encounter was forced
upon you). It can't be good policy for a cyclist.

Probably a good piece of advice. At least in that respect, being
hot-headed, the road rager and I have something in common. However I've
never instigated anything with a motorist in my life, but I do tend to
respond in kind more than is probably wise.

Thus you need to have a cue or mantra to tell yourself when this happens
again. Think of something when you're feeling cool and rational, and then
when you feel tempted during a ride to do this, you can recall the advice.

Even those of us who are non-confrontational get juiced up with adrenaline
and pumped from riding and lose that better judgement.

Then when you get home, think positive thoughts about your ability to
resist the urge to confront.

-B

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 20:45:40 -0400, Ron McKinnon
wrote:

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 22:44:44 -0400, Roger Zoul wrote:
I suggest that, in the future, you do your best to avoid second encounters
with stupid people driving cars (assuming the first encounter was forced
upon you). It can't be good policy for a cyclist.

Probably a good piece of advice. At least in that respect, being
hot-headed, the road rager and I have something in common. However I've
never instigated anything with a motorist in my life, but I do tend to
respond in kind more than is probably wise.

Thus you need to have a cue or mantra to tell yourself when this happens
again. Think of something when you're feeling cool and rational, and then
when you feel tempted during a ride to do this, you can recall the advice.

Even those of us who are non-confrontational get juiced up with adrenaline
and pumped from riding and lose that better judgement.

Then when you get home, think positive thoughts about your ability to
resist the urge to confront.

-B

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:23:50 +0000, Jem Berkes wrote:

The car was some souped-up muscle car ...
I caught up two lights later ...

You should have asked him, if his car is so powerful how come you were able
to catch up to him? If that's too subtle for him just tell him he has a
small penis.

Nah.

If you were canoeing, and an empty boat drifted across your path,
it wouldn't make any sense to get angry at it.

It makes no more sense to get angry at road raging morons than it
does to yell at an empty boat.

Just repeat to yourself, "Empty boat."

I admit I'm not 100% perfect at this, but when I am successful,
it's very gratifying to NOT have gotten angry, and to NOT have let the
asshole spoil my day.

--
Chris BeHanna
Software Engineer (Remove "allspammersmustdie" before responding.)

I was raised by a pack of wild corn dogs.

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:23:50 +0000, Jem Berkes wrote:

The car was some souped-up muscle car ...
I caught up two lights later ...

You should have asked him, if his car is so powerful how come you were able
to catch up to him? If that's too subtle for him just tell him he has a
small penis.

Nah.

If you were canoeing, and an empty boat drifted across your path,
it wouldn't make any sense to get angry at it.

It makes no more sense to get angry at road raging morons than it
does to yell at an empty boat.

Just repeat to yourself, "Empty boat."

I admit I'm not 100% perfect at this, but when I am successful,
it's very gratifying to NOT have gotten angry, and to NOT have let the
asshole spoil my day.

--
Chris BeHanna
Software Engineer (Remove "allspammersmustdie" before responding.)

I was raised by a pack of wild corn dogs.

On 1 Sep 2004 14:21:57 -0700, (Calm n Collected) wrote (more or less):
....
It seems that most urban riders are much more aware of safe and legal riding
techniques, but I've certainly seen a lot of oblivious peddlers in New York
City. This ****es ME off -- and I'm a cyclist. I can't imagine how it irks
a driver who only wishes he/she had a bicycle!

Don't let it get you so upset. Many parents don't have their
priorities straight and don't teach resposibility. They aren't
themselves responsible
and either is their progeny. Unfortunately we live in a fallen world.

One neighborhood boy thought it was cute to ride his bike in the other
lane towards an oncoming car like you see in movies with two cars
racing towards
each other.

That's the big reason that we have bicycle helmets now.

I'm a little confused. You now have biccylcle helmets so you can ride
bikes towards oncoming cars?

Or you now have bicycle helmets because another cyclist has ridden
towards oncoming cars?


In either event, please realise that bicycle helmets are not designed
to withstand head-on impacts from motor vehicles, but are designed for
falling off your bike when cycling at low speed.






Be thankful for each ride where you come home.




--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

On 1 Sep 2004 14:21:57 -0700, (Calm n Collected) wrote (more or less):
....
It seems that most urban riders are much more aware of safe and legal riding
techniques, but I've certainly seen a lot of oblivious peddlers in New York
City. This ****es ME off -- and I'm a cyclist. I can't imagine how it irks
a driver who only wishes he/she had a bicycle!

Don't let it get you so upset. Many parents don't have their
priorities straight and don't teach resposibility. They aren't
themselves responsible
and either is their progeny. Unfortunately we live in a fallen world.

One neighborhood boy thought it was cute to ride his bike in the other
lane towards an oncoming car like you see in movies with two cars
racing towards
each other.

That's the big reason that we have bicycle helmets now.

I'm a little confused. You now have biccylcle helmets so you can ride
bikes towards oncoming cars?

Or you now have bicycle helmets because another cyclist has ridden
towards oncoming cars?


In either event, please realise that bicycle helmets are not designed
to withstand head-on impacts from motor vehicles, but are designed for
falling off your bike when cycling at low speed.






Be thankful for each ride where you come home.




--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

Mitch Haley wrote in message ...
[...]
So the question here is: Who had road rage - the truck driver or the
cyclist?

If you believe the cyclist's story, the driver was.
Somebody yelled at him, he responded in kind, [...]



"...he responded in kind..."

That's where the problem starts with road rage incidents.

If the victim of the initial act of road rage can just be cool and let
it pass, subsequent acts of stupidity do not occur. This true for both
motorists and cyclists.

In this case, if the cyclist had held his tounge for 2 seconds, he
would not be facing assault charges (which could be life-ruining), a
guy would not have been shot, multiple lawyers would not be 10's of
thousands of dollars richer, and this stupid avoidable case would not
be in the court system.

Responding to road rage just isn't worth it. Its not worth the risk to
your life, car, beater bike, or even your retro cycling apparel. Its
not even worth gritting your teeth for.

Mitch Haley wrote in message ...
[...]
So the question here is: Who had road rage - the truck driver or the
cyclist?

If you believe the cyclist's story, the driver was.
Somebody yelled at him, he responded in kind, [...]



"...he responded in kind..."

That's where the problem starts with road rage incidents.

If the victim of the initial act of road rage can just be cool and let
it pass, subsequent acts of stupidity do not occur. This true for both
motorists and cyclists.

In this case, if the cyclist had held his tounge for 2 seconds, he
would not be facing assault charges (which could be life-ruining), a
guy would not have been shot, multiple lawyers would not be 10's of
thousands of dollars richer, and this stupid avoidable case would not
be in the court system.

Responding to road rage just isn't worth it. Its not worth the risk to
your life, car, beater bike, or even your retro cycling apparel. Its
not even worth gritting your teeth for.

Mitch Haley wrote in message ...
Calm n Collected wrote:
One neighborhood boy thought it was cute to ride his bike in the other
lane towards an oncoming car like you see in movies with two cars
racing towards
each other.

That's the big reason that we have bicycle helmets now.


What reason?
With or without a helmet you need a closed casket funeral when a kid
gets splattered on the front of a car in a head-on.

Mitch.

No, parents not teaching kids to be careful and paying attention is a
big reason people are wearing helmets. I have been riding 40 yrs
without a helmet, but then I am very careful and ride with the
assumption that all drivers are "challenged."