the penultimate harassment

"greggery peccary" .@. wrote in message
...
i am always meekly and
smilingly avoiding motorists.

No! Do not be meek! Royalty is not meek. Your saddle is a throne. Know that
you are the king of the road.

If you are obsequious, motorists will sense that, and they'll treat you like
dirt. You are not to be meek, you are not to avoid cars. You are in charge
of your pavement. It is yours. You welcome cars, not avoid them. You welcome
them, and then, if it suits you, and because you are in a position of power
and abundance, you allow them to pass by.

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

I believe this happens because of internal attitude. You have a crappy
interaction, and then you either get defensive ("oh, poor little me. I'm
just this little bicycle out there in the big scary world of much bigger and
scarier motor vehicles") or you get offensive ("**** these mother****ing
assholes!") Both of these attitudes cultivate further confrontation and
difficulties. It's hard to return to that place of equinimity and power
where you are neither afraid nor hostile.

Once, I had an acquaintance go on and on about how dangerous it is to ride a
bike. The next morning, on the way to work, I had three close calls. I've
had other cyclists comment on this: someone waters the seed of fear in your
mind, and then you reap it on your next ride. You may not be able to help
that others will water the seeds of fear or hostility, but you do not want
to water them yourself.


--
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

"greggery peccary" .@. writes:

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.

First, it is important to not engage in any victim blaming. It's
unlikely that Greggery has done anything to deserve getting tear
gassed!

But, with that in mind, I do find, as Claire has described, that our
attitudes do seem to shape our interactions with the world in all
sorts of mysterious ways. We make so many decisions per day: how we
carry ourselves, what we have on our bikes, which roads we choose to
take, how close we cut the lights, how we grab or hold eye contact,
etc., and each of those choices is noticed by and affects those around
us without any of us having to consciously notice.

It's similar to dealing with a strange dog. We can't always keep them
at bay. And it's not always our fault if we get bit. And with all the
dogs in the world, there are plenty that are just plain mean. But, our
attitude does have a lot to do with how much we enjoy our canine
interactions.

I too ride around Seattle, many thousands of miles per year, and have
found this whole area a remarkably pleasant place. Of course, there's
always occasional carelessness, but that's part and parcel with being
on the road; but I've never had anything more negative than occasional
teenage horn honking or shreaking (man, I do hate that!).

So, I suspect that either you are getting sucked into a negative
cycle, or you are just having some bad luck and can look forward to
enjoying King County drivers as much as I do. Either way, cheering up
and riding with some pleasant company (who might also notice any
patterns that you might be missing) can only help you reconnect with
why we all enjoy riding so much to keep doing it.

And no rocks. Any time you feel the need to carry anything legally
considered a weapon which is tactically worthless and clearly only for
show, you are going down a bad road.

--
Brady Montz

In article ,
Tom Sherman writes:

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

Yeah, doggies can have pretty good lives, c/w chauffeurs,
valets and cooks. Some say the human/canine relationship
is symbiotic, but I think the pooches come out way ahead
in the deal. Although, I suppose the Jack Russell gets to
contribute by being a bike security system. I've sometimes
wondered if a pet skunk might also be effective that way.


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

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 12:55:59 -0800, ,
(Tom Keats) wrote:

Although, I suppose the Jack Russell gets to
contribute by being a bike security system. I've sometimes
wondered if a pet skunk might also be effective that way.

Security by skunk is one of those things I'll gladly choose to
continue wondering about.
--
zk

: Although, I suppose the Jack Russell gets to
: contribute by being a bike security system. I've sometimes
: wondered if a pet skunk might also be effective that way.
:
: Security by skunk is one of those things I'll gladly choose to
: continue wondering about.
: --
: zk

I caught a skunk by accident one day. It was in my "humane" squirrel trap.
I called the animal control people to see what to do with it. The guy said,
"Bring it down to us--just put it in your car." Yeah, right.

Pat in TX

In article ,
Zoot Katz writes:
Tue, 15 Mar 2005 12:55:59 -0800, ,
(Tom Keats) wrote:

Although, I suppose the Jack Russell gets to
contribute by being a bike security system. I've sometimes
wondered if a pet skunk might also be effective that way.

Security by skunk is one of those things I'll gladly choose to
continue wondering about.

Nobody needs to know he's been de-scented.

They really are quite sociable and affectionate critters.
Probably hell on upholstery, though. I don't think those
claws are prehensile.


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 ,
Zoot Katz writes:

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 12:55:59 -0800, ,
(Tom Keats) wrote:


Although, I suppose the Jack Russell gets to
contribute by being a bike security system. I've sometimes
wondered if a pet skunk might also be effective that way.


Security by skunk is one of those things I'll gladly choose to
continue wondering about.


Nobody needs to know he's been de-scented.

They really are quite sociable and affectionate critters.
Probably hell on upholstery, though. I don't think those
claws are prehensile.

See http://www.skunk-info.org/.

--
Tom Sherman - Earth (Illinois)

In article ,
Tom Sherman writes:

See http://www.skunk-info.org/.

That's a good site; thanks for that.
I somehow doubt having guardianship of domesticated
skunks is allowed in BC, though. But I still have
my urbanized, 'wild' visitors. I don't feed 'em,
but they still drop by once in awhile to say a
friendly hello, and sniff my shoes, and show off
their litters.


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

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
...
"greggery peccary" .@. wrote in message
...
i am always meekly and
smilingly avoiding motorists.

No! Do not be meek! Royalty is not meek. Your saddle is a throne. Know
that
you are the king of the road.

If you are obsequious, motorists will sense that, and they'll treat you
like
dirt. You are not to be meek, you are not to avoid cars. You are in charge
of your pavement. It is yours. You welcome cars, not avoid them. You
welcome
them, and then, if it suits you, and because you are in a position of
power
and abundance, you allow them to pass by.

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

I believe this happens because of internal attitude. You have a crappy
interaction, and then you either get defensive ("oh, poor little me. I'm
just this little bicycle out there in the big scary world of much bigger
and
scarier motor vehicles") or you get offensive ("**** these mother****ing
assholes!") Both of these attitudes cultivate further confrontation and
difficulties. It's hard to return to that place of equinimity and power
where you are neither afraid nor hostile.

Once, I had an acquaintance go on and on about how dangerous it is to ride
a
bike. The next morning, on the way to work, I had three close calls. I've
had other cyclists comment on this: someone waters the seed of fear in
your
mind, and then you reap it on your next ride. You may not be able to help
that others will water the seeds of fear or hostility, but you do not want
to water them yourself.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky

thanks. your advice is very helpful. i have calmed down and the rock is back
in the rockery. -and the fresh air is back and i now get that nice tailwind
going home!
(i am glad to have made the OP though-eliciting such excellent
contributions)
-alan