An observation from a normally oblivious guy

[vondardanelle]

my experience biking in cities (i dont own a car) is that EVERYONE hates you when you are on a bike-- pedestrians, cars, other cyclists, pets, etc... cars are just the scariest because they can do serious damage to you (and often you get the feeling the driver really wants to damage you).

i wonder if self-loathing is increased by biking?

[Feilan]

Mmm ... the bicycle. To quote the immortal Queen, "I love to ride my bicycle, I love to ride my bike." How I missed it in the very hilly city where I live in China ... I was so excited about five weeks back in Toronto and the bike riding I would enjoy. NOT that I had forgotten about the 'jeezus-i-hope-i-don't-get-maimed-in-traffic' feeling that goes along with it, but it was muted by contemplating the sheer pleasure of pedaling. I love getting around so quickly, for free, and getting exercise in the bargain! I also tremble with fear, because it's so damn dangerous for no defensible reason.

I think it boils down to self-absorption. It seems to me that the cabbie who squeezes me into a gutter isn't thinking about me at all. I question whether he even knows I'm there. The cabbie is thinking about the next fare, about getting the better of everybody else on the road, getting somewhere three minutes faster than someone else, making a few extra bucks.

The minivans riding the curb when approaching a red light aren't looking in the mirror, even though a glance in their mirror would tell them three poor bastards on bikes in the Christ-Almighty-Bike-Lane are also **trying** to sidle up to the light, eeeven though there are easily three feet of space between their completely un-fucking-necessary mini van and the white line. They didn't get out of bed that day to share the road with other people.

Cyclists are driven up on the sidewalk or forced to foot their way along in the Wonder Bread slice of space remaining between the curb and the cars ... or they can consider threading themselves through the lost acre of road between lanes - ie. take their life in their hands - and hope for the best.

The cyclist who inexplicably appears in a bike lane on the wrong side of the road, coasting along like that's a perfectly reasonable thing to do, doesn't give a second thought to how NOT entitled he or she is to ride headlong into opposing bike traffic. He or she saw a lull in the cars and wanted to get to the lane on the other side of the road. Riding up to the light and crossing according to simple rules created for everyone's mutual safety is for suckers, apparently.

The cyclist who silently and suddenly appears in the 12 inch squeeze between you and a moving car whilst you are trying to squeeze safely between it and a parked car - the cyclist with a fucking bell!!! - doesn't use the bell and doesn't even pause to consider that their *might* be a safer place to pass you, never mind indicating their proximity by way of the fucking bell.

The legions of pedestrians who just step out randomly wherever the hell they feel like it, with their heads up their own backsides where they keep their cell phones, similarly feel no need to self monitor their trajectory in relation to other people also entitled to navigate public space.

Situational awareness might be considered a means of enabling courteousness as well as being the only sensible strategy for self (bodily) preservation, but evidence suggests too much giving-a-shit about people around us and how we might end up colliding/avoid colliding with them is required.

Self absorption.

One thing's for sure - it's taught me to be way more mindful when I'm out there on wheels or on foot. I'm not special or good, so the question is - why doesn't the road rage, chaos, multitude of near misses and horrible mangling HITS have a similar effect on that guy who certainly would have mangled/killed me the other day had I been a 5 year old or a dog?

He was unmoved by my near mangling - the result of his tricky dick move to cut across traffic, out of nowhere, in his super cooool, super shiny jeezling batmobile - foot on the gas!! - zippin' through a convenient gap in rush hour crawl into a narrow lane (with no light, meant to be accessed via right hand lane ONLY). He was neither looking for nor proceeding tentatively in case their **might** be - A SENTIENT AMBULATORY LIFE FORM - in the curbside blind spot beside the car he was cutting off with the primacy of his destination.

He suddenly appeared and I suddenly realized I'd be rolling off his car momentarily except that I suddenly employed well tuned brakes and was myself proceeding slowly enough to stop quickly. I made an involuntary exclamatory noise and gawped at him, WTF-ness on my face. He screamed at me and blamed me for being in his way.

I had a quiet beer after getting home in one piece and have been thinking a lot about this shit and why-teh-fuk ever since.

[barracuda]

I've been hit by cars while riding my bicycle twice, both were hit and runs, both episodes destroyed the bike and left me road-rashed. I was lucky.

For you cyclists, I started a thread just on bicycles here. After reading the comments here, it seemed about time for one.

[2012 Countdown]

The worst is when its rained/raining. Not a cycler or walker, really, but sometimes you just do. So about the rain...it forms puddles along the side of the road. On rare occasions when I am walking or exposed in some manner, some drivers intentionally go for the puddles to wet people. If your fast, you can sometimes duck or run. While driving I've seen it happen too. Sure, I laugh, but at the same time I think, 'wow, what a fucking dick'.

[Mask]

[Canadian_watcher]

well this whole thread just proves my point in the other one! (what other one? the one barracuda shamelessly promoted above, that's which one!)

[freemason9]

Yeah...this is all making sense.

I actually don't drive slow when I'm out on the highway. I've had my share of speeding tickets, generally on those long, straight county highways out in the middle of nowhere where you can let the car unravel. But I generally accelerate up to cruising speed with less than 1/2 of the go pedal. I've rebuilt enough trannies and engines down through the decades to know that the jackrabbit starts are brutally hard on a vehicle's innards. I also anticipate stopping at signals and whatev so I'm not having to jam on the brakes to haul the vehicle down at the last second. Lotsa wasted momentum in doing that.

I'm a considerate driver as well, 'least I think so. I do things like letting people merge or come over into my lane, following at a respectful distance, using my turn signal, and being patient when people are trying to turn safely (I really hate the SOBs and DOBs who honk at somebody when they're trying to be careful while turning).

Ah, don't let 'em get to you, Norton.

I am a grindingly fuel-efficient driver, probably because of my long daily commute. I've learned many things about long commutes, and one of those things is that high-stress movements from lane to lane makes no difference in the end. Also, tailgaters suck. Bad. Last week, some dufus white boy came up right up behind me on my ass, driving one of those humongous trucks so popular with the small-dicked set. I was uncommonly aggressive that day . . . I looked in the mirror, saw him bearing down, and touched my brake to light up the tails. He slammed on his brakes and swerved into the next lane. (It was funny, particularly since I didn't actually brake; I touched just enough to flash the rubies.) As he slowly managed to regain his composure and crawled around me, I looked at him; he managed a feeble gesture with his left hand, and I flipped him off. Fuck him.

I suppose that makes me a "passive aggressive" driver now, eh? Welcome to the American automotive psychopathic world.

My car has a quarter-million miles on it. It gets better than 40 per gallon, and it looks great. People need to drive their cars with some expertise and respect. There's a bunch of amateurs out there.

[lucky]

Good tip for those who drive a manual..you can change up a gear when your revs are at 2000 if you do that rather than stamp on the accelerator each time you move up you can save up to 30% in fuel.