Don't Try This at Home - PSA
I'm managing to keep my head above water between work, training and home life. Unfortunately haven't been able to post much. I finished my race report from Spirit of Morgantown so I hope to have that posted soon.
In the mean time I wanted to share a little incident I had on the road while riding my bike last night.
I was in the early stages of a 1.5 hour ride. I was approaching a stop sign where I would be making a left hand turn. I looked behind and saw I had enough room behind me to take possession of the lane and signal my turn. As I was signaling my left turn the driver behind me crossed the double yellow and passed me within 100 feet of the stop sign.
I lost it at that point. I moved towards the center line so I could pull up close to the rear bumper of the drivers side. I yelled at the guy that I had the right of way. When he didn't acknowledge my comment I back handed his rear fender and yelled at him again. He paused shortly and made his left hand turn.
I moved through the intersection quickly after him since there was no traffic coming. I saw the street he turned onto and very briefly thought about following him, then reconsidered. It wasn't worth the effort, time, or aggravation.
I regret I lost my cool and may have put some other cyclist at risk in the future by becoming the a$$hole the driver already was. The rest of my ride was uneventful and the remainder of drivers I encountered were patient at stop signs/lights and provided plenty of passing room.
One bad driver......oh well.
Be safe out there on the roads.
Game On.
8 comments:
Glad you're ok and didn't let things go too far. I practice getting plate #'s of cars both while riding and while driving (helps the memory to remember them for several seconds and then longer if needed). If someone is really being an ass I post them here:
Some people are freaking idiots. I was just talking to my dad the other day about how you can trust no one on the road and never assume that a car will give you the right of way even when it is yours. I have lost my cool out there as well.
Glad you are okay...stay safe, man!
The link didn't go through the first time...
http://www.platewire.com/location/?Ohio
Good to hear you're ok. People that go through life acting like an ass eventually get theirs. Take care and happy cycling!
Mike
way to keep your cool...but man, i was right there with you....
i was moving through a metropark on the road, going up a hill...
and some lady leaned out of the passenger window and said "dude, thats what the bikepath is for".
I bit my tongue..kept going...
but it took awhile for the water to roll off this ducks back...
id-gits
I had the same thing happen to me too! Just ticks me off. And the comment of "get on the bike path" gets me going. I've been working on a post to the PD's Monday Moaning. It especially is bad when you're riding in the Metroparks -- a place of LEISURE -- and the bike path is NOT a bike path, it's a "MULTIPURPOSE" path used by kids on their tricycles, dog walkers, elderly, joggers, etc., etc. Boy I can just keep going. Anyway, glad that inconsiderate/dumb person didn't take you out. -- Mary
Be cool, it's really not worth it, although sometimes you really feel like bashing in a window with your shoe. You meet them almost every time your out on the roads, both running and riding. Too many people out there with NOTHING to loose, and you have worked so hard for what you have. I keep trying to tell myself that.
Stay safe!
Bill
Hey!
Yea man that makes me mad just reading that. Had many encounters on training rides and runs with those kind of peeps.
Tony Marut
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