On Thursday, May 28, 2015 at 6:56:14 PM UTC+1, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 27 May 2015 15:46:35 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 27 May 2015 13:58:00 -0700 (PDT), Andre Jute
wrote:

Motorists notice me because I represent expensive damage to the
panelwork of their cars, and everything about my bike and my
riding style announces it clearly.

Like this?
(...)

One more. You can make rifle mounting clips for your bicycle:
https://bsamuseum.wordpress.com/rifle-mounting-clips/
That should give motorists something to worry about.
https://bsamuseum.wordpress.com
BSA is Birmingham Small Arms Ltd.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

My local poh-lees (as I understand is now the approved street corner manner of describing the keepers of the peace) disapprove severely of fireams on the streets. (They themselves in the main go unarmed.)

However, I have found the 300mm length of Abus Granit X 54 U lock a useful tool, socially imperceptible except to drivers who come within the legally required clearance zone of one meter of me, and 12" extension of the tool itself is rather useful. It's a solid substitute for a three-pound hammer, indeed in many respects superior because it has more operating edges. http://www.amazon.com/Lockitt-ABUS-G.../dp/B001E7G4XU You can get any number of different clips to fix it to your bike, but the one that suits its dual purpose as a defensive weapon best is the heavy duty black reinforced plastics clip with the pressbutton quick release. I carry mine (or used to; I don't need to any more) mounted high up on the seat tube under the seat where my hand falls naturally on it, thumb on the release button, fingers curling over the bottom of the U, where it is nicely balanced in the hand.

As I say, I don't need it any more; it's point is long established. First of all, on my bike, sitting upright, I'm taller than any SUV; I look like expensive damage, and I ride with the aggressive confidence of someone who doesn't lose at games, with a smile like a row of tombstones and the guileless nod of an innocent baby to shocked drivers slowing their oncoming cars; it ensures that they give me a wide berth when they approach me from behind, to protect their expensive cars. (After taxes, a top of the range Range Rover is the equivalent of a quarter million in USD...) Secondly, if I get the slightest chance, I make eye-contact with drivers, after which they don't overlook me. Thirdly, I ride like I'm invisible -- and, just to ensure morons like Frank Krygowski don't again fail to get it (apologies for the offense to everyone else's intelligence -- hell, even Slow Johnny got it first time round), of course as if I intend to make myself not only visible but memorable. Fourthly, I ride on roads where many drivers know me and greet me, and those who've had run-ins with me take care not to come near me (indeed some pull off the road until I pass, and one bursts into tears every time he sees me). Fifth, I don't hold up anyone maliciously, as Krygowski does from mindless obstructionism, only for my own safety; in the harvest season, I jump off the road, into full ditches if necessary, for farm machinery speeding between fields, and the rest of the year am repaid handsomely by farmers and their wives waiting patiently behind me on the narrowest lanes. As an invisible cyclist, I feature LARGE with drivers. Stick that where it hurts, Franki-boy! The first three are helpful methods anywhere, but drivers knowing you of course depends on where you ride and how often, and who drives there; it is a fortunate byproduct of my favourite rides starting in most cases from my front door, or no more than a mile away.

Andre Jute
A victim who leaves hairy footprints
(Who wants to bet that illiterate clown Krygowski doesn't get this one either?)