Still Alive

At 5:45 am this morning I was hit from the rear by a car on Charlotte
Pike. My trike is toast. I'm Ok physically except for a little scrape
and some bruising. I can no longer accept that I must share the road
with talking monkeys operating heavy machinery.

So now I'm thinking to hell with civilization; where can I live and ride
where there are no other vehicles?

I'm just crushed. I loved my trike and I love tooling around in it but
as a clerk in C store and as a daily commuter (for about two years now
on the trike) I know how stupid these assholes in their cars and trucks
are. They are not to be trusted. Trust that eventually some insect on a
cell phone will come along and destroy your customized labor of love.

Never mind your lit up like a fire truck and flashing anti-collision
lights and watching and using your rear view mirrors. Never mind your
following all the rules.

Bam, my trike is toast; rear axle bent, left rear wheel destroyed,
derailer bent all to hell, assorted other damage.


The guy was insured. I didn't shoot him and we both walked away but
......


I DIDN'T SEE HIM

was his excuse.

Chuck Trotter
Nashville, TN

This summer I discovered Rail-Trails. It is the way to go. No cars, no
motorized vehicles, just bikers and hikers.

As for places that show some respect, when I was in Morgantown, WV, I was
very impressed by the courtesy shown to cyclist by the locals. There are
probably idiots there as well but there seemed to be a very high percentage
of people who would yield right of way to bike compared to what I'm used to.

Sorry to hear about your accident but I'm glad you weren't hurt.

Jeff
"Chuck" wrote in message
...

At 5:45 am this morning I was hit from the rear by a car on Charlotte
Pike. My trike is toast. I'm Ok physically except for a little scrape
and some bruising. I can no longer accept that I must share the road
with talking monkeys operating heavy machinery.

So now I'm thinking to hell with civilization; where can I live and ride
where there are no other vehicles?

I'm just crushed. I loved my trike and I love tooling around in it but
as a clerk in C store and as a daily commuter (for about two years now
on the trike) I know how stupid these assholes in their cars and trucks
are. They are not to be trusted. Trust that eventually some insect on a
cell phone will come along and destroy your customized labor of love.

Never mind your lit up like a fire truck and flashing anti-collision
lights and watching and using your rear view mirrors. Never mind your
following all the rules.

Bam, my trike is toast; rear axle bent, left rear wheel destroyed,
derailer bent all to hell, assorted other damage.


The guy was insured. I didn't shoot him and we both walked away but
.....


I DIDN'T SEE HIM

was his excuse.

Chuck Trotter
Nashville, TN

Mackinac Island

"mort" wrote in message
oups.com...
Mackinac Island

Mort, you are certainly right about Mackinac Island being the ideal place to
ride a bike. There are no motor vehicles there at all. It is like stepping
back into the early 19th century. Damn, I wish I had lived back then. I hate
the present times and would like nothing better than to have lived back then
when life was more gracious and leisurely.

The only other place in the world I have ever loved is Venice and for the
same reason - no motor vehicles. The average person living today has no idea
how motor vehicles have ruined all of our lives. Please, bear with me for
moment while I curse the motor vehicle: G. D. them all the way to Hell and
back! There - now I feel ever so much better!

By the way, it is not see Naples and die - it is see Venice and die. Venice
is a miracle city. My God, there is no place on this earth I would rather
be. It was also the great composer Stravinsky's favorite city, so I feel
like I am in good company. Anyone who does not LOVE Venice is a fool of the
first order. I like to fall asleep at night thinking on wonderful Venice,
the city with no motor vehicles!

--
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

Were you travelling into the sun or away from it? I ask because I've
been thinking lately that riding early in the mornining into the sun
might be dangerous. Many drivers will avoid looking more than a few
feet down the road, and yet there is little traffic so they can go very
fast.

I am not making excuses for the monkey and his/her heavy machinery.
But, given that such monkeys exist, I've been wondering if I should
avoid early morning rides into the sun.

In article , Chuck
wrote:

At 5:45 am this morning I was hit from the rear by a car on Charlotte
Pike. My trike is toast. I'm Ok physically except for a little scrape
and some bruising. I can no longer accept that I must share the road
with talking monkeys operating heavy machinery.

So now I'm thinking to hell with civilization; where can I live and ride
where there are no other vehicles?

I'm just crushed. I loved my trike and I love tooling around in it but
as a clerk in C store and as a daily commuter (for about two years now
on the trike) I know how stupid these assholes in their cars and trucks
are. They are not to be trusted. Trust that eventually some insect on a
cell phone will come along and destroy your customized labor of love.

Never mind your lit up like a fire truck and flashing anti-collision
lights and watching and using your rear view mirrors. Never mind your
following all the rules.

Bam, my trike is toast; rear axle bent, left rear wheel destroyed,
derailer bent all to hell, assorted other damage.


The guy was insured. I didn't shoot him and we both walked away but
.....


I DIDN'T SEE HIM

was his excuse.

Chuck Trotter
Nashville, TN



No offence to the trike people but I would be scared ****less riding
around so low. Especially up against a bigger truck or SUV, on some
trikes you wouldn't even come up as high as the wheel. As much as I
hate cars " I didn't see him" is a valid excuse against a trike I
recon.

Did you have a flag on your trike? Better to look like a cripple than
to be a cripple. Lights don't do a whole lot of good in the day time.

going uphill maybe 3 miles an hour, sun just rising in my rear, four
lane highway, riding as far to the right as is practicable, no oncoming
traffic at the time. head lights, tail lights, 3 red led blinkies and a
flashing 50 watt white light in the rear. He also had a passenger (four
eyes).

Chuck

There are a few trikes that are much higher up. My commuting trike is the
TriCruiser and it is as high off the ground as any bike. I think the
experience related here is a result of bad drivers and not bad trikes.

Jeff
"Slugger" wrote in message
...
In article , Chuck
wrote:

At 5:45 am this morning I was hit from the rear by a car on Charlotte
Pike. My trike is toast. I'm Ok physically except for a little scrape
and some bruising. I can no longer accept that I must share the road
with talking monkeys operating heavy machinery.

So now I'm thinking to hell with civilization; where can I live and ride
where there are no other vehicles?

I'm just crushed. I loved my trike and I love tooling around in it but
as a clerk in C store and as a daily commuter (for about two years now
on the trike) I know how stupid these assholes in their cars and trucks
are. They are not to be trusted. Trust that eventually some insect on a
cell phone will come along and destroy your customized labor of love.

Never mind your lit up like a fire truck and flashing anti-collision
lights and watching and using your rear view mirrors. Never mind your
following all the rules.

Bam, my trike is toast; rear axle bent, left rear wheel destroyed,
derailer bent all to hell, assorted other damage.


The guy was insured. I didn't shoot him and we both walked away but
.....


I DIDN'T SEE HIM

was his excuse.

Chuck Trotter
Nashville, TN



No offence to the trike people but I would be scared ****less riding
around so low. Especially up against a bigger truck or SUV, on some
trikes you wouldn't even come up as high as the wheel. As much as I
hate cars " I didn't see him" is a valid excuse against a trike I
recon.

Did you have a flag on your trike? Better to look like a cripple than
to be a cripple. Lights don't do a whole lot of good in the day time.

On 24-Aug-2005, "brian" wrote:

Were you travelling into the sun or away from it? I ask because I've
been thinking lately that riding early in the mornining into the sun
might be dangerous. Many drivers will avoid looking more than a few
feet down the road, and yet there is little traffic so they can go very
fast.

I am not making excuses for the monkey and his/her heavy machinery.
But, given that such monkeys exist, I've been wondering if I should
avoid early morning rides into the sun.

REAL Monkeys ride carbon fiber splitter-plate lowracers. Wannabe monkeys
ride highgoslowalker bikes

--
Johnny ReBike
ReBike - Slowest Bike in the Known Universe

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"Chuck" wrote

[struck from behind while cycling]

Sorry to hear about your incident with a car. Hope your
injuries heal quickly and the driver pays for damages to
replace your trike.

going uphill maybe 3 miles an hour, sun just rising in my rear, four
lane highway, riding as far to the right as is practicable, no oncoming
traffic at the time. head lights, tail lights, 3 red led blinkies and a
flashing 50 watt white light in the rear. He also had a passenger (four
eyes).

The number of dashboard camera-captured videos of
patrol cars with flashing emergency lights being struck
while sitting on the road shoulder suggests that something
other than or more than simple visibility is at play.
Inattentiveness, distraction, drunkenness, human nature?

Still, per hour of exposure fatality rates put bicycling below
motor vehicles. http://www.magma.ca/~ocbc/comparat.html

Jon Meinecke