Uni assault on a car (literally)

Today I lived out a dream. Sort of like when you think of a snappy
comeback later on, only this time I'd had it happen to me enough times
that I was able to think of the snappy comeback right away. Details:

I was pedaling my 29"er at a moderate rate on an empty sidewalk cleared of
most of the snow. As I was crossing the somewhat snowy street where I had
a green light, a car came too fast around the corner, cutting me off. The
car was driving too close (legally speaking) to the corner, and this gave
me too little time to slow down, esp with the snow. The car slowed a bit
in order to negotiate the turn. Just before I would have hit the car, I
jumped off the uni and swung it hard-ish into the lower side of the car,
denting in (or cutting) a square area near the gas thingy. It helped that
I had metal pedals. The car never slowed, but if it had, I'd have
apologized for accidentally bumping it with my uni when I had to jump off
in order to avoid it when it cut me off.

I still haven't leapt onto a dog-walker*, but as I've written in the past,
it always helps to be prepared.

David

* Dog-walker: If a dog-walker is letting a dog off a leash (illegal in
NYC) and the dog suddenly runs in your path, avoid the dog. But if the
only way to avoid hurting yourself is to use the dog-walker as a bummper,
don't hesitate. Best to avoid this by slowing down ahead of time. I've
ridden past many dogs leashed and otherwise and have never had to dismount
bc I always take it slowly.

David,

Glad you're okay. Where did you say you lived? New York? Hmmm....


Bruce


--
yoopers - Bruce & Mary Edwards

Of professional wrestling, Sarah Miller says, "The competition element
is all part of the "plot"..."Its pantomime in lycra."
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As an avid cyclist (road, MT. and now UNI/MUNI) I as well as many others
have been in your shoes. I have been ****ed, yelled, screamed, etc. but
have also realized that if I do that, it makes me look like the ASS.
Downtown in traffic in the snow? Maybe they didnt see you.
Maybe they had a burger in one hand, a cell phone in the other, and
adjusted the radio so loud they couldnt hear anything. But all the
other people on the street that watched you smash your crank into the
side of a car thought that you my friend.... the one on the UNICYCLE are
a complete ASSHOLE. So, you made your point to the guy in the car, and
you also made your point about UNICYCLIST to the other 20 people that
just caught a glimpz of what you did.
In my opinion, just because the light is green, that doesnt give you
the all clear to ride, it gives you the warning to ride. I ride
downtown often, and anyone that does has close calls. Ever been kicked
out of private property? Bet it was by a guy that watched a UNICYCLIST
tear up a car by the "gas thingy."


--
steve0we - Just removed training wheel!

This is Wheelie Wheelie FUN!
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Glad you're OK. How long until your heart rate came back to normal?

A good reminder that even if you have the right of way to watch traffic
closely. As a driver I am sometimes taken by surprise by someone
crossing at a higher rate of travel than normal. In otherwords, we're
programed to watch and anticipate people crossing at a walking speed.
When a runner or biker comes from the sidewalk it can catch you off
guard.

Different cities have different etiquette, or lack therof. I was driving
in SF, waiting for the pedestrian traffic to completely clear before
making a right turn. My passenger couldn't figure out why I was waiting
so long and was surprised I wasn't getting honked at yet, I guess the
average SF driver would have gone through a smaller gap than us Seattle
drivers would.


--
UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

Steve

Do your feet smell? Does you nose run?...You may be built upside down.
-Old joke I found in a Mad Magazine many moons ago.

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David Stone wrote:
*I still haven't leapt onto a dog-walker*, but as I've written in the
past,
it always helps to be prepared.

David

* Dog-walker: If a dog-walker is letting a dog off a leash (illegal
in
NYC) and the dog suddenly runs in your path, avoid the dog. But if
the
only way to avoid hurting yourself is to use the dog-walker as a
bummper,
don't hesitate. Best to avoid this by slowing down ahead of time.
I've
ridden past many dogs leashed and otherwise and have never had to
dismount
bc I always take it slowly. *


[RANT]Well said. IMO all pet dogs (allowing an exception for useful
dogs like guide dogs) should be banned and owning a dog should be a
criminal offense. I've lost count of the number of times I've been
attacked by the vile creatures, on bikes, unicycles or on foot (that's
me BTW, I've never seen a dog on a bike). There is no such thing as a
responsible dog owner - they all seem to be under the delusion that
everybody must love their pet and being barked at, licked or bitten will
make our day. The last dog encounter I had was a couple of weeks ago
when the animal went for me from some distance away, probably 20 or 30
yards. I was on my 26" and just carried on riding at the mutt hoping it
would give up like they usually do, but it just jumped at me, slammed me
to the ground and tried to bite my ankle (luckily I had shinpads on so
it couldn't do any damage). The dog's owner had a go at ME for scaring
their poor little pet ("you must be careful, he can be a bit funny if
you take him by surprise"). The fact that it watched me from a distance
before laying into me didn't seem to count. Dogs just have no right to
exist. [/RANT]

* Dons asbestos jacket *


--
rob.northcott - Unofficial level 2, on a good day
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when walking around dogs LOVE me : it's funny because I do not love dogs
-though I am not afraid of them-!
(must be the smell)
I've seen fierce moloss come to me to make friends (this annoys some
macho-masters!)

But when on a uni everything changes: every mummy's poodle just turn out
to be agressive.
Is it that dogs do not like Unis? (or is it my cranks that make
ultrasonic qweeks?)


--
wobbling bear - GranPa goes-a-wobblin'

-Einradfreude- por los Munificent
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rob.northcott wrote:
*[RANT]Well said. IMO all pet dogs (allowing an exception for useful
dogs like guide dogs) should be banned and owning a dog should be a
criminal offense. I've lost count of the number of times I've been
attacked by the vile creatures, on bikes, unicycles or on foot (that's
me BTW, I've never seen a dog on a bike). There is no such thing as a
responsible dog owner - they all seem to be under the delusion that
everybody must love their pet and being barked at, licked or bitten
will make our day. The last dog encounter I had was a couple of weeks
ago when the animal went for me from some distance away, probably 20
or 30 yards. I was on my 26" and just carried on riding at the mutt
hoping it would give up like they usually do, but it just jumped at
me, slammed me to the ground and tried to bite my ankle (luckily I had
shinpads on so it couldn't do any damage). The dog's owner had a go
at ME for scaring their poor little pet ("you must be careful, he can
be a bit funny if you take him by surprise"). The fact that it
watched me from a distance before laying into me didn't seem to count.
Dogs just have no right to exist. [/RANT]

* Dons asbestos jacket * *


hahahahhah wow


--
mango - unity - as 1 stand together

http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albuv16

"Yeah, well, he gives me presents, so I care not if he's the devil."
-James_Potter
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Good thing the car didnt stop.

It kind of reminds me when I was riding my road bike over the summer a
truck pulled up besides me then started running me into the guard rail
of a bridge. I hit my brakes to avoid getting run over and pounded on
the glass of his passanger side window with my hand to let him know he
was running me off the road.

Well I soon turned off the bridge and see the truck pass me agian, this
time really fast and with plenty of room he ended up parking about 400
feet in front of me got out of his truck and then takeled me off my bike
as I came by. I really wasnt expecting any of this but when I saw he was
running directly in front of me with both hands fisted (unavoidable hit)
I drove my bike right into him and smashed the front break flying over
my bars launching with my hands directlly in his chest pushing him back
a few feet.

This guy continued to go on about how his truck was worth more than my
life and that he was going to beat the **** out of me. So I got right
back and just started pushing him around and prepairing for my beating
(the guy was easily twice my size) Lucky for me though, I think I acted
crazy enough that I intimedated this guy and he backed off after 5 min
of yelling and pushing. I ended up walking away with only a bloody knee
and a bruse on my arm from hitting the pavement after going over the
top.



Anyway I'm glad to hear that you walked away unharmed and left that car
with something to remember his actions.

Cheers
Mike


--
Checkernuts - Me Fail English? That's Unpossible

No one said it was gonna be easy and I'm not afraid to try, with the
odds stacked up against me I will have to fight, One Life One Wheel got
to do it right. H20

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steve0we wrote:
*Maybe they had a burger in one hand, a cell phone in the other, and
adjusted the radio so loud they couldnt hear anything. But all the
other people on the street that watched you smash your crank into the
side of a car thought that you my friend.... the one on the UNICYCLE
are a complete ASSHOLE.*
David didn't do anything I can recommend, but it seems you are
absolving the driver of all responsibility. David's unicycle weighs 15
pounds or so, while the car weighs at least 100 times as much. The
driver of the car, in theory, has at least 100 times the responsibility
not to hit unprotected pedestrians/cyclists. You seem to suggest that
all car drivers should be given the benefit of the doubt, every time.

I can't agree. Though it is true a cyclist or pedestrian must always be
ready for drivers to make mistakes, that does not mean the mistakes are
okay.

I have never been to San Antonio, but I am familiar with the "traffic
culture" in NYC. Car traffic is constant, and you can either be
aggressive or be a victim. If one chooses to ride a unicycle on a snowy
sidewalk, or actually *commute* that way on a regular basis, I'd guess
that person is going to be a bit aggressive, or at least assertive of
his rights.

The driver either ignored David coming down the sidewalk or didn't see
him entirely. The area was snowy, but I don't think it was snow-ing.
Yes, the driver might have a burger in one hand and cell phone in the
other. This does not reduce his responsibilities to not hit people.

The result of what happened is interesting in that the driver "never
slowed" even though he must have known his car made contact with
something. I think in court this could be called a hit and run. If the
driver wasn't looking, he doesn't know what hit him, or what he hit. But
if he's driving in NYC, he does know he's supposed to yield to
pedestrians on a green light.

Hmm. is David a 'pedestrian' when cycling on the sidewalk? That's
another question I guess.

So, though one part of me pumps its arm in the air and says "YES!!" the
other part knows that his actions will not "cure" that driver, and if he
*had* stopped, all sorts of bad stuff might have ensued.

I'm glad it worked out okay David, but what happens next time that guy
sees you? I know you're not 'blending in' with all the other unicyclists
out there...


--
johnfoss - The wilder Wilder

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
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wobbling bear wrote:
*But when on a uni everything changes: every mummy's poodle just turn
out to be agressive.
Is it that dogs do not like Unis? (or is it my cranks that make
ultrasonic qweeks?) *
I know it's not sound, because I've noticed it with dogs all through
the years, on many different unis. I think it's the motion. A person
walking looks one way, a person running looks another way, and a person
on a bike also looks a certain way. A person on a unicycle doesn't move
like any of those familiar images, so it gets the dog's attention.

Now I know many dogs have a chase instinct, which makes them want to run
after things. I don't claim to know how it works, but I think I know
enough about dogs to say they have some hard-wired programming that
controls most of their actions. Obviously they're not hard-wired for
unicycles, but perhaps because they're seeing something unfamiliar, they
go into a "protective" mode or something, presumably to protect their
territory, or their masters.

Dogs definitely notice unicycles, even if they don't make big reactions.
I've noticed many, many times over the years when passing by dogs how
some of them just stare and turn their heads sideways. You know they
don't do that for every passing bike or pedestrian.


--
johnfoss - The wilder Wilder

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
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