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Having fun with motorists
Posted on http://bikejournal.com by bandjhughes
Until I switched jobs two weeks back, I've been commuting to work along the same route for years. One segment is a 1/2 mile downhill stretch through apartment complexes. There are a lot of people (especially young kids), so posted speed limit is 20 mph. Since it's a relatively steep downhill the only way to stay less than 20 mph is to brake. I usually coast down the hill in the mid 20's. If I pedal at all, I'm over 30 mph and can even hit more than 40 mph without much difficulty. A few years back they added speed bumps at a couple spots to try to get cars to slow down. When traveling along this stretch I take the full lane. I do this for a couple reasons: first I've had pedestrians step off the sidewalk right in front of me without looking first, plus I'm going well over the speed limit anyway so nobody should be passing me. However some motorists seem to believe they must pass every bike on the road no matter what. At least once a week a motorist will pass me along this stretch. When I see this is going to happen I jump up and start hammering. But this doesn't make a difference to most motorists, who will continue to accelerate to get past no matter how fast I'm going. So as we get to the first speed bump I'm usually traveling somewhere near 40 mph and the motor vehicle is going even faster. I'll move over to the right (to bypass the speed bump) and watch/listen to the show. It goes like this: first a BAMMM sound (sometimes followed by a metal scraping sound), then the sight of an airborne car/truck/SUV, followed by another SLAMMM sound, then the sight of brakes lights coming on, and often the sight of the motor vehicle swerving back and forth a few times. I have to admit I must have the devil in me because I just get a kick out of seeing this, and it brings a devious little smile to my face every time. What really amazes me is there is never a shortage of motorist that will continue to try to take the speed bump at 40 to 50 mph just to get past a speeding bicyclist. Figured after a few years they would all learn, but there's never a shortage of these people who are willing to bang up their vehicles. Anyway, my new job is in a different direction. I already kind of miss that little section along my old commute. Guess I'll need to find another way to entertain myself during the morning commute. |
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#2
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Having fun with motorists
Back when my daily commute took me over Mulholland Drive (do I really
need to say where that is?), I would find more quiet streets, and many times these would include fire roads. Well, as anyone who has commuted in a big city knows, drivers are always looking for less congested routes, and there are those who, upon regularly seeing a bicyclist on a regular basis, know that they are looking for the same thing and take to following in order to discover their "pots o' gold". Which brings me back to the fire roads. Y'see, many of these require the travelling of minor back streets that take one far from regularly travelled routes, and when I reach the gate, which, of course, the motorist cannot simply go around, I get that same feeling of satisfaction when they discover thay wasted a lot of time following me. Especially when the road leading to it is real narrow, steep and hard to turn around on... ;-3) - - Compliments of: "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman" If you want to E-mail me use: ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net My website: http://geocities.com/czcorner |
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