Restraint

Was biking my kid to preschool on the sidewalk of a busy street, and a car leaving the local McDonald's blocked the sidewalk. I remember getting points taken off my driver's test for blocking a sidewalk while stopped at a stop sign. So I am pretty sure that was an illegal maneuver on the driver's part. Seconds later, I was approaching a green light at the next intersection. I looked the driver in the eye as I passed. He looked familiar.

Same vehicle - a subcompact import with the license # FMJ 8966 (NY) - does the "right hook" maneuver. I am going straight, he is turning right. Legally, he yields to me. He saw me twice. He absolutely knew I was there. Yet he did not yield, so I stopped suddenly to avoid injury.

Turns out this road psycho is a clergy at the church which sponsors the very preschool I was taking  my kid!

I didn't raise a fuss. Fighting and confronting just don't appeal to me right now. "Turn the other cheek", I did.

Small world, though. Be careful who you offend, if you live in a small town.

Fell on Bad Days...

When it rains it pours... Wife works overtime, causing extra babysitting for the kids. Letter received from the IRS detailing the extra tax plus penalty we owe. Bicycle gets stripped of everything easily removable while locked up outside where I work. The refrigerator stops running, causing me to scramble to save the week's worth of groceries I just bought.

I am digging myself out of this hole. The frig is running again, mysteriously, after I pulled it out of its nook and cleaned about a pound of concentrated dust from the fan/compressor area. I replaced the key parts of my bike which were stolen with more securely attached components.

The police were friendly enough taking the report, anyway, though I have little hope of catching the thie(ves), who apparently are recorded on my company's surveillance camera film. The stuff they stole was old and worthless, if resale was their goal.

Now - to tackle the IRS...

Weather gets ever warmer, more car windows open. God grant me the serenity to avoid a fight with those random hecklers who will inevitably pop up as I commute by bicycle every day to and from work and errands.

Last couple of weeks I've experienced several aggressive moves by unthinking (selfish) drivers, such as the person driving the silver imported subcompact sports car sporting license plate EXL-3784 (right hand turn attempted as he was passing me - I slowed down to avoid the right hook crash), and the individual behind the wheel of a Jeep SUV, bearing NY plate # F__- 9468, who slammed his foot on the gas and made a left hand turn a mere foot or two from my bow. It's spring. People are feisty. No one shouted any epithets or expletives at me over the past two weeks, though. I got that going for me.

2Apr

Sun's getting warmer, which means more open car windows, which means more stupid passengers, some canine, most human, sticking their heads out the window and shouting something at me which to them is clever, but to me is unintelligible. My usual reaction is to flip them the bird. This year, I resolve to ignore these fools. I resolve to ignore them every year. I am going to try harder this year. Two people are needed for a conflict. Subtracting myself from the situation will reduce the possibility of conflicts, which can escalate out of control.

23Mar

Winter weather dominated this past month, making commutes peaceful, if messy.

Winter commutes by bicycle are quite relaxing and peaceful compared to the wilder, warmer months because drivers and their passengers tend to shut themselves in from the cold. They seem not to have the energy to honk their horns either during this sort of weather.

So, only two run-ins worth mentioning. Even these instances are trivial.

First was at 1AM on a deserted highway while I was on my way home. It was just a prolonged lean on the horn. I had my lights flashing, and was far to the right, riding on the white line. I suppose some people just won't be satisfied until people like me disappear from the roadways. This can't be helped. Fortunately, these people are only a tiny fringe minority of the driving population.

Next was some hotshot SUV crossover, silver, license plate FCW 7784 wanting to turn right in a hurry and very nearly right hooked me. I was cycling west bound in daylight on a main road, again keeping right, on or slightly to the right of the white line. Though he turned into a side road where I could have easily caught him and confronted him, I managed to suppress my inner psychopath and carry on to my destination.

Only two annoyances in a month is awesome! I must be a very courteous cyclist nowadays. I can only hope I keep it up.

25Feb

I go down a long hill from my house to the main road, about half a mile. I travel more or less the speed limit - 30mph.

But the automobiles tend to speed, and today one sped past me less than 100 yards from the stop sign at the bottom of the hill. He stopped suddenly in front of me and simultaneously cut me off by swerving back right as quick as he could, which meant I needed to seek an outlet in the oncoming traffic lane. I could see this was clear, so instead of going in the dirt and brush, I biked into the oncoming lane and shunted myself onto the left sidewalk, biking slowly facing the afternoon rush hour traffic. It would take me 5 minutes to merge back into the right lane and be legal again.

Every day I am tempted to run the stop sign at the bottom of my hill. I have great visibility either direction, about a half mile both ways. Sometimes when there is no traffic near, I do actually run right through it. This is a bad habit, even though this is the only stop sign I do this at. I coast slowly through others, like most automobile drivers do.

Run-ins with drivers 22Feb, 23Feb

22Feb 400PM - Cedar St near Denison Pkwy, I merge out of a driveway into a near stationary queue of cars, hand signal left, and soon turn left into a nearby alley. After I turn, a driver opens his window, and shouts "it's not a fucking sidewalk!". My response: raise middle finger, shout "piss off, asshole!"

Result and comment: 2 pissed off people: one driver, one cyclist. How to improve? Ignore driver issued insults. Continue to follow rules of the road (I was able to safely merge into the near stationary line of cars - perhaps this offended the involved driver - don't merge next time I am in this situation?) Make eye contact with drivers I interact with whenever possible.

23Feb 100AM -  St Rte 352 toward Riverside, lights on, traveling west on the white line which marks the road's shoulder, I observe a passenger open the window of the subcompact car he is riding in, mutter something unintelligable, then close the window quickly (it was cold out). My response: ignore.