I'll second Marty's sentiments - as I was almost picked off by a shirtless rider on a beach cruiser who ran through a red light this morning.
All this being said, I can imagine on some tri forum someone writing: "I was pushing hard on the PCH and some fred on an old fashioned commuter was too busy enjoying the view and didn't even notice his flapping seersucker shirt tail was nearly cut to shreds on my bladed spokes!" On Jul 15, 1:17 pm, Marty <mgie...@mac.com> wrote: > Quite the opposite - but perhaps more dangerous - is the "la-de-da, > happy-happy-joy-joy" trips on Maui. My wife and I threw caution to the > wind and did the 10,000 foot drop off Haleakala a while back. Started > out in freezing rain /dense fog on a couple marginally maintained > Worksman bikes behind a pack of folks who may not have ridden a bike > since Eisenhower was at the helm, or were missing an episode of Sponge > Bob to join the adventure. Might have been good for some of them to > work up a little rage to stay focused and keep a line but they were so > Mahaloed by then that all I could do was drift further back to avoid > the pile-up that so often happens on those rides. "You mean them bikes > have brakes on the handles? I thought you just had to pedal > backwerds". Of course, the vintage motorcycle helmets they passed out > at the top were re-assuring, and made certain your center of gravity > was at least five feet up. "You can wave at the busses coming up the > hill - just don't hit 'em". We got down OK, but I guarantee I would > not do it again. Sure, I would do it alone on a Riv in a heatbeat - it > was a spectacular run - but the "stay close to the person in front of > you and yell if you have to slam on the brakes" was not the kind of > group ride I was ready for. Rage or no rage, I was ready for a Mai-tai > after that ride. > > Marty > > On Jul 15, 3:49 pm, Steve Palincsar <palin...@his.com> wrote: > > > > > On Wed, 2009-07-15 at 11:21 -0700, Aaron Thomas wrote: > > > > I came up behind a woman crouched over the aero bars on a time trial > > > bike. I maintained a distance of 6 feet or so, waiting for a break in > > > the automobile traffic to our left in order to pass her. Before that > > > happened, however, she looked back and yelled, "are you out for a free > > > ride today, mister? Go do your own training ride!" > > > > Perplexed, I asked her to repeat, which she did, this time peppering > > > her phrases with a few F-bombs and an injunction to stay away from her > > > because she doesn't even know me and doesn't want me drafting off her. > > > > What? Drafting? Come again? I wasn't drafting, I explain, but rather > > > was at least 6 feet behind and waiting for a safe moment to pass. And > > > what does it matter if you don't know me? I don't get it. > > > There are some mighty paranoid women out there. In the course of > > commuting to work over the span of 29 years, on three or four occasions > > I've been stuck behind women on a very narrow section of bike trail > > along a stream that goes under the highway and railroad bridges, then > > comes up onto the Mount Vernon bike trail. There are several sections > > where I won't attempt to pass because the narrowness of the trail and > > the lack of visibility make it extremely dangerous. They've screamed at > > me, as this woman did at you; they've demanded that I pass; one acted > > with a level of rage and hostility that might have been appropriate if > > directed towards a would-be rapist. > > > There's no knowing what's up with people like that. Perhaps it is fear, > > as has been suggested. Maybe they've been assaulted on the bike trail. > > It doesn't do for you to take it personally. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
