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When Someone Yells

03.10.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

Lately, it seems that I’ve been grumbling a lot to myself about drivers on the road — and how little they seem interested in sharing it. I don’t usually act on my frustration, although I have been known to shout (not that they can hear me when their windows are all rolled up), or flip the bird.

That’s probably not the best way to cope when you think you’ ve been done wrong by a motorist, though. A better way (at least, a more mature way) is suggested in this comic I just came across online. Take a look and see what you think:

Click to embiggen.

Original version available here.

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Categories // Odds 'n ends Tags // cars, road rage

Do You Adopt a “Car” Mentality Behind the Wheel?

03.08.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

I had just begun my Tuesday evening ride, one I hope will now become a regular occurrence, now that daylight lasts longer (Hey, DST begins this weekend, doesn’t it?).

I was on a gentle downhill leading past a strip mall to a stoplighted intersection. I was in the bike lane here. Just before the intersection, a right turn lane allows drivers to bypass the light. The light was red, and about a dozen vehicles were stopped for it. But one guy, anticipating that he would take the right turn lane at the corner, was as far to the right as he could go. So far right, in fact, that he blocked my bike lane.

I had no bailout. Both traffic lanes were blocked by stopped vehicles. There was no choice but to stop behind the big Chevy Tahoe (It’s always one of them, right?) and wait for the light to change.

Okay, it was just another routine car vs. bike incident in suburban America. I was headed to a more bike-friendly place: the Austin Veloway.

Now, to get onto the Veloway track, you have to cross a gravel parking lot. it’s the only tricky part of the ride. Bike tires carve small ruts in the soft gravel and dirt surface, and a gate blocks the entrance to the track, so riders have to negotiate an opening between the gate and a berm, marked by a post and a large rock. My wife hates it. She considers it to be dangerous.

In this shot from two summers ago, my wife (in orange top) crosses the parking lot toward the Veloway gate. The surface at the opening is quite rutted.

My tires are skinnier than hers, and I’m always careful crossing the lot. Usually, other bikers are leaving parked cars to start their rides, or are coming off the track into the lot. There’s always a chance the dirt will grab your slow-rolling wheels and cause a fall.

Sure enough, this evening that very situation happened — a biker was coming from the left after pulling his bike off his car rack, and a lady was coming through the opening into the lot. I slowed as much as I dared. And then, a car that had been parked on the right side started backing up.

Now surely, the driver could see that there was bike traffic in the lot — even looking through the bike on his rear bike rack. But he didn’t stop to let me and the other bikes pass. He kept backing. The biker on the left sped up quickly, and shot through the opening. The woman who had just come through the opening stopped. I swerved left, to give the backing car a wide berth.

When he’d backed up as far as he needed to be able to turn his wheels and pull out toward the lot entrance, he stopped and made his turn.

Unbelievable. Just minutes ago, this guy had been on his bike riding the Veloway — presumably one of we band of brothers on two wheels. But now that he was driving a car, he was more of a mind with the Tahoe driver I had encountered earlier.

What is it about getting behind the wheel that causes some people to leave their cyclist selves behind?

Is it just me — or have you run into similar situations? Vent in comments.

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Categories // Safety Tags // cars, Veloway

Riding With Friends

03.06.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

I mentioned in my year-end post that I’ve really enjoyed meeting people online, then getting to ride with them in person. That happened again today. This morning, Mrs. Noob and I went over to Austin’s Veloway to do a few laps with Ramon H. and his wife.

Bike Noob readers might remember a guest post Ramon recently did about his new bike. We first made contact when he sent me an email about how he got into cycling. I enjoyed it so much I had him turn it into a guest post. We’ve corresponded a lot since then, and briefly met during the MS 150 last year. But we’ve never really spent any face time together, until this morning.

Ramon readies his gear for the Veloway ride.

Ramon and his wife, Irma, were in the area to ride Pedal Thru the Pines in Bastrop, about 25 miles east of Austin. It’s a ride known for its hills, and is a locally popular route. But this year, it was more of a bear than usual. On top of the generally short, but quite steep hills in two state parks, it was cold this year. And rainy. And windy.

Irma.

Ramon and Irma live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, along the border with Mexico. “We’ve got three highway overpasses on our Sunday route,” said Ramon. “Whoever gets up them first is the King of the Mountains. There’s a lot of competition each week.” Otherwise, their rides are flat. Just plain flat.

So the hills, combined with the wind, rain, and cold, took their toll. Irma was especially feeling it, and when I told them that the Veloway is 3.1 miles long, she opted to do only two laps. Since that’s what Pat usually rides at the Veloway, the two of them fell in together quickly. Ramon and I did three laps.

Irma and Ramon head out for their inaugural Veloway lap.

KOV — King of the Veloway.

When it was over, we agreed to meet at a nearby restaurant for lunch. Talk didn’t get far from biking. Irma rides a lot less than Ramon, and doesn’t keep up with the big dogs, “…but I like to finish what I start,” she said. She completed her first century, the Jalapeño 100 in Harlingen, Texas, just last month. Now, she finds herself getting more and more into bike advocacy, and has appeared at her local city council to lobby for more bike lanes on city streets.

To get in more saddle time on weekdays, Ramon organizes a 5 a.m. group ride on Tuesdays and Thursdays. No, that wasn’t a typo. The ride begins at 5 a.m. Usually, 4-6 people show up. They get in anywhere from 15-25 miles, and despite his pleas, it often turns into a race. At the college where he works, Ramon helped organize a cycling club, which competes in statewide events. Oh, by the way, Ramon’s job is in network security, which is why he prefers I don’t use his last name on this blog. He has first-hand experience with the damage hackers can do.

The visit was cut short because they needed to hit the road for the five-hour drive back to the Valley. We tried to entice them back up to this area by telling them of some other rides they’d want to sample. We’ll see. I’d love to ride with you again sometime, amigo. Maybe we’ll even go fast.

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Categories // People Tags // Ramon H

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