Knocked down...again...

[campbellcj]

95% of drivers are so oblivious it's just unbelievable. Back when I used to ride quite a bit, I got clipped and run off the road several times. In most cases the driver did not stop and probably did not even realize what they'd done. And I'm talking about riding per the traffic laws, in broad daylight, not zinging around in the middle of the street at night like I see some maniacs doing.

[fxeditor]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that but I'm really glad you're ok. Back when I was riding to Universal, I got either clipped or turned into 3 times by moronic drivers normally texting or checking email on their crackberries. Not one time did they stop. Once a motorcycle cop saw the incident, came over to me and asked me if I was alright but didn't do anything to the driver because they had already turned into the parking lot. Man I was pissed!! I looked for the car so I could give it some "special" attention but trying to find a particular BMW 3 series on a movie studio lot is like trying to find a particular bean in a burrito!

Take care out there and maybe I'll see you riding in Griffith Park one day. I usually do it around 10:30 am.

Michael

[livi]

Sorry to hear about that. Glad you are OK.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by varmint

bicycles amaze me. all the vulnerability of a bike. none of the speed.

Meet me at the top of Barham descending down to Forest Lawn. Bring your helmet. I'll bring the bike. 50 mph on 18 lbs will have your sphincter tickling your tonsils if you've never done it before.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by livi

Sorry to hear about that. Glad you are OK.

Thanks, Markus, and everyone else.

Rear wheel is all out of whack, so currently the Bilatto/LeMond is out of commission. Next up on the roster: Colnago Super.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by fxeditor

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that but I'm really glad you're ok. Back when I was riding to Universal, I got either clipped or turned into 3 times by moronic drivers normally texting or checking email on their crackberries. Not one time did they stop. Once a motorcycle cop saw the incident, came over to me and asked me if I was alright but didn't do anything to the driver because they had already turned into the parking lot. Man I was pissed!! I looked for the car so I could give it some "special" attention but trying to find a particular BMW 3 series on a movie studio lot is like trying to find a particular bean in a burrito!

Take care out there and maybe I'll see you riding in Griffith Park one day. I usually do it around 10:30 am.

Michael

Let's do the Rose Bowl Thurs. night. Hella' fun!

[john70t]

Originally Posted by dd74

Meet me at the top of Barham descending down to Forest Lawn. Bring your helmet. I'll bring the bike. 50 mph on 18 lbs will have your sphincter tickling your tonsils if you've never done it before.

I never did a two-wheel drift across two lanes/railroad tracks until decending Twin Peaks in S.F. after passing several cars.
Too old now for that bravado nowadays. Mabye they will sell breathable lightweight armour.....

[look 171]

Originally Posted by fxeditor

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that but I'm really glad you're ok. Back when I was riding to Universal, I got either clipped or turned into 3 times by moronic drivers normally texting or checking email on their crackberries. Not one time did they stop. Once a motorcycle cop saw the incident, came over to me and asked me if I was alright but didn't do anything to the driver because they had already turned into the parking lot. Man I was pissed!! I looked for the car so I could give it some "special" attention but trying to find a particular BMW 3 series on a movie studio lot is like trying to find a particular bean in a burrito!

Take care out there and maybe I'll see you riding in Griffith Park one day. I usually do it around 10:30 am.

Michael

10:30am? Are you a strong rider? I need to start riding again. I have been out of anytype of riding for a 5-6 years now. I might catch you out there next week and suck some wheel.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by WilsonTC

Angry Cyclists Strike Back!



From today's paper (love the part about the concealed weapon...I woulda shot as soon as the mo-fo grabbed my neck):

Cyclist Attacked Lexus Driver in Boca Raton, Police Say, Motorist Says Riders Kicked and Punched his Car

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

6:07 p.m. EDT, August 19, 2009


BOCA RATON - A 69-year-old Delray Beach man found out the perils of not doing enough for bicyclists to think he was sharing the road with them.

A group of angry cyclists confronted him last week, accusing him of passing them too closely on State Road A1A in Boca Raton.

According to Boca Raton police, one cyclist reached into the car, grabbed Miles Barish and threatened to beat him while other cyclists punched and kicked his 2008 Lexus convertible.

The cyclist, Thomas McDonald, 50, of Lighthouse Point, was arrested and charged with simple assault and battery on a person older than 65. He also was charged with burglary.

McDonald could not be reached to comment, despite attempts by phone.

"I didn't even know it was coming," Barish said of the cyclists' reaction.

He was heading to dinner on A1A with his convertible top down Aug. 13 when he came upon a group of cyclists riding in front of him. They were taking up the entire lane, he said. He tapped his horn a couple of times to let them know he was passing, Barish said.

He said he went into the opposite lane, passed the group and then stopped for the traffic light at Palmetto Park Road. That's when he felt someone grab his neck from behind, he said.

"He said I came too close to him and I could have injured him," Barish said. "I didn't clip anybody. They surrounded my car. They walked on the hood of my car. They kicked in the doors."

Some witnesses, according to a police report, said Barish hit one of the bicycles as he was passing the group of cyclists.

McDonald told police he never touched Barish and was trying to calm everyone down. He said Barish hit him on the jaw.

Bob Sabin, president of the Boca Raton Bicycle Club, said drivers often pass cyclists too closely, sometimes clipping them with their side-view mirrors without the driver realizing it.

"People usually don't do it intentionally," said Sabin, who doesn't know McDonald or the group he rides with. "They come a lot closer a lot of the time."

When that happens or when a car suddenly cuts off a cyclist, "you feel like someone is trying to kill you," he said. "I know I've gotten hot under the collar when that happens."

But attacking motorists isn't the answer, he added.

And the bicyclists might not have been following the rules of the road. Barish told police about 30 cyclists were taking an entire lane. According to state law, it's illegal to for cyclists to obstruct traffic by riding more than two abreast.

West Palm Beach cyclist Raphael Clemente said he used to participate in the twice-weekly group ride involved in the Aug. 13 dispute. But he stopped because of the hostility between cyclists and motorists resulting from the cyclists' rude behavior, he said.

"It increases the level of friction when cyclists act like that," he said.

Barish said his car has about $4,000 damage, with dents and scratches on parts of it, including the hood and trunk. Even a speaker was torn out, he said.

He said he isn't angry about the incident and thinks the cyclists were lucky. Barish, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, was carrying a gun that day.

"In another minute or so I was going to take out my gun and take a couple of them out," he said. "I don't think the whole road belongs to them."

I don't even think these cycling menaces should be on the road. They should put on their gay little cycling suits and ride their $5,000 carbon fiber pieces of crap in parks and on trails.

There are no words to describe the world of hurt that i would unleash on one of these douches if they laid a hand on me or my vehicle.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by dd74

Am I doing something wrong? Clearly I am. I'm riding a bike.

At least you know you're in the wrong.

Try aerobics, its just as good exercize, won't get you ran over, and you wont obstruct traffic.

Originally Posted by varmint

bicycles amaze me. all the vulnerability of a bike. none of the speed.

+1

[WilsonTC]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

There are no words to describe the world of hurt that i would unleash on one of these douches if they laid a hand on me or my vehicle.

Well, to be completely fair, the paper just released a video interview of the car driver. He appears to be typical of SoFLA...gold-chains, pinkie-ring wearing, New Yawk ex-pat & self-centered (ethnicity deleted) geezer.

So, it appears this was a case of two classic d-bags crossing paths...

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=162e1880-1fb7-4488-80b4-25d311cd159c&src=front

[look 171]

Originally Posted by dd74

Let's do the Rose Bowl Thurs. night. Hella' fun!

Are you doing the bowl ride? I was there pushing my kids in the stroller this tuesday. I still get chills down my neck everytime I see or hear them. Crazy, I saw a recombent (sp?) or whatever you call those nut cases riding something like that in a group ride. You can't control those thing. Bad enough they take tri bikes on a group ride, now that piece of garbage. This guy had a set of deep dish carbon wheels on it. Fuuuuch.


If you are doing the Bowl ride, you gotta do the Montrose ride. How are you in the hills and the rollies? Its a much longer ride, and they will pound you. Most of them are pretty good riders, not like the bowl.


Do you need some help with those wheels. I have a Park truing stand if you need it. I might be able to help you true it up if its not too bad out of round. It should n't be unless its crashed bad.

Jeff

[dd74]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

At least you know you're in the wrong.

Wrong? Oh boy: this should be good. Explain to me how I was "wrong?" Let's hear it...

Originally Posted by m21sniper

Try aerobics, its just as good exercize, won't get you ran over, and you wont obstruct traffic.

Not my cup of tea.

But back to this:

Originally Posted by m21sniper

At least you know you're in the wrong.

...explain it, if you can...

[dd74]

Originally Posted by varmint

bicycles amaze me. all the vulnerability of a bike. none of the speed.

I was in your neighborhood the other day, westbound on Franklin toward Cahuenga. I had more speed than I needed cutting through that fer-crap traffic.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by WilsonTC

Well, to be completely fair, the paper just released a video interview of the car driver. He appears to be typical of SoFLA...gold-chains, pinkie-ring wearing, New Yawk ex-pat & self-centered (ethnicity deleted) geezer.

So, it appears this was a case of two classic d-bags crossing paths...

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=162e1880-1fb7-4488-80b4-25d311cd159c&src=front

Those are great to watch as a spectator. You just want both of them to pummel each other to death.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by dd74

Wrong? Oh boy: this should be good. Explain to me how I was "wrong?" Let's hear it...

Didn't you openly state it was your own fault for riding on the highways?

[dd74]

Originally Posted by look 171

Are you doing the bowl ride? I was there pushing my kids in the stroller this tuesday. I still get chills down my neck everytime I see or hear them. Crazy, I saw a recombent (sp?) or whatever you call those nut cases riding something like that in a group ride. You can't control those thing. Bad enough they take tri bikes on a group ride, now that piece of garbage. This guy had a set of deep dish carbon wheels on it. Fuuuuch.


If you are doing the Bowl ride, you gotta do the Montrose ride. How are you in the hills and the rollies? Its a much longer ride, and they will pound you. Most of them are pretty good riders, not like the bowl.


Do you need some help with those wheels. I have a Park truing stand if you need it. I might be able to help you true it up if its not too bad out of round. It should n't be unless its crashed bad.

Jeff

Thanks for the offer with the wheels, Jeff. I'm taking them to Bicycle John's. Don built the bike, so he knows the components. Plus who knows what's involved with them - they're hand-built and weigh 1400 grams as a pair. I may unload them as I flex the rims on sprints and steep climbs which does me no good. Maybe I need heavier/stronger rims. I can take the penalty as the bike weighs about 18 to 19 lbs.

Rose Bowl -- yeah, I've been dabbling. Damn Cat 1s keep showing up and setting pace, which is just fuvcked for all others. I'm lucky if I can stay on for two laps. The trick is to start with those guys and not lose the peloton. If you can suck wheel and lessen energy loss by not getting into the wind, you're good. Downside is you don't get a workout by any means by drafting for seven to ten laps. If you want to work, just pedal on your own, or get in a small two-three man pace line.

Montrose - everyone's been telling me to check it out. My climbing's improving. I owe part of that to the 42-23 I've been working out with.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

Didn't you openly state it was your own fault for riding on the highways?

I don't ride on highways.

[m21sniper]

Any public road is considered a highway in police jargon.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

Any public road is considered a highway in police jargon.

That's quite needless information. But thanks...