Friendly Tesla Sneaking Up On My Six
 

I ride slow in a quiet up and down, half in the woods, mostly residential neighbourhood with old torn up roads. I keep my ears tuned for traffic coming up behind me and its mostly pretty easy to hear the tires rolling on old asphalt and loose gravel. Today on my short daily ride I was puffing up a small hill that I turn around on to return home. Right before my regular turn, I heard a Beep Beep from a car locking its doors. Whoa... Sure enough there was a fancy new Tesla slowly rolling silently up behind me.

Don't get me wrong, it was not entirely silent, but with my tinnitus and heart pounding in my ears from the climb, I did not hear it. I stopped to catch my breath and he pulled up next to me. I thanked him for the beep. We talked a while. He was from the Round Rock area (North Austin Texas) and scouting out some new routes. It appears that ridding anywhere around Austin is getting to crowded. I told him of some of my local routes and thier difficulty. It was a pleasant conversation. When he pulled off I noticed there was a trailer hitch bike rack on the back of his Tesla with what appeared to be a new Topstone Cannondale attached. (Must be nice)

It was a good contact and I will defiantly remember that a Beep in this case was certainly more appropriate than laying on the horn.

I was frequently missing Teslas when they first started popping up and was a bit concerned, but now I am cued in to the tire noise and I always know they are coming now.

I am also on the other end of the deal, I am an "old timer" Tesla owner having the original model. I really had to watch it when I first got it as walkers and bikers were completely clueless I was coming. I have noticed a definite improvement over the years though.. good thing humans are adaptive!

How you can scare a walker or runner when you come from behind on your bike :lol: I usually will say something so they are aware of my presence but if they are listening to music with earphones??

eyeglass, helmet or handlebar mirrors ftw!!

Ha... So true... I have noticed fewer cyclists wearing head phones when ridding in Central Texas. There are no laws against it, it's just pure survival instinct.

AHhhhh... The music of birds singing, air rushing, tires rolling across the surface, and a Regina Classic freewheel coasting along...

Oh, I've been in a situation where there were two of us on a tandem yelling at a guy and he had noooooo idea. Must've been painful to have his music that loud.

OTOH, me yesterday: "On your right!" Walker: *looks over her left shoulder*

I think I've told the story here before of the time I was running... a guy was coming down the sidewalk from his house (so, we were side-on to each other at right angles). Did. Not. See. Me. At. All. Like, no peripheral vision whatsoever-- a large moving object 2-4 feet away from him; didn't hear the footsteps, most people hear me breathing before I even have a chance to say anything... nope, not him. He turns onto the sidewalk almost right in front of me, predictably drifts across the middle of the sidewalk (now right in front of me). "On your left!" I say. He jumps, throws his arms in the air, and half screams. It was so stupidly dramatic I honestly thought he was joking around until I saw his face and realized that nope... I'd just scared the $#*@ out of him. Dude took "lack of situational awareness" to a whole new level... for a while I was nervous about running past his house again lest he see me and be like, "there's that creepy chick!" LOL

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ac49e3d437.jpg


If you're cruising with stuff in your ears you'd better constantly watch your 6:00

Moved from Foo

A Garmin Varia is the answer to this. Easily my best safety gadget on the bike. I wouldn’t ride on the roads without one anymore.

No rear-view mirror?!? Ride without one if you have to. But if you don't have to, why would you? I always ride with eye-protection, which is also a handy place to clip a mirror to.

Me
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8854c486d7.jpg

Aah, the sweet surprises having tinnitus in your life brings...

I always ride with a Rhode Gear mirror that goes on the left brake hood and I constantly check it when on the road. If I get surprised by someone behind me, it is usually a biker. I usually listen for the tires of a car to know it is coming up behind me.

One day my husband was walking down the street towards his best friend, who was facing him. When my husband reached him and greeted him, the dude shrieked and jumped. Just because the lights are on, doesn't mean anyone's home. :lol:

LOL! Did he have ADHD, by any chance?

Nope, he does not.

It sounds like a very ADHD thing... getting lost in your thoughts and not noticing anything else around!

I should say not as far as I know. We all fell out of touch when my husband and I moved to the other end of California. It's funny; people always assumed they were brothers, even though they looked nothing alike.

Or in my case last night, the constant "EEEEEEEWOEEEEEEEWOEEEEEEWOEEEEEE" from thousands of cicadas in just about every tree in town.

The sound of the 17 year itch. :lol: