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Old 11-13-21, 08:26 PM
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DiabloScott
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Ranger Safety Talk


You be the judge.
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Old 11-13-21, 09:29 PM
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HA! I can't stand LEO with nothing to do but stop a bicyclist... for no reason! You should have started coughing a lot and gotten closer to him.
That road is not in good shape either...it's breaking apart. Get your tire caught in there...
Was that Persian or Arab music you had on... he looked Arab... maybe he wanted a friend.
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Old 11-13-21, 10:20 PM
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Originally Posted by trailangel
Was that Persian or Arab music you had on...
It’s Puerto Rican. YouTube recognized it and flagged the copyright but let me keep it.
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Old 11-14-21, 09:47 AM
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LEOs who don't know the laws they're supposed to enforce? Who'd have thought it?
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Old 11-14-21, 10:29 AM
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What bikers are.... we are slow moving vehicles..... and in California it is not against the law to cross a double yellow to pass a slow moving vehicle. If you had been riding on the fog line, the cars would have stayed in the lane and buzzed your head as they drove by. Apparently the ranger didn't see the Sharrow painted right in the middle of the road.
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Old 11-14-21, 11:37 AM
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But I don't even know what he was talking about. It seemed like he was claiming that I was being unsafe by making the cars pass extra wide... which is the safe and legal thing do... but I don't see that I was any farther over than I needed to be given road and wind conditions.
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Old 11-14-21, 07:57 PM
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Originally Posted by DiabloScott
But I don't even know what he was talking about. It seemed like he was claiming that I was being unsafe by making the cars pass extra wide... which is the safe and legal thing do... but I don't see that I was any farther over than I needed to be given road and wind conditions.
You made them pass extra wide by being a cyclist which made them subject to the '3 foot' law, you naughty cyclist, you.
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Old 11-14-21, 08:12 PM
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The Park Ranger had zero reason to cite you and therefore should have not confronted you. Simple.
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Old 11-15-21, 10:46 AM
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May have been some complaining that caused that interaction. When that happens the guy on the street needs to interact as part of his job. I think you did well in his learning experience.
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Old 11-15-21, 12:20 PM
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Man, I was expecting a lot worse...
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Old 11-15-21, 12:30 PM
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You did pretty much what I do routinely on Wildcat Canyon Road: when I see a car or a bike coming down and there is a car approaching from my rear, I put my left arm straight out, palm toward the car approaching from my rear, and move a bit more into the lane. I also, if a driver has been a good boy or girl and has slowed to my )ridiculously slow) climbing speed because they can't see around a corner, if I can see it's clear before they can, I will wave them through (I only do that if I am 100% certain it is safe for the car to pass) and then wave at them as they go by. I get a fair number of waves back. I believe in rewarding the behavior I want to see happen.

As for the Ranger, he seemed a bit ignorant about the applicable law. But at least he was willing to listen and didn't get all defensive and macho about it - it seems like he actually listened. Whether it sunk in or not is another question: I hope so. But at least he did not seem like a cop whose reaction is a reflexive "you stupid @$$ cyclist are wrong period and I don't care what the law says."

Scott, you handled it pretty well. You sounded a bit irritated to my ear, but certainly not out of line. You explained yourself patiently and well, you found common ground with him (safety) and you gave him plenty of conversational room to back off without losing face. Nicely done.
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Old 11-15-21, 01:32 PM
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Originally Posted by bikingshearer
You did pretty much what I do routinely on Wildcat Canyon Road: when I see a car or a bike coming down and there is a car approaching from my rear, I put my left arm straight out, palm toward the car approaching from my rear, and move a bit more into the lane. I also, if a driver has been a good boy or girl and has slowed to my )ridiculously slow) climbing speed because they can't see around a corner, if I can see it's clear before they can, I will wave them through (I only do that if I am 100% certain it is safe for the car to pass) and then wave at them as they go by. I get a fair number of waves back. I believe in rewarding the behavior I want to see happen.

As for the Ranger, he seemed a bit ignorant about the applicable law. But at least he was willing to listen and didn't get all defensive and macho about it - it seems like he actually listened. Whether it sunk in or not is another question: I hope so. But at least he did not seem like a cop whose reaction is a reflexive "you stupid @$$ cyclist are wrong period and I don't care what the law says."

Scott, you handled it pretty well. You sounded a bit irritated to my ear, but certainly not out of line. You explained yourself patiently and well, you found common ground with him (safety) and you gave him plenty of conversational room to back off without losing face. Nicely done.
The first thing I thought he was going to tell me was not to wave cars to pass me... that signaling not to pass was OK, but signaling to "pass now" is not advised... he would've had a point there. This is kind of an advanced cycling technique - you have to be pretty confident and experienced to tell drivers not to pass, to take the lane when it's not safe to pass... the point I don't think I communicated well enough (lots of after-thinking) is that the "take the lane" rule is there for safety. When you do it right, the drivers behind understand that you're being courteous... that NOT taking the lane is sort of inviting them to pass unsafely. I think all of the other cars knew exactly what I was doing and why.

I joke that this guy hassled me, but I think he was really just kind of a newb and doesn't recognize what defensive cycling looks like and assumed that I was pressing my right of way in an unsafe manner (and we all know people who've done that)... and he just didn't see what he thought he saw. But he was probably also not expecting that a random bike rider knew the relevant CVC paragraphs better than he did.

I have had very few run-ins with the law, but I always make sure they know I'm not arguing - I'll state my disagreement and then leave it at that.
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Old 11-15-21, 05:37 PM
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Looking at the video, he had no reason to make the stop.
I hope his boss gets to see that video.

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Old 11-15-21, 11:28 PM
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Originally Posted by genejockey
LEOs who don't know the laws they're supposed to enforce? Who'd have thought it?
He would be well "qualified" to be a Sheriff in Woodside.
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Old 11-17-21, 02:33 PM
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I thought you both handled it pretty well; it sounds like the ranger was acting out of a windshield perspective and some ignorance. Hopefully he is a bit wiser now.
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Old 11-22-21, 06:25 PM
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OP you must be in dire need of attention or validation of some sort. For you to make issue of such a minor contact with this Ranger is absurd. Even if he’s wrong so what? He stopped you for the briefest moment as he’s concerned about your safety and he was extremely courteous to you.
Get over yourself put your big boy bibs on and just enjoy riding your bike. If this is the biggest problem you have in life you are a blessed soul.
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Old 11-22-21, 08:14 PM
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https://www.******.com/r/BAbike/comm..._on_mt_diablo/

You know those bike turnouts when climbing Mt Diablo? The ones with signs saying cyclists must use them? Well I guess a ranger must have saw me ignore one (I didn’t even remember what I did) and he pulled me over. Ended up letting me off with just a warning on account that this was my first time there. Anyways… save yourself the confrontation and use the turnouts
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Old 11-23-21, 07:08 AM
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Originally Posted by Tomm Willians
OP you must be in dire need of attention or validation of some sort. For you to make issue of such a minor contact with this Ranger is absurd. Even if he’s wrong so what? He stopped you for the briefest moment as he’s concerned about your safety and he was extremely courteous to you.
Get over yourself put your big boy bibs on and just enjoy riding your bike. If this is the biggest problem you have in life you are a blessed soul.
Was this post really necessary? No. Did it add anything of value? No. Did you make condescending personal attacks that were not called for? Yes.

To quote you, even if he's wrong, so what?
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