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sorry bud, I didn't see you!

Old 03-18-23, 06:23 PM
  #51  
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Since I started this thread, would I ruffle feathers if I asked to move past this barfight and back to the topic?

Actually, ruffled feathers or not. I'm asking.
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Old 03-18-23, 06:26 PM
  #52  
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Originally Posted by JoeyBike
I've never come here (A&S) and complained that something bad happened to me on the roadway. All of those scenarios are completely predictable and expected by me. My sense of humor is the key to not chasing down goofballs in vehicles who "disrespect" me. I just laugh it off. I don't take revenge and I don't cry about it. I know what's coming and I ride anyway. It's all on me, not them. I'm the only person I can control.

Correction: I DO have a good sense of humor AND an inflated sense of self-worth. And that's MISTER stupid lecturer to you.
Shouldn't your comments be in past tense, or did you start riding again? I'd love to see some evidence of a sense of humor.
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Old 03-18-23, 07:07 PM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
Shouldn't your comments be in past tense, or did you start riding again? I'd love to see some evidence of a sense of humor.
I never stopped riding. My new job is 1.5 miles from my home through a college campus and City Park. I walk, skate, even bike to work. I also own a car for the first time in 30 years, so doctors appointments and anything else across town usually gets driven, not cycled. Lastly, my city added tons of bike lanes and paths that go almost anywhere else I want to go. My recreational riding is 99% limited to bike paths, trails, bike lanes, and a few back streets.
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Old 03-18-23, 08:12 PM
  #54  
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
Since I started this thread, would I ruffle feathers if I asked to move past this barfight and back to the topic?

Actually, ruffled feathers or not. I'm asking.
Agreed, this went off the rails.

I think your OP might've suggested something that might be interesting--that we might learn some bike riding strategy if we think about our own perceptual strategies when we're driving. And, vice versa for that matter.
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Old 03-19-23, 08:54 AM
  #55  
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Originally Posted by JoeyBike
I never stopped riding. My new job is 1.5 miles from my home through a college campus and City Park. I walk, skate, even bike to work. I also own a car for the first time in 30 years, so doctors appointments and anything else across town usually gets driven, not cycled. Lastly, my city added tons of bike lanes and paths that go almost anywhere else I want to go. My recreational riding is 99% limited to bike paths, trails, bike lanes, and a few back streets.
You responded to this question, but not the one before it, and we both know why. I'll ask again to humor myself.

"Give me one member by name who doesn't recognize that there are dangers associated with riding in traffic. I defy you to identify just one."

Let's pay with this reply.

If 99% of your riding is as described above, where are you experiencing this:

"When I push that pedal down for the first time every ride I already KNOW, that someone might coal roll me, pass too close on purpose, throw M&Ms at me (has happened), blow a horn just to startle me, attempt to right hook or door me, throw a fire cracker (has happened), or in some way try to F with me."

It seems that you are conflating past exposure and experience with your current riding environment.
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Old 03-19-23, 09:28 AM
  #56  
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Originally Posted by JoeyBike
I never stopped riding. My new job is 1.5 miles from my home through a college campus and City Park. I walk, skate, even bike to work. I also own a car for the first time in 30 years, so doctors appointments and anything else across town usually gets driven, not cycled. Lastly, my city added tons of bike lanes and paths that go almost anywhere else I want to go. My recreational riding is 99% limited to bike paths, trails, bike lanes, and a few back streets.
OK. This helps.

You've chosen to no longer accept the risks of riding urban streets. I respect that, as I do the same choice made by personal friends.

That said, many (most?) here are still KNOWINGLY willing to accept those risks (for now), just as you were for years.

So, just as I respect your choice, please respect ours. Allows us the option of discussing those risks openly, along with ways to manage them.

Simply put, we're adults, KNOWINGLY making our choice, and WILLING to accept the consequences.

So please do us the courtesy of sparing us your screeds which I, for one, look at the same way as I would fat shaming from a newly thin person, or lectures about the dangers of drink from a former drunk

I'm not asking you to totally refrain from posting, especially because there MAY be some less experienced riders here who possibly underestimate the risks.

But I am asking you to watch your tone. Moreover it might be more honest if you prefaced your warnings "as a reformed urban road warrior,.....".

Otherwise, I wish you the best, but will be tuning you out here.

Stay well,
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Old 03-19-23, 10:35 AM
  #57  
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I'm always evaluating and re-evaluating my riding (or driving) mistakes, which there are a lot of (if you're honest with yourself and really pay attention). Not necessarily mistakes that resulted in an accident, actually many mistakes don't even result in a near-accident, but if you let these slip by, they'll eventually catch up with you.

One mistake I discovered is that I always look over my shoulder before changing lanes, even though I'm pretty confident that there is nothing there. I noticed after a while of doing this (over a year) I would turn my head (do the movement) without really looking. I discovered this fault once when I did my typical look over and saw there was another road user, but it took a while to register, because I wasn't really looking, rather I was just going thru the motions of turning my head. I now LOOK every time....well I hope every time
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Old 03-19-23, 10:52 AM
  #58  
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Originally Posted by work4bike
I've heard this 3 out of the 4 times I was hit by a car; my first incident was a hit and run, so there was no talking. On one incident I know the driver didn't see me, because I saw him on his phone talking away, oblivious to anything outside his truck. On another incident the mother blamed her children who were screaming for ice cream (no kidding) And the fourth incident, I have a feeling they saw me, because I was in the middle of the lane, but I tend to think motorists don't understand how fast cyclists can ride. I tee-boned his vehicle as they pulled out in front of me from a stop sign -- I had the right of way. I had to true my wheel, but he had a dent


I love slaloming on the roadways -- I did a really good maneuver yesterday as a driver pulled in front of me, going into a parking lot (Left Hook) scenario. And a cop witnessed it.



Another funny thing happened to me on the same exact day as the above, but I just thought of it.

I was coming out of the military gate (leaving the base) and there's a pass office for visitors to the base, just outside this gate on the opposite side of where I was exiting the base. Most cars pull into the pass office make a right after leaving to enter the base; however, this one car had to make a left to exit the area, meaning they had to cross two lanes to get to the exiting lanes.

There were so many cars I didn't, nor did the driver to the left of me see him exiting. The vehicle pulled out directly in front of the car to the left of me (I always take the lane when I exit the base). The car to the left of me (going the same direction as me) immediately stopped and that startled me, but it happened so fast that I kept going and less than a second later I see the car pull into the lane, luckily he pulled into the lane to the left of me, if he didn't we would have collided.

When the car to the left of me braked, I thought he hit something that caused him to abruptly stop. I actually pictured cars you see in the movies that peel off and with a cable attached and then suddenly are stopped as the slack runs out.



.

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Old 03-19-23, 03:04 PM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
You've chosen to no longer accept the risks of riding urban streets.
Rural high speed roads and highways for sure. I'll still ride in the city if need be as cars are generally all jammed up and seldom over take me. Just to be clear. The kind of roads where entire pelotons get taken out by overtaking vehicles - no more for me.

Originally Posted by FBinNY
Simply put, we're adults, KNOWINGLY making our choice, and WILLING to accept the consequences.
Some of us are. Hopefully most. Certainly you.

Originally Posted by FBinNY
Otherwise, I wish you the best, but will be tuning you out here.
Fair enough. I've enjoyed blocking a few members here myself.

Originally Posted by FBinNY
Stay well,
You too. Been a pleasure.

(For the record, I am not mad at anyone here. Just like cycling on "dangerous" roads, no one is forcing me to come here either. That's all on me. And I have thick skin. No one here should ever be reprimanded for responding to me in any manner they so choose. It's all good entertainment.)

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Old 03-19-23, 03:31 PM
  #60  
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Originally Posted by JoeyBike



..... Been a pleasure.
Likewise.

BTW I don't block anyone here. I simply use context and history to fine tune my internal filter settings.
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Old 04-10-23, 11:39 PM
  #61  
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Luckily have never had to receive an apology from a driver but of course there have been close-calls.

I never take for granted being seen by drivers in any situation. I don’t give them the benefit of the doubt. I wear a white helmet and bright or white colors to help being seen, but from the recent research I have read, it may not be that much more help. I also have a very bright dual flashing LED front daytime light to help draw attention as well as a rear Varia radar, to tell me how many are approaching from the rear and how fast. Its a fantastic device. When I lose the shoulder and a car is approaching from the rear, I will take the lane to either force them to pass or slow down if there is a vehicle also coming from the opposite direction. I also look for escapes, if a situation looks like it might become sketchy. As for right hooks, at intersections, I will never pass a car that could turn right in front of me but instead either slow down or stop. I do my damnest other than going full day-glow green, to be seen and be cautious around traffic or an occasional deer that might cross in front.
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Old 04-11-23, 03:55 AM
  #62  
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
I doubt that anyone with decent cycling experience hasn't heard this at least once, or it's variant, "where the %^$#&* did you come from?" Of course, this is something people will say after a collision or near miss because they're certainly not going to say "I saw him, but decided to hit him anyway.".

I've seen countless posts here cursing out rude, uncaring, indifferent, negligent, %&$%#* drivers who've said similar, but have you ever considered that it might be true. Namely, they simply DID NOT SEE YOU.

There are countless reasons, many of which were discussed in this forum, but this might be new and useful to some here. It has to do with how humans see. Simply put, our eyes are not still or motion picture cameras, and don't send images to the brain. Instead, they send raw data to the brain for processing. We then refer to an internal database of image data and select the one that best fits and "see" that. This is the basis of things like optical illusions and "trompe l'oeil" images. We only see what we can recognize, and will not understand what we're seeing without context.

This is critical to cyclists because we have to be conscious of how "invisible" we actually are out on the road.

To see just how bad this is, try an experiment. Download a jigsaw puzzle app to your phone or tablet, and do a few. At some point you'll experience a magic moment when you have a piece you're having trouble placing suddenly seem to change once you fit it into place. That black dot in the corner of a blue and white piece is actually part of a bird's head and eye, or whatever. Once in a while the effect is so pronounced that the piece and it's neighbors change right before your eyes.

So, the point is that out on the road, you're just a bunch of pixels that make no sense until the observer has enough data and context to recognize you for what you are. I'm not here to excuse drivers, just to point out practical realities and remind riders that they have to assume that they're invisible, or at least well camouflaged, and they have to make an active effort to be seen, or prepared to react when they're not.

FWIW - I speak from first hand experience having not seen things countless times in my lifetime. The list runs from small to huge, up to include a tractor trailer coming from my right as I was pulling out in front of him. (I'm here because of the happy confluence of reflexes, motor power and brakes). I wonder what that driver would have said if I'd told him, "sorry, I didn't see you".
Originally Posted by Mtracer
I don’t know any specifics about how humans process what our eyes detect, but I know it is as you describe, not just our eyes detecting an image but how our brains process that image.

I do know that we do not consciously process everything our senses detect. And in fact, things we do repeatedly go from requiring conscious thought to essentially becoming automatic and unconscious. Balancing and riding a bike is one example.

In most US areas, cyclists are relatively rare. Our brains have adapted to what we experience regularly. We learn to tune out what our experience has shown us to not matter, until of course it does. When driving we encounter others cars every time we drive. I can go weeks at a time and never cross paths with a cyclist while driving.

In the end, for all practical purposes, no one drives into something they have actually seen. This doesn’t excuse them. We all have a responsibility to not hit things with our cars. But it does explain the “they came out of nowhere” often heard. And anyone with any experience driving has had that happen, though fortunately it most often is just a surprise and a scare and no harm is done. Anyone saying otherwise is either lying or so unaware they don’t even realize their errors.

This I think is one of the good reasons drivers should always stop at stop signs, no matter what. Give themselves a chance to actually see something. I see many who only stop when they “see” a reason to stop. I do roll most stops signs on my bike, but I’m going much slower than a car, have much better lines of sight, and a lot more skin in the game. And, if in any doubt, I stop.
Case in point two days ago. I had to pick up my truck in a multi-story, very busy shopping center parking garage. I had flashing white light on my handlebars which I always run during the day, and when I entered the garage I turned on a white forward flasher on my helmet. I had on a safety green jersey.

I was proceeding along the top of a “T” intersection and the motorist entering the T from my right simply rolled on through, contrary to normal ROW. I was not in his A pillar shadow.

I spoke with him and SMIDSY and I believe him. I was not an object he expected to encounter and I was not big enough to threaten his unconscious brain.

Very slow speeds involved and I was not at risk of colliding with him, but a good reminder that conspicuity is just one of the layers of protection we have available and like all of them, it has holes.

(If you’re not familiar with the Swiss Cheese concept, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model)
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Old 04-11-23, 07:54 AM
  #63  
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Originally Posted by flangehead
Case in point two days ago. I had to pick up my truck in a multi-story, very busy shopping center parking garage. I had flashing white light on my handlebars which I always run during the day, and when I entered the garage I turned on a white forward flasher on my helmet. I had on a safety green jersey.

I was proceeding along the top of a “T” intersection and the motorist entering the T from my right simply rolled on through, contrary to normal ROW. I was not in his A pillar shadow.

I spoke with him and SMIDSY and I believe him. I was not an object he expected to encounter and I was not big enough to threaten his unconscious brain.

Very slow speeds involved and I was not at risk of colliding with him, but a good reminder that conspicuity is just one of the layers of protection we have available and like all of them, it has holes.

(If you’re not familiar with the Swiss Cheese concept, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model)
I'd be interested in knowing where that person's mind was in the seconds leading up to the encounter. I suspect since there wasn't a physical distraction that there was a mental one.
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Old 04-11-23, 11:49 AM
  #64  
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
I'd be interested in knowing where that person's mind was in the seconds leading up to the encounter. I suspect since there wasn't a physical distraction that there was a mental one.
It might be interesting, but it's also moot.

We don't need to know the type of squirrels drivers have in their attics. We don't even know for a fact that they do.

We only need to know that they
MIGHT, and be ready to react correctly when they err.
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Old 04-11-23, 04:58 PM
  #65  
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
It might be interesting, but it's also moot.

We don't need to know the type of squirrels drivers have in their attics. We don't even know for a fact that they do.

We only need to know that they
MIGHT, and be ready to react correctly when they err.
From a cyclists safety perspective only, I guess what happened in that one incident could be looked upon as moot.

There are times though, as a cyclist, I am not as sharp as I'd like to be with my overall situational awareness. By being cognizant of the circumstances that find me not as sharp as I'd like to be, I can compensate or mitigate.

I have become aware that if I am fatigued at the end of a long ride that I am prone to suffer diminished situational awareness. Because I have processed that many times in my mind, now when I start feeling fatigued, I can for my mind to stay in the game rather than it drifting to lunch, a shower, focusing on my pain etc.

I suffer chronic headaches. When I have headaches I am not as sharp. If I have a bad headache, I may choose a route that keeps me out of traffic.

If my mind is distracted by a work or personal situation, I have found that some transcedental mood music played through a small blue tooth speaker can help my focus.

You have made it clear that you don't concern yourself with why motorists make mistakes. I do. It will make me better with advocacy. Effective advocacy can enhance safety.
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Old 04-11-23, 05:10 PM
  #66  
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
..
..
You have made it clear that you don't concern yourself with why motorists make mistakes. I do. It will make me better with advocacy. Effective advocacy can enhance safety.....
It's not that I'm not concerned.....

I started this thread out of concern.

BUT

There's a gulf separating general understanding of how and why drivers make mistakes, (and concern relating to that), and speculating about a driver's state of mind in a specific incident.

When I consider these issues I stay laser focused on the reality that I can't control what others do, I can ONLY control my own actions. So, rather than speculate, I prefer to discuss possibilities and how to prepare accordingly.
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Old 04-12-23, 09:25 AM
  #67  
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
F

You have made it clear that you don't concern yourself with why motorists make mistakes. I do. It will make me better with advocacy. Effective advocacy can enhance safety.

I don't get it--how would knowing what distracted that particular driver make you a better advocate?
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Old 04-12-23, 11:40 AM
  #68  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
I don't get it--how would knowing what distracted that particular driver make you a better advocate?
If educating myself made me better at managing distractions, then why wouldn't educating drivers help (some) them manage their distractions better?

Remember earlier in the thread where we discussed visor extenders? If you tried one on your car, and it helped manage sun glare, that would be an example of effective advocacy borne of understanding a problem.

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Old 04-12-23, 12:41 PM
  #69  
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
If educating myself made me better at managing distractions, then why wouldn't educating drivers help (some) them manage their distractions better?

Remember earlier in the thread where we discussed visor extenders? If you tried one on your car, and it helped manage sun glare, that would be an example of effective advocacy borne of understanding a problem.

So if you found out that that particular guy was distracted because he was remembering seeing an elephant once, you could be able to tell other drivers not to think about elephants? I think what you're missing is no one believes that particular anecdote would tell you anything of value even if you could figure it out.

When it comes to things like perception and attention, I'm more interested in insights gained from people who have studied the matters systematically. For example, researchers looking at why there were so many fatal pile-ups under foggy conditions found that drivers were actually speeding up in the fog because they subconsciously perceived the lack of passing scenery as an indication they were going too slow (this was totally counter-intuitive, the drivers would have believed they were actually driving slower than usual even when driving very high speeds). I learned from that to pay attention to the speedometer and/or use cruise control to limit my speed.
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Old 04-12-23, 08:51 PM
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I don't have issues with discussion about what we can do as drivers. However we need to be mindful that this is a bike forum, and we are speaking to bicyclists.

So, IMO, we need to focus on what cyclists need to know as cyclists, even though many are also drivers too.

As to the that educating drivers can only help. That's a valid point, except that the vast bulk of drivers aren't reading these threads.
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Old 04-14-23, 05:39 AM
  #71  
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I have had so many near misses on my bike and i feel like everyone would say 'sorry didnt see you' you have to be so careful as a cyclist, i just took some life insurance protection out with sports fs, you always need that extra peace of mind on the roads!!
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Old 05-01-23, 05:36 AM
  #72  
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On this Saturday afternoon, I was riding on one of the neighborhood side streets in an historic area. Home owners can park on the streets. I was moving on the right hand side of the road. A car was parked on the left side. A mom with a stroller moved around the parked car. As she did, a driver coming up behind her decided he had enough room to pass between her and me on the bike. He did give me a friendly wave.
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Old 05-01-23, 06:17 AM
  #73  
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I don't care what a driver thinks or is doing because I have no control over that when riding, I always assume I am invisible to them and have chosen not to ride on high risk roads. They don't see us. Sometimes. Despite high viz, blinking lights, a Varia, a mirror, etc. motorists have their heads up their derrieres. I won't ride thru poor urban areas nor will I ride on a high speed shoulderless country road. I am not sure why drivers are distracted both of those environments but they are and to lower my assumed risks, I chose to avoid them and hopefully be safe.
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Old 05-01-23, 08:40 AM
  #74  
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
I started this thread to remind folks of just how invisible we are. If you haven't experienced the "jigsaw piece" effect you might try the experiment.

But staying safe is more than being visible. For example some of my closest calls involve what I call slow thinkers. I'm sure we've all met the folks who, in all fairness, are careful and conscientious, but......

You're approaching an intersection, and a car is there, either waiting to enter from the right, or coming and waiting to make a left. He's there, and there's plenty of time. So, he looks left & right carefully, and after verifying all is good, he goes. The problem is that by the time slow thinkers confirm that it's safe, it no longer is.

IME slow thinkers may be the RD worst out there. I'm used to and can adjust to rude or blind drivers, but slow thinkers make a good show of waiting until you accept that they've decided to wait. That's when they go.

IMO the key is to operate like there's you're an AWACS plane tracking every car in the area, and being ready to react not only to are likely to do, but every possibility of what they might do.
Perhaps the person whom I T-boned on my motorcycle was one of those slow thinkers. He actually came to a full and complete stop, and had been stopped for a second or two before pulling out right in front of me.
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Old 05-01-23, 10:24 AM
  #75  
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Living next to San Francisco you get to experience this 'lost in the background' scenario often. It takes a bit for tourist to pick it up. Getting older and wearing glasses now really takes away some peripheral vision. Is that the point being made?
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