dougmc

So I'm driving down Lamar today -- a four or five lane road, 45 mph speed limits, fairly heavy traffic. A guy is riding his bike in the outside lane, hugging the curb. The lane is perhaps 10 feet wide. I did see at least one car pass him in the same lane -- it's not clear that they broke our new 3' passing law, but if they didn't, they came close.

I passed (in the other lane) and yelled at him to "TAKE THE LANE".

He flipped me off.

(Yes, I expected it. It's hard to hear what people are yelling at, though I did try to be clear and didn't zip by as I said it.)

I imagine he arrived at his destination and told people about the ***hole in a car (if I was the only one, anyways) ...

Hopefully he'll get the message somehow. Where he was ... you don't want to hug the curb.

starla

Maybe he didn't understand what you said. Alternately, some cyclists are *******s too.

wroomwroomoops

Prolly he just didn't hear what you said. I know I don't understand jack when it's yelled from a car in heavy traffic.

billdsd

A typical car is between 6' and 7' wide. A typical bicyclist is a little over 2' wide. If the bicyclist was on the right edge and the motorist was on the left edge, the best case scenario 6'+2'=8'. 10'-8'=2'. It was probably less than 2'.

Bicyclists are not required to take the lane even if it is smarter. I see no point yelling at someone to take the lane. It takes some explanation for people to understand why it is safer to do so.

longbeachgary

I just love drivers telling me how to ride my bike.

Don in Austin

Riding on South Lamar kind of sucks -- in rush hour especially.

Don in Austin

I-Like-To-Bike

Ya forgot the smiley/irony icon. But then you wouldn't have gotten as many bites.

Mauriceloridans

I would think if he's not taking the lane in those conditions he probably is clueless what the phrase means. Maybe he'll google it at home and learn something.

exile

From a person who has been yelled at a few times by passing cars, I have no idea what they say. Hopefully it wasn't anything important (like I forgot my pants ).

beebe

+1

wroomwroomoops

Yeah, I get that a lot, too.

ModeratedUser150120149

OH, that was You...Sorry, had a hard time hearing you but even then I hadn't the foggiest what you meant when you said something about "Taking the lane?". Is that what you said? Take it where? What do I do with it when I "take it"? Must be some kind of jargon, or maybe Klingon and I don't speak or understand either one.

(What was probably going through the rider's mind at the time).

wphamilton

I'd feel guilty about instructing a cyclist to take the lane if the next day he happened to get creamed riding in the middle of a high-speed 4-lane throughway, especially if there's room for him and a passing car in the lane. Just sayin'.

unterhausen

much more likely to be clipped by a mirror if he's cowering in the gutter. I was just admiring the newer SUV's relative to a typical Pennsylvania lane. They basically take up the whole lane. The people that hit cyclists full-on from the rear are just as likely to hit someone that's in the gutter as someone that's in the center of the lane.

CommuterRun

https://www.kli.org/

dynodonn 

I won't tell a cyclist how to ride their bicycle while I'm riding my bicycle, I surely won't be telling them how to ride their bike while I'm driving my car.

spock

Thou shalt not yell at me.

If someone yells at me from a car, I usually need a translator who speaks yell.

Digital_Cowboy

I've done that myself with other cyclists while out riding. I'll call out a friendly "take the lane" if I see someone hugging the curb/gutter pan.

ladyraestewart

Takes a brave or crazy soul to ride Lamar at any time of the day on any portion of that particular road.

dougmc

Well, except that it did happen.

I slowed down to about his speed (he was going slightly downhill on a mountain bike at about 20 mph) and was about 10 feet away while I yelled (opening the passenger window) -- but even so, it wasn't really a good place to debate the merits of proper lane positioning or even explain what "take the lane" means. If I was on a bike and came up on him, I'd be able to talk to him more -- suggest taking the lane or the sidewalk (the sidewalk is likely safer than the gutter here, though it's a dangerous sidewalk too) or even an alternate route (many cyclists are injured on Lamar and there are alternatives, though I do ride it myself at times.)

I am aware that cyclists don't like being yelled at by people in cars (though usually the advice is "get out of my way, not more thoroughly into it"), but whispering wouldn't have worked well. I'm not sure how to yell in a friendly way, but if I knew how, I'd have done it.

As I see it, I did the right thing. It probably didn't work, but I tried.

Jamesw2

N + 1 My wife drove past me and was yelling "pedal Forest pedal" I didn't her a thing LOL!

skye

Somebody yells something at me from a car, I flip 'em off just as a matter of principle. They could be saying "Nice bike," or "Free breakfast at Denny's" or "I love you, can I have your babies?" Doesn't matter, I hit the middle finger button.

You know why? Because I don't have the faintest idea what they are saying, and my experience with drivers who initiate one-on-one contact with me on a bicycle is almost uniformly negative.

And if that had been me on the bike, and I had understood what the OP was saying, I probably would have used more suggestively profane gestures, because if there's one thing I cannot stand, it's some asshat behind a wheel telling me how I should be riding.

I mean, really. WTH were you thinking?

chipcom 

Dude...you were in a car, not only yelling at someone on a bike, but telling them how to ride their bike.
What kind of response did you expect?

I-Like-To-Bike

There is no such thing as a "friendly" yell or call out at strangers, from a bike or (and especially) a passing motor vehicle. Makes no difference what your motivation. You got the response you deserved.

ItsJustMe

I don't think I've EVER been able to tell what someone in a car yelled at me. Unless they stop or actually match my speed alongside to talk. If you're not doing this, don't bother, they'll just assume you're hassling them.