stephr1

Hope everyone is doing well. Haven't been here in a while but this morning motivated me to check in, kind of.

I was in my car heading over to the grocery store this morning. I was on one of those streets that wasn't a main street but wasn't really residential. It does get a bit of traffic at times during the day but this morning was fairly quiet.

It was about 7:30AM and, while the sun was up, it was still a little dusky because of the overcast (SF Bay Area in the fall). Some cars had their headlights on, others did not. Some of the street lights were on, others not. I did not have my lights on because it was light enough to see things just fine. I'm driving along said street which is single lane on each side with matching bike lanes. I look ahead and see a guy on a road bike going my direction and he seems to be more in the road than the bike lane. As I closed in on him I beeped (not lay on the horn for 10 secs.) to let him know I was coming so he would make sure to stay in the bike lane (there were no left turns coming up so he had no reason to be in the car lane).

He moved back into the bike lane (he had started to drift back into the main road, so I slowed down and tried not to crowd him). As I went by him, rather than give me a "thanks" wave for letting him know, he yelled at me: "Lights!". I looked at the guy and he was a bit older (because he had a fairly gray beard). I thought "What an a** hole." and drove on. As an after thought, I should have yelled back at him "Stay in the bike lane!" but it was too late.

So, that was my Sunday "encounter-a-jerk" morning and I went on to the store.

It bothered me at the time but the rest of my day has been fine. Sighhhhh......

Koyote

You came on a cycling forum to bash a cyclist.

This should be fun.

3alarmer 

.
...on my bike, yesterday, I encountered not one, but two separate instances of cyclists coming head on at me, on my side of the trail. The first one played chicken right up until the very last moment, because he was struggling to pass someone in his lane, and needed all of my lane to pass that person. I yelled , "Jesus ******g Christ !!!", as I braked. The second, much more egregious instance, was farther down the trail, where three guys on bicycles needed my lane as well as theirs, so they could ride three abreast. At this person (the one in my lane), I yelled, "Move the **** Over !!!".

Neither of these people cared the slightest what I thought. The second one yelled something back at me, but I did not hear what it was.

I did not come here and start up a thread about it, because I knew no one here would care either. This forum is predominately inhabited by heartless and unfeeling trolls, unfit to respond to sensitive souls like us.

BobsPoprad

In all seriousness, I don't honk prior to, or while passing a cyclist while driving. Don't want to scare the hell out of someone. But usually I just slow down and drive carefully.

Murray Missile 

Just because you saw him doesn't mean he was able to see you, especially since he was probably looking over his shoulder or in a small mirror trying to discern if there was a vehicle overtaking him. Which is possibly why he drifted out of the bike lane, I know I've been in that exact situation. Vehicles can be hard to see in a little bike mirror or looking back over your shoulder even under the best conditions.

I have a 65 mile a day commute, a lot of it in the lighting conditions you described depending on the time of year. About 50% of it is rural blacktops and two lane highway, 25% interstate and 25% city. Most people have their lights on but some don't and they ARE harder to see depending on the background behind them or if they're in the shadows of trees, etc.. Also if the rising or setting sun is behind them they are hard to see but the vehicles with their lights on are much more visible. If there's any type of reduced visibility because of the time of day, weather, fog or if I have the sun behind me, etc. I turn my lights on. In fact my old work beater has been modified so the low beams come on if the ignition is on and the car is in gear instead of just the DRL's. "Drive smart, drive safe" turn your lights on for a little added safety, make yourself more visible to other traffic...... it's like putting strobes on your bicycle for daytime riding. It's easy and painless, especially since most vehicles built in the past 30 years have an automatic headlight function and DRL's.

3alarmer 

...in those circumstances, the rationale for you having your lights on is not so that you can see things. It is so others can see your car. I don't know what the specific section of the vehicle code is, or how it reads, but if some of the street lights were still on, turning on your lights is the preferred option. That guy was only trying to do you a favor, because he probably was having trouble seeing you.

When I yelled at my tow people, I was not trying to do them a favor. At that moment in time, I hated both of them.

spelger

sure, you may have been able to see without lights but it is not always for you to see but for you to be seen by others.

indyfabz

I’ll bite…

Maybe there was hazardous debris is the bike lane, such as mounds of human poop.

And I always drive with my headlights on for just such an occasion.

SalsaShark

Don't honk when you pass a cyclist. Do you honk when you overtake any other vehicle? Do you honk when you pass by a car in the slow lane on the interstate? Why do motorists feel the need to honk at a bicycle when they are passing? Unless you know me and are trying to say "hello" while in your car, this is one sure way to immediately piss me off and throw you the finger. I am well aware that cars are going to overtake me out on the road, it is inevitable - I wouldn't be out riding if it bothered me. But can you imagine if every freaking car honked at you when they passed by? All you are doing is announcing that you have no idea how to drive while around cyclists.

Chuck M 

Just my two cents, but he probably considered the honk as a rectal move on your part.

Koyote

Driving without headlights on a foggy morning is foolish and dangerous, and honking at a cyclist is rude and unnecessary. You could've simply waited a few seconds for him to move back over (after he had made it safely around some roadkill or garbage in the road, most likely), but I suppose that would've been an enormous inconvenience.

I'm still trying to figure out why this detail needed to be mentioned:

rsbob 

I never honk at cyclists even as a good meaning warning for fear of startling them. I have been honked at by less than decent people while staying way over minding my own business just because they want to give cyclists a hard time. Your well meaning gesture may have been interpreted as less than friendly and their response was reciprocal. Just sayin’

stephr1

Yep. Love to instigate controversy but am surprised at how fast the wagons got circled

urbanknight

rsbob 

It’s not personal but have you even considered that your well meaning gesture was mis-interpreted, since what you did it outside the norm of most cyclists experience? I know when I post something here and get a lot of blow back, I reevaluate rather than double down or get defensive/hurt. But that is just me.

jon c. 

Ain't nothing anyone can tell you that you don't already know.

3alarmer 

...I guess he has a cleaner vocabulary than I do. Now I feel like a big potty mouth,

3alarmer 

...

SpedFast

I'm an older dude and have a hard time seeing traffic approach my six when it's less than bright sun. Them little mirrors are tough on the old eye. So I appreciate cars with their lights on and think to myself what jerks they are when they don't too. Oh, I'm sorry, you were the one without the light. My bad.

urbanknight

Oh, I have another one of me and a motorist which I need to bleep a bunch of my words out before I can post it.

I do wish, however, that I had just stopped in the middle of my lane and let them decide how to get around, instead of bailing out onto the pedestrian lane.

stephr1

OK. A lot of responses here so let me clarify this a bit.

1. I stated it was overcast, not foggy. I could see ahead and behind at least 200+ yards so clarity was good. So there was no reason to have my headlights on. Apparently the cyclist didn't see a need to either because I saw no flashing lights on his bike, neither front nor back. That to me is a dumb and dangerous move on his part. Despite that, I knew he was there and tried to deal with his presence in as safe a manner as possible under the circumstances. It would have been easy to accelerate and give him wide birth as I sped past him. However, I chose to respect his space and I had hoped he would have respected mine, as well, which he did not.
2. I could also see that the bike lane was clear of debris and he had no reason to be in the middle of the road other than by choice.
3. As I got within a 100 ft. of him, that was the point he moved back into the road ahead of me. I slowed down and hit my horn to remind him I was still there and he kindly (or so I thought that would be his reaction) moved back into his lane and remained there.
4. Once he did that, I passed by under the speed limit (30 MPH) just in case he decided to disrespect my space again.

I ride, as well, and I really dislike it when a car is going over the speed limit, has the room to move towards the middle of the road to give me space and still gets close enough to me in the bike lane that I could clip the side mirror with my elbow.

So, I like all the assumptions people have made here but what gets me is how fast you jumped on my case for respecting the presence of the cyclist and assume I was completely in the wrong, like cyclists don't exhibit dumb and dangerous behavior, because it does happen. And, like others have posted here, cyclists are not immune from making bad choices. This is why drivers get pissed off and take out the next cyclist they encounter. I practice the utmost respect when I'm out riding because I know the potentially unfortunate circumstances if I don't.

So, from my point of view, I did nothing wrong (even the honking) and did everything I could to respect the cyclist's space and remind him I was there. The fact that he wanted to put the blame on me for his inappropriate manner of riding is unacceptable. The next person to come along may not be as respectful and understanding as I am and he could end up paying the price for his arrogance. That's on him, not me.

SpedFast

Time for a well place luggie

stephr1

I only mentioned it because I made an assumption, right or wrong, that he was an experienced rider (seemed dressed that way) and knew better than to be out in the middle of the road when he must have known a car was coming because I did see him look back a couple of times. See my other other response.

indyfabz

There! I said it!

stephr1

And damn proud of it