alicestrong

From our friends at Midnight Ridazz
passing this message on from LA TriClub Dispatch:


"On Angeles Crest today, a silver Nissan XTERRA with license plate 4VCU492 slowed down to yell angrily at three pairs of cyclists and swerved into the shoulder cutting off two pairs (I was in one of the pairs). All three pairs were riding separately, didn't know each other, and were at different sections of the highway between Foothill
and Newcombs. Long story short, the car was reported, and the driver was stopped and arrested.

However, given that the driver seemed to show very little remorse when talking with the other pair of cyclists up at Newcombs Ranch and didn't seem all that well balanced, we are a little worried that he will continue his dangerous driving into cyclists. All three pairs of cyclists were riding up, so going slowly. If he does the same thing to cyclists riding down, it could be much worse.

So, please be careful if you see a silver Nissan XTERRA while riding on ACH, particularly if the driver slows down or yells at you. The car had a bike rack on it today, too. If you experience anything similar (or have already since crest has opened), please notify the California Highway Patrol to build a case on this guy.

Please forward to friends/groups that ride on Angeles Crest."

aprevo15

i wonder what goes through the minds of those idiots. really. i guess when you are in a hurry to go somewhere and you see a bicycle rider and have to slow down a bit it makes them super angry or something. sometimes i can understand the frustration when you have to slow down but come on. how much time are you really losing? also is it that hard to go around the cyclers? its okay sometimes to cross the center line to avoid cyclers. stuff like this makes me more angry.

thank you for the heads up.

vertical bob

Maybe the driver has encountered one too many cyclist riding two or three abrest on a narrow twisting mountain road. While riding on the Crest Saturday I heard a CHP honk in the distance. Sure enough, it was at two riders from the SFVBC who were riding two wide. That is so wrong, especially on a winding road. It is NOT legal for a car to cross the double yellow to pass anyone. This was explained to me in depth by a Forest Service enforcement officer on Hwy. 39. I suggest that cyclist drive up the Crest and see for themselves what an obstacle cyclist can be. I ride in the mountains as much as anyone, we have to stay out of the way. That road is not a bike path.

volosong

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll re-post this on the internal JPL bicycle e-mail list. We have members who ride the crest often.

---

My vanpool takes the crest every day to/from Palmdale. It's good to see so many riders using the road. It will only serve to make drivers aware that cyclists use the road heavily.

Ride safe everyone.

Mr. Beanz

Some of the posts about riders getting dissed on mountain roads make me wonder. One day on GMR, I was behind a couple of riders right near Newman's Point. Riding two abreast taking the entire land doing 10 mph max. A little red Mini cooper pulled up behind them waiting for them to move to the side. It was a blind turn so the Mini Cooper was waiting. The rider in the center of the lane waved the Mini Cooper around with vigorous arm movements. From 40 yards back I was expecting to see the Mini Cooper stomp the gas and fly around the two riders. It didn't but 10 seconds later, another vehicle comes around the turn.

If the Mini Cooper had gone, there would have been a head on collision. More than likely taking out the two cyclist as well. I can't figure out why the riders just didn't move to the side to let the Mini Cooper by. When I see these things, I wonder how many riders ride this way then post discourteous driver threads. I myself rode up GMR last year maybe 35-40 times and never once had a driver honk at me.

I posted an interview in my video with the couple in the Mini Cooper. I stopped to ask them what they thought about the two riders. I didn't post their comments but they did show some concern on discourteous cyclist behavior on GMR.


As far a the behavior of the driver in the OP, I'm shocked people are that stupid knowing almost everybody and their Mama have a cell phone nowadays.

calamarichris

Ditto with a capital D, and not just on mountain roads either.

You get a pack of cyclists together and invariably at least one of us feels emboldened to get hostile & confrontational with motorists. When I see this kind of p00p, I usually ditch the group and ride off alone.

Our superior mobility and flexibility is actually an opportunity to win hearts & minds with kindness and consideration, but sadly some of us are still trying to attract flies with vinegar.

aprevo15

some people take the "i have every right to be on the road" way too far.

Nachoman

I don't know why, but I found this funny.

cervelo4me

a car weighs 2500 pounds i weight 200 plus 16 for my bike.whos rode is it in the real world?the cars.i give every car the right of way over me because my kids need a father.do i like it?no,but i live in the real world and 2500 pounds destroys 216 pounds every time.If i dont want to play second fiddle to cars i jump on my mountain bike.Its utterly a joke to me when fellow rode bikers ***** about cars and the loonies driving them because you should know going in all that comes with it.Again, i dont like it, but reality is reality.Okay, I know what comes now, so go ahead, but im right.

vertical bob

Well put.

Nachoman

you need a heavier bike.

cervelo4me

lol i need to do my first century but have no idea which one to do with my bad knee.any suggestions?cant get nuts on heavy inclines

volosong

The L.A. River Ride would have been a good one for you. Flatter than a pancake. You might consider the Cool Breeze in August up in Ventura/Ojai/Santa Barbara. There are various length rides. Some climbing, but if I remember correctly, nothing that will really tax non-climbers.

vertical bob

Further ammo for the call to all users of Angeles Crest to chill out and take safety first. Averaging one death a week since the lower crest has been open. Wow!!! https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...t-highway.html

freighttraininguphill

I have seen the same thing on city streets up here. People riding in the middle of streets with only one lane in each direction, effectively blocking traffic. I saw this twice in a two week period. The first time was some bimbos on beach cruisers, totally oblivious to their surroundings. I was about half a block behind them, riding on the right side of the road out of the way. No bike lane. Car passed me, passenger yelled "GET THE !@#$ OUT OF THE WAY!" at the bimbos.

Second time was two commuters, same type of road, only this one had a bike lane. I was coming up behind them, again on the right side of the road in the bike lane. Car passed me and honked at the commuters who were too far into the main traffic lane.

I have also seen ride videos of huge SoCal rides in the mountains that take up the entire lane.

calamarichris

It's a sad commentary on our species when the words "kindness" and "consideration" are rarely spoken without sarcasm. Alas.

Mansram01

None of them cyclists, gratefully!

herbm

Not sure where you live, but I have what i call the Almost Flat Century, but it starts at about the Ventura county line and heads north....only 1100 or so feet ....a truely great ride along the coast..

herbm

I was up there that day as well....very scary....
there was a report (not sure if its true) that the Nissan even had a bike on the back!

Ray R

SB910, if passed, will legalize the existing good driving practice of crossing the double centerline when safe to pass cyclists at a safe (3 foot minimum) distance.

superclyde6

Sadly this is not news. This was the case before the Crest was closed. At least once a weekend and sometimes more the Sheriff's Rescue helicopter has to spool up and bring someone down off the Crest. Usually a Cafe Racer who either was going too fast for the road or lost control. They usually fly them to Huntington Hospital in Pasadena which is the closest Level 2 Trauma Center. The only Level 1's are the County hospitals by the way.

vertical bob

Interesting, I had not heard of this. Is this part of the 3 foot law? I have mixed emotions about that. Arizona has a law like that. While in Flagstaff in February of last year there was a story in the local paper about a cyclist that was suing the local bus company. He had been bumped off his bike by a bus. Flagstaff has numerous bike lanes and is a very bike friendly town but three days before the accident they had received several feet of snow. While I was there the bike lanes were burried in snow and there was barely a lane to drive in but these were the exact conditions that this guy was riding his bike in, expecting the bus to somehow pass him with 3 feet to spare. I thought to myself, what kind of fool would be riding a bike on these streets in the first place. I could barely find one lane to drive on. I left town and never heard anything more as to how the case was settled but my feeling is that we all have to be responsible for our own actions. If we choose to ride in unsafe conditions and in an unsafe manor, how can we hold the public responsible for our poor judgement. "Good judgement comes as a result of experience, which comes as a result of poor judgement" Teddy Roosevelt

GP

It was amended last week.

1) On a substandard width lane, authorizes a driver to drive on the left side of double parallel solid lines or double parallel lines, one of which is broken, to pass a bicyclist or pedicab traveling in the same direction.

2) Defines a "substandard width lane" as a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

JustMe

CURRENT BILL STATUS


MEASURE : S.B. No. 910
AUTHOR(S) : Lowenthal.
TOPIC : Vehicles: bicycles: passing distance.
HOUSE LOCATION : ASM
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 06/22/2011


TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy

LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 06/22/2011
LAST HIST. ACTION : From committee with author's amendments. Read second
time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on TRANS.
COMM. LOCATION : ASM TRANSPORTATION
COMM. ACTION DATE : 06/27/2011
COMM. ACTION : Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on
Appropriations.
COMM. VOTE SUMMARY : Ayes: 08 Noes: 05 PASS

TITLE : An act to amend Sections 21460 and 21750 of, and to add
Section 21750.1 to, the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.

alicestrong

More here about the incident...

https://arcadia.patch.com/articles/al...ves-cyclists-4