Bicyclists - Best way to punish drivers who endanger you

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 16:26:27 -0600, DTJ > wrote in
message >:

>>The journey by bike and train takes the same time as it does by car
>>and I can read a book on the train. Sometimes I drive - I hate it.
>>The roads are full of people like Russotto.

>And they are full of assholes like guy. We prefer Russotto.

So you prefer to be stuck in a queue of three ton trucks you can't see
round. Smart move.

>He understands that some people have a 5 mile commute, while others
>have a 60 mile commute.

I had a 135 mile commute for a while. I got smart and changed it to
7.5 miles each way.

>He also doesn't lie about how he can bile 25 miles as fast as he can
>drive.

Neither do I. Read the posts: I can do the 25 mile trip by bike *and
train* as fast as I can by car, and in my previous job (15 mile round
trip) cycling was quicker, on average, than driving, mainly because of
the time it took to find a parking space and walk to the office from
there. My bike got parked in the office stairwell.

>He also doesn't lie about how he can bike to the train, take it to
>another town, and then walk/bike to work as fast as he could have
>drove.

You want to race me? This is no lie. It takes me exactly four
minutes to cycle to the station (ten minutes to drive, due to
traffic). The journey to the office is 25 miles of winding country
roads, and the train travels at a peak of 125mph.

>I am wondering, what do all the people on the train think of you being
>a prick by bringing your bike onto the train, and for smelling like
>you haven't showered in a month?

I'll have to ask them - although I think you'll find that I usually
smell as if I've showered within the last 15 minutes (because I have).

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Scott en Aztlán wrote:

> On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 06:34:35 -0500, Nate Nagel >
> wrote:
>
>
>>That's where you're wrong. If you are, say, an engineer, you live where
>>the companies are that employ engineers. If you'd rather continue
>>working as an engineer than ride your bike to work, then you get a car.
>
>
> Or you do what I did: buy a house that's not only close to the
> companies that employ engineers, but is also close to as much public
> transit as possible. Then you keep your car in the garage so it will
> stay nice and pretty and new, and put all the gruelling daily commute
> wear-and-tear on the railroad cars.
>

The problem that I have is that there is no public transport that goes
*to* my office, other than a MARC train. But anyway this discussion is
getting somewhat tiresome... it's impossible to convince the
spokeheads, apparently, that it is possible to have an interest in
riding but not want to ride *every friggin' day* and that there are
other things more important when choosing a job, like salary and
benefits, than the proximity to bike-friendly roads and affordable
housing within biking distance. If nothing else, there ARE no
bike-friendly areas in the metro DC area that I've found, other than
possibly within the city itself (but the roads are so chuckholed and
awful that I would cringe riding anything decent there. And I'm not all
that particular, I used to ride on the roads in Pittsburgh - DC is
worse, outside of the touristy areas.)

Above and beyond all that, I honestly love driving too much. (probably
explains why I'm posting from RAD not one of the cycling groups.) Had a
good car day today, helped my friend resurrect a '50 Commander Starlight
(think "Muppet Movie") that had been sitting since '69, and I also got a
lot of electrical work done on the '55 Commander I just bought. I can't
WAIT to go cruising in that baby, it's going to be one BAD ride.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

Preston Crawford > wrote in
:

> On 2005-02-20, Mike Kruger > wrote:
>>
>>> > That reminds me, though... bicylists who use multi-use
>> paths get really
>>> > ****ed off at pedestrians who block their path, groups of
>> joggers
>>> > taking up the entire path, etc. How come THEY don't just
>> chill out
>>> > and not worry about the few seconds it takes to get around
>> those
>>> > obstacles?
>>>
>> Damned if I know.
>>
>> Well, I do, actually. We all would like things to be ideal for
>> us, and need to learn to be patient when they are not. As
>> anyone who's ever been the parent of a toddler knows, patience
>> and sharing have to be taught; they aren't innate.
>>
>> Is there a difference between the car driver who yells "Get
>> off the f*ing road" and the bicyclist who yells "Get off the
>> f*ing path"? Not much.
>
> Nope. In fact, they're usually the same person. :-)
>
> As someone else tried to tell me. I should go drive my car, then go ride
> in a park. Then I could be one of those people that's ****ed off and
> stressed wherever I go.
>
> Preston

So,you ADMIT that you would get stressed for LEGAL behavior on bike
paths;that is the same thing as what cyclists do on public roads to
drivers.

It IS a bother and impedance to you,just as it is when cyclists are on
public roads.

Sounds like MFFY behavior.(there's a [multi-use]bike path for me,but since
it stresses me,I'll go use the roads and stress many others instead.)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

DTJ wrote:
>
>
> I am wondering, what do all the people on the train think of you
being
> a prick by bringing your bike onto the train, and for smelling like
> you haven't showered in a month?

:-) This is interesting.

Seems to be people who don't exercise who have phobias about smelling
different than a perfume commercial. Maybe that phobia - not just
laziness - is part of what keeps them sedentary and expanding?

I actually know only one person who has a problem with body odor, and
his problem is serious indeed... for example, people don't even like to
sit in chairs he's used. He's not an exerciser. In fact, he's at
least 100 pounds overweight.

Perhaps DTJ has that same "truck driver" build? Whatever.

In any case, the people I know who bike to work do not have this
problem, and I know I don't. If I did, my brutally honest wife would
let me know - and she has checked, I assure you.

Nate Nagel wrote:
> But anyway this discussion is
> getting somewhat tiresome... it's impossible to convince the
> spokeheads, apparently, that it is possible to have an interest in
> riding but not want to ride *every friggin' day*

This spokehead, anyway, is not trying to convince you to ride every
day. I am, however, trying to dispel the myth that it's impossible to
bike to work just because you have a professional position.

and that there are
> other things more important when choosing a job, like salary and
> benefits, than the proximity to bike-friendly roads and affordable
> housing within biking distance.

All those can be important, but they're all shades of grey. Just don't
oversimplify the situation by pretending one item is a black & white
issue. No matter where you are, there's probably someone in a parallel
position at a similar company who's biking to work at least
occasionally.

Rather than pretending it's impossible, just admit that you choose not
to do it.

If nothing else, there ARE no
> bike-friendly areas in the metro DC area that I've found, other than
> possibly within the city itself (but the roads are so chuckholed and
> awful that I would cringe riding anything decent there. And I'm not
all
> that particular, I used to ride on the roads in Pittsburgh - DC is
> worse, outside of the touristy areas.)

Hmmm. I rode through DC about 18 months ago, and saw quite a few bike
commuters. In fact, I have two friends in the DC metro area who ride
either very frequently (in one case) or at least occasionally (in the
other case).


>
> Above and beyond all that, I honestly love driving too much.

That's probably the real issue.

Scott en Aztl=E1n wrote:
> I have regularly commuted
> 7 miles each way by bike), but my current employer does not have
> shower facilities on the premises, so I would never do it.

I think you've been brainwashed by the deodorant commercials.

Many people bike to work without needing shower facilities. I'm one of
them. No, I don't stink when I arrive - I've checked that out very
carefully. My colleagues literally can't tell when I've biked or when
I've driven.

Clean sweat does not stink. You shower before you ride in.
Personally, I ride fairly easy on the way in, and usually go in early
enough that it's cool. If you get too sweaty, you can use a washcloth
in a washroom, and/or have a fresh undershirt to change into. But for
my seven mile commute, that's rarely necessary.

If your sweat _does_ stink, it's because you've got nasty bacteria
living on your skin and (probably) in your undershirts. Use either
Listerine or Phisohex (sp?) anti-bacterial soap for five days, and
pitch the undershirts for new ones. It works.

It's interesting that so many people have gotten so delicate that they
think physical activity is impossible!

In article . com>, wrote:

> So while it may take more initiative and creativity than some people
> have, the choices we're talking about _are_ possible. And smart people
> make them, rather than just following the herd.

And you'd still find a way to chasitize them for not being like you.

In article . com>, wrote:

> Nate Nagel wrote:
>> But anyway this discussion is
>> getting somewhat tiresome... it's impossible to convince the
>> spokeheads, apparently, that it is possible to have an interest in
>> riding but not want to ride *every friggin' day*

> This spokehead, anyway, is not trying to convince you to ride every
> day. I am, however, trying to dispel the myth that it's impossible to
> bike to work just because you have a professional position.

That's not what he's been writing frank.
Leave it to you to try to characterize someone who drives an old porsche
and various old studebakers as a common SUV-driving suburb deweller. Why
you have to turn everyone who isn't exactly like you into the enemy might
be a problem you should have looked into.

In article >, Matt O'Toole wrote:

> type. These companies seem to be friendlier to bike commuters too, offering
> shower/changing/locker facilities, secure bike parking, etc.

I use the cube across the isle to park my bike

In article >, Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 20:39:18 -0600,
> (Brent P) wrote:
>
>>I live SIX miles from work Frank. That's even CLOSER than you do. There's
>>nothing I can do about the road conditions. This is where the engineering
>>jobs are. When I got a new job 2 years ago, all but 2 interviews were in
>>a ten mile radius of where I work now. One was way out in outer suburbs
>>the other was in the loop. That's it. Here is where the jobs are for me.
>>If I chose to live elsewhere I couldn't bike commute. It's either live
>>with the hostile roads and be able to bike commute or live too far away
>>to even think about bike commuting.
>
> Does Metra allow you to bring your bike on board the trains?

Last I heard no. Metra is being pressured to allow it. The CTA allows it
off-peak. When I was up for the job in the loop I planned on keeping a
beater bike that I pulled from a dumpster locked up downtown.

> shower facilities on the premises, so I would never do it. What I
> might do is bike to the train station and then bike from there to my
> office, but I can't afford to take the risk that the two pedalcycle
> slots on the train are in use; I can't afford to wait an hour for the
> next train.

Well it's probably set up to fail. Few people do it, because there isn't
enough capacity. Then in a few years they can turn around and say it's
not popular and kill it.

> The people who plan mass transit in SoCal have their hearts in the
> right place, but they don't quite get it. Do the RTA people have a
> better handle on things?

No. I used to live 2 blocks from the town's train station. It was pretty
useless for me because of how the trains ran. The one time it was useful
for me, I found it was set up to make people walk around the long way.
Thankfully there were a few dirt paths to go up the hill and over the
tracks as a short cut. It's set up for people to drive to and from the
station or take the pace bus.