PSA on doorings: check your mirrors!

[LL - NY]

On point #4, 2 points

a) these are *road* bikes, not shoulder bikes.  Since traffic law was
established when roads were new and all sorts of forms of transportation
were available (the horseless carriage, the horse AND carriage, foot,
bicycle) no one type of vehicle *owns* the road, we *share* it.

b) In NY and MA (only two states I can claim intimate knowledge of road
laws) it's technically *illegal* for a road bicyclist to be riding on the
shoulder/sidewalk whatever. Bicycles are restricted to riding to the far
right of the travel lanes, however. And yes, I purposely violate that law at
controlled intersections for my own protection (see my earlier post). And,
FWIW, if you encountered a slow moving 4 wheeled vehicle in your lane when
there was oncoming traffic, you'd (appropriately) wait until the opposite
lane cleared and then pass the obstructing traffic when it was safe to do
so. The same courtesy should be extended to bicyclists. By the same token,
bicyclists should also follow traffic laws (and not weave in and out of
traffic, ignore traffic control devices, etc.) but there are many that don't
and they unfortunately cause resentment amongst drivers of cars, which then
think of ALL cyclists as being "in the way".

On point #5, it's probably the only way to either drive or ride.  And I've
always been curious what it would be like to drive a Europa. I was
considering buying one, but found that no matter how I tried to adjust the
seat, that I couldn't drive the stinking car. I would've had to attach 4 -
6" pedal blocks just to activate the clutch. Needless to say that pretty
well ended me having an intimate relationship with the Prince of Darkness
(although I still have a hankering for an S2 Elan. Never drove one of those
either.

On Sat, Sep 26, 2009 at 12:30 PM, <MXHOWES at aol.com> wrote:

> These things come to mind:
> 4. I have an issue with a lot of the bicycle riders on the open road. They
> ride like they own the road yet don't pay a nickel for the construction or
> maintenance. The don't ride on the paved shoulder (too many rocks= flat
> tires) so their 'lane' is the white stripe that denotes the shoulder. This
> makes  it very tight if a car happens to be passing you at the same time.
> Generally, I lay on the horn, they flip me the bird, and both of us are
>  happy.
> 5. When I went to college the only means of transportation I could afford
> was a small motorcycle. Several years of daily commutes in the LA area
> taught  you that sixth sense to understand that every car, whether or not
> being
> driven  was a potential trip to the hospital. This ends up making you a
> much
> better  driver. Also owning a '69 Lotus Europa (with the biggest blind
> spots
> of any car  on the road) taught you to know the location of every car
> around you, at  all times.
>
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