Re: Bronco Busting or now I put my foot in it

[Randy McCall <randym@schiller.com>]

With all of the flames shooting out of this thread, I gotta put my $.02 worth in as a dedicated road and mountain biker.  In the 20 plus years I have been riding, training, and touring on the road I have seen my share of poor drivers in every type of vehicle imaginable, including the professionally licensed big rigs.  In fact some of the worst offenders have been the wild eyed drivers behind their version of the "race rig" on my favorite back roads.  Scares the hell out of me to see a huge motor home coming up on me at 65 on a narrow two lane mountain road, and I have had close calls, but GENERALLY they are more respectful of my space than some of the more yuppie elements in the San Francisco Bay Area I have had close calls with.  

I love to drive my chipped 200TQ hard, and I don't mind too much jumping into the S.O.'s Mazda Navajo (2dr-Explorer clone) when forced to drive, but it all comes down to how much respect I have for the rest of the driving public.  How do you test for that skill?

I am all for increasing the practical testing requirements for drivers, but lets be serious...its merely an indication of someone's ability to drive under one set of conditions.  The driver tooling down the road chatting on the cell phone that drives into the peleton out for a training ride may be very skilled as a driver, just not attentive.  Same applies for the Winnebagos, Suburbans, and etc.  Do I drive the Navajo differently when fully loaded for a camp trip?  You bet - that damn rig handles like a tuna boat on a six foot sea under the best of conditions, and things get pretty serious real fast if a deer jumps out late at night up in the Sierra's.  

Bottom line:  mess with me while I am riding my bikes, and I am just praying you will stop to challenge my middle finger salute so we can discuss the finer points of your driving style.  Otherwise, I think the term defensive driving just about covers it.

-Randy
'90 200TQ (IA chipped w/ new 2p EM - wow what a difference)
'91 POS (Mazda Navajo/Ford Explorer)
road and mountain bikes aplenty!

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