Bob Eisenman Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 It was my last long ride before I would grab the Ninebot One '5,000 Km' merit award. My route was some two towns removed from my home destination. I was planning a rest stop a few blocks further from the incident. Conditions were clear and traffic was almost non-existent in the pre-Christmas week before the holiday. Normally I would have continued on the sidewalk along the my direction side of the street before crossing to the opposite side following the end of the available sidewalk on the 'my direction side' Instead, considering a no cars at the moment situation and leg fatigue, I crossed into the opposing lane a football fields length from my usual Street crossover point where I often dismount and wait for an opportunity to cross. I hugged the curb within two feet on the road as shown with Google Street view. Within seconds a car headed toward my position within the same lane. The car , and I on the EUC, passed with a comfortable separating distance (in my opinion). However, upon initial visual recognition of each other in broad daylight and with no other cars in sight the driver of the car sounded his horn continuously. The constant sound of the horn was similar to the audio track a professor might use to illustrate the Doppler effect on waves as the transmitter and receiver of the waves approach each other. Any comments about the incident in the 30 ish mph zone ? Better to have not switched into the opposing lane ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoother Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Yes, I have a comment: the car driver was an a#s hole, pure and simple. He either thought it would be funny to make you jump, or he had some righteous indignation that you deemed to be in "his" lane going the wrong way. Don't lose sleep about it, you are effectively a pedestrian and pedestrians are safer walking towards oncoming traffic, so they can dive out of the way if the car driver doesn't see them. I can't remember if it's law or recommend, but I do it; too many people driving drunk, or high, or texting, or shooting selfies, etc. wait, I'm confused. Did he sound his horn before or after your paths crossed? This is important. Because, if, before, he could have startled you into a fall, which might have put you under his wheels. That of course would make him an even bigger a. Hole, as when I first read your post I thought you had passed already, now I'm not sure. this has been bugging you for a while hasn't it? You've been trying to figure out if you did something wrong. Well I don't think you did. Carry a big rock, and learn how to throw it accurately like a baseball. That's all I'm saying. ? No, I'm just kidding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerbera Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Yeah I agree with @Smoother. That's just a twat in a car. Ignore these people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Eisenman Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 Horn was way before..on eye contact. Yeah, I typically ride into traffic when the shoulder is wide enough for the same reasons. In the summer an event of opposite attraction occurred in that Town. A girl walking with other friends hiked up her skirt as we both used the crosswalk, going in opposite directions. What do you say? Let's stop here and talk! Or I'm over 60 and can't stop ? Or, nice legs ? Well, the horn blow brought me back to a reality of opposites not attracting. Don't worry. I'm over it. I was wondering if other EUC riders go against traffic at times. You answered that one. I thought this might serve as a caution to other riders when a preferred route is not used and a higher risk route is chosen. Maybe it was a home owning Pope'mobile (retiree's talk Catholic stuff at McD's a mile away) getting too strict about an unusual site in home turf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Eisenman Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 The girl was in a three some. About as old as Camila Cabelo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Eisenman Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 Although the Camila Cabello type I passed was funto watch I much more enjoy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 6 hours ago, Bob Eisenman said: A girl walking with other friends hiked up her skirt as we both used the crosswalk, going in opposite directions. Lucky! I hope you played the lotto that day, that was a lucky day That girl playing bass is double gifted, musically and physically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Back on topic, same lane use is not a good idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbfrese Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 8 hours ago, Bob Eisenman said: A girl walking with other friends hiked up her skirt as we both used the crosswalk, going in opposite directions. I had to check who was posting this when I came to this part. I thought it had to be@Hunka Hunka Burning Love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 13 hours ago, Bob Eisenman said: The car , and I on the EUC, passed with a comfortable separating distance (in my opinion). However, upon initial visual recognition of each other in broad daylight and with no other cars in sight the driver of the car sounded his horn continuously. This happened to me a few weeks ago, except I was riding in the direction of the traffic, NOT the opposing lane. The street was COMPLETELY EMPTY and I was riding a few inches from the edge of the street, probably closer to the edge than a cyclist would ride, absolutely as far over as possible. This jerk comes driving behind me blowing his horn. Bear in mind if he thought I was in his way (which I was not), there was zero traffic, so he could easily swerve into the other lane for a few seconds to go around me. That was one of the very few times I have been angry at a motorist while riding my wheel. I almost gave him the finger but decided against it as it might make a bad situation worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 14 hours ago, Bob Eisenman said: Better to have not switched into the opposing lane ? I sometimes ride briefly in the opposing lane for visibility reasons (for example, if wind noise is making it hard for me to hear cars coming from behind, riding in the opposing lane I can see the cars coming towards me). Another reason I sometimes briefly ride in the opposing lane is when I have a left turn coming up. If there is an opening in the traffic, I cross over early so I'm sure I won't be blocked by the traffic stream at the point of my actual turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Eisenman Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 EXACTLY: As MaxLinux said : "Another reason I sometimes briefly ride in the opposing lane is when I have a left turn coming up. If there is an opening in the traffic, I cross over early so I'm sure I won't be blocked by the traffic stream at the point of my actual turn." AND REGARDING: "Carry a big rock, and learn how to throw it accurately like a baseball. " I thought I was the only person with that in mind. The consequences of causing vehicle damage (however small) in response to a confrontation and potential fight response were considered long before that day and shelved as a bad idea in the 'eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth' world of thinking. I'd like to ride again in the area where the incident occurred. Causing damage to a passing car might permanently void the idea of riding through the area again. I suppose that it's possible that being seen crossing a double yellow line into opposing traffic 'amplifies' the drivers decision to sound his horn at length. The gross weight of the car vs the EUC is intimidating. Years ago, a friend said that ever since he bought a large pickup truck to drive, his incidences of 'confrontational traffic' against him declined to zero, since he drove a potentially greater vehicular threat with larger size and weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Maybe its the culture but in my last visit into China. Cars often beep when passing anything on the road. Not to beep you for the sake of beeping you, but to beep to let you know that they are there and are about to pass you. This might be the case here or it might not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frode Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 His honk surely was just a greeting, so smile and wave back. If he for some obscure reason honked out of anger, well, that smile and wave back will make his day. (...maybe a self driving car is something for him, because self driving cars don't honk in such situations...or do they?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I'm on the side of the driver. You were going the wrong way for that part of the road. If you are going on the road it should be with the flow of traffic. There is more time for the driver to pick you up and it is kind of what a driver would expect. He knows which side to pass on etc. If things go wrong the closing speed is less and there is more possibility for avoiding action. If you see a vehicle coming at you on your side of the road there are more computations to be done. Like what the f.. is that thing doing, coming towards me, which way do I go. In my case as a driver I would probably stop as I wouldn't have certainty over the actual trajectory of this weird device The biggest single issue with EUC's is that they don't mix well with cars. Jer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 9 hours ago, dbfrese said: I had to check who was posting this when I came to this part. I thought it had to be@Hunka Hunka Burning Love. Aw I wish! Too cold here to be hiking any skirts up in minus 18 C weather. Regarding the OP's original question, I wouldn't ride on the side of the road towards oncoming traffic. Even on a bicycle it just doesn't seem right. If I'm driving a car, and someone on a bike is coming towards me on the side it's just a little unnerving for some reason. Maybe it's due to the possibility that they might veer into you faster than the other direction? On a small, non-busy road with little traffic it probably isn't a huge deal as long as everyone has enough room, but travelling against the direction of the road probably isn't a great idea in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 2 hours ago, jer said: The biggest single issue with EUC's is that they don't mix well with cars. like with bicycles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z3n Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Agreed with @Chuts here, I believe it is more culture related. The more developed countries people tend to honk less their horn unless it was for other intentions of course. Like here in Indonesia, we are already used to honk sounds so that we even take it as one kind of entertainment. That "OM TELOLET OM" trending topic on twitter is a good example. It was actually about some trumpet-custom made bus honking sounds started from almost every corner of the streets here in Indonesia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 3 hours ago, Chuts said: Maybe its the culture but in my last visit into China. Cars often beep when passing anything on the road. Not to beep you for the sake of beeping you, but to beep to let you know that they are there and are about to pass you. This might be the case here or it might not. That is the rule on bike trails, if you are going to pass someone from behind you are supposed to give a warning, like "passing on the left" It seems like a good idea with cars, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerbera Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 5 hours ago, steve454 said: That is the rule on bike trails, if you are going to pass someone from behind you are supposed to give a warning, like "passing on the left" It seems like a good idea with cars, too. The difference is that someone saying 'Passing on the left' isn't as surprising and jump-making as a car that suddenly sounds its horn from behind you. Even if it's a light, short blast, it can still make a rider jump, and that is not good for anyone's safety, or heart rate. I think cars should just pass us like they would a bike. And if we go on public roads, we should go with the flow of traffic, and have a way of seeing behind us without having to turn our heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Eisenman Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 On 1/6/2017 at 1:01 PM, Smoother said: the operator sent me a snap of your mystery admirer She looks a little like America Paz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetricUSA Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Pure road hog, doesn't like sharing, doesn't matter if your coming or going or on a bike, the guys an idiot. I do go in opposite directions at night, screw them, there have been several times I could have been hit if I didn't see them coming and from behind! Roadhogs, cellphone user... I still have bruised wrist from the on coming 'drunk' coming straight at me doing only 15 km/h (he had two lanes to use) and I had a large snow mount next to me no where to go! They have to give you a meter distance no matter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 On 09/01/2017 at 10:26 PM, Bob Eisenman said: She looks a little like America Paz man, they are pretty badass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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