How You Ride May Affect Others, Not Necessarily You
Bottom line, my behavior on the roads will impact a driver. Either negatively or positively. And that will influence how that particular driver may handle/perceive cyclists in the future, near or far.
Please, we must remember this. That it's not all about 'me'.
As we were nearing the end of our 4.5 hr ride today, something bad almost happened.
We were doing 'laps', about 35 mile loops. This type of route had us criss-crossing several of the local 'groups' in the area. I'm very familiar with many of these. They're not super structured, and have many different levels inside the same little pack of 15-30 riders, depending on the particular group. I've ridden with them at different times, tho not a regular by any means because I like to be almost done by the time they're just warming up. And, of course, there are a few that think they own the road.
I say that last part just to be 'fair' to the individual whose irrational behavior is totally inexcusable.
With about 20-30' left, we rolled up on some local roads that had some of Gwinnett's finest blocking both sides of traffic, hands on holsters, shouting at a guy in a pickup truck. This was mere seconds after we ran across a couple of riders who were actively on the phone with those cops, telling them their experience. They were still close enough that they could verify that the pickup up & driver was the same that had just pulled over, got out of the truck and brandished a handgun at them while yelling obscenities at them. Basically, he passes these 2 riders, drives up ahead and pulls over. As they continue riding towards him, he gets out with gun, and starts approaching them as they roll up in his direction.
His story...a group (which we had just seen maybe 5 minutes before all this) had irritated this guy by hogging the road, maybe running a stop sign, not sure exactly what, if any, offense.
And, therefore, 2 innocent people were threatened, almost assaulted. Aggravated by the group, apparently he took it out on the next available.
(We got our info from the guy that was on the phone with the police. Yes, he was one of the 2 riders)
So, back to my original point. NOTHING condones what the dude did. And, I'm willing to bet that people like this will do this stuff no matter how we ride. BUT, it is our responsibility to behave in a manner that may, MAY, help the next cyclist. Cuz, we'll never know. We'll be long gone when it happens.
Yep, that's how the ride ended. And, it started at 6 am. When 15 minutes into it, some truck slides by us, then somehow runs off the road just in front of us and takes out the 8' tall street sign, runs completely over it, off roading, and never stopped. Just kept going. The event at the end had me almost totally forget about the event at the beginning!
Wow, watta day.
Comments
There are so many people just not paying attention and if they are paying attention they may not like what you are doing...
I think your point is well taken.
In addition, to have a little peace of mind in case something crazy bad happens, I set up an aid station.
The night before, I lock a cooler to a convenient but hidden spot on the lap route. Gallon jug of Perform, gels, chamois creme, cold water, stuff like that. And, have a sling bag with run gear and replacement bike flat repair stuff locked to the same lil tree.
So, safety cuz I'm close'ish to home, refuel capabilities, transition stuff for running, and reload tubes/CO2 if needed.
Works out pretty well.