Conference noted::bicycle

>    and I'm not sure what more I can do about it (already cycle with
>    caution, wear a helmut, was wearing a day-glow tee shirt...). I've
>    never seen such selfishness, discourtesy and lack of care for
>    human existence as I see here on the roads of Massachusetts. 
    
    You can try moving to New Hampshire.  It won't entirely solve
    your problem, but compared to Mass., people are a little more
    courteous up here.  I imagine that over the next ten years
    Southern N.H. will be pretty much the same as I've seen
    dramatic increases in the numbers of cars and accidents on
    the back roads that I ride.
    
    What we can and should do is to create legislation to educate
    drivers.  People who drive and don't bike have no sympathy
    for us because they have never had to cope with our unique
    problems (getting across the road without a steel frame 
    surrounding you and your bike).
    
    Unfortunately, gestures and the like won't change anything, and,
    in fact, some weirdo's actually get-off on watching you carry on
    about how they almost hit you.  
    
    I'm in favor of a state-by-state write in campaign.  There's got
    to be a lot of clout in thousands of signatures appearing on some
    congressman's(woman's) desk.  
    						Jerry

    Drivers aren't the only ones that need education. Today I almost
    nailed a cyclist at an intersection. I had the green light this
    fool comes roaring up to the light looks RIGHT and then looks left
    while I had locked up all four wheels. I don't know if he heard
    the squeal and looked or if he always looks left last. I'll agree
    we all have stories about coming close to getting nailed while riding
    and educating drivers is a major step in the right direction. But,
    it's idiots like the one I saw today that give the rest of us a
    bad name. BTW for all of the good it would have done to get hit
    broadside he did have a helmet on.
     One thing I did was write a letter to Atlanta Gas Light ( natural
    gasutility co) about on of there drivers. I was going downhill about
    25MPH where I had right of way. the driver was at a stop sign to
    my right and waited until I was close then pulled out looking me
    dead in the eyes and laughing while I had to grap the brakes.He
    then sped off. But, on my way home I saw him and his truck, memorized
    his tag #. Knowing how paranoid public utility companies are I wrote
    them a letter and asked why one of there employees would terrorize
    a local citizen. From there response I don't think he will do that
    anymore. Sure he probably still laughs about it but, I doubt he
    tries that again. How do you do this for someone in there own car?
    I don't know,short of being armed. Maybe education is the key. Maybe
    with some education we'll never need Spike Bike.

    
    First, my sincere empathy with .0 - I know how frightening that
    can be.  I'm glad you weren't hurt or killed.
    
    Second, company vehicle drivers as in .-1 are indeed vulnerable to 
    complaints from the public.  As to private vehicles, I've on a
    couple of occasions asked nearby police or sheriff officers, and
    they said, sure, if you file a complaint - which generally causes
    you more trouble and exposure than the defendent, in such cases.
    
    Finally, I think you have to start with upbringing - *real* early -
    upbringing that teaches you to respect other humans (not a new idea,
    just forgotten), and to be *rational* when it counts (rather than
    indulging in wishful thinking or needless risk as to what might be
    around a blind curve).
    
    Professional drivers, and professionally trained ones, *never* cross
    the center line on a blind curve.  Never.  This is certainly true in
    Britain, where narrow, curvy roads make it especially inviting to do so.
    (That is, it is true of the trained drivers in Britain.)
    
    In Britain, there is also a "Drive to Survive" programme you can take,
    based on the training given to law enforcement officials - sort of
    "Defensive Driving Plus..." - you get to know the limits of your 
    vehicle and the constraints of Newtonian physics by pushing those
    limits on the road in controlled circumstances.
    
    I'm tempted to put in some tirade about the objectifying violence
    of American television, but won't go into that social conditioning
    here...  for now, you do your best to be Careful, and to be Noticed
    ... and you hope.  Good luck.
    
    -john

    I have to agree about education.  But, I think it needs to be education
    on ALL sides.  Some of the things I see bicyclists do ARE INCREDIBLE!
    
    I routinely see other bicyclists run stop signs at high speeds without
    making ANY attempt to check and be under control.  
    
    The same thing for red lights.  I have seen riders many times approach
    a light at high speed (minimum 20+ MPH), ride past a line of waiting
    cars, MAYBE look to the side, and run the light!  
    
    Even worse, last Sunday my wife and I were sitting at a red light.  We
    were the first car in line.  A female cyclist came up on our right,
    which my wife saw.  As the light changed I was looking at my wife and
    saw a flash of green out of the corner of my eye coming along the
    inside of the lane.  As she started to pull through the light a guy
    flew through ON THE LEFT (inside of the lane), and CUT RIGHT across the
    front of the car and turned right.  Had I not yelled at my wife, we and
    the bike would BOTH have been in the middle of the intersection at the
    same time.  Guarenteed.  He never even acknowledged his action.  His
    hands were not even on the brake levers!!!!!!!!  The guy is EXTREMELY
    fortunate my wife was driving as she is a VERY slow person coming off a
    light.  I definitely would have been in a position where he would have
    collided with me.
    
    So, when some jerk in a car does something irrational or stupid... just
    think about some of the things you've seen riders do.

    Re .3 (British drivers):
    
    It would be suicidal to cross the centre line to cut a corner in
    Britain. The traffic density is high, and anyone doing this even a few
    times would soon be involved in an accident. Most hassle I have with
    cycling here simply comes as a result of high traffic density, drivers
    are rarely malicious or really bad. Sometimes they just don't see you,
    sometimes they don't give you enough room, sometimes they pull out
    because they don't appreciate how fast cyclists can travel (cyclist =
    dead slow).
    
    
    Re .4 (bad cyclists):
    
    I couldn't agree more about this. Very many cyclists routinely ignore
    red lights and other traffic regulations. They give us a bad name.
    
    
    Rod

    
    	Last December 4th, I was riding across the overpass at Exit 4
    	in Nashua (nice weather that day). I was cut off by a large
    	truck. The problem was, he couln't go anywhere because of
    	the traffic and a red light. He still cut me off so that
    	I had to jump off the bike. Farther down the road, I saw
    	him again. Of course, he doesn't know I got his license
    	number, sent a letter to the Nude Hampster DMV, and received
    	a reply in return. They said they keep track of things like
    	this. If it occurs enough times, they can act (he was
    	driving a commercial truck owned by some catholic church
    	in Manchester).
    
    	One week ago today, Paul (an engineer here in LJ02) and
    	I were riding in. Some fella pulled out of a side street
    	on Rte 40 near Forge Village and knocked him off his bike.
    	Luckily, the man had to stop for a stop sign (and right or
    	left turn) and Paul had slowed way down when he saw the
    	car. Paul said the guy looked right at him, so Paul proceeded
    	forward, at which time the car hit his front wheel. Little
    	damage to Paul, $100+ to bike. The man stopped; we got his
    	name. He agreed to pay for the damage. I had pulled ahead of
    	Paul some; when I looked back, I was real scared, probably
    	more than Paul was.
    
    	Of course, you got to remember, Mass drivers act like and drive
    	like they own the road.
    
    	Scott

    As far as the question of whether the roads have become less safe
    in the past couple years - I would definitely say yes.  I remember
    5 years ago - nobody wore a helmet when cycling.  But nowadays,
    I would be scared to death to go out riding without one.  I also
    remember all the backroads that I used to go riding on.  My friend
    and I would ride side by side and talk for miles on end without
    a car passing.  Now these roads are all lined with houses now, and 
    also full of cars.  Sometimes I think the "highways" are safer places
    to ride than some of these back roads just for the fact that they
    are a little wider.
    
    But I also have to agree with some of the other comments about poor
    cyclists on the road.  Cycling is a trendy thing this year.  I can't
    count how many cyclists I see all decked out in cycling garb on
    their K-Mart bikes - paying no attention to the rules of the road.
    In fact, I almost put a note in here the other day about these cyclists
    - since I almost killed a couple during my commute home from work
    - I was in my car and these people were doing stupid things like
    running red lights, not stopping at stop signs, and riding on the
    wrong side of the road.  These riders almost make me appreciate
    the kids on BMX bikes.
    
    	-Nancy

    I know I'll be attacked on this one but...I feel less comfortable
    riding with packs of racers in training.  When training in a pack,
    I have witnessed numerous rules of the road violations, especially
    stop signs and red lights.  I think this is to prove that they
    can do x miles per hour average.  They should realize that it
    would be a better workout (and safer) to obey the signs and use
    it as interval training.        
    
    steve

    I think education needs to go on for both sides (drivers and bikes).  
    
    I don't feel comfortable on club bike rides.  When we have 8 people 
    in a paceline it causes all sorts of traffic headaches and it's hard to
    relax.  
    
    I think three riders is the optimal number for a training ride.  If
    you're by yourself, cars cut you no slack at all and they don't like to
    give you much space.  Two people seems to irritate drivers, especially
    when one person drops back to let the other lead. Three people commands
    some respect from drivers and they will give you a little room to work
    with.
    
    I've noticed a lot of aggressive drivers lately.  Drivers seem to be
    fed up with all the cyclists on the road for some reason.  I absolutely
    hate it when a car blasts its horn behind you to let you know it's
    going to pass.  There are lots of people who don't know how to deal
    with bikes either.  They'll follow behind you at 20 mph afraid to pass
    and when they finally do, they swing waaaayyy to the left.
    
    Cyclists have to share in the blame too.  I stop at all red lights and
    most stop signs (unless there's no traffic).  But .8 is right because
    I've ridden with lots of people who like to blast through intersections
    just to keep the speed up.  In group rides lots of times riders
    continue to ride two abreast even after someone yells "car back."  We,
    as cyclists have to show respect for the drivers if we want to get any
    respect back.
    
    One other thing I've learned is not to "flip the bird" to any A-hole
    who harrasses you as they pass.  They seem to enjoy pissing you off and
    it probably encourages them to it again.  The best thing to do is
    ignore them.  Of course this takes a lot of self-control and my left
    hand often springs up instinctively, but I'm working on it ;-).
    

Not only are the roads less safe, but the public increasingly 
believes that cyclists should not be on the roads.  This may be a 
chicken and egg situation, but we are losing the battle.  More and 
more cities, states and even national parks have banned bicycles.

Not to preach, but if we don't fight the situation we WILL lose the
fight.  Local clubs and advocacy groups, such as the Boston Area
Bicycle Coalition in MA, need help and must do legislative effort as
well as riding.  

On a National front, the League of American Wheelmen needs more 
members and more activists.

Not to offend anyone, but action is needed, it's in only our hands.

	~Mike

    Facts, please!  What city, state or national park has actually
    banned bikes?

    Glacier National  Park (in the U.S., it's a hundred miles south of
    Canada's  Glacier  National  Park)  prohibits bicycles on the only
    North-South  road  in  the  park  between  11 am and 4 pm. We rode
    through from South to North, and had to camp just outside the park
    so we could get in before they closed the road to us (there are no
    campsites  available  if  you  come in afterwards), and then get a
    very  early  start  the next morning to get over the "Going to the
    Sun highway" before we were kicked off.

    I beleive  that Shenandoah National Forest (Virginia) is making it
    more difficult to use the Blue Ridge Parkway.  

--David

    Parts of  Vineyard Haven (Martha's Vineyard, MA) don't allow bikes
    on  city streets, and New York City toyed with a bike ban, but ran
    into a lot of opposition and dropped it.

--David

    Reported in the news this morning that South Fulton County (just
    south of Atlanta) police will start ticketing bicyclist that don't
    obey traffic laws. Seems local citizens have made many many complaints
    about cyclists disobeying traffic laws. This time of year in this
    area, it's kinda flat, there are many cyclist. One local T.V. station
    had pictures of cyclist riding three and four abreast, one rider
    passing left of the DOUBLE yellow line cars stopped for a red light.
    This should educate a few bikers.

    re:- various notes
    
    Mention was made in previous replies about the problems with blind
    corners.  Not that it makes any difference, but this particular
    intersection was void of trees, fences, etc.  It was as open as the
    mid-west.  The last two days I've been riding through the Stow and
    Boylston area.  It seems to have much less auto traffic on the back
    roads than Northboro.
    
    The past two years I've been a cycle after work kind of rider.  Does
    anyone get up early and ride before work?  What is the traffic/safety
    like in the early hours?
    
    I've had a similar feeling to that of a previous note regarding riding
    on more major roads.  There is usually a shoulder, but the continuous
    noise and odor is less than relaxing.

    sorry but my personal experience doesn't concur with the .10 and other
    replies. cycling and may i say some of the best in the world is alive
    and well in sunny california, and may i add, all year round. With no
    restrictions worth noting to my knowledge.I think the author of .10 is
    rather myopic. So, "Go West Young Man".

>    Facts, please!  What city, state or national park has actually
>    banned bikes?

OK

 City:
    Bikes cannot be riden in Downtown Crossing (Boston).  They
    had been planning to restrict bikes period, but the BABC talked
    them into only restricting bike riding (i.e. you can still walk
    your bike).

 State: (really MDC)
    Bicycles on the Paul Dudley White bike paths are not allowed
    to go on the outer islands of the Esplanade.

 National Park:
    Bicycles are no longer allowed on the Mt Washington Auto road.
    It used to be open all the time, but there were too many
    problems, so they limited it to the once a year race.  Last time
    the race was held, there too many high-speed left of center decents,
    so the next race has been indefinitly postponed.

There are more.  This is just one example of each.

-Jeff Bell

    RE .15 - AM riding
    
    
    When I ride into work, I leave between 6:30 and 7:00, getting here
    around 7:00-7:30.  Granted the traffic is lighter than during the
    commute home, but it's still bad.  What's teh absolute worst is
    the drivers who haven't made it to Dunkin Donuts, so there cafeine
    less, and ready to drive over anything that stands between them
    and their cup of coffee.
    
    Even when I leave my house prior to 6:00 to get to an early AM aerobics
    class, the people out driving at that hour are absolutely crazy.
    Granted the trafic is very light, but the drivers are more apt to
    cut you off and run red lights.  Who knows why.
    
    	-Nancy
    
    BTW, Downtown crossing Boston disallowed all wheeled vehicles (as
    in skateboards, roller skates, etc.) Not just bicycles.  With the
    size of the area, adn the amount of pedestrians, I kind of support
    the idea.
    
    

    re: .18
    >
> National Park:
>    Bicycles are no longer allowed on the Mt Washington Auto road.
>    It used to be open all the time, but there were too many
>    problems, so they limited it to the once a year race.  Last time
>    the race was held, there too many high-speed left of center decents,
>    so the next race has been indefinitly postponed.
    
    I was in the race last year and heard of no reports of any such "high
    speed descents". I just received and sent in my entry form for this
    year's race - September 17th. They either did not apply for or did not
    receive USCF sanctioning this year. The field limit is 325 riders.
    
    re: where are bikes banned:
    
    Boston Public Garden (the place where the Swan Boats are, not where the
    Bruins fight).
    
    Lincoln, Mass. tried limiting bikes to designated bike paths, where
    such paths exeisted, several (10-15) years ago. They dropped it, but
    I'm not sure why. It may have had to do with the fact that their bike
    paths, while very nice as sidewalks, were inadequate as bike paths,
    having poor visibility around corners, and many pedestrians.
    
    A large part of the problem surrounding bicycles and bicyclists
    surrounds peoples attitudes: to most adults, bicycles are a toy used by
    children. They takes steps to restrict their use as if they were
    dealing with children. 
    
    On the other hand, cyclists can be their own worst enemy. I was driving
    on Rte. 2A in Lexington the other day when a group of around 50
    cyclists - complete with all the mandatory bike dude stuff: helemts
    with mirrors, reflective do-das, etc. - were blocking automobile
    traffic. They were crossing the road, leaving a bike trail/path, to
    continue on the designated bike path along a side street. They were in
    the wrong because: 1) they did not yield to the auto traffic; and 2)
    since they were riding, they were not, legally, pedestrians. I sat
    there, waiting, imagining that every last one of these riders felt
    confident that he was doing the right thing, but ignorant as to the
    legality of the situation, and inconsiderate with regard to the
    convenience of the motorists. 

    
    RE: .17 or .18
    
    Isn't the Mt. Washington auto road a private road?  (I don't think
    it's a national park.)
    
    I ride morning and evening... and am a bit edgier with drivers' 
    condition pre-caffeine (especially at five minutes before the hour,
    when they're about to be late and tick off their boss) than at 
    one-for-the-road getting off time.  But it's a close call.
    
    I for one like 10am, the rush hour for software engineers.  :-)
    The roads are pretty free and clear!
    
    -john

  >					  What's teh absolute worst is
  >  the drivers who haven't made it to Dunkin Donuts, so there cafeine
  >  less, and ready to drive over anything that stands between them
  >  and their cup of coffee.
    
  I too drive by a Dunkin Donuts shop on my commute in. It is the most
dangerous spot on my commute. As I ride past the entrance, I traveling at
20mph, cars try to pass me to get to the entrance in front of me. They realize
too late how fast I'm going, pick up speed to pass me and cut me off while
pulling into the parking lot at 40mph.

This is what I do to make it through this section

1) Ride straight and predictable as close as I can to the break down line. This
gives me some room to the right for evasive action. I also get cut off less
riding out from the curb more.

2) Ride with my hands on the brake hoods. Be ready! We spend alot of time
trying to go faster, how much do you spend on learning to stop fast!!! Practice
stopping as fast as you can. Learn to use the front brake, it can save your
life.

3) Don't assume they see you. Be alert! I yell a lot, "HEY"! and then smile 
and wave. This p's some people off, but its better than being run over.

4) STAY ALIVE the car has the right of way due to the law of physics, not the
law of the road. Most Mass drivers know this law more than the state laws.

I used to ride a motorcycle and I can tell you it was just as bad on the
streets for them.

Tom

PS I was riding home one night when I saw another bike rider coming towards me
on the same side on the road.(she was going into the traffic) I told
her,"You're on the wrong side." She replied with,"F___-you". Now she was
riding a nice bike with a helmet and garb, I apparently mistook her for a 
bicyclist. I felt like turning around flattening her.  I can put up with
discourteous drivers of cars but not other riders. Oh well her loss.  
    

    	Last year I had a close call with a woman motorist on 101A in
    	Nashua. She didn't realize how fast I was going and made a
    	right turn in front of me, cutting me off. I stopped and gave
    	her a piece of my mind. She acted like I was the problem.
    	I told her drivers like her killed cyclists like me, and that
    	I didn't like it.
    
    	What makes me the maddest is when some idiot in an air-conditoned
    	car, who is doing nothing more than turning the wheel and pushing
    	the accelerator pedal, cuts off some cyclist who is obviously
    	working fairly hard during a ride. Waiting for a second or two
    	wouldn't hurt them a bit.
    
    	Scott

>    	Last year I had a close call with a woman motorist on 101A in
>    	Nashua. She didn't realize how fast I was going and made a
>    	right turn in front of me, cutting me off. I stopped and gave
>    	her a piece of my mind. She acted like I was the problem.

Sounds REAL familiar, except that I got hit with this maneuver in MD 
about 5 years ago, and the lady just drove off! Fortunately another 
motorist cut her off with her car after she saw the lady leaving the 
scene. Thank you, other motorist. We exchanged some interesting 
pleasantries, including having her tell me that she didn't think I was 
moving (AT ALL! More like 18-19 mph...) and she had some interesting 
reason why she just drove off (didn't think she had hurt me?). A real 
fruitcake, that one.
                                          ken

< Note 1278.24 by SUSHI::KMACDONALD "Is there life after drywall?" >
              -< checked brain before getting behind the wheel? >-

If you notice that when walking down the halls in DEC facilities, that a group 
of people will take up the entire hallway and not move over for people coming 
the other way, its not hard to understand that motorists give no consideration 
to cyclists.  Hell, they (motorists) give no consideration to each other.

I guess we just live in a world of inconsiderate, discourteous people :^(

Fortunately, there are exceptions.

    re. -1
>I guess we just live in a world of inconsiderate, discourteous people :^(

    Since were discussing personalities at this point, what about
    Bike Snobs ?   This is the person on a bike coming at you from
    the other direction (on the correct side of the road unlike
    Tom D's experience with the animal) who you drop a hand to
    or just a friendly nod and they blow right by with out so much
    as an acknowledgemtent.  One of the things I like about bikeing
    is that *most* bikies are real friendly and like to exchange
    information on the sport.  I find a lot of the younger, elite riders
    (racers) get this macho thing that its wimpy to say HI.  I have 
    had an experience of a guy, obviously proud of the fact that he
    single handedly caught and passed a pace line I was riding in 
    and then took a deep pull on his water bottle and spit in the
    road right in front of the pack before heading off again.  Theres
    no excuse for this type of disgusting behavior and your right
    Kevin, it stems from people just being down right discourteous
    to other people.  Unfortunately, most of this stuff starts in
    the schools, so what were talking about is changing our educational
    foundation so that people make a difference in the future, not
    just bicyclists.
     END_OF_SOAP_BOX
    						_Jerry

	I've been cycling around the New England area for about 5
	years now and I guess I'm more fortunate than most because
	I haven't encountered any malicious nor discourteous behavior
	from motorists.  I have encountered some ignorance about
	how to share the road with cyclists and poor judgment which
	I think could alleviated by increasing the awareness of BOTH 
	motorists and cyclists.

	I continuously encounter motorists who are courteous and helpful 
	when I'm on the road.   The first time this happened I thought it 
	was an anomalgy...but it keeps happening.  For instance, I'll be
	waiting at a stop sign to cross a busy intersection that has no
	stop sign for thru traffic and motorists stop to let me get accross,
	afew times I've stopped to check my maps to figure out where I am and 
	people have stopped to see if I'm lost and need help,  I've even had 
	people stop to see if I needed help when I'm changing a flat.  I DO 
	stop for all red lights and stop signs (even if there is no oncoming
	traffic) and I've had motorists who had the green light wave me 
	across because there was no oncoming traffic and they wanted to *help*
	by letting me cross without having to wait for the light to change.  

	I've also been cut off by cars, hooted and howled at, and had motorists
	driving too close for my comfort but again my impression was that 
	these individuals were just oblivious and unaware of cyclists.

	At least for me, the percentage of courteous and helpful motorists
	far exceeds the percentage of jerks that I've encountered and I
	hope it stays that way!


					Laura
	
	

    Seems to me that there are just lots of bad drivers out there-
    poeple who don't know what a turn signal or mirror is for (they
    should optional- that way you'd know if people were going to use 
    'em or not!). 
    
    The average driver barely acknowledges the fact that there are other
    CARS on the raod with him/her, let alone pedestrians, runners, or
    cyclists. You don't have to be an athlete who needs roads to train
    on to understand why driving requirs your full attention- there are
    many other things that can cause accidents. The resposibility of the 
    driver is to be aware of his/her surroundings!
    
    Of course, when drivers demonstrate their inability to do that, you 
    must assume the worst from them. Don't assume that they see you, or
    that they will help you out in any way...
    
    The biggest joke that I have seen so far is an article here in the 
    Littleton paper that described "noon-time exercisers from High Tech
    companies" (who could that be?) as a health risk to local drivers.
    Too much! I wish I had a buck for every time I've been forced off the
    road while running in Littleton, by a driver who could safely give me
    a lot of room...
    
    Sorry, I'll relinquish the soap box now...
    
    Ed

   I try to drive in the areas I cycle to help me understand what 
   motorists face there.  Then when I cycle, I try to remember
   what I felt as a motorist, and find myself more able to manage problems 
   when they occur.
  
   For instance, I commute from Cambridge to Littleton. I expect problems
   at the entrance to Hanscom AFB and in Concord center, and plan on extra 
   care there, doing a little philosophic pre-work: 'you may be right: but 
   dead right; we're all trying to get someplace the best we can; breathe 
   deep (keeps the adrenalin manageable); mistakes happen;' (etc.) to prime 
   myself to handle unexpected events.

   I follow most traffic rules (when safe to do so!), taking special care in 
   tough or unknown areas, and drive defensively. I can usually maintain a 20 
   mph average pace, and it takes about 1.5 hours to do the 29 miles each way. 

   This morning, I encountered more courtesy than normal - people giving me
   the right of way in Belmont Center, waiting for me to get through some
   hairy intersections in towns along the way (including Hanscom AFB), and 
   cyclists waving hellos.  Days like today make me want to cycle every day.

   I know there are bum cyclists and motorists out there, but I try to focus 
   on the good ones, and keep them in mind when I'm riding.  I'm quite 
   capable of being a lousey rider, but I figure that only a good example
   of assertive/defensive riding will help improve things.  

   (PS: I do avoid Dunkin Donuts parking lots at all costs!).

     I live in Gardner, Ma and cycle in the general vicinity of Barre,
    Templeton, Ashburnham, Baldwinville, Winchendon, etc... My only
    bad experiences are with people in Gardner. I am bitter because
    I do make a sincere effort to be courteous and follow the traffic
    laws, but my encounters with the motorists are the ones that are
    total @#$%@#$%!!!! It seems the only ones that bother me are the
    ones that weigh almost as much as the car they're in and always
    have a butt hanging out of their mouths. I even got one to stop
    his car after an exchange. I was saying hail Mary's hoping he'd
    get out, but he didn't.
    
     Both sides carry bad apples, no contesting that fact. But considering
    some slob is sitting behind 3000lbs. of iron and here is the cyclist
    with no protection and capable of generating a fraction of the horse-
    power... Pardon me, but I can't see any confusion as to where a
    line should be drawn. Death to the jerks, imbiciles, rude, comatose,
    moronic vegetables who consider us lower life forms!!
    
    
     Chip

A simple rule I learned a long time ago seems to keep me out of trouble. 
This rule seems to work for biking, driving, hunting, work, you name it:  
Assume that everyone else in the area is a complete, unadulterated, totally 
beyond all hope dumb-ass.  That way you are always on the defensive and never 
expect an idiot to use what you would consider "common sense."

A lot of people disagree with this philosophy but I haven't been hit by a 
car or shot yet...

Scott

    re: .30
    
    Yes, but Chip, you gotta understand that Gardner motorists are rude to
    EVERYONE, including other motorists.  Last week I was in my auto and
    got passed _on the right_, _in the breakdown lane_, but a carful of
    idiots going about 65 on route 68.  They ran the red light at the 
    intersection of 2A also.  Since Gardner police protection is an
    oxymoron, just get out of town as fast as you can!
    
    Elaine

    Which days of the week are best and worst?
    
    I'd vote for Friday after work as being the absolute worst.
    Last Friday on the way home I saw a truck harass the car in front of it
    at an intersection by pushing on its bumper several times forcing it
    into the middle of RT 20.  Traffic coming from both directions on RT 20
    had to come to a screeching halt to avoid broadsiding this poor car.
    
    Sunday mornings are often calm on the roads.
    

Re .33
        
    > Sunday mornings are often calm on the roads.
    
    
    Just as long as you don't get in the way of those churchgoers who
    are running late. . .
    
    

< Note 1278.33 by CURIE::HUPPERT >
                          -< best days; worst days? >-

>    Last Friday on the way home I saw a truck harass the car in front of it
>    at an intersection by pushing on its bumper several times forcing it
>    into the middle of RT 20.  Traffic coming from both directions on RT 20
>    had to come to a screeching halt to avoid broadsiding this poor car.
    
I wonder if anyone reported this to the police?

    	RE: 1278.33
    
    	There's a story in CARBUFFS about one of the buffers
    	coming to a toll booth where some old man (aka hat)
    	is fumbling around for money, etc. Said buffer was
    	driving a large truck. He says the clutch was slipping,
    	but we know the truth 8-)> He pushed the guy through
    	the booth and out the other side.
    
    	I'll agree, though, with your assessment. That's the reason
    	I didn't ride in today. Traffic is usually bad here
    	in MA/NH. It's terrible, though, on Friday evenings.
    
    	Best time is early in the morning, especially Sunday.
    
    	Scott

    The best mornings for riding are mother's day and Thanksgiving
    and Christmas if it's warm.
    
    ed

    Reprinted with out permission
    
     I got this from "FreeWheelin'" (local club newsletter)
    From "bicycle Spoke 'n News of Triad Wheelers Bicycle Club of
    Greensboro, NC (they got the statistics from "Streetwise Cycling: A
    Guide to Safe Bicycling in North Carolina).
     It is a disturbing fact that 75% of all bike/motor vechile accidents
    are the fault of the cyclist. This does mean however, that we can
    prevent this 75% by careful cycling.
    
    10% cyclist cyclist ingores stop sign
    45% no lights on bike at night
    20% cyclist rides against traffic
    10% car pull in gront of bike
    20% car turns in front of bike
                 

    Re: .38 on bicycle accident statistics...
    
    I'd like to point out that the percentages listed add up
    to 105%.  I saw 30% that were "car turns in front of bike"
    or "car pulls in front of bike".... but yes, the bicycle-
    problems add up to 75%.  
    
    Typographical error, maybe?
    
                                  - Ed -

    Re: .39
    
     I also noticed the % add up to 105% but, the typo isn't mine. Maybe
    next month "FreeWheelin'" will have rev 1.

    
    Unless the information was present as a brakedown of CAUSES of
    accidents then the %'s are not addable (is that a word).  They are
    simply say that X% of cyclists don't do this or that.  The %'s are 
    independent of each other.
    
                  Tim B.
    
    (Though I am not a statistician - disclaimer)
    

    Also, some accidents could have more than one cause.  This would
    make the numbers add up to more than 100%.