Whew what a day. Almost got done in today.
Since I'm waiting to get my rear shock back from Fox for my mountain bike --
decided to do a long road ride. Twenty miles into my ride I was in a well
marked bike line. At this location there is a slight decline so it is
fairly easy to go 25 mph. Without any brake lights or turn signals the car
that was slightly ahead of me decides to take a right hand turn. At this
point I know this is going to hurt -- either I'm going over the guy's trunk
or I'm going to slide under his rear wheel. I have my brakes fully applied
and I know I'm flat spotting the tires -- I have no where to go. My left
thigh slams in to the rear quarter panel and I'm steering to the left to
avoid going underneath the car. I follow the car around by sliding my bike
through the corner as he completes his turn -- he doesn't realize I'm there.
I'm yelling for him to stop.
The guy stops and I can see his wife is trying to comfort their crying child
in the back seat. With the adrenaline really pumping I'm trying to remain
calm. He explained he was distracted by his child and while he had seen me
earlier he didn't realize a bike could keep up with traffic. The guy is
very apologetic and I realize he just made a mistake. I asked him to be
more cognizant about cyclists, shook his offered hand and went on to finish
my ride. I elected to ride the Burke-Gilman/Sammamish slough as a return
route. For the most part the remaining 40 miles of the ride were sane but
the things people were doing made me wonder if people in
Seattle/Kirkland/Redmond area stop thinking with the first day of sun
following extended rainy days.
So why post this to the roadster group? Two reasons actually : 1.) I had
the roadster out yesterday and had to run into Seattle -- I find I have to
use an extremely defensive driving style when in the roadster. In a city
with many SUV's I don't think people see the roadster at times -- they
certainly seem to drive that way. I don't have the same problem with my
'98 F150 4X4. 2.) Please,please, please watch for cyclists -- they have
absolutely no protection if they get hit. I'll be the first to say many
cyclists do not obey traffic laws and put themselves and others at risk.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry
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