I Pit the moronic night cyclist....

The BBQ Pit
1

I pit the Clueless Cyclist tonight

I’d just like to perform a quick Pitting of some moronic cyclist that almost collided with my car tonight…

I was pulling out of the Portsmouth Burger King, pulling into traffic, when this cyclist barrels towards me and almost slams into my right front fender, thank Og we both had good brakes

we exchanged mutual glares and he backed off and waved me into traffic

this moron had the gall to act like it was purely MY fault, admittedly, I only saw him at the last second, BUT…

1; He was riding TOWARDS TRAFFIC, AGAINST the flow of traffic, not WITH traffic as the LAW REQUIRES!

2; He was wearing non-reflective clothing, black and gray and riding in the dark, the only light clothing he was wearing was a white headband

3; He was NOT wearing a helmet, while riding on a heavily trafficked road

4; his bike was perpendicular to my car, so his reflectors were ineffective, as my headlights were not illuminating them, if he even had them on his bike…

and best of all…

5; He had NO LIGHTS ON HIS BIKE, NOTHING!, not even a simple LED blinkie, there was no way to effectively seperate him from his dark surroundings, yet he was riding against traffic on a heavily travelled road at night, with no/innefective reflectors or other lighting

frakkin’ moron, don’t try to enter the Darwin awards by using my car, or any other motorist, for that manner, if you plan to ride at night, make sure you’re as visible as possible, reflective clothing, reflectors on the bike, AND active lighting, front and rear

If you’re not going to take a little effort to protect yourself on the road, then STOP RIDING AT NIGHT!

2

Yikes. I’m a bike commuter, but occasionally because of the kids I have to drive in. I too nearly killed a moron that was riding on the wrong side of the road. But it was morning. He was riding a low profile trike. Behind a snowbank. I felt horrified. Until the next day when I pulled up to the same intersection and realized that there was no way I could have seen him. And I doubt that he saw me.

There are idiots that think that just because they are riding a bike, they are in the right. I see them when I’m riding as well as when I’m driving. They will kill themselves someday. Don’t feel bad about it.

3

That’s what you get for going to Booger Sling

4

I ride a road bike, and I am right there with you in this pitting. Idiots like this make people who drive cars think that all bike riders don’t follow the rules of the road, and this is just not true.

5

Yeah, I’ve had this problem as well. And it doubley pisses me off when the cyclist not only rides without lights and while wearing dark clothes, but then they get upset when you don’t see them! Well, I guess if they’re enough of a moron to not use lights and visible clothing, they’re moronic enough to not know they are brainless.

6

I’m a casual cyclist myself, I have three bikes that i rotate through randomly, and ALL are equipped for night riding…

my old Fila Taos with Surly Singleator singlespeed chain tensioner; my first mountain bike, and my first singlespeed that I built myself, I stripped off all the deraileur gear, put on a set of old bullhorn handlebars, and made a light bar that connects to the two ends of the horns, wrapped the whole thing in grip tape, this is the bike I leave at work, so I can bike to lunch and back, it’s an old steel beater, and the lights and singleator are worth more than the bike itself

it’s my most visible night-ride bike as well, the entire frame is outlined with retro-reflective tape (the kind used on 18-wheeler trailers), red on the two frame triangles, white on the front fork, and tabs of tape on the inside of the rim facing the hub, it still has the stock reflectors, a CatEye TLD-1000 rear blinkie, and a Cygolite dual-halogen headlight, as well as rear view mirrors, if someone can’t see this bike at night, they’re legally blind, I’ve had cars give me a full road width when I ride at night, simply because they don’t know what I am

Trek 4500 mountain bike, with a Trek Disco Inferno rear blinkie, and a Cygolite dual halogen front light, stock reflectors

Giant FCR3 with CatEye TLD-1000 and 600 rear blinkies, and Cygolite dual halogen front light, this bike is my main ride around home, and as with the Fila, people give me an entire lane of road, because they don’t know what they’re approaching…

So, no, I have no pity for people who can’t kit themselves out safely for night riding

7

I was all ready to cuss you out for cutting off a cyclist, and then I saw this:

What an idiot(the cyclist, not MacTech).

8

I’ve struck a bicyclist with my car.

He was wearing all black.

It was night.

He had no light, helmet, or reflective tape.

I was turning left, he was oncoming. I didn’t see him at all until the last second. I managed to stop but he was going too fast for his brakes and took a tumble over my hood.

Thank God - he wasn’t seriously injured. He biked away. But it happened on campus, so of course dozens of students saw the accident and phoned 911. Police station was only about two blocks away so they were there within 2 minutes.

Cop took one look at him - said “Get a bike light”. I didn’t even get a reprimand.

We exchanged information, shook hands and I never heard from him again. Man I hope he took up some better bicycling practices.

9

MacTech, was the cyclist you barely saw wearing black?

10

This reminds me of my favourite cycling at night story…

I was driving down a fairly quiet country road, late night, no moon - you get the idea. Up ahead, I could make out an orange glow but couldn’t really see the source clearly. As I got closer, I realized that it was a guy on a bike who had clearly given a lot of thought to the visibility issue. He had a rolled up newspaper jammed into the back of his seat, and had lit it on fire. :confused: :eek: :smack:

He may have burned of his pants, possibly started a forest fire, but make no mistake, I saw him!

11

Then his method was a success!

12

Yes, but based on the time of night, the method of illumination and the wildly erratic swerving all over, I’d say that he hatched this plan with the help of his good buddies, Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker.

Whatever prevents you from being squashed on the highway, I guess!

13

I’m a person who drives a car and I don’t think that, I really don’t. Alas, “Today a courteous and conscientious cyclist did NOT make me have to slam on my brakes” is a thread that wouldn’t really take off.
I’ve posted before about people on bikes who seemed not to have spent safety week in elementary school coloring posters about wearing light colors and having reflectors and OBEYING TRAFFIC LAWS.

14

Scariest time I’ve ever had on a bicycle was when I was heading home after working at the much hated fast food place in High School. It was about two in the morning and I had a headlight, tail blinker LED thingy, etc. But I guess the deer that jumped out of a hedge right in front of me didn’t see me.

Let me tell you, deer are big mo fo’s when you’re on a bike!

-Eben

15

Today I watched a guy on a bike run a red light and give the finger to all the people who swerved to avoid hitting him as he pedaled away. Some people are just douches I guess.

16

This happened to my sister-in-law last year. She pulled out of our subdivision and collided with an early-twentysomething guy riding his bike on the wrong side of the road, at night, with no light or reflective clothing. (In fact, shirtless and shoeless, wearing only shorts.)

Bike was mangled under her truck; guy was thankfully very mildly hurt. Ambulance and police were called. Guy’s redneckish mother and father showed up and immediately began screaming they would sue, continuing to rant and rave until they were ordered by police to tone it down or face arrest. Police decided that my sister-in-law had done nothing wrong and cited the bike-rider, which obviously didn’t go over well with the litigious mom & pop.

Almost a year later, they’re apparently still trying unsuccessfully to sue my sister-in-law’s auto insurance company.

17

Don’t feel too bad; when I was in university, I was a commuter, and nearly hit 2 pedestrians in the 1.5 years that I drove a car. It was night time in both cases, and in both cases they were jaywalking and wearing dark clothes. Oh, and one of the instances involved excessive booze.

18

And/or they think that because they can see you, you can see them.

As a bike commuter myself, there’ve been many a time I’ve wanted to get off my bike, tear the bike out from under some idiot, and tell him he can have it back when he gets a brain.

19

The problem with the law is that it assumes that automobile drivers are paying attention to their driving, and other vehicles on the road. Many do not, and “I didn’t see him” is little comfort for the family of the deceased. It may be illegal, but I understand why bicyclists do it.

20

Hey it could be worse. I came across someone riding like this who was also using an ipod. I can’t see him, he can’t hear me.