It had been a terribly hot day delivering the mail. All I wanted to do was to climb into my truck, kick the AC on to high and enjoy the ride home...
I was driving down Penn Avenue in North Minneapolis when I saw him. He was on what I am sure was a twenty nine speed racing bike of some sort. Dressed in his silky looking, skin tight bike riding suit, wearing a helmet that made him look like a mushroom, he was weaving into the traffic like a mad man. I slowed so I would not hit him. The last thing a person wants to do on a hot day is to run over a bike creep. The police would have to be called and they would make me stand in the hot sun while they took down my answers to their questions. Nope. I did not want to run this guy over. I noticed, like many bike riders, he would stay in the lane that was meant for cars. Of course, he had his rights. All bicyclists do. At least in their mind...Not mine. We approached a red light. I was going to stop and then make a right turn. I began to do just that when all of a sudden, here came Lance, right thru the light. I guess the rules of the road only apply to him when it seems fit. I almost hit him. If it were not for his Bendix brakes, he would have been nothing more than a smudge in the road. I looked out the window the creep was okay. Everything seemed in order. I rolled down the window and apologized ( even though I felt it was not my fault!). He began screaming like a fool. Instead of going straight like he had planned, he decided to go the same direction as I and yell at me all the way. With his stupid helmet sitting at a cocked angle on his head, his mouth moved like a jackrabbit. What he did not know, was just up ahead, was a car parked on the side of the road. As he hit the trunk of the car, things seemed to happen in slow motion. His front wheel bent and broke upon impact and his body hurled up and over the roof of the car. His now helmet-less head slammed into the top of the car and he, for what seemed to be a short micro second, made one of the most blood curdling screams I have ever heard. I almost let out a smile, but realized I must first make sure the rider was okay. He was and the last thing I saw of him was how he was mumbling about the price of a new rim....
It had been a terribly hot day delivering the mail. All I wanted to do was to climb into my truck, kick the AC on to high and enjoy the ride home....
Joe
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4 comments:
Joe
That was a great story.
You need to incorporate a version of that into your routine.
Hope you guys had a good show 2nite.
I am proud to say I personally know the Lowry mailman.
You will always be beter than I.
Whats' up guy
Your description of events made me feel as if I was watching this unfold instead of reading about it.Since the biker was ok, it was just tooo funny to not laugh out loud! My hubby and I are going to see you tonight at the VFW for the first time. Can't wait!
I hate bike creeps too...
I can not handle cyclist riders that think they are cars any more. We have a perfect trail RIGHT NEXT TO OUR MAIN ROADS, it goes for almost 50+ miles, and there is no reason for them to be on the road. They are constantly slowing CAR traffic down, and then they don't even ride in the designated BIKE LANE. They have the balls to go right in the middle of the road. If they really want to be a car then they should go the speed limit LIKE ALL THE CARS! Since they seem to think they are self-powered vehicles, they should follow the rules of the road. For example, at traffic lights they should stop on red, but instead they will pause and then continue thru the light, or like the ones in my town, won't even pause at all. So when cars see bikers, even though the have a green light, are timid to go thru it because they don't know if a damn cyclist is going to zoom right thru, cause an accident, and then sue the car for hitting him. Another example, when a car and a cyclist are on the same road; now the car needs to make a right hand turn. The cyclist won't slow down, he will just pace the car and more times than not, in the blind spot. So, the car slows down, almost to a stop, to make sure the cyclist has passed completely. Now this doesn't sound so bad until you have about ten cars behind you, all coming to a haulting stop for this ignorant cyclist, that should have been on the biking trail next to the road in the first place. I see this day in and out where I live and to be honest am very sick of it. I WILL NOT SLOW DOWN FOR ANY MORE CYCLISTS; I drive a brand new car with no plates and will TAKE YOU AND YOUR DUMBASS BIKE DOWN! I will leave you on the concrete where you can then think about why you were on the road to begin with. WATCH OUT CYCLISTS! CARS ARE TAKING THE ROAD BACK IN CA!
Lorraine:
I live in Brooklyn Park, MN. I haven't lived here all that long, so I don't know the streets all that well.
I also ride my bike to as many places as possible.
If there's a bike path or a bike lane, I'll happily take it, and I attempt to follow the laws as well as I can.
Now, sometimes I absolutely have to ride on roads where traffic is going 20 miles an hour faster than I'm capable of going, because there's no other way for me to get from point A to point B.
So, if you (and Joe) could do me a favor, and understand that some (probably most) cyclists are trying to get from point A to point B without crashing, just like most all the car drivers.
Please, give me room on the street when I'm there, because I'd rather not be competing with the fast traffic, but I have little choice.
In return, I'll try to be as predictable as possible.
Joe:
Are you okay with bicyclists who are attempting to break fewer laws than the average car driver (No one's perfect; bicyclists tend to run reds, car drivers tend to speed. I try to avoid doing either.), but still take up a traffic lane?
I ask because I want to bike everywhere, because I dislike being in a car or bus. I try to follow the laws, but some people don't want me on the road, even though my "alternative" is to be forced to drive or take two-hour bus rides.
Also, as mayor, would you be for expanding the network of bike trails and sidewalks, so that people can walk or ride their bike without being as testosterone-overloaded as the guy you avoided hitting?
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