Braving the Deep, Deadly South on a Bicycle

Darla said:
Check out this article at the NY Times:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/..._php=true&_type=blogs&src=me&ref=general&_r=0

Some of that stuff is really awesome. Like that scarf/airbag.
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Meh....for urban cycling some of those gadgets would be cool but I think with urban cycling simpler is better and I'd trade my high end road bike for a Fixie. I'm a bit of a weight weenie so about the only one of those gadgets I'd use is the lights.

Most of these gadgets give you a false sense of security about being safe. The best thing you can do to ride safely is ride WITH the flow of traffic, do not FOR ANY REASON impede the flow of auto traffic (particularly if you like living), ride predictably, out in traffic is not the time to show off the new trick you mastered. Hold your line when your riding, use hand signals for turns, lane changes, slowing, stopping and signaling to the fat ass in the SUV that he's #1. DON"T RIDE AND LISTEN TO MUSIC! Only the soon to be brain dead do that. Your ears have a purpose other than being distracted by extraneous information. Use them, it could save your life! OBEY ALL TRAFFIC LAWS (no where in the law does it say your special and above the law, DBAA.). Also, be aware of your surroundings. There' s a lot of assholes out there who aren't paying attention, since they're much larger and moving at a higher rate of speed, it behooves you to do so.
 
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Tyrion the Imp said:
I have an interview coming up for a job as an offshore ROV technician, working 3 weeks on 3 weeks off. As soon as that goes through, I'm going to spend my off time on the transcontinental bike journey I had been talking about before I injured my hand and winter hit, going as far as I can for 3 weeks, flying home for my 3 weeks on, and then flying back to where I was in the bike journey to pick it back up.

Also, the main purpose of the job is to raise enough money to comfortably move somewhere else and get a job as a programmer (there are few compsci jobs in Mississippi). That may be Austin, or San Fransisco (the tech industry's mecca; also is like the bicycle mecca, seriously, look at it on google maps with the bicycle layer on, there are more bike lanes than roads practically). Huntsville or Raleigh are also possibilities, though.
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Really? I'm happy for you! Imagine if you end up in San Francisco. Cawacko will take you out for drinks. I know he will. Good luck watermark, I can't wait to hear where you end up. I bet you are going to be very successful though.
 
Mott the Hoople said:
Meh....for urban cycling some of those gadgets would be cool but I think with urban cycling simpler is better and I'd trade my high end road bike for a Fixie. I'm a bit of a weight weenie so about the only one of those gadgets I'd use is the lights.

Most of these gadgets give you a false sense of security about being safe. The best thing you can do to ride safely is ride WITH the flow of traffic, do not FOR ANY REASON impede the flow of auto traffic (particularly if you like living), ride predictably, out in traffic is not the time to show off the new trick you mastered. Hold your line when your riding, use hand signals for turns, lane changes, slowing, stopping and signaling to the fat ass in the SUV that he's #1. DON"T RIDE AND LISTEN TO MUSIC! Only the soon to be brain dead do that. You're ears have a purpose other than being distracted by extraneous information. Use them, it could save your life! OBEY ALL TRAFFIC LAWS (no where in the law does it say your special and above the law, DBAA.). Also, be aware of your surroundings. There' s a lot of assholes out there who aren't paying attention, since they're much larger and moving at a higher rate of speed, it behooves you to do so.
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Mott, a particularly hostile woman nearly killed me a couple of years ago, and then she slowed her car down to yell at me. she was completely and legally in the wrong. Immediately, I was very angry, and I yelled out at her get out of your car bitch, and talk to me here. She stepped on the gas then. I really wanted to get my hands on her.

But a few minutes later I just thought of what my father always said when he taught us to drive "he was right, dead right". LOL So I was right. I could have also easily been dead. Since then I ride in state parks, we have a great trail here, my favorite, Bethpage State Park, which used to be 13.9 miles but has been expanded to over 20 and has plenty of great hills. So I do listen to my music while biking, and I love it, and it's safe, and that's where I plan on staying. I don't need any of the stuff in that article, I just thought some of it was cool. If I was still riding on roads, I would definitely be interested in that airbag scarf though.
 
Seattle's pretty awesome, too, WM. If you get your engineering degree, you should head up this way and land a job at Boeing. If you go the programming route, then there's plenty of tech jobs as well. Plus, Brent and I live up here, and Grind flies out here periodically, so Seattle is the ideal Trinity destination.
 
Threedee said:
Portland is the bicycle mecca.
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They are certainly pro-bike in Portland, have a large community of cycling enthusiast and have invested heavily in cycling infrastructure....but mecca? Only if you like riding in the rain. Colorado is the real mecca, lots of pro-cycling communities, great rural roads for riding, varied terrain and a hell of a lot more sunny days than Portland! LOL
 
Darla said:
Mott, a particularly hostile woman nearly killed me a couple of years ago, and then she slowed her car down to yell at me. she was completely and legally in the wrong. Immediately, I was very angry, and I yelled out at her get out of your car bitch, and talk to me here. She stepped on the gas then. I really wanted to get my hands on her.

But a few minutes later I just thought of what my father always said when he taught us to drive "he was right, dead right". LOL So I was right. I could have also easily been dead. Since then I ride in state parks, we have a great trail here, my favorite, Bethpage State Park, which used to be 13.9 miles but has been expanded to over 20 and has plenty of great hills. So I do listen to my music while biking, and I love it, and it's safe, and that's where I plan on staying. I don't need any of the stuff in that article, I just thought some of it was cool. If I was still riding on roads, I would definitely be interested in that airbag scarf though.
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YUP...Your Dad is right. My father taught me the same thing....dead right but still dead. As for listening to music when riding....wherever your riding.....not a good idea, not safe. Besides nature has it's own sounds to enjoy that you're missing out on. :)
 
Tyrion the Imp said:
I have an interview coming up for a job as an offshore ROV technician, working 3 weeks on 3 weeks off. As soon as that goes through, I'm going to spend my off time on the transcontinental bike journey I had been talking about before I injured my hand and winter hit, going as far as I can for 3 weeks, flying home for my 3 weeks on, and then flying back to where I was in the bike journey to pick it back up.

Also, the main purpose of the job is to raise enough money to comfortably move somewhere else and get a job as a programmer (there are few compsci jobs in Mississippi). That may be Austin, or San Fransisco (the tech industry's mecca; also is like the bicycle mecca, seriously, look at it on google maps with the bicycle layer on, there are more bike lanes than roads practically). Huntsville or Raleigh are also possibilities, though.
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Best of luck Skidmark....and go with Austin. The cost of living there is way lower than San Fran.
 
Mott the Hoople said:
YUP...Your Dad is right. My father taught me the same thing....dead right but still dead. As for listening to music when riding....wherever your riding.....not a good idea, not safe. Besides nature has it's own sounds to enjoy that you're missing out on. :)
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I know, and sometimes I leave it off to listen to nature's music, but I do love listening to my songs too. And I know it's not totally safe, but so far no near misses or anything. I doubt I'll stop, I love it too much.

That's cool that your father said the same thing! Maybe all fathers said it. But it sticks with you.
 
Darla said:
Really? I'm happy for you! Imagine if you end up in San Francisco. Cawacko will take you out for drinks. I know he will. Good luck watermark, I can't wait to hear where you end up. I bet you are going to be very successful though.
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Wacko would certainly take Skidmark out for drink. Cheap bastard would make him pay too! ;)
 
Tyrion the Imp said:
So, children should be banned from riding around their block, because they're not old enough for a license? Ridiculous.

Responsibility must be proportional to the amount of burden you place on society. Bikers do not present the same safety costs, nor do they contribute to wear and tear on the road nearly as much. There's no reason to slap the same regulations on a vehicle that contributes virtually no road wear and virtually no danger as you do on a two ton death machine that travels at 65 mph. That's unjust, that's allowing car drivers to escape responsibility for the much greater burden they place on society than bikers do.
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That's a strawman argument they're making. If your paying taxes, both State, Local and Federal, your paying your fair share for the roads. Bike or no bike.
 
Tyrion the Imp said:
I've ridden several hundred miles over the past year, and I actually haven't really encountered a single instance of active hostility. I have a bike mirror and keep watch of people behind me, but 99% of people slow down and give me 3 feet (as the law says they should), and the rest didn't slow down but at least gave me room. I do often get nervous when I see a car behind me and just get off the road for them to pass when I'm not certain if they're going to move over, but, so far, there hasn't been a single person yet who's just barreled through, so it's never actually proved necessary (I am still going to continue be conservative about this in the future, though; I don't want to be on the road when I finally do meet that guy who just barrels through). Nor have I encountered anyone flipping me off, or throwing shit at me, as I've seen people claim in numerous places online.
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As long as you hold your line and don't obstruct the flow of car traffic you won't run into much....but if you ride long enough it will inevitably happen.
 
Tyrion the Imp said:
That's the problem in a lot of the south, no damn shoulder. They seem to appear in the agricultural areas, so that tractors can ride on the highway without interrupting traffic, and these shoulders are awesome, better and much wider than any bike lane. But then, once you get into a pine forest area or something - well, you had better have looked on Google Maps beforehand for an old highway route nearby, because you don't want to be out on that road for long with no shoulders (longer than you would need to cross a bridge).

As for being in the middle of the road, in most places it's your legal right to take the whole lane. Such a strategy may be aggressive, but it increases visibility, and therefore overall safety. I don't get why car drivers have to get so pissed about us taking "your" lane, it's not necessarily safe to be shoved off out of sight to one side. It's really the safest thing to do when conditions are bad, or to force people to move into the next lane rather than try to unsafely squeeze past you on a single lane that's too narrow for that. I don't get why car drivers have to get so pissed off about this; entitled assholes. The only time I ever hear people honking their horn is when I have swerved a little to the center within their sight; it doesn't matter the fact that I moved to the right when I saw them behind me a mile back (because I am not nearly aggressive enough of a biker to seriously try taking the lane) when they come by a minute later, they honk.

In Mississippi, however, as part of the compromise for the 3 foot law (really sad that there had to be any compromise on this at all, a 3 foot law is common fucking sense), we are legally required to stay as far to the right as possible.
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I do remember that when I was living in Arkansas, that the shoulders on their State routes were huge, virtually another lane for as you said, farm access. No problem staying out of traffic there. I still had occasions where I was harassed by motorist for being on the road. I was like...WTF?!
 
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