Clearing the Slate
I want to start the New Year with a clean slate so I am going to let loose all of the vituperous bile I’ve been holding in all year. That stuff starts to rot after a while. Here comes the torrent of ugly.
#1.) Golf Carts on the road. It’s a bad idea in oh so may ways. I used to think that having a golf cart coming down the middle of the road in the predawn dark was bad. Then I saw one weaving back and forth like a drunken sailor and yet another blithely run a stop sign. “It’s not a car and stop signs are for cars.” Once I was riding the sidewalk to avoid suicide by traffic and a golf cart pushed me off the sidewalk. Golf carts are only suppose to be on the golf course.
#2) Bike lanes are not for cars. They are not turning lanes, passing lanes, or parking lanes. They are not for stockpiling broken glass, gravel or construction debris. Shoulders are not turn lanes either, especially when they are 6 inches wide. Sidewalks are just not for cars period.
#3) Cyclists who race and think the rest of us are inferior. Cyclists who think they are racers but are not and think the rest of us inferior. Cyclists who don’t race and think racers are idiots. Motorists who think cyclists should be confined to sidewalks. Cyclists who think motor vehicle laws do not apply to them. Narrow minded people in general annoy me, narrow minded cyclists are anathema.
#4) Make an effort to ride in a straight line, do a pull or two, ride a double paceline and use your head or ride alone until you can. Everyone rides above their ability on occasion there is nothing inherently wrong with this. There is no crime in failing because of fitness but risking everyone else’s safety because of inability to handle a bike at speed is reckless at best and should it cause an accident is criminal.
#5) Drivers without a clue and their evil mirror twins. Motorists who turn left with the right turn signal. Motorists who turn right from the left lane. Motorists who either signal and don’t turn or turn and don’t signal. Motorists who blare their horn as they go by. (Horns are fine, a quarter mile back.) Motorists who feel a need to pass on a residential street. Motorists who insist on staying in the right hand lane to pass you when there is an empty lane to the left.
#6) Hummers, no explanation needed, but what the hell. Gas guzzling, tax evading monstrosities with no practical purpose. 90% of the Hummer owners never take the car off the road or fight in a war zone. They don’t handle well, you can’t see out of them, they are too big on the outside and too little on the inside, for crissakes you have to watch a video to back one up.
So there you have it. My last little rant for the year. I can start 2007 and slowly build up my aggravation to a crescendo. It could be prevented, the world come become a much more caring and considerate place. We, as a society, could become more aware of the world around us and less isolationist. We could strive to be personally better and not better than our fellows. Or, I’ll fill up again and let loose next December. It’s your choice.
Peace be with you my friends.
#1.) Golf Carts on the road. It’s a bad idea in oh so may ways. I used to think that having a golf cart coming down the middle of the road in the predawn dark was bad. Then I saw one weaving back and forth like a drunken sailor and yet another blithely run a stop sign. “It’s not a car and stop signs are for cars.” Once I was riding the sidewalk to avoid suicide by traffic and a golf cart pushed me off the sidewalk. Golf carts are only suppose to be on the golf course.
#2) Bike lanes are not for cars. They are not turning lanes, passing lanes, or parking lanes. They are not for stockpiling broken glass, gravel or construction debris. Shoulders are not turn lanes either, especially when they are 6 inches wide. Sidewalks are just not for cars period.
#3) Cyclists who race and think the rest of us are inferior. Cyclists who think they are racers but are not and think the rest of us inferior. Cyclists who don’t race and think racers are idiots. Motorists who think cyclists should be confined to sidewalks. Cyclists who think motor vehicle laws do not apply to them. Narrow minded people in general annoy me, narrow minded cyclists are anathema.
#4) Make an effort to ride in a straight line, do a pull or two, ride a double paceline and use your head or ride alone until you can. Everyone rides above their ability on occasion there is nothing inherently wrong with this. There is no crime in failing because of fitness but risking everyone else’s safety because of inability to handle a bike at speed is reckless at best and should it cause an accident is criminal.
#5) Drivers without a clue and their evil mirror twins. Motorists who turn left with the right turn signal. Motorists who turn right from the left lane. Motorists who either signal and don’t turn or turn and don’t signal. Motorists who blare their horn as they go by. (Horns are fine, a quarter mile back.) Motorists who feel a need to pass on a residential street. Motorists who insist on staying in the right hand lane to pass you when there is an empty lane to the left.
#6) Hummers, no explanation needed, but what the hell. Gas guzzling, tax evading monstrosities with no practical purpose. 90% of the Hummer owners never take the car off the road or fight in a war zone. They don’t handle well, you can’t see out of them, they are too big on the outside and too little on the inside, for crissakes you have to watch a video to back one up.
So there you have it. My last little rant for the year. I can start 2007 and slowly build up my aggravation to a crescendo. It could be prevented, the world come become a much more caring and considerate place. We, as a society, could become more aware of the world around us and less isolationist. We could strive to be personally better and not better than our fellows. Or, I’ll fill up again and let loose next December. It’s your choice.
Peace be with you my friends.
posted by Speedo at 11:33 AM
1 Comments:
#1 I view golf carts as a trainng toy. You flip them off and make them mad enough to chase you, you ride slow enough to give them false hope, and their batteries die a long way from home.
#2 This is a good ad for MTB. A good MTB'er can bunny hop on the trunks of the cars and ride over the roof and off the hood. Also, who needs a smooth, glass-free path to follow?
#3 This is absurd!! I know that I am superior and EVERYONE else is inferior. Racers, non-racers, motorists, and narrow minded people are inferior. By the way, where did you get anathema? I had to look that one up. (I'm still superior)
#4 If you are off the front, you do not need to worry about anyone else.
#5 I agree
#6 The H-1 Hummer is number 2 on my christmas list (#1 is a Lamborghini). Mine will not be a gas guzzler. It will be diesel. The off road part comes when you run over compact cars. You wrote "They don’t handle well, you can’t see out of them, they are too big on the outside and too little on the inside, for crissakes you have to watch a video to back one up." When you are this big you don't need to trouble yourself with the small stuff.
Have a great holidays
Mike
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