A Typical Tuesday

Posted by Dottie at 20:22 commute diary Add comments
Aug 242010

My commute to and fro today was lovely, other than having to yell “JERK” at some jerk, who honked at me for being in the road and then cut me off to turn right.  I guess I should not be surprised, since some people (*cough* men *cough*) are often jerks in general.   The anonymity of driving naturally magnifies this tendency.  They should get their ridiculous testosterone under control and stop bringing me down.

Anyway, my ride really was (mostly) lovely.  There is finally some relief from the oppressive heat and I can feel autumn trying to break though.  Although I know it’s too soon to get excited, I can’t help it – I love autumn!

How’s everyone else doing?  I’ve been so busy lately, I feel a bit disconnected from my fellow bike commuters out there in internets land.

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  • http://lovelybike.blogspot.com Lovely Bicycle!

    It has been raining here in Boston non stop for 3 days! I am starting to feel stir crazy from not being on my bike as much as usual, so hopefully will clear up soon. And I am looking forward to Fall as well!

  • David from Madison

    I’m looking forward to cooler temps! Can’t wait for fall riding and even winter (yeah I must be crazy). It’s actually a little dare I say “cold” right now….. exciting.

    I’ve been battling on the road too with jerks. One day, on a very back road with no traffic. A guy passses me slowly, and guess what. Flips me off! I was like WTF?? Kind of strange even. Some people just hate cyclists.

    I need some maintenance on my raleigh, minor things, but just no time, lazy….. but she keeps me going though, 125 mi a week commuting……

  • http://www.spaceridergal.blogspot.com Space Rider Gal

    It’s finally nice in Santa Barbara, in the 80s! our summer was cold with lots of fog & gray! I also love the fall, it’s by far the nicest season here!

  • http://www.maggie913.blogspot.com Maggie

    One of my biggest pet peeves is drivers who get angry, speed past you, only to turn right in front of you and cutting you off. I hope he heard you call him a jerk! At least you are safe, and enjoyed your commute despite the negative encounter. :-)

  • http://carolynsflightoffancy.blogspot.com/ Carolyn I.

    It feels like fall here in BC now. It’s getting close. It’s cooled right off, but that’s a good thing because we’ve been choking on smoke from forest fires which made bicycle riding not very much fun! It has all dissipated now, thank goodness. We had 6 days straight of thick smoke and ash falling from the sky.

    I am glad that there were no major forest fires during Tour De Jasper, or I don’t know what would have happened.

    I understand how easy it can get disconnected from things, I felt that way when I was on holidays.

    Makes me feel better knowing that I’m not the only one out there who has to deal with jerks. Way too many of them!

  • david

    Sugar catches more flies than vinagar!. Men’s brains work differnt than women’s, big suprise! NOT! research suggests men work better off of a list. Like that’s gonna happen, so write a nice note( *sorry you didn’t see me on the road as you passed, then cut me off, did you see my nice shoes or dress, probably not you were in such a hurry. Hope to see you on the way home JERK! By the way have a nice day*) Research also suggests, pleasant thoughts catch our attention, then you blast us and catch us off guard.

  • Tyler

    The NYC DOT did a study on pedestrian fatalities and found that 80% were caused by male drivers. 80%!

    For the most part the people killed were in the crosswalk not jay walkers.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/nyregion/17walk.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

    Our (NYC) DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is a “girl on a bike” (she rides to work) who built the buffered bike lanes and closed Times Square to traffic amid a lot of screaming.

    I know both of you guys have been to NYC recently and I’m interested in your impressions.

    I’ve lived in Chicago for a year and as it’s flat with wide streets it seemed ideal for buffered bike lanes.

    =Tyler

    • Herzog

      Most NYC drivers are men.

  • Maggie

    I just came back from a week in Chicago and Wisconsin…got to see a tree (and squirrel) struck by lightening. What a sight for a Southern California girl! When I left SoCal, we had only 2 days of real summer weather. When I returned, summer finally found it’s way to the South Bay.

  • http://girlsandbicycles.blogspot.com Miss Sarah

    I’m taking a short blog hiatus. The sheer amount of thesis editing, Dexter care, and laundry since I’ve been back have been epic.

    It’s actually sort of cold here in the mornings! But then pretty hot in the afternoons. Welcome the many moods of fall:)

    Whatever about the jerk on the road. Remember that &!#$% who yelled at us while we were pedestrians on a CROSSWALK? Get over yourselves, mean drivers.

    • reader

      Three of us were recently on a business trip in Richmond VA, walking across a huge parking lot from a restaurant to the hotel, and some idiot man drove by yelling every variation of “I’d f*ck your momma” obsceneties you can imagine. It was broad daylight and absolutely scary! Business or not, I’ll have my .38 from now on unless I’m flying. Period.

  • dukiebiddle

    I’m really not trying to be too contradictory but the past two drivers that have tried to run me off the road were both women. Both cases were crazy, too, they just leaned on their horns, revved their engines and tried to plow right through me.

    • http://lovelybike.blogspot.com Lovely Bicycle!

      The times I’ve had problems, it has been women as well. I have nothing negative to say about male drivers from personal experience.

      • dukiebiddle

        My personal experience of 3 drivers intentionally trying to drive me off the road over 3 or 4 years has been 2 female and 1 male. The two females have been in the past 6 weeks or so. My experience with drivers leaning on their horns to bully me for no good reason is probably equally balanced between male and female, and I always turn around and glare so I know. ;)

        • http://www.naturallycyclingmanchester.wordpress.com LC

          Unfortunately/fortunately I find that there’s no difference between men/women… jerks are just jerks… I always say it: 1. the car is now thought of a right not a luxury, 2. when in a car drivers are completely isolated/detached to what happens around them… once in their tin what happens to mankind is irrelevant… just got to be always really really careful and with one hundred pair of eye ;)

          have you seen this?? absolutely brill… directly to the point!

      • http://bobbinandsprocket.blogspot.com/ Amy

        Me too. Most men here are more apt to gawk and yell out “woo hoos” of approval, women are more apt to yell nasty catty remarks and cut me off.

        • http://bobbinandsprocket.blogspot.com/ Amy

          Ok, spoke too soon. Had two guys in a black Camaro pass me with about MAYBE a foot of space between us (even though the other lane was empty) and then the driver and passenger both flipped me the bird. Men and women both are c*cks.

  • http://bike-bliss.com Bliss Chick

    August is busy month! We just got back from an amazing trip to the Montana-Idaho border with the dudes. Love, love the rail trails there!

    Sorry about the nasty driver.

  • http://bikesfortherestofus.blogspot.com/ Tom

    I had a guy in a sports car honk and flip me off as I crossed in a striped unsignalized crosswalk with my three little kids holding hands. Unbelievable.

    But I find oblivious drivers (men and women) just as dangerous as the aggressive ones when I’m bike commuting.

    • dukiebiddle

      Those striped unsignaled crosswalks are such a contentious issue. For whatever reason, a minimum of 80% of motorists have become completely oblivious to their meaning and intent. No education program, no matter how much money is spent, is going to reverse that. I love how whenever police set up an unsignaled pedestrian crosswalk trap the local news ALWAYS shows up and interviews driver after driver after driver who insists that they were tricked.

    • reader

      Heck, try walking across the striped crosswalks in front of WalMart or at any strip mall! The drivers who aren’t sitting in the fire zone are aiming for your cart as if they get points for it!

  • http://www.danapple.com Dan

    At work we’re calling today’s (Wednesday) temperature “perfect” and from now on will assess the outside as “3 degrees above perfect” or “2 degrees below perfect”.

    On days like today, a bicycle commute is wonderful.

    Dan.

  • neighbourtease

    The combo of driving rain and a toddler plague has felled our last three days of cycling and I am stir crazy. Can’t wait for summer to return, though I did enjoy wearing stockings and a trench this morning.

  • http://www.dingdingletsride.com Samantha

    There are always “Jerk” drivers and “Oblivious” riders and I would agree that they are as equally dangerous. For me as well, the large percentage of “Jerk” drivers are male. Women are equally as oblivious and when they zoom past me and cut me off they are just as dangerous. I will say though, that cars/SUVs are generally worse than buses or trucks. I ride through a lot of industrial areas and truck drivers (like semi-truck drivers) are generally more alert and aware. They make eye-contact with me – what a concept. Can’t say that for the rude and oblivious folks gabbing away on their cellphones.

  • http://www.simplybike.wordpress.com Simply Bike

    Oh, I hear ya, Dottie! It’s rare that I don’t have one crap encounter with some college guy who’s just too cool too not saying something to the girl on the bike.

    But I also get some nice shout outs once in a while, like “I love your bike”, which totally make my day. I’m trying to focus on those rather than the former.

    And yes – how awesome is it that it’s cooler now and the morning ride is soooo enjoyable. Too bad that jerk in the car never gets to enjoy these kind of life pleasures.

    S.

  • http://bobbinandsprocket.blogspot.com/ Amy

    I swear that I smelled the first hint of fall in the air earlier this week! It’s been wonderful here the last few days. Temps in the upper 70′s to low 80′s. I even took out the the old 3 speed yesterday.

    • Tinker

      Our high yesterday was 102 with a heat index of 107, it dropped a bit as we did have a thunderstorms roll through in the evening. Overnight low was 80. Welcome to fall in Central Texas!

      People who move here from elsewhere are always horribly disappointed by summer hanging on so long, but they get “used to it” (or maybe not). It runs right through September, and into October, as a rule.

      • http://bobbinandsprocket.blogspot.com/ Amy

        Sheesh. I think I stay in the east then! :)

  • Stephen

    I should apologize for my brothers who do stupid things like cut off wonderful people like Dottie, but I’d spend all my time doing that, so I won’t. There are many reasons why they do what they do, but none of it is excusable. Regardless, and sadly, little of it will go away soon. It’s at its most basic a power trip, and it was true back in the days when some people rode horses and most walked. The best thing to do is to ignore them. That not only hits them where it hurts most, but it avoids creating a new “friend.”

    That said, it is true that as a guy on a bicycle, I fear some women drivers too, including well-insulated suburban doyennes in giant SUVs, aggro yuppy babes in European sedans, and young women zipping around in rice rockets with cell phones glued to their ears. Danger is basically equal-opportunity no matter where you are when riding on the road.

  • Jeanette

    Well put — danger is equal opportunity, and I’ve experienced rudeness and obliviousness from both sexes. In my neighborhood, the students are coming back and I almost got nailed last night by one of them cycling towards me on a 1-way bike lane….

    That said, I rode to work in the rain this morning, and it was very nice in the quiet….and I had the Brooklyn Bridge almost to myself.

    I haven’t yet commuted by bicycle through a Fall season, and am trying to prepare myself for an intense November/December, when NYC sees a huge spike in traffic, tourism, out-of-town shoppers (in cars); and accidents. Still, I am really looking forward to September and October.

    • neighbourtease

      FWIW, I did not have a bad time cycling during last year’s holiday season. The cold weather seems to slow people down enough to compensate for the increase in numbers. Drivers tend to be slower and nicer in cold weather, too. I do try to avoid the especially heinously touristy parts of Manhattan, though. As a general rule, not just on a bike :)

      • Jeanette

        Hi, Neighbourtease; thanks for that….I’ll try to take the December craziness in stride! I work just a couple of blocks north of Rockefeller Center, and 5th Ave gets really impossible after Thanksgiving…and the side streets have bumper-to-bumper coaches and busses parked along the curb. Bless the shopper-tourists — yes! come do your Xmas shopping here! I guess I’ll just focus on “slow and steady” and work from home on Rock Center Xmas Tree Lighting Day!

        • neighbourtease

          Oh, man, yeah ok, you are going to need the patience of a saint. Or the pretty silver traveling flask of the unrepentant sinner. You choose!

  • http://www.portlandize.com Dave

    The expression on your face in that photo is great :)

    To balance out the male vs. female thing, I had one man and one woman yesterday (on separate occasions) have to stop short to keep from hitting me, as we were going opposite directions on the same road, and they were turning across my lane and didn’t see me until they were already out in the intersection. To unbalance things, the man gesticulated wildly at me like “what are you doing there?!?!”, whereas the woman looked alarmed and mouthed “oh my God!” as she stopped short.

    Other than that, it’s been warmer than I like, but I’m also noticing some nice autumn air in the mornings, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the trees turning colors and feeling a bit chilled when I hop on my bike to go to work.

    Happy Wednesday!

  • http://www.welshcyclist.blogspot.com welshcyclist

    Well I’m a man and I definitely wouldn’t honk my horn at you, you’re more blikely to get a whistle of appreciation from me, or is that too politically incorrect? Anyway, I’m still pedalling out here, in internets land, looking forward to all your posts.
    Cheers

  • http://www.seejenbike.wordpress.com seejenbike

    I’m glad I’m not the only one who yells when drivers who are unnecessarily rude to me. I always 2nd guess myself after the fact, maybe I should have just pretended they didn’t bother me, but I figure if they hate me enough to come at me for no reason, nothing I say or do will change their attitude.

    I’d say men are more aggressive in driving too close to me/cutting me off, but it’s women who will actually yell things at me. In any case, it’ll never get me to stop riding. :)

  • http://www.thecitybirdsnest.blogspot.com cb

    sorry to hear about the jerk! there is one in every crowd but i especially hate when jerks honk, it always catches me off guard and is actually extremely dangerous to do that to cyclists! glad your okay though!

    it has been really hot ever here in sf, FINALLY! and it was really nice to take an evening bike ride to get some mexican food in an air conditioned restaurant!

    xo,
    cb

  • Val

    Check this out: http://101wankers.tumblr.com/ A blog devoted to all the rude comments recieved by one lady rider, with responses and locations. It’s definitely an issue, and definitely needs to change.

  • Maggie

    Overall, drivers in SoCal share the road with me without issue.

    Once I was run into the curb by an aggressive Prius. I laughed when I saw the bumper sticker on the Prius: COEXIST.

    • http://www.portlandize.com Dave

      Yeah, I always like getting buzzed by drivers with “I Share The Road” bumper stickers, too :)

  • http://bicyclingsd.blogspot.com Beany

    Well, it got a little hot-ish here in San Diego, so there was much sweating. I’ve been busy too with work, mostly.

    I ride with earphones now, so annoying asswipes can say whatever they want, I’m in my happy music verse, bopping away to my destination.

    New resolution is to not react at all when someone honks (either at me or someone else). it is a nervous tick with some people, so I will accept it as such.

    Love the 101 Wankers site!

  • http://hellokatie1234.tumblr.com/ katie

    yeah, its nice that the weather has calmed down a bit! still 85ish degrees in my area though.

    it would be nice if crazy drivers also calmed down… super pissy after some guy told me to “get [my] ass on the sidewalk”

  • Charlie

    Yep, only men are jerks and women don’t know how to ride bikes… ;) Good ol’ generalizations!

    Sorry you got cut off…

  • Curly Suze

    Three days of rain (plus wind) have kept me off the bike, but tomorrow should be nice, just like the weekend and the whole following week. Just taking it one day at a time in the exurbs west of Boston ..

    Y’all will laugh, but there are no bike lanes here, no racks, no nothing. Even the bike shops haven’t got racks outside them. Token racks exist at the commuter rail stations on lines going into Boston, but that seems to be about it.

    Happy riding folks :)

    • Ginger

      I’m in Jersey and our weather has been the same … rain, rain, rain… today was BEAUTIFUL!!!

  • jamison

    i get honked and yelled at by men and women equally. riding a bike in a city can be scary for anyone. none of this has anything to do with sex.

    • http://letsgorideabike.com Dottie

      Well, this is blog is all about my personal experience. In over two years, I have had one aggressive experience with a female driver and countless aggressive experiences with male drivers. For me it does have something to do with sex, which is why I mentioned it.

      • jamison

        i think you are looking for the results you wish to see.

        • omg

          i think you should just accept her experience as hers. geesh. she seems like a pretty smart woman. i’m sure she can draw reasonable conclusions you know.

    • http://www.welshcyclist.wordpress.com welshcyclist

      I think you’re wrong there, women cyclists are given more leeway, and not targetted the way male cyclists are. I find women drivers tend to be more polite, but their driving leaves alot to be desired, they don’t realise they are cutting a cyclist up. Men on the other hand know what they are about, when it comes to getting dangerously close, because they see it as intimidatory to the cyclist.

      • http://bicyclingsd.blogspot.com Beany

        ?!? Dottie is wrong about her personal experience? That doesn’t make any sense.

  • http://www.inspiredcyclist.wordpress.com maureen

    Also looking to fall, my favorite season, and also extremely busy. I miss riding my bike these last few days. Gotta do it soon, before my life goes out of balance. Glad you still got your ride in.

  • http://rvabikecommuter.wordpress.com Willis

    Finally cooled off here in the Mid-Hotlantic! I was actually cold yesterday morning in my DC United jersey when I set off for work (yes I still wear it even though we’ve been languishing in last place all season).

    …as far as the jerks go, like totally don’t let them harsh your mellow dude! Bike on!

  • neighbourtease

    I realized today that I don’t experience as many jerks because I don’t have an actual obligatory commute with specific hours that align with mega traffic. I ride my bike to my office/studio whenever I can’t work at home or don’t want to. This is maybe 3-4 days a week. I randomly went out from 3:30-4:30 and there were insane assholes everywhere. More admiration for those of you who have to keep a regular schedule.

  • http://bikinginchattanooga.blogspot.com Colleen Carboni

    Its getting slightly cooler here and it feels so good in the mornings. Nice riding without getting sweaty slime all over me!

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