Venting

[TheReaper]

So, I rode the bike to work today, all 4 whopping miles of it. On the way home, which was only about 20 minutes ago, I decided to take the long way and utilize the freeway. I was a little stressed, the weather is nice and felt like chilling at 70mph for a bit. If I take the freeway home I'm only on it for about 3 miles or so. As I'm about 1 mile from my exit I check the mirrors and see 2 bikes behind me in the center lane. I'm in the far right lane. As I'm coming up on my exit they proceed to pass me doing about 80. Neither rider is wearing any gear. One guy was on a gixxer 1k doing a wheelie. The other guy, not sure what bike he was on, was off the left side of his bike dragging both his feet on the ground. They looked directly at me and proceeded to speed off.

I'm so steamed when I see crap like that. I guess I don't really know what the point to the stunts were, but it was obvious they did it for my benefit. I think they were mocking me for wearing a helmet and jacket. My minimum requirement when I ride is helmet, jacket and gloves.

As if that incident weren't bad enough, it follows another stupid rider I saw on Sat. I was in my truck going to the folks lake for the day. Again, I'm on the freeway doing 70. The traffic is tight and there is a lot of shuffling to get through some of the slower people. This dude on a sport tourer comes flying up alongside me on the right and gets about 5 feet off the bumper of the car in front of him. I was pretty tight on the bumper of the car in front of me as we were weaving through some people. This guy proceeds to dive in front of me. Now he's about 3 feet behind the car I was just following. He passes the car on the right, gets back over and takes off.

I realize there are stupid people no matter where you go or what you do. But when I hear about the flak riders take because of the stupidity displayed above it really irks me. Why am I being judged because they don't show any common sense.

[Sev]

Cagers do it to. I had a GT come screaming past me... in my lane last week. At about 30 over the speed limit. When I got up alongside it to tell off the driver it was an old lady, you know the really old kind that smoked so much their skin looks like plastic and layer makeup on to cover that up. I just shuddered and rode off, wasn't worth the hassle.
She came bloody close though.

[Mag7C]

I know what you mean. A while back this guy on some sportbike (i can't really tell brands apart) blew past me in a 2 lane 45mph road full of nice corners. I was already doing around 60 as it was... He passed me in MY lane, which really pisses me off even if it's another biker doing it, and then proceeds to tailgate this car about 40 yards up ahead. The tailgating lasts about 2 seconds before he guns it and passes the car in a no passing double yellow area, at the start of a corner. I shouldn't have been, but I was so embarassed coming up behind the car. Needless to say I kept my distance and slowed way down.

*EDIT* just remembered another one... but it was some bicycling punks. I was in a residential and I saw this horde of kids on bikes fly out from a side road a couple blocks up. Kids as in freshman/sophomore age teenagers. And horde as in 10-12 bikes. Two of them waited until a van was right beside them to swerve across in front of it, and the van hit its brakes hard. Well I know whats coming. So I come up beside them at a nice 20mph and wait for them to cut in front again. Of course they did, but I didn't hit my brakes (to their surprise ) and came really close to clipping this kid's back tire! Then I had a sudden impulse to swerve over to the side and knock the kid into the curb... but restrained myself. Thinking back I wish I had done it, just to show em how funny it is to be freaked out by a stranger trying to hit you, and how even more funny it is to eat asphalt because you're being a jackass.

[dr_bar]

Well I had a close one yesterday, right in my neighbourhood. I was going down a fairly steep hill and making a left onto a side street when these two stupid women gabbing in a cage come rolling straight through the stop sign at me. Tell me I'm wrong, but is it really as hard as it seemed to not drop a bike while skidding on a turn like that??? I was really surprised that I kept the bike on two wheels, as opposed to; two wheels, a couple of signal lights a grip, clutch lever, saddle bag... I guess you get the idea. Scared the cr*p outta me........

[Buelligan]

I was approaching a right hand exit off the freeway, I'm in the right lane on my bike right signal on. Good thing I do a lot of shoulder checks, stupid cow in a car passed me on the right to take the exit, before the exit even started, she was on the paved shoulder. Then she tailgated my friend infront of me who had his grandson on the back.
I had a very strong desire to come alongside and kick her window out. She passed my friend and then tailgated a Motorhome (I hoped she'd get stuck up his exhaust if he stopped quick, no such luck) she then passed him too.
I looked for her as I was hoping she stopped somewhere as I would have pulled over and given her a piece of my mind but she was long gone.
What give these A**hole* the right to think they can take our lives in their hands.

Ahhhh I feel better now, that whole thing really pi**ed me off!!!

[TechTMW]

Wow. Sounds like you guys live in Napoli.

One of these days I need to strap a video camera to my helmet and go riding. two problems w/ that. I don't have a video camera, and I'd probably come home without it if I took it downtown

[Sev]

Then I had a sudden impulse to swerve over to the side and knock the kid into the curb... but restrained myself. Thinking back I wish I had done it, just to show em how funny it is to be freaked out by a stranger trying to hit you, and how even more funny it is to eat asphalt because you're being a jackass.

I'm really glad you didn't the potential criminal charges (12 people saying you swerved at them) would have been horrendous. Scaring them would have been pretty cool though.

Teenagers these days suck!

[Beer Runner]

I drove truck across Canada and the USA, and I have never seen so many stupid drivers as right here in BC. Now in a truck I don't worry about stupid drivers as much, but when I'm on the bike I do. I mean where do these people get there drivers license? You almost need a 3rd eye just to keep track of the idiots out there. Some drivers really scare me at times. You always have to have an escape route

[TechTMW]

I Once had a a dude in a green volvo station wagon pull out in front of me at a wide open intersection. He was yakkin on the phone and didn't see me.

Normally this would not anger me, I tend to just shake my head at such things and be thankful for my luck - But this jackhole had a Giant sticker on his back window that said:

IF YOU THINK MY DRIVING'S BAD, YOU SHOULD SEE HOW I GOLF



(I wonder if he ever got that boot dent out of his rear quarter panel)

[TheReaper]

I'm with you Tech, normally I don't get so worked up over these things. Usually a shake of the head or a quick cuss and it's over. I think when I see the bikes instigating the stupidity though it really raises my ire because people pin it on me then. They see me on my bike and assume I'm just like the stupid ones who always seem to make the news.

Ran into a cop last night. The wife went out with the kids to find a good spot to sit for the fireworks. She gave me a call and told me where she was. I jumped on the bike and off I went. It was only a couple miles from the house. She was in a church parking lot off of a rural highway that runs by us. The road itself is pitch black and while I knew where the church was located I'd never been there to know exactly where the entrance was. As I got on the highway off my street I see headlights aways behind me. I get up to speed and notice the headlights gaining on me. As I approach the church the headlights are practically on me. I hit the signal and started taking the left into the church. Well, it was so dark and with the car practically on me I ended up misjudging the entrance and turned to soon, so I just rode the left shoulder for 20 feet and turned in. As I turned in the car followed me and I hear "You know I'm right behind you don't you?" I look and it turns out it was the local cop. I was so peeved. Flippin moron, you'd think he'd have been to enough accidents to know better than to tailgate.