RANT: Idiot Drivers!

[jmusic]

So I was biking in to work this morning, being a good vehicular cyclist.  I was riding outside the door zone (near the middle of the lane) on a two lane road with parallel parking transitioning to a longer stretch of open bike lane.  The road was straight with unrestricted visibility ahead for at least 400 yards with no traffic visible AT ALL from the other direction.  Speed limit was 25mph.

Douchebag in a truck HONKS AT ME as he's passing!!  WTF??  I didn't delay him one nanosecond!

[Eric]

Did you give him the Spaceballs salute?

[jmusic]

Haha... I was definitely riled up, but I just shook my arm at him. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the roadway also has sharrows painted on it!!

[NumberCruncher]

You should just smile big and wave next time, like he's an old friend. :D

[Blonde Lawyer]

Was it a "get out of my way" honk or a "I just want you to know I'm behind you" honk?  My mom, bless her heart, has some fear that bicyclists don't hear/see her and that they are going to just turn in front of her or something.  So, if she is leaving her lane to pass one, she gives a little "toot" to give them a heads up.  I've explained why this is a bad idea and unnecessary but she feels she needs to acknowledge the bicyclist saw her before she feels it is safe to pass. SMH.

[gt7152b]

Did you give him the Spaceballs salute?

I used to do this back when I was a green commuter. There will be lots more honks throughout your cycling days so my advice is to relax and ignore them. A honk means they saw you and are not trying to run you down. Any ill will on their part is just their problem. My favorite thing to do now is to wave in a friendly way to anyone that honks. I just assume that it's someone I know giving a friendly greeting. I started doing this because one day someone honked at me and I was pissed until I realized it was a friend of mine that was just saying hello.

[Eric]

/\ Note that the Spaceballs salute does end in a friendly wave.  :)  Best of both worlds.

[jmusic]

Did you give him the Spaceballs salute?

I used to do this back when I was a green commuter. There will be lots more honks throughout your cycling days so my advice is to relax and ignore them. A honk means they saw you and are not trying to run you down. Any ill will on their part is just their problem. My favorite thing to do now is to wave in a friendly way to anyone that honks. I just assume that it's someone I know giving a friendly greeting. I started doing this because one day someone honked at me and I was pissed until I realized it was a friend of mine that was just saying hello.

Yeah, funny thing was is that I was reading some stuff on self-improvement last night and one of the quotes was this:

Situations aren't important. How you react to them is. You have to play it where it lies.

I remembered this after the fact, so next time I'll try to keep it in mind as it happens.  Me getting upset = letting them win.

[jmusic]

Was it a "get out of my way" honk or a "I just want you to know I'm behind you" honk? 

I'm pretty sure he had already started passing me when he honked, so I'm pretty sure it was a "get off the road!" honk.

My mom, bless her heart, has some fear that bicyclists don't hear/see her and that they are going to just turn in front of her or something.  So, if she is leaving her lane to pass one, she gives a little "toot" to give them a heads up.  I've explained why this is a bad idea and unnecessary but she feels she needs to acknowledge the bicyclist saw her before she feels it is safe to pass. SMH.

I'm sure you're aware of this, but 99% of cyclists can hear vehicles VERY well (except hybrids/EVs) when they're approaching from behind.  It's amazing how much better you can hear without the steel & glass cage.  Horns are also VERY loud and quite startling without said cage.

[gt7152b]

/\ Note that the Spaceballs salute does end in a friendly wave.  :)  Best of both worlds.

Good point. I failed to remember the second half of the salute.