cap'n
Junior Member
A couple of things happened in the last 2 days of riding that made think about mentioning this idea out loud: do we all go a little bit out of our way to be good citizens on the road? Not to get all nanny-state on you or anything, but when we get those opportunities to either say something, fix something, help someone etc, do we take them? The two things that made me think of this:
1. Monday a.m. on the way to work, in northern Cambridge about to turn onto route 2, I was behind two vehicles, all 3 of us waiting to take a right. The light was red, and they just installed a big neon red sign that lights up and says "NO RIGHT TURN ON RED." So the lead car, a lady in a minivan, wasn't going. The second vehicle was a work van full of tools (including the driver, apprently), and he kept revving his engine up, jumping at her car and braking hard, trying to get her to go through. Then he rolled down his window to yell at her. The light finally turned green, and we all went through it to the next light. She stopped first in the left lane, and he in the first spot on the right lane, right next to her. Still angry, he rolled his window down to yell at this hapless woman some more about not going through the light. I punched the gas and squirted up between the cars, stopping right next to him as he was calling her a "stuipid bitch." I threw open my visor and said "there was a GIANT "No Turn On Red" sign right there at the light - she couldn't go through it you f_cking a$$hole." He started in on me too. Then the light turned green, but as he sped off (throwing me the bird of course) she looked at me from inside the minivan and said THAAANK YOU and looked genuinely grateful, which made my day. I nodded back and pulled in behind her as she moved forward.
2. On the way in today there's a good twisty back road bit by some farms, and right in my lane at a critical spot in the turn was a rock the size of an Idaho russet potato. I missed it, and I was anxious to come in to work, but I still turned around carefully after the turns, parked at a farm 50 yards down the road, and walked back up to move the rock. Somebody else was gonna hit that thing. I once saw a triumph mechanic hit a rock that big banked over in a turn on a speed triple while we were on a demo ride, and the memory of that bucking tankslapper haunts me.
So I guess my point is not that I'm a good boy and want a pat on the head, but I do want to hear some stories of bikes being the good guys for a change. Eh?
1. Monday a.m. on the way to work, in northern Cambridge about to turn onto route 2, I was behind two vehicles, all 3 of us waiting to take a right. The light was red, and they just installed a big neon red sign that lights up and says "NO RIGHT TURN ON RED." So the lead car, a lady in a minivan, wasn't going. The second vehicle was a work van full of tools (including the driver, apprently), and he kept revving his engine up, jumping at her car and braking hard, trying to get her to go through. Then he rolled down his window to yell at her. The light finally turned green, and we all went through it to the next light. She stopped first in the left lane, and he in the first spot on the right lane, right next to her. Still angry, he rolled his window down to yell at this hapless woman some more about not going through the light. I punched the gas and squirted up between the cars, stopping right next to him as he was calling her a "stuipid bitch." I threw open my visor and said "there was a GIANT "No Turn On Red" sign right there at the light - she couldn't go through it you f_cking a$$hole." He started in on me too. Then the light turned green, but as he sped off (throwing me the bird of course) she looked at me from inside the minivan and said THAAANK YOU and looked genuinely grateful, which made my day. I nodded back and pulled in behind her as she moved forward.
2. On the way in today there's a good twisty back road bit by some farms, and right in my lane at a critical spot in the turn was a rock the size of an Idaho russet potato. I missed it, and I was anxious to come in to work, but I still turned around carefully after the turns, parked at a farm 50 yards down the road, and walked back up to move the rock. Somebody else was gonna hit that thing. I once saw a triumph mechanic hit a rock that big banked over in a turn on a speed triple while we were on a demo ride, and the memory of that bucking tankslapper haunts me.
So I guess my point is not that I'm a good boy and want a pat on the head, but I do want to hear some stories of bikes being the good guys for a change. Eh?