JOSEPHWEISSERT
Zen MBB Master
I took my first ride inside the pack today at a local bike shop's Saturday morning ride. The whole group goes for quite a few miles before breaking up into A, B, and C groups. I was totally comfortable on the V today - as comfortable as I used to be riding in a pack on a DF. I have about 18 years of group-riding experience, so it's just a matter of doing it on a V now. So that's another first for my personal V experience.
But to ruin the experience (yes, this involves a pickup truck driver, of course), the entire group was flipped off by a pickup truck driver who was in the oncoming lane, holding his arm entirely out the driver's side window, flipping off the whole large group. We were adhering to traffic laws, but Michigan is not known for being cycling-friendly. Even so, I've never seen anything like that before. Was he objecting to our healthy lifestyle because he has large investments in big tobacco and now cannot retire early? Was he trying to communicate his IQ? Usually a driver will just try to sneak up from behind, blow his horn, and see how close he can get his mirror to the cyclist. Although, there are some creative variations. One time a few years ago, a friend was pelted in gravel as a pickup truck pulled onto the shoulder and spun its tires to throw gravel at the cyclist. And then there is the fat woman in a Cadillac who screamed out the window, and then when chased through town by a cyclist, drove to the police station to try to get help - but no one was at the police station (how embarassing for her). And then there are all the people who just scream out the window unintelligibly and get stuck at a traffic light (very poor planning skills). Oh well, at least the crazies are in the minority. To be fair, the majority of drivers are considerate. And I am loving my Vendetta more each ride even though there is too much road rage out there this year already.
How are the other states for road rage? Maybe I'll go south for the winter months.
But to ruin the experience (yes, this involves a pickup truck driver, of course), the entire group was flipped off by a pickup truck driver who was in the oncoming lane, holding his arm entirely out the driver's side window, flipping off the whole large group. We were adhering to traffic laws, but Michigan is not known for being cycling-friendly. Even so, I've never seen anything like that before. Was he objecting to our healthy lifestyle because he has large investments in big tobacco and now cannot retire early? Was he trying to communicate his IQ? Usually a driver will just try to sneak up from behind, blow his horn, and see how close he can get his mirror to the cyclist. Although, there are some creative variations. One time a few years ago, a friend was pelted in gravel as a pickup truck pulled onto the shoulder and spun its tires to throw gravel at the cyclist. And then there is the fat woman in a Cadillac who screamed out the window, and then when chased through town by a cyclist, drove to the police station to try to get help - but no one was at the police station (how embarassing for her). And then there are all the people who just scream out the window unintelligibly and get stuck at a traffic light (very poor planning skills). Oh well, at least the crazies are in the minority. To be fair, the majority of drivers are considerate. And I am loving my Vendetta more each ride even though there is too much road rage out there this year already.
How are the other states for road rage? Maybe I'll go south for the winter months.