Hi Gang,
I did Cool Breeze over the weekend. Perfect weather, and so many nice motorists in Santa Barbara. Their courtesy really made the whole century realy a pleasure to ride. ... I Got pretty burned out and dog tired by the last twenty five. i was on the GENIUS, and My Backside was really mssing by Brooks Leather Saddle.
I was Struggling along at about 16 MPH on the HWY 101 frontage road, just a couple of miles before Carpenteria, when I spied a couple of Cyclists in my TAKE A LOOK mirror... And I bet you thought I wore that mirror just for safety!? Anyway, they were doing almost 20, so as they went by I hopped on the draft. A big guy in his late 40's or early 50's and folloed a little skinny lady who may have weighed as little as 90 pounds. SUDDENLY I WAS MOVING! PAT ENDRES HAD PULLED AWAY SOME TIME BACK, SO I WAS HAPPY TO GET THE PULL. Put me in distress right away, had to spin a fairly hight 90 plus cadence to keep from cramping up.
Anyway, after about 10 minutes we came upon an intersection with a four way stop. Cars to left, and cars to the right, and even a motorist who may have wished to turn left in front of us to go onto the freeway. Service Stations on two corners. As we approached, I began to unclip to make my usual full stop, and noticed the big guy who was leading had no intention of stopping, my slow down allowed me to see that all the cars were stopped, and decided to clip back in and proceed ~ Not good Etiquette; But, with all cars stopped, and with my two cycling canarys out ahead, it was relatively safe.
Just before actually starting though the intersection, a small SUV had just began turning right in front of us, from the 101 Freeway off ramp and the SUV was now directly ahead of us and heading in the same direction. With the lead rider, now three quarters of the way through the intersection, he decided to rise out of the saddle and accellerate, the woman ahead, and I followed with a relatively gentle response and began to drop back slightly. The lead rider, was now moving faster than the SUV directly ahead, and entered the SUV's right blind spot. Without signaling, the SUV began to make a right turn into a service station ~ The Lead Cyclist's brakes locked up, and he almost went over the bars, he forced his weight back and his bike began to go sideways. It was a miracle he remained upright, he then veered off to left of the SUV which was now half in the road and half in the driveway, and yelled at the driver.
A moment later, I pulled up even to the rider, and said: "I don't mean to lecture here, but if you're going to tangle with motor vehicle you're going to lose ~ I never overtake a moving vehicles on the right."
Why didn't the driver signal? I don't know exactly, but I imagine that he didn't perceive any other vehicles were near him or her at the time. Clearly the vehicle slowed down ~ And as cyclists, that's often our only warning. This is why I advise all cyclists that you should never overtake a moving vehicle on the right, especially near a driveway or intersection. The cure for STUPID is when one of these vehicles hits you, or you hit it. SIGNAL YOUR INTENTIONS, LOOK AND INDENTIFY DANGEROUS SITUTATIONS, BE PREDICTABLE and remember that to motorists your practically invisible.
My old body is slowing down... Maybe that's a good thing.
Greg P.[/size]