To all of my friends who cycle, and those that dont. I know many of you have had close calls, and today was my day of nearly being killed on the bike by a motorist who was driving not in the road, but, in the bike lane near the entrance of Red Rock. As I was almost in his passenger seat, he looked and heard me yelling something about stopping but kept angling me off the road. I slammed on the brakes and got really lucky that I didnt wind up on the rocks below. Had I gone two more inches that would have been it as there was a significant drop off. He heard me, saw me, and drove off. But, there was a bit of Karma. I thought he might be at the overlook and he was. Had he not driven off, and said something like I am really sorry, I would have politely accepted that, shared that he should be more cautious, then thanked him for acknowledging things, no issues there. So, when I found him and his wife at the overlook, he first denied that he was the one, except that I have a pretty good memory of guys who wear lime green shirts and blue hats who nearly kill me. He then muttered Sorry and turned away. Again, had he given some acknowledgment, and not denial, I would have had a quiet and brief conversation. But that wasnt the case, and I was inspired to raise my voice... quite a few levels. There were about 50 or 60 people around, and I said in an exceedingly loud and semi-terrifying tone, You are sorry for breaking the law and nearly killing me? That is it? This is going to be a teachable moment! I proceeded in a wonderfully loud manner to share with him and the 5 dozen or so onlookers that there are hundreds of bikers and runners at Red Rock, and that if you break the law and drive in the bike lane, you can injure somebody, and that some have been killed by motorists. That when somebody almost kills me because of utter negligence, of violating the law, that maybe, just maybe, I might get a little bit upset. The guy was really embarrassed, but the reason I did that was so he would pay attention and not injure anybody. I am pretty certain I heightened his awareness and those within 1/2 a mile or so who could hear every word. The people around smiled and nodded at me as I rode off, so maybe I still have some semblance of sanity. Or, maybe not!
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 01:13:10 +0000