Mike
Maximum Pace
- Sep 24, 2007
- 1,066
- 9
I was on my way home from a short ride today hurling down Doushi michi (R413) into a slight headwind pumping out 40km/h, when a dump truck came up from behind. With traffic quite heavy in the other direction and in fear of my own safety I pulled out from the side, probably about half a meter from the white line to stop him from sneaking past and probably killing me. There is absolutely no shoulder on this strectch of the road making it quite dangerous. I always move close to the white line once the traffic is clear from the opposite direction and allow them to pass.
Today the driver tapped his air brakes a few times, always an indicator of growing frustration. To make matters worse he was sitting right on my back wheel making me rather nervous. With the traffic relentless for a few minutes he decided to blow his horn. Before I go on I must reiterate that I was doing 40km/h in a 50km/h speed zone, not that slow anyway, right
Now fellow roadies, I'd like you to imagine for a moment it was you in this situation and choose the option from below that best sums up what you'd do.
A. Move over and let him pass, making yourself as small as possible and pray to the cycling Gods he doesn't hit you
B. Ignore him and hold your line
C. Flip him the bird and keep your line
D. Look around, gesture at your hopelsess situation and try to calm him down
So which one did you choose? I tried my best to hide my reaction in those options, but I'm sure you guessed it anyways, C. What stupidity you say, messing with a 30 ton Dump Truck? And of course you're right.
Finally when there was a break in the oncoming traffic he passed, tried to put me into the gutter and then tapped his brakes a few times hoping that I'd get the message, if not almost run into the back of him. Adrenaline pumping I got in his slip stream and was ready to fight the guy, but alas my legs gave out when I hit speeds over 60km/h....and he slowly but surely creapt away.
In hindsight of course option D would probably have been the best one, but at the time I was seriously giving it some stick and adrenaline was flowing through my veins.
Without whinging too much (Philip recently stated that I complain more than a Pommy, Crikey!) I can understand why he was frustrated. They are working and probably on a clock. The more loads they take the more money they earn I guess. But IMO they are somewhat selfish, no? How often do they hold up traffic going up inclines? Always, and do they EVER pull over and let traffic pass? NEVER! So today, I say go to HELL Mr. Dump Truck driver on R413 today. I hope we meet again because next time as long as I survive your inital onslaught of 30 tons your in big trouble. I'm gonna chase you down and it's gonna be on. Let's see how much of a man you are out of your big toy!
Oh and the title of the post your asking? Well just after our little incident I saw a few other DT drivers using their CB's and I'm certain they were talking about me....my nickname is actually Sly Dog (my surname is in there somewhere) as I got quite a few looks of disgust from them. Ah what fun it can be out on the bike. Take care guys, it's dangerous out there.
p.s. let me know which option you chose, it might help me from being squshed like frog in the future!
Today the driver tapped his air brakes a few times, always an indicator of growing frustration. To make matters worse he was sitting right on my back wheel making me rather nervous. With the traffic relentless for a few minutes he decided to blow his horn. Before I go on I must reiterate that I was doing 40km/h in a 50km/h speed zone, not that slow anyway, right
Now fellow roadies, I'd like you to imagine for a moment it was you in this situation and choose the option from below that best sums up what you'd do.
A. Move over and let him pass, making yourself as small as possible and pray to the cycling Gods he doesn't hit you
B. Ignore him and hold your line
C. Flip him the bird and keep your line
D. Look around, gesture at your hopelsess situation and try to calm him down
So which one did you choose? I tried my best to hide my reaction in those options, but I'm sure you guessed it anyways, C. What stupidity you say, messing with a 30 ton Dump Truck? And of course you're right.
Finally when there was a break in the oncoming traffic he passed, tried to put me into the gutter and then tapped his brakes a few times hoping that I'd get the message, if not almost run into the back of him. Adrenaline pumping I got in his slip stream and was ready to fight the guy, but alas my legs gave out when I hit speeds over 60km/h....and he slowly but surely creapt away.
In hindsight of course option D would probably have been the best one, but at the time I was seriously giving it some stick and adrenaline was flowing through my veins.
Without whinging too much (Philip recently stated that I complain more than a Pommy, Crikey!) I can understand why he was frustrated. They are working and probably on a clock. The more loads they take the more money they earn I guess. But IMO they are somewhat selfish, no? How often do they hold up traffic going up inclines? Always, and do they EVER pull over and let traffic pass? NEVER! So today, I say go to HELL Mr. Dump Truck driver on R413 today. I hope we meet again because next time as long as I survive your inital onslaught of 30 tons your in big trouble. I'm gonna chase you down and it's gonna be on. Let's see how much of a man you are out of your big toy!
Oh and the title of the post your asking? Well just after our little incident I saw a few other DT drivers using their CB's and I'm certain they were talking about me....my nickname is actually Sly Dog (my surname is in there somewhere) as I got quite a few looks of disgust from them. Ah what fun it can be out on the bike. Take care guys, it's dangerous out there.
p.s. let me know which option you chose, it might help me from being squshed like frog in the future!