By the way, that was probably me that fell in front of you heading out of Fall City. I seriously bonked and couldn’t get my feet out of the clips fast enough. Thanks for not running me over.

FWIW, they appeared to be early-20′s (i.e. the I’m invulnerable stage). There have been several letters-to-the-editor in both the Everett Herald and local weekly about this ‘fad’, plus my wife got caught in a backup several weeks ago on I5 in Federal Way caused by a motorcyclist doing this and causing a 5 car pileup, which is why I suggested a trend.

I know there are responsible motorcycle riders (like the ones I see during my Sunday evening Everett-Portland commute) and I didn’t mean to insinuate that all motorcyclists are at fault, though I don’t know if I quite buy the 99/1 ratio. FWIW, I see plenty of cyclist bozo’s too, particularly on rides like Flying Wheels, for some reason.

When I flew, I used to hate clear weather on the weekends for the same reason – it brought out all the people who hadn’t been in a plane for six months. Going to the San Juan islands was a lot like Flight of the Bumblebees, and trying to identify which two people in the pattern who weren’t using their radios only added to the chaos.

The scariest experience I had was when the Boeing controller lined two of us up on the runway, me in the middle, newbie behind. She cleared me for takeoff, but the other guy thought it was for him. He started taking off, oblivious to the large white thing sitting on the runway in front of him. Sadly, the guy died in an air crash in Arlington later that year when he took off without removing the seat belt from the control yoke and his plane spun out.

But I digress. Newbies are everywhere. One hopes they learn enough before they’re an endangerment to others. Much like is the case in Weather forecasting, we’re more likely to notice the 1% of nimrods more than the other 99% operating their vehicles, whatever those are, properly.

I should also note that I’m very appreciative for the volunteer work done by the Honda GoldWing Touring Association checking up on us during events.

Ted: significant overlap between serious motorcyclists and serious bicyclists

Case in point: I went to a motorcycle shop, CycoActive, to buy a decent GPS mount.

There is also crossover in technology. Motorcyclists are always borrowing bicycle technology for their motorcycles. For instance, cycle computers are more accurate than speedometers.

The opposite is true- look at any mountain bike and compare it to offroad motorcycles. For instance, disc brakes look just like the ones on a motorcycle. And the newer hydraulic brakes are very similar to the motorcycle variant.

I hate summer, because it’s when all the poseur motorcyclists hit the roads. Check out the motorbikers that are commuting and riding in the winter, and you’ll get a different impression.

I will probably end up with about 25,000 miles on my main motorcycle this year. I roll my eyes at the squids, too. (squids are motorcycle poseurs, much less brainpower than horsepower)

Of course, I also roll my eyes at cyclists who put their $6,000 carbon fiber bicycle on the back of their car, rather than ride to an event.. or cyclists who put their bike on the rack and drive to work, just so they can look down on those lame car drivers.. if you aren’t riding, you don’t have any good reason to look down on drivers.

-ted

Maybe I’m just extra crazy, but on dangerous corners, I move over and take the whole road. Figure if I’m going to get hit, might as well win the legal lottery.

FWIW, I had an interesting experience on Old Snohomish-Monroe Road two weekends ago. I had two motorcyclists pass me while standing on their seats doing their best Leo DiCaprio/Titanic immitation. Seems to be the in thing among the motorcycle crowd here in left corner Washington. Whatever the insurance companies charge for motorcycles, it’s not enough…

Incidentally, when I’m not riding far to the right, there’s usually a reason: the shoulder gives way, shrapnel, or the dreaded blackberry feelers.

May I suggest, if possible, not moving totally into the other lane. Especially on sections of road with curves. When vehicles pass entirely in the other lane on curved sections, it risks accidents with oncoming vehicles. It also spooks the cyclists since they recognize the possibility of the passing car and an oncoming car having to perform a dangerous maneuver which may involve a collision.

An entire lane between the cyclist and the passing car isn’t necessary. Sure, it’s nice having more space, but not at the risk of causing an accident. Half of a lane can be more than sufficient.

A suggestion for passing on blind or sharp corners. Slow down, count to two which gets you through most corners, and then pass as the view becomes clear. Those few seconds mean nothing in the your overall drive time but mean a lot for the lives they can save.

http://www.hanskellner.com/videos/

As for running the video camera, I would suggest a remote start/stop controller. I use one which allows me to keep my camera tucked safely away in my CamelBak and to start and stop as needed.

When to record and not? I suggest when you are riding in an area you know to be a problem. As you hear a vehicle coming, click the record button. No problem? Perfect! Driver does something dangerous such as swerve and the middle finger? Gotcha! You now have proof of the incident. Print one or more frames from the video showing the driver’s actions. Hopefully the license plate will be visible. Then file a report with the police. It might take a bit to have them do so but it can be entered into the records. Later, if that driver and/or vehicle is involved in an accident there is prior evidence which can then be used to help in prosecuting the jerk.

As for rash drivers out there, shame on them. Although I don’t think they are out there to get ya :) I always am extra cautious when I see a bicyclist. I get jittery like a mile away especially when they are on the road, and I have to go to the opposite lane to maintain a safe distance from them.

That camera I linked to also has remote controls for controlling the camera. However, if you’re carrying it solely to record any incidents that might happen during your communite then having a loop might be nice.

I thought it would be kind of fun to do a fast version of the commute — I don’t think anyone would sit through watching it in real time, though 60-100x might be kind of fun.

There would be a lot of impracticalities on the longer rides, though. Unless the camera did a constant loop, I’d probably forget to turn it on at the right time. How are video cameras on batteries? What’s the storage of a video camera?

I don’t know what goes through drivers’minds. With the big black pickup, I’d guess #2 or #3, because he was clearly going way too fast.

Doug’s comment is poignant because we’re in an age where complexity of the world taxes the senses. There’s a push to do multiple things at once. Economists call this “productivity gains,” but it’s so tempting to take advantage of the “free time” by calling while you’re on the phone.

I remember a news cast about 10 years ago where they showed a guy going down the freeway, cell phone in left hand, pen in the right diagramming something in the air. Point being: your mind isn’t 100% allocated to the task of driving.

I’ve seen the unstable drivers (category #1), too, especially when biking near vacation areas. The scariest are the elderly couple in the Winnebago. Senses dulled, they’re not the best in maintaining control of the land boat.

When I’m riding home I often look at what other people are doing and it terrifies me. When you approach the burbs, you’re required to have a cell phone attached to your ear. I see people using their cell phone as well as smoking and/or eating.

I love your idea of riding with a video camera and have thought about doing the same.

1. Unable to control their vehicle?
2. Purposely trying to scare us?
3. Have their head buried in their tuckuss?
4. All of the above?

Sadly, there are some really dangerous drivers out there. For some reason more of them drive trucks.

I have thought several times about wearing my helmet video cam out on a ride. Capturing a dangerous driver on video can go a long way when reporting them. It’s a pain, because the police don’t like to take the time, but it is possible to report dangerous drivers. It can also help prosecution if that driver does end up harming/killing a cyclist.

Aggressive drivers should not be tolerated!

Another story of the right-side mirror nearly whacking the helmet, from earlier this year:
http://tinyurl.com/3eler