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goddamnedtwisto posted:Tube strike time in London so twice as many cars on the road, plus probably four times as many bikes (powered and not) as usual, all of them piloted by people who really don't understand the subtle interplay of awareness, manners, and sheer bloody insanity that is dealing with London traffic. Can't wait to move there in 2 months. Might sell the bike and walk like a loving hick.
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Jul 9, 2015 15:12
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Shelvocke posted:Can't wait to move there in 2 months. Might sell the bike and walk like a loving hick. With the right bike and a bit of local knowledge it's normally a great place to ride, once you get over the culture shock. It's always fun talking to people after the first time they hit something like Hyde Park Corner or played chicken with cyclists in the City, and then seeing them after a month dodging pedestrians before even the peds know that they're there. Number one tip I can give you - if you're heading through the centre of town, completely ignore the routes Google or GPS gives you. Look at a bus map instead. Simplest example - heading into town from the east, everything will tell you take Leamouth Road/Aspen Way/The Highway. After all it's a major road, and for cars it is the quickest way. On a bike though, you've got the A13 with it's lovely accommodating bus lanes that will get you there in literally half the time, because the former road (especially The Highway) is nigh-impossible to filter on, with random traffic islands and shitloads of gravel in the filter lanes. (Number two tip - actually look at the bus lane signs because some councils are fuckers)
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Jul 9, 2015 22:45
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goddamnedtwisto posted:or played chicken with cyclists in the City, and then seeing them after a month dodging pedestrians before even the peds know that they're there. Nah, crossings are for chumps;  (Also my camera clock has reset somehow)
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Jul 9, 2015 23:29
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Glad to know that stupidity is the one common unifying trait among all of humankind. Yesterday, riding into town, come up on a side street that's angled so only the car waiting at the stop can actually see anything, and vice versa. I'm on the 4 lane right of way, riding in the motorcycle/scooter lane. A van pulls out, a little slow, but plenty of room. Then then impatient idiot in the Lancer behind him pulls out without stopping or checking, riding the van all the way through. Stupid, assholish, but nothing I needed to worry about. Then comes number three flying out of the side street - he's the one who almost causes the accident. Thankfully the lanes to my left are clear, so I was able to swerve to avoid implanting myself into the side of his car, and I could hear his tires screeching as he barely manages to stop his car from turning me and my Yamaha into a hood ornament. I glance in the mirror and he's completely blocked the scooter lane. I've seen this crap everywhere I've lived. Like, person number 1 goes, plenty of room, number 2 is an impatient rear end in a top hat and figures if he just rides rear end on number 1 he can make it out, too. But then number 3 and everyone behind him cease all brain function and play follow the leader. Normally I've only seen this poo poo at 4-way stops, which completely defeats the purpose, and you're the rear end in a top hat for honking; but then you get folks like this chucklefuck who almost causes an accident. In a way, I'm almost glad this happened here in Taiwan and not in the US, because I'm not sure if the same person in America would've managed to stop their car.
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Jul 10, 2015 09:39
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There's a stop sign near my house that's terrible for that sort of thing, it's angled enough so you don't really need to slow down much at all to make the turn onto the road, so people just blast through it all the time, even though the corner/line of sight is blocked by a hill and trees. I treat that entire area with extreme caution whenever I'm near it. Stupid redneck fucks.
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Jul 10, 2015 15:07
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Some hick fuckface rolled coal on me on the interstate while blocking the passing lane. I gave him the finger. He pulled over to the shoulder to try and fight. Thanks for clearing the passing lane dickhead! Edit: Oh yeah also earlier in the day my wife was following me in her car. She's finally gotten used to me having a bike, and we're cruising down a local road and some lady just pulls out HARD in front of me. I lay on the brake and horn and come to a stop. Wifey tells me the lady had a look on her face of "why is the mean motorcycle man honking at me?!?!" She said she almost rammed the loving idiot with her car she was so pissed off. Definitely reset the clock on her worrying about my safety. Sigh. Funny part is she brought it up later and said she was amazed that I didn't even mention the incident when we arrived at our destination. I told her that sort of poo poo happens 2-3 times a ride and it's not even notable. People are the loving worst. revmoo fucked around with this message at 15:09 on Jul 13, 2015 |
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Jul 13, 2015 15:02
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Had someone pull out in front of me for the first time a few days ago. I take partial blame though. I was right behind a panel van which turned onto the road the car was coming from and I was riding too close to the van so the car couldn't see me. So it's partly a rant about me being an idiot. I reacted correctly though; braked hard, looked where I wanted to go and swerved around the car.
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Jul 13, 2015 15:15
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revmoo posted:Some hick fuckface rolled coal on me on the interstate while blocking the passing lane. I gave him the finger. He pulled over to the shoulder to try and fight. Time to start doing the weave when you come up on people that will be turning across your avenue of travel.
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Jul 13, 2015 16:32
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revmoo posted:Some hick fuckface rolled coal on me on the interstate while blocking the passing lane. I gave him the finger. He pulled over to the shoulder to try and fight. I don't know what options are like in your area, but we have the smoking vehicle hotline in Colorado.
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Jul 13, 2015 17:09
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BlackMK4 posted:Time to start doing the weave when you come up on people that will be turning across your avenue of travel. Hahaha that's adorable. Bro I do the SMIDSY weave 100% of the time, I drive with my high beams on, I move over to the right when crossing intersections, slow down for left-turners, cover my brake, always have an avenue of escape, and I still get 2-3 people PER RIDE pulling out in front of me. This city really just has awful, awful loving drivers. I posted this elsewhere summing up my last three months of riding: - Came around blind corner to find a car passing over the double yellow - Range rover swerved into my lane on the interstate without looking, forcing me onto the shoulder - Car crossed four lanes without looking and ran me onto the median - While passing on a country road, the car I was passing gunned it (to almost 100mph!) to try and force me into oncoming traffic - 30-40 cars pulled out in front of me without looking while making left turns - 10-15 cars crossed the double-yellow in a blind curve. One tried to road rage at me for honking - Riding with a buddy, guy in a jeep tried to sideswipe him in road rage while his 12-year old daughter was on the back - Stopped for car waiting to turn, heard tires screeching, looked back and found a Camry 2 feet from my rear tire - Turned onto road with oncoming car turning before me, signal on. She proceeded to floor it straight, swerve around me, and pass me on the median - Much, much more. I will say, this city has turned me into an absolute monster at motorcycle braking. I can threshold brake like Rossi thanks to these loving hillbillies.
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Jul 13, 2015 17:14
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Aww yeah, Monday. It was raining this morning and coming into the city center I was approaching a long snake of traffic at some lights, so I glide up to the front and snuggle into second place (couldn't quite squeeze past and I ride like a pussy in rain) and the lights changed just as I put my foot down. So I steadily roll off and the little Ford KA behind me drives alongside me, okay everyone's a bit testy this morning so I carry on. But then the mini van behind the KA comes right up my arse, flashing and beeping away making me think what the gently caress. A few meters forward he pulls up alongside me in the on-coming lane and yells something at me then turbos into a car park, yeesh. I've got it on camera but it comes out as gibberish, I think it was something along the lines of "I could've run over you, loving prick!", course I just yell out a "WHAT?"
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Jul 13, 2015 19:17
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revmoo posted:Some hick fuckface rolled coal on me on the interstate while blocking the passing lane. I gave him the finger. He pulled over to the shoulder to try and fight. I'm honestly surprised with the sheer number of "Don't tread on me" and confederate flags waving off the back of the old hick trucks around here that I haven't yet been rolled upon. In fact, the only "redneck" vehicle I came upon was a lifted Bronco with a teenager driving it that pulled over and let me pass on a twisty back road. I had tears in my eyes as I rode past and waved with a thumbs-up, and was telling myself that I wish I could meet the kid's dad and tell him that he raised a hell of a good young man. 
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Jul 14, 2015 03:50
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I hate hornets. Not Honda 600s, the bugs. The bikes are ok. Second time riding through Skamania county, second time I got stung on the groin riding through Skamania county. gently caress you, hornets. Lots of them in the woods out there.
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Jul 14, 2015 04:47
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clutchpuck posted:Skamania county Oh sure, the Skatalites send me a postcard from Skamania with some nice tunes included, and all I get from you is bitching about insects. http://www.allmusic.com/album/greetings-from-skamania-mw0000647638
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Jul 14, 2015 04:59
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Well, gently caress.
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Jul 14, 2015 08:20
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Collateral Damage posted:Well, gently caress.  Got one last week too.
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Jul 14, 2015 08:33
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Just hit a couple hundred more and then they're studded tires, right?
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Jul 14, 2015 14:28
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Literal Dirt Bike Dept: I want to know what a modified motorcycle riding down a mile of underground rails even looks like. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/13/world/americas/joaquin-guzman-loera-el-chapo-mexican-drug-kingpin-prison-escape.html?referrer=&_r=0
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Jul 14, 2015 15:42
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Wow that was a really good read. I know he is a bad person and his escape is a tragedy but that is a pretty legendary way to go. The amount of engineering that must have gone into correctly plotting a tunnel, to the foot, over a mile away, is staggering. Maybe it's one of these? 
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Jul 14, 2015 17:47
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Coydog posted:Wow that was a really good read. I know he is a bad person and his escape is a tragedy but that is a pretty legendary way to go. The amount of engineering that must have gone into correctly plotting a tunnel, to the foot, over a mile away, is staggering. All you need is basic trigonomety and two plumb bobs - the Romans cracked that one and it served 2,000 years of engineering until the invention of the laser. Most of the London Underground was surveyed and tunneled that way.
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Jul 14, 2015 18:15
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I'm in Detroit. I take back everything back I said about Louisville drivers.
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Jul 15, 2015 01:10
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revmoo posted:I'm in Detroit. Welcome to my nightmare...
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Jul 15, 2015 01:55
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Marv Hushman posted:Oh sure, the Skatalites send me a postcard from Skamania with some nice tunes included, and all I get from you is bitching about insects. Maybe I pissed off the rude boys?
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Jul 15, 2015 03:19
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Marv Hushman posted:Welcome to my nightmare... I don't like it and I want to go home. Seriously if my company offered me 300k salary+relocation to move here I'd tell them to gently caress off.
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Jul 15, 2015 04:20
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revmoo posted:I don't like it and I want to go home. Come back in February, I'd really like to see your revised estimates.
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Jul 15, 2015 05:27
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Marv Hushman posted:Come back in February, I'd really like to see your revised estimates. My company would like for me to do that. I will not be doing that.
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Jul 15, 2015 20:58
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Managed to leave my pack unzipped on the way home from work, lost my cellphone. Hooray!
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Jul 17, 2015 08:10
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I have one of those bags that clip onto the tail of a bike - it's fantastic for urban riding since you don't leave a trunk for someone to gently caress with, but you also need to remember to actually clip it to the bike and not just set it down on it. Cue me dropping my Chromebook, $50 worth of shrimp and steaks for a birthday meal, my GoPro and phone off my bike somewhere between the store and a mile away when I realized I was missing it. A Marczyks employee noticed I dropped the bag in the parking lot and brought it inside for me. Then they put my food in the fridge waiting for me to come back. That was a fantastic surprise. Another time my glove snagged on my Sena and detached it in traffic, again in the city. I did a quick U-turn, expecting it to be smashed in lanes, and came upon a woman sprinting towards me with the device in hand. She smiled and said "you dropped this!", handed me the Sena, and ran away. I really need to stop dropping poo poo, this luck will not last.
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Jul 17, 2015 14:15
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loving dealer didn't order my mirror last week so now I gotta wait another 3 or 4 days for it to loving come on. gently caress. At least it'll give me time to put on the new grips and let the glue dry.
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Jul 17, 2015 14:40
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loving people. This woman in a Pathfinder cuts me off, sending me right up her bumper. I veer to the left side of the lane, in the hopes she'll see my headlight in her sideview mirror. After five or ten seconds, she does, makes a surprised face, and starts screaming and pointing at me. I make a little kissy face and smile, she drives off, but then we turn at the same intersection. As she scoots by on the right, she gives me the middle finger as she looks away... and then stops at the stoplight ten feet ahead. I pull behind her again and make a bunch of exaggerated thumbs-up and OK signals at her, my favorite response to people flipping me off. Her fat face EXPLODES and she angrily sputters "I'm calling the cops!" Note that I never, ever travel besides vehicles as that can be considered threatening, I'm behind her bumper at all times. I mouth back "OK, that's cool." and shrug, especially considering you've never seen my plate. She slows down so I can pass her, to get my plate number I'm sure, but I just pop a U-turn on the sidewalk and ride away. Nice try, bitch.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:09
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Man this is why you always run a gopro.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:53
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Z3n posted:Man this is why you always run a gopro. I know, I always, always run my GoPro - except the loving J-hook on mine broke off two days ago and I'm getting a new one today, overnighted from Amazon. Never again.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:55
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Z3n posted:Man this is why you always run a gopro. For real. I'm moving back to the Bay and I'm going to have a 60 mile round trip commute on 101. First purchase will probably be a GoPro to protect my rear end from rush hour vigilantes. Also to entertain you all with any interesting footage I can get.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:56
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Radbot posted:loving people. This woman in a Pathfinder cuts me off, sending me right up her bumper. I veer to the left side of the lane, in the hopes she'll see my headlight in her sideview mirror. After five or ten seconds, she does, makes a surprised face, and starts screaming and pointing at me. I make a little kissy face and smile, she drives off, but then we turn at the same intersection. Why are you riding without a full face helmet in Denver you maniac.
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Jul 17, 2015 17:14
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LOL my wife's beemer. It's a 2002 R model so it has some bullshit 4-cable throttle and choke setup or something. And it's really sticky right now, hard to pull open. Cables are like $100 each. Here's hoping it's just fallen off a guide in the handlebar housing or something. She also needs a new rear brake rotor and pads all around for another $450. Nothing is cheap on this bike and she waited until 3 weeks before our big summer Sturgis trip to start paying attention to it so not only are we left scrambling to get parts in and make it ready, the budget I thought we had set aside for the trip is being eaten into by unexpected expenses.
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Jul 17, 2015 17:15
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:Why are you riding without a full face helmet in Denver you maniac. I am! My visor was up and I'm using a Nolan with it's accompanying massive gently caress-off viewport, so you can see my mouth easily.
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Jul 17, 2015 17:40
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clutchpuck posted:LOL my wife's beemer. It's a 2002 R model so it has some bullshit 4-cable throttle and choke setup or something. And it's really sticky right now, hard to pull open. Cables are like $100 each. Here's hoping it's just fallen off a guide in the handlebar housing or something. She also needs a new rear brake rotor and pads all around for another $450. Nothing is cheap on this bike and she waited until 3 weeks before our big summer Sturgis trip to start paying attention to it so not only are we left scrambling to get parts in and make it ready, the budget I thought we had set aside for the trip is being eaten into by unexpected expenses.
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Jul 17, 2015 17:56
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It's outdoors every time she rides it  Bike has 64000 commuting and touring miles, so yeah it's been out a lot. We have some after market pads picked out from Motorcycle Superstore and you just helped me realize that she had trouble finding those and I had to look them up, so lo and behold there's cheaper rear brake rotors too. Thanks for the gut check.
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Jul 17, 2015 18:02
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Chichevache posted:For real. I'm moving back to the Bay and I'm going to have a 60 mile round trip commute on 101. First purchase will probably be a GoPro to protect my rear end from rush hour vigilantes. Also to entertain you all with any interesting footage I can get.
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Jul 17, 2015 18:18
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Gillingham posted:This sounds like a terrible idea, but I guess it's your sanity. I did the same commute for an entire year in a car, and to be honest I'm now mad as a March hare; at least on a bike I'll be happy!
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Jul 17, 2015 18:27
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