[rola643]

I'll try not to be to long winded so you can get to laughing at me in short order!
So...I went for a ride this morning before work, nice 35 miler. I was a little worried about getting caught in a down pour and the wind was blowing pretty good but all in all not to bad.

I was on the last leg of my ride where I have to cross 2 lanes of traffic on fairly busy road to make a left turn onto Main St and on home. If there is traffic turning left at this light I always stay behind and to the right of traffic so I don't get squeezed as they make the left turn.

Anyway today I was behind a Bay Transit bus ( like a Ford F350 chassis, maybe a 20 passenger thing like most airport shuttles) and the left turn arrow turns green. The bus takes off, I start my first downward pedal stroke and then BAM I came to an abrupt stop and my left index fingers is throbbing from where it slammed into the back of the bus stuck between my left brifter and the bus because the Dim witted, ^%#$%$, AS# H%^$ decided to stop for gawd only knows what reason! After a brief moment of confusion of what just happened and checking for blood and a broken brfiter I gave pursuit as fast as I could cussing him like a sailor and he knew it! I could see him look in the rear view mirror twice and keep on going. He knew what happened because I rocked that whole bus and yet he kept going. I would have had to a least stop and check my vehicle for damage....oh well. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here is a picture of the scene of the crime.

Hope you can get a good laugh from this. Not sure what I could have done any different to prevent this but it really pissed me off!

 

[Industry_Hack]

That sucks. My morning ride was unpleasant, but in a much different way. I checked the weather - no rain. Good. So I put on my helmet and leather jacket, and decided to ride my motorcycle to work. Somehow, I missed the giant bank thermometer that I check every morning. It was 27 degrees out. Subtract about 20 for wind chill, and it was a very cold ride. When I got to work, I couldn't unbuckle my helmet, as I had no feeling in my fingers at all. And at those temps, air-cooled American motorcycle engines don't even get warm. Putting my hands nearly on the exhaust didn't do squat. And they hurt like hell when they finally thawed.

 

[SUX VR40 Rider]

That sucks. My morning ride was unpleasant, but in a much different way. I checked the weather - no rain. Good. So I put on my helmet and leather jacket, and decided to ride my motorcycle to work. Somehow, I missed the giant bank thermometer that I check every morning. It was 27 degrees out. Subtract about 20 for wind chill, and it was a very cold ride. When I got to work, I couldn't unbuckle my helmet, as I had no feeling in my fingers at all. And at those temps, air-cooled American motorcycle engines don't even get warm. Putting my hands nearly on the exhaust didn't do squat. And they hurt like hell when they finally thawed.

You would have stayed warmer riding your bicycle.

 

[Industry_Hack]

You would have stayed warmer riding your bicycle.

Except that if I tried to ride in 27 degree weather I would almost certainly stop breathing. And my commute is a non-stop construction site.

 

[Garilia]

rola, maybe if you had fallen on the ground and started limping around he would have stopped, because then he'd be worried. When he saw you in pursuit, you gave him a good laugh!

 

[photosbymark]

I doubt he was laughing. Hitting a bike or hitting a car and not stopping, well that is a hit and run. Most states its good for a little jail time, in this case the loss of a job and most likely the loss of a drivers license.

 

[Garilia]

That's the thing, he didn't hit a bike. A bike hit him. He might not have even realized it, and was wondering why this bicyclist was shaking his fist at him. This was Rola's bad for not paying attention that the bus stopped unexpectedly. Who knows why. Maybe there was something in front of the driver Rola couldn't see that caused the driver to stop and avoid hitting.

 

[rola643]

rola, maybe if you had fallen on the ground and started limping around he would have stopped, because then he'd be worried. When he saw you in pursuit, you gave him a good laugh!

Dang! I should have thought of that! And yes it was my bad BUT there was no traffic and NO reason for him to have done that other than spilling his coffee or dropping his smoke or cell phone, etc. Still I let my S.A. down (situational Awareness) and payed

 

[Garilia]

Dang! I should have thought of that! And yes it was my bad BUT there was no traffic and NO reason for him to have done that other than spilling his coffee or dropping his smoke or cell phone, etc. Still I let my S.A. down (situational Awareness) and payed

That's what I meant by your bad. You let your guard down. It sucks. We were once rearended at a stop signal because the woman in the car behind us got scared by a bug in the car. I hope you didn't think I was being judgmental or harsh, just a reminder to "be careful out there."

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmg86CRBBtw]YouTube - Hill Street Blues - 'Let's be careful out there'[/ame]

 

[photosbymark]

In most districts who hit who doesn't matter. If you leave, you got trouble. Now did he know?? Maybe not but you would think the noise would have attracted some attention and if he was looking in the mirror and saw a cyclist well who knows.

Thankfully no one was hurt worse than they were. Lessons learned may prevent another accident later that could have had a far worse outcome.

 

[rola643]

No, your good Garilia I knew what yo were saying. I really do wish I would have rolled around on the ground but alas I did not think about it until you said it. I got a good chuckle out of your reply about how I hit the bus and not vice versa, it just sounds funny to say that. The Bay Transit drivers are notoriously bad drivers and I should have expected no less from one of them!

 

[funetical]

Was it a public bus? Did you get number?

 

[rola643]

No, kinda...It's public transportation mostly for the elderly and disabled or least that is who commonly use it. I didn't get a number as that was another after thought. I used it several years ago when I burned a pole and had a compound break of my left leg and broke most of the bones in my right foot. My wife worked in another city and could not be home everyday to get me to therapy. It was a great 8 months of which the first 3 I could not even get out of bed...sorry to get off topic.


Bay Transit is a non-profit community transit service serving the counties of Charles City, Essex, Gloucester, King and Queen, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland.

Bay Transit provides on-demand service and offer a handful of fixed routes in some communities. We operate from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For a listing of local Bay Transit offices click Contact Us

Bay Transit is the ONLY public transportation provider in the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck region. In 2008, Bay Transit provided over 156,000 rides
and over half were work related.

Bay Transit also provides the same quality, dependable transportation service

For the citizens of New Kent and Charles City counties!

 

[funetical]

I would call and let them know what happened.

I'm sure they can figure out the driver by location and time.

 

[wild]

I can't understand why thay did not give you a ticket for folloeing to close, thay would have given you one in Jersey. Guaranteed

 

[Garilia]

I can't understand why thay did not give you a ticket for folloeing to close, thay would have given you one in Jersey. Guaranteed

Yeah, in a rear end collision, they usually cite the person in the back who collided with the vehicle in front.

 

[LarryM]

That first pedal downstroke when starting out is a very vulnerable position for the first couple of bikelengths. I learned that the hard way a few years back.

It was on one of my daughter's club rides, on a MUP that I've ridden dozens of times. We stopped for traffic at a road crossing.

[ame=http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Chicago+Heights,+Cook,+Illinois&ll=41.646447,-87.781976&spn=0,0.090551&t=h&z=14&lci=bike&layer=c&cbll=41.646447,-87.781976&panoid=BN4dyZcmrpL1jhXE1Y6SLw&cbp=12,171.16,,0,0]Google Maps[/ame]

The guy next to me started out, but decided mid-road he didn't have enough time to cross, and tried to panic stop. (Actually, there was plenty of time) In the process of stopping, he tipped his bike right in front of me. My foot was still on the downstroke and I didn't have good control when we collided in the middle of the road. Fortunately, nobody got hurt.

The lesson in that one for me is to always have 2 or 3 bike lengths clearance ahead when starting off. The lesson for the guy I hit was to stay the he** out of Amy's dad's way.

Edit: +1 on the driver in back being the one usually held responsible for a rear end crash

 

[M_Wales]

I have seen this happen with the HRT buses here in Hampton Roads while driving my car, the cyclist slamded into the back of the bus and the bus just continued on its way. They just stop for no reason sometimes and block a lane of traffic and also feel they have the right of way and pull out in front of you.