BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Pittsburgh is such a small town in some ways. I work in IT and continually run across the same people whether they be IT professionals or working for various vendors providing goods and services.

Only in Pittsburgh

Stu, it seems you're a thorough person who pre-plans and I wonder what your intent is if the topic comes up.

Just thinking out loud here.

Cube-Dweller: Hey, I remember (that bike / you), dented the back of my car and did a lot of damage a few years ago!

Possible Response 1: Oh man, that was my cousin Lou. He had issues, May He Rest In Peace. He owed me money so I got to keep the bike. Hey, my name is Stu, glad to meet you.

First one to break the silence loses.

I'm not saying a thing.

I mainly bring this up as a warning to others. You never know who you're going to run into. This town is not that big. I can count on one hand with a couple of digits missing the number of arguments I've had with motorists. Amazing that in a company with only a few dozen on staff I sit < 50 feet from one of them.

Walk past and bump his cubicle with a file folder, see if you get the same reaction.

Another reason I don't road rage. I think about how the same cars pass me everyday during my commute. If I piss off a crazy driver how hard would it be for him to remember me next time I'm ridding down Center at 5am.

Also one of my moms co-workers yelled at me not knowing who I am on Liberty during the summer, I never confronted her didn't want to cause my mother problems at work.

Mr. M, maybe you could have used that as a teaching opportunity, by making light of it, like, "hey, I saw you saying something to a biker on Liberty the other day, yeah, that was me, no big deal. ha, ha." Then she would be the one to feel like a dumbass.

And Stu, I've said this before and don't want to start this up again, but people are ridiculous about their "stuff". I've never bought a new car, I always buy used 'cause they come "pre-scratched".

+1. It's a small town in a small world.

There seems to be more than a few folks on the board not from here. Stu's and Marv's experiences are really common (and not just the cycling angle). The longer any of us are here, the more apparent it becomes. The guy you m-f in traffic today is the guy who is interviewing you for a job tomorrow.

I agree with ALMKLM, @ edmonds59 I'm not going to my moms job to address a road rage incident, completely inappropriate place and she would have do deal with the outcome good or bad not me.

Mm, yes, the comment was because it sounded as though you might encounter this person in passing, but you're right, would not purposefully pursue it.

stuff like this you gotta let simmer until you need to use it. like if you ever become his supervisor or something

@Erok: Indeed, the jagoff that cuts you off in traffic and tries to drive you into a utility pole is the guy who is asking YOU for a job or a raise tomorrow!

This is why I try not to ride in Fox Chapel. I dont know that I would be able to hold myself back if I had a run in with a customer.

@Edmonds,

I am very particular with my "stuff", why should I not be?

Having been in the same instance Stu has been in (as the guy who had their car contacted) I was able to resolve it quickly and painlessly. I also care the same about my bikes and other expensive items. The only one damaging them should be me.

Well, FWIW, I did learn a few things from the incident:

* I really did need to be more careful when getting a bike off the rack. Like I said, this happened three years ago. In the 50+ times I've taken a bike off since, I haven't come close to repeating it.

* I've become aware when a driver comes up too close behind another vehicle. If there isn't space, I say so. If s/he isn't willing to wait until traffic starts moving, I'll just ride another stop. I'm on a bicycle. I can cover the distance easily.

* It's better to be slow and safe than speedy and stupid. I don't have to beat my 12-second record every time I get my bike off the bus.

What made the situation that night miserable is that the guy wouldn't accept an apology. Again, there was no damage, not even a dust mark.

how were you able to resolve it orionz? was there damage or did you simply elicit an apology?

I understand being careful with nice things, but some people seem to think that new things won't encounter any wear at all, and that's just unrealistic no matter how careful you try to be.

My bro was bumming around Lima Peru for a few

months. Met a dude who ran a cafe and coffee

exporting business. Turns out the guy is from

Pittsburgh..

... Like three years later, my brother is driving

a cab. He picks up a kid going to the airport.

They chit chat en route. He is going ot peru

to visit his dad. My bro is all like "oh does

he run an coffee exporting business and a cafe"

Blew both of their minds.

It's funny, I have a love/hate relationship the "small world" concept in Pittsburgh.

In 2006 I was obsessed with moving out of Squirrel Hill, as I couldn't stand seeing all the same people day in and day out as I've seen most of my life. I did escape for a few years here and there, but from the looks of it, I was the only one to do so. So I moved to a place I knew OF but didn't know anybody who lived there. Where for the past 6 years I've been obsessing over how on earth to meet and get to know any of my neighbors when I don't have children to break their windows playing baseball in the street (solution - got a dog to pee on their lawns ).

I am now known in my neighborhood as "that lady that rides her bike everywhere and dresses her dog in safety vests(they're mostly black, and we walk at night, and they all drive like idiots). But I don't know anybody else, because they're all behind rolled up windows in their cars, or watching their dog in their fenced in yard from the couch. So I guess I could identify them as "that guy/gal who drives everywhere and has barking dogs", but it lacks specificity. I know one lady as "the one with the well behaved dogs", which, sadly, is specific. And there's "the guy with the recumbant" but I don't know if he lives there or just comes to ride around the 'hood.

I've had a few "small world" encounters in cycling, but never too memorable. But I think I have developed some face-blindness somehow. I just never recognize people.

Congratz on the new job Stu

In my instance neither party was a dick and I was able to repair the damage myself. It was nothing more than paint transfer that was actually removed "on scene." I understand stuff happens and things will get nicked, bumped, etc, but there is no need to accept someone brushing the side of my car when they can avoid it. I should be the only one damaging my property, be it just driving on a back road that has been freshly tar'd and chipped.

I hope I recognize some random driver that has nearly run me over or was just dangerous on the road as a patient of mine. It hasn't happened yet, but I would love to tell someone in a calm way how they had acted dangerously and allow them to make a connection between me as a person and me as the same person on a bike.

Last thing they hear before they go under in the O.R. is stefb saying "do you remember me" now that's scary.

Hahah oh I am not that evil.

Mother in law and I were in her car driving somewhere, she spotted a cyclist on the road before I did and startled me mid conversation, said "LOOK - that's my daughter in law, gotta give 'em plenty of room!" and grinned at me. She explained now sees all cyclists as me, and protects them as best she can the way she would protect the woman her son loves. (We get along great, so that actually made me tear up). It's not that she was buzzing cyclists before - she's always been a very safe driver - but she does pay extra special attention since I started biking.

One driver that gets it - check. Several million to go.