How to "beat the clamp"

@MikeInNH. We were walking on the left side of the street against traffic. The bicyclist came up behind us. He was not riding on the right side with traffic. The rider was an adult in his 30s.
There were no cars on this street at the time.

Then I agree he was at fault. Walking on a sidewalk in Boston Iā€™ve been hit and several times near hits by couriers. Iā€™ve even witnessed one courier that knocked an older woman down who fell and head hit the concrete hard and was unconscious. The courier stopped, then looked backā€¦then rode off. The police have finally really cracked down on them. Technology has made a lot of bike courier business obsoleteā€¦but thereā€™ still enough business.

@MikeInNH. Bicyclists are really bad on college campuses. There is a one way drive in front of the building where I had an office. I was leaving my building and looked in the direction the traffic would be coming. Seeing no cars, I started across the drive and walked into a girl on a bicycle coming the wrong way. I grabbed her and kept her from falling over, but I got a handful in the process.
Just as dangerous are the students on their cellphones. A person takes his life in his hands at the break between classes in the hallways and on the sidewalks.

My 2 youngest kids had bicycleā€™s in college. Never had an issue. My niece went to Indiana University. Bicycles everywhere on that campus. Watch the moving Breaking Away. The little 500 race still goes on.

There was a time before it became the style to rip holes in your jeans, when people would tape up the soles of their tennis shoes (sneakers). So even if the things were falling apart, they could still be used for walking.

As an elder now, Iā€™ll continue with ā€œdonā€™t they teach that anymore in school?ā€ In grade school we had regular instruction from staff and the police on proper and safe bike riding. Part of it was that we had a lot of blind and deaf on the streets but but the rules and reasons were drilled into us. Weā€™d even go down and pay the 50 cents for a bike license and put reflectors on our bikes before they became standard equipment.

Over the past 24 years, I have experienced the degradation of what used to be called bicycle courtesy. When I first started walking the towpath in the nearby Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park, almost all of the bicyclists who were approaching you from behind would announce their approach. Now, almost none of them do so, and some of them come uncomfortably close to those of us who are walking or hiking.

And, even those who are approaching from the opposite direction frequently ride two abreast, leaving almost no room for those on foot, thus forcing walkers/hikers to jump into the adjoining grass when they come marauding through.

Truly infuriating.
:face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

I want to know what Mrs. Triedaq feeds you. Youā€™re mine years older than I am and walk three miles. I walk one mile and the last few feet I canā€™t feel my legs!

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I read the article, I do not think the cousin was targeted.

Thatā€™s a subset of the general degradation of common courtesy.

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@old_mopar_guy. I have to admit that Mrs. Triedaq takes good care of me. I wish I could still run the three miles as I used to be able to do, but a heel spur makes running too painful.
I really shunned exercise until I was over 30. At that point in my life, I was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and on about $40 of prescription drugs a month including Valium. The pressures of my undergraduate and graduate college work as well as working for tenure in my college teaching job had gotten to me. This was back in 1973. I got up one morning and decided that this was no way to live. I quit smoking cold turkey, flushed the medicine down the toilet and signed on to a physical fitness program. The first two weeks about killed me. I could run about 3/4 of the way around the basketball floor before I was out of breath. I made it my goal to be able to run a mile by the end of the 10 week physical fitness program. I exceeded my goal and made it to o 1.5 miles. Within six months, I was up to three miles. At noon, I would go to the gym and suit up and run outdoors if the weather permitted or otherwise run on an indoor track. I found this was a much better way to relieve tension than smoking and being on medication.
At almost 79, I donā€™t run anymore, but I still maintain an active schedule and feel great.

All you had to do was join the Army and they would get you in shape. Most of the guys in my company were over 21 and in bad shape after four years of book work. But the Drill Sergeants were masters at getting us in shape. By the end of 8 weeks we could run all day long no problem. And we had road guards so cars were no safety issue.

Regarding the flag, I didnā€™t ok it because Bing didnā€™t start it. He did try to redirect the discussion, and I agree that it wasnā€™t just a discussion about a vehicular crime.

I guess he is off topic, but if we were going to give out flags, Iā€™d probably have flagged some of the other posts. :slightly_smiling_face: I am glad this went back on topic.

@MikeInNH. The movie ā€œBreaking Awayā€ really brings back memories. I bought a used car from the very same lot that was used in filming the movie. The proprietor mistakenly left the state inspection in the glove compartment and I found when inspecting the car. He had set the odometer back 25,000 miles. I got the car for $1250ā€“much less than the $1695 he was asking. A year later when I went back to Bloomington for my defense, the dealer was out of business.

My niece graduated this past May. But graduation was cancelled. One of my business trips to Indianapolis I drove down to visit here at Bloomington. Beautiful campus.

And bringing it back to carsā€¦if anyone is in the Indianapolis area then I highly recommend going to the Indianapolis 500 museum at the racetrack. Well worth the trip.

It has been almost 50 years since I completed my coursework at IU and left Bloomington. I was back on campus for a conference about 25 years ago.
Itā€™s been about that long since I visited the Indianapolis 500 museum. I am sure both the IU campus and the 500 Museum have changed in 25 years.
I didnā€™t attend my commencement at IU. I had been through three commencements at that point. My diploma was mailed to me, so I whistled ā€˜Pomp and Circumstanceā€™ as I walked from the mailbox back to the house.

Just remember the speed limit is 55. They only take cash, no checks and no plastic or you can go on line and pay an extra fee. Itā€™s been a long time since Iā€™ve been at the speedway and maybe going to have to check it out again.

Is that the movie where Daniel Stern was riding a 10spd bicycle . . . ?!

If so, thatā€™s about all I remember

Daniel Stern was on the movie, but he rode the single speed bicycle issued to the team for the race. Dennis Christopher played the role of David Stohler who rode the 10 speed bicycle except in the Little 500.race.

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