FLCC> Tuesday night rules

[Vanya Temnykh]

Hi all,

I'm sorry to hear of the irresponsible riding going on at Tuesday Night races.
I've been living in Lowell, Mass. for more than a month now, working at a summer internship.
As much as I hate the dense suburban sprawl, traffic lights, occasional traffic jams, and two-dimensional terrain, I have learned something here. 
People cooperate on the road. 
Even though there are way more cars than in central New York, I have heard the sound of a car horn maybe twice. People have figured out that you're not going to get there faster if you cut someone off, abruptly change lanes, or get pissed off. I commute only 8 miles to work on a motorcycle, and have witnessed countless accounts of just being nice and respectful, although everyone is talking on their cell phone or eating breakfast behind the wheel.

Anyways, back to the point. I guess some people living in rural places like the land surrounding Ithaca have no idea how lucky they are to have such beautiful roads with virtually no traffic to race or ride on every day! I really miss that here, and am upset that some are abusing those privileges back home.

I just came back from a four-day motorcycle tour to the Green Mts. of Vermont. Most of the riding was excellent, except for those times when the pace was interrupted by a slow-moving motorhome or SUV that seemed obivious to what was going on behind them. Leading a pack of four requires much more careful planning than riding alone, and passing a vehicle is unsafe unless you have a half-mile straightaway, which don't occur too often on windy mountain roads. Sometimes these vehicles would pull off to let us by, but not often.
Does anyone see a parallel?

A swarm of bycyclists can clog up a road much worse than a single vehicle! Just put yourself in the motorist's shoes...what would you think of a pack of grown-ups doodling in the middle of the road and not letting anyone by?
Personally, even though I'm a bike racer and respect other bikers, I would think they were jerks and get pissed off pretty quickly, leading to an unsafe situation. What about those motorists who DON'T respect bikers?? Yikes.

Anyways, even the fastest guys out there can go up Ringwood only about 13mph, or one third the speed of a generic car. So YOU ARE the slow moving traffic which should let by the faster traffic. Simple, right? 
As for riding in the oncoming lane...that's just suicidal, especially in turns and hills.

OK, enough ranting. Time to go for a bike ride through suburbia.
Vanya

Glenn Swan <gs37 at cornell.edu> wrote:  This coming Tuesday night may start a few minutes later than usual, as we 
will be having a discussion (rant?) about safety and courtesy and practical 
rules that may help to keep us safe, keep the racing fair, and keep us from 
upsetting the local drivers and the constabulary. I think that Ernie is 
right, that it's time to update these things in the minds of our old and 
new riders. I plan to have a few things to say and I hope that others will 
come prepared to offer their comments and support as well.

Glenn


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