Declaration of war. 4/11/2007
Motorcycling, by its very nature, is a solitary sport. Even if you are riding in a group, you are essentially alone. Just you and your motorcycle, and the road, with your thoughts bouncing around inside your helmet.
The above is a sample of the random fragments of thought that do bounce around inside my helmet as I ride. I ride to work every day. By choice. And I spend a lot of time alone with my thoughts. I do devote some attention to the various car drivers trying to kill me in the course of my daily commute, of course, but mainly, I use my riding time to think about the day coming up, or things that are festering on my “to-do” list, or more and more often lately, of someone.
I have noticed that I have begun to become a little gun-shy of the daily commute. Yesterday morning’s ride in was a good case in point. Traffic was more than a little chaotic, and cars were changing lanes willy-nilly, trying to gain a 12 foot advantage on the car beside them. I don’t really understand this. When I am forced to use a four wheeler for the drive in to the city, I get into my desired lane. And I stay there. I don’t see much point in jockeying and fighting for position in a traffic jam where the average speed of the vehicles stuck in the jam is about 10 miles an hour. Because you’ll get to your destination 90 seconds earlier, tops. And if the cop manning the intersection gets his timing wrong, you end up waiting anyway.
So what’s the point of lane changing 5 times in the space of 500 meters?
You aggravate the drivers you’re cutting in front of, and you’re definitely aggravating the motorcycles lane splitting behind you, because you’re now straddling lanes, and no one is giving you an inch. You are now an obstruction to motorcycles. Congratulations. In case you didn’t realise it, the reason there is a traffic jam is because of the high number of single occupancy vehicles, i.e. cars, that come into the city. With drivers changing lanes, and not keeping to a steady speed, and slowing down excessively for corners. And you are not helping matters any by trying to get ahead 20 feet.
So I’ve become a little wary about lane splitting, even though it’s the most efficient way to commute by motorcycle in the city. I worry about idiots like you, who change lanes without signalling, or not checking your mirrors. Who do it suddenly, without making sure there is nothing alongside you. Or deliberately trying to squeeze me out, because I take up less space that that car you are currently stuck in. Or tailgate behind me, trying to squeeze past because you feel I’m moving a little too slowly, or because I left a little gap on my left or right.
I remember once, a long while ago, having an argument with a car driver, who was of the opinion that motorcycles should give way to cars because they had smaller engines. I almost shoved my beer can up his ass, because any motorcycle above 250 c.c. in this country pays more in road tax yearly than a 1500 c.c. car. Not to mention that any motorcycle imported into the country pays 100% in import duty. So on a price per pound basis, I would think big bikes have more of a right to the road that any econo-box sedan. Motorcycle use less road space, don’t damage roads, consume fewer resources and produce less emissions (no one mention 2 strokers, they’ve been banned for road use almost everywhere else in the world except this region and Africa).
And every day, more and more, I think about the dangers I face daily. I’ve lost count of the number of close shaves, or how many wing mirrors I’ve ripped off or broken, of how many doors I’ve kicked in, or the number of windows I’ve broken with a quick application of a carbon fiber knuckled glove. I’m getting really tired of having to be wary and cautious.
So, in fair warning to anyone who may be sharing the road with me from tomorrow. I’ve decided that I have equal rights to the road as you do in the rush hour. Don’t get in my way.
- Posted in : On the road
- Author : thesnark
Comments»
Sometimes, the someone we think of becomes more important in the scheme of things. We think of something else than that extra bit of horsepower, or the next mile per hour benchmark.
Seems to me the someone must be very lucky.
Don’t waste time.
chewy : I haven’t wasted any time at all.
it’s only a matter of time before you get a chauffeur driven car…
I challenge you to share the LRT track! COME!
During my commute to work I pretty much stay in line and don’t jockey for position. Not so much because I will piss the other drivers off but because I need to practic patience. My life is chaotic enough without me giving in to it on the road.
Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks
Snark, we are definitely on the same freq here.
But declaring war does you no good, unless you are really prepared to take it to the next level. You know what I mean here, so I’m not going to elaborate.
Just remember, when you are ready to execute, check six first…
Ride well,
=gc=
If riding to work makes you angry enough to affect your morning, or puts you in needless risks, maybe its not that important to ride to work Every day. I used ride to work but discovered I was less passionate of bikes in general once I saw them as tools instead of the mini vacation they always were for me. When I get on a bike, it brings me back to center. Using that bike to go to work, on byways snarled with sleepy eyed commuters is like restraining a quarter horse during the race. The horse wants more and outside forces contrict its freedom to have it. Ultimately you end up with an animal angrily desperate to full out Run. The other jockeys and horses on the track all sense it.
This is one of those deals where once the fun factor is lost, it ain’t worth doing anymore. At least until you find a way to get it back.
Harv
I agree with Gary. You’re also like me. One Warrior to another, when the anger demon is let loose it often turns on us. On the other hand, do what you gotta do. Sometimes a blog post is a good way to take out aggression that we know is deadly on the streets, isn’t it?