Friday, May 27, 2011

Its raining... raining in my heart.

And on my head.. and apparently everywhere else as well.  

One way or another I have ridden.. and had to ride on 13 out of the last 14 days.  On every single occasion I have got wet.  On several occasions soaked to the skin.  On one occasion.. on Blackburn rd.. ridden through fast flowing water over the bottom bracket.  

Someone commented   "we need the rain"   Not true.  I have ridden in no rain catchment in the last two weeks.    Where I have been the rain does no good.  Well it sure as hell is doing some good for the panel shops.  Business must be booming.   Wrecks everywhere.  And broken glass,  the bogan droppings left over from vehicle intercourse.

Which brings to mind the question.   Why oh why does everyones driving.. usually barely adequate,  go completely to crap in the rain?    Been thinking about that a lot this week.   I think some of it is the cyclists perception.  Less brakes means we feel more vulnerable.  Visibility.. especially at night.. especially with oncoming lights can be nearly non existant.   With glasses on you cannot see a thing.. with them off you risk grit in them.. and only one of mine works.   You blink a lot  and in heavy rain you just cannot see a thing anyway.

The bike moves a bit quicker for the same effort which in reduced visibility has the same effect.   Tire noise from cars overtaking is way louder..  making them seem closer.    Near misses are in the nature of things a bit nearer.   All this is perception

And the car  drivers seem to lose peripheral vision.  they can see only straight ahead so instead of ignoring your presence some dont even see you.   And you are out of peripheral vision sooner.  We have all dealt with the stupider bus drivers who move over when halfway past you.. cos the cab has overtaken you.. so they have forgotten your existence.   With car drivers in the rain this happens the moment you are out of the the wiped zone of the windscreen.  Somehow the reduced visibility means the dumber have to stick their nose out further from the side streets too.  And one meets the ocasional nong like the one who lurched out yesterday from a parking spot as I passed.. no lights and it was well and truly dark. Without lights in the rain.. he had no chance of seeing me.. so he didn't.  Missed by inches.. on the left.  on a one lane road.

But  all this aside it seems to me that some of the time many car drivers show a serious callous disregard for others just because its raining.   For the last 3 days I have been coming straight down Johnson St in peak hour in the dark and rain.  Plenty of cyclists.  And its a 40 kph zone.. with a bus/bike lane.   But its full of way faster than 40 traffic  using both lanes and stupidly .. ruthlessly determined to beat the cyclists to the next light or to get in front to brake and turn left..   Although you are clearly going to pass them at the lights.    They push pass stupidly close just to stop on the end of a line of traffic 3 lights long.   Its like they were wet and miserable and rushing home to get dry.

I really dont understand it.   I do a little more understand road rage.   I got hooked on a fast downhill (in the rain on Wed.   I had to turn with the car to dodge him.   Chased him down.  Lets just say... the discussion was physical.. luckily his wife apologised for his stupidity.    Dave Rafferton (Vidman) had his lovely felt written off in much the same accident a month ago.   And I could name a dozen others from the last few months.

We really really need laws that make people responsible for the injuries they actually cause.   We need the onus on proof to be on the heavier vehicle.  We need hit run drivers put in jail even when the injuries they cause are trivial just so people get the point its unacceptable to run.  What we need most of all is a little common sense.   Its wet for crying out loud.. be a bit more careful.. not a bit less careful