doofy <nope@notme.com> wrote: > Some jerk screams at you as they pass by in their car, just to see you jump. I occasionally run into people who do this. > Is it illegal to carry a gun when you're cycling? Try wearing earplugs. -- Bill Bushnell http://pobox.com/~bushnell/

doofy <nope@notme.com> wrote: > If I wear earplugs, I can't hear cars coming up, which is a good idea to > hear in general. Wearing earplugs is no different from riding in a car with the windows rolled up. They reduce the amplitude of all sound: cars, horns, sirens, jackhammers, tires, wind, screaming teenagers, dogs barking from passing cars, and all manner of harsh sounds one might encounter on the highways, but they don't make these sounds inaudible. -- Bill Bushnell http://pobox.com/~bushnell/

On 2007-05-29, doofy <nope@notme.com> wrote: > Some jerk screams at you as they pass by in their car, just to see you jump. I haven't been riding for some time, but when I did ride this never happened to me. I have been honked, which made me jump, but in those instances one could argue that I was honked because the driver believed that I was in his way, not just to see my reaction. --keith -- kkeller-usenet@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us (try just my userid to email me) AOLSFAQ=http://www.therockgarden.ca/aolsfaq.txt see X- headers for PGP signature information

"Keith Keller" <kkeller-usenet@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us> wrote in message news:6j4ui4xqt5.ln2@goaway.wombat.san-francisco.ca.us... > On 2007-05-29, doofy <nope@notme.com> wrote: >> Some jerk screams at you as they pass by in their car, just to see you >> jump. > > I haven't been riding for some time, but when I did ride this never > happened to me. It's happened a few times to me, most notably by a Delancy Street Movers truck driver who was stopped on the side of the Embarcadero (in front of their restaurant). I wasn't expecting it from that direction and it did startle me. Usually though is has been by someone in a car full of young boys whose drover probably just got his drivers license and they want to show off, I just shrug it off but it could be dangerous if shouted close enough to someone to make them overreact.

In article <465c4cdd$0$27189$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>, doofy <nope@notme.com> wrote: >Some jerk screams at you as they pass by in their car, just to see you jump. > Not very often in the Bay Area, maybe once or twice in the last 10 years or so. It used to be a fairly regular feature of road riding in other places I've lived and was one of the reasons I took up MTB'ing for a while. _ Booker C. Bense

> Some jerk screams at you as they pass by in their car, just to see you > jump. Don't know about screaming, but the stretch of Highway 9 between Felton and a bit past Boulder Creek is infamous for a strange breed found noplace else... a combination of hippie/redneck that doesn't believe they should have to share the road with bikes. I've found no place else in the Bay Area quite like it. I've just gotten so used to it over the years that it doesn't bother me anymore. I expect it. > Is it illegal to carry a gun when you're cycling? No different than at any other time. If it's concealed, you need a permit. As far as I know, there's no law that says you couldn't have a shotgun attached in place of your frame pump. --Mike Jacoubowsky Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Jeff Orum <orum@juno.com> wrote: > On May 29, 10:00 am, Bill Bushnell <mrb...@pobox.com> wrote: > > Try wearing earplugs. > That, in general, is against the law in California. See Vehicle Code > Section 27400, and be sure they qualify under section (d), or wear > just one earplug in the left ear: > Wearing of Headsets or Earplugs > 27400. A person operating a motor vehicle or bicycle may not wear a > headset covering, or earplugs in, both ears. This prohibition does not > apply to any of the following: > (a) A person operating authorized emergency vehicles, as defined in > Section 165. > (b) A person engaged in the operation of either special construction > equipment or equipment for use in the maintenance of any highway. > (c) A person engaged in the operation of refuse collection equipment > who is wearing a safety headset or safety earplugs. > (d) A person wearing personal hearing protectors in the form of > earplugs or molds that are specifically designed to attenuate > injurious noise levels. The plugs or molds shall be designed in a > manner so as to not inhibit the wearer's ability to hear a siren or > horn from an emergency vehicle or a horn from another motor vehicle. > (e) A person using a prosthetic device that aids the hard of hearing. It could be argued that earplug-like things called, "hearing protectors", marketed as such at the local drugstore, qualify under section (d). I've ridden many thousands of miles of busy highways with hearing protectors in both ears and cannot recall any mishap or conflict with other traffic in connection with my wearing them. I recall that my ears rang far less after riding with them, and obnoxious motorists (or passengers) left me unperturbed. I tried riding with one plug in the left ear, but at the end of the ride I was left with the disconcerting sensation of ringing in my right ear and super-sensitive hearing in my left. Although it was a good demonstration of the assault of wind and traffic noise on one's hearing, for me it's both or neither. I use the foam type because they're cheap and they last a while before they need to be replaced. The wax style are more effective attenuators since they can be pressed flush with the ear and don't create turbulence at the outside end, but they soil quickly, don't stay in if the ear gets wet, and are only good for several uses. If motorists can roll up their windows, why can't bicyclists wear earplugs (hearing protectors)? -- Bill Bushnell http://pobox.com/~bushnell/

In article <1180499625.002891.291850@i38g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, Jeff Orum <orum@juno.com> wrote: > On May 29, 4:51 pm, Bill Bushnell <mrb...@pobox.com> wrote: > > > If motorists can roll up their windows, why can't bicyclists wear earplugs > > (hearing > > protectors)? > > Because it is against the law? The kind of plugs I wear meet the requirements of exception (d) in Section 27400, therefore it isn't against the law. The only requirement is that one be able to hear a horn or a siren, a requirement that any earplug I can envision can meet at any reasonable distance. Just as Section 21202 contains exceptions that give the bicyclist latitude and judgment in lane positioning, so Section 27400 contains validating exceptions with regard to the use of earplugs. -- Bill Bushnell http://pobox.com/~bushnell/