{"id":403,"date":"2010-05-04T11:44:31","date_gmt":"2010-05-04T15:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/?p=403"},"modified":"2010-05-04T16:57:55","modified_gmt":"2010-05-04T20:57:55","slug":"el-pistolero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/?p=403","title":{"rendered":"El Pistolero"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twice in the same week\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n

While passing road riders I\u2019ve been Finger Banged!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

"Gotcha!"<\/p><\/div>\n

Since when has Alberto Contador\u2019s Pistolero<\/a> become friendlier than<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

"Hello, enjoy your ride today."<\/p><\/div>\n

and apparently the new call sign of riders in white lycra advertising their availability for seasonal work as Santa Claus at the Galleria?<\/p>\n

Last Monday, I popped off a trail and onto the road when\u00a0I came across a guy suffering on a pristine\u00a0beautiful Serotta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My wave was responded with a shot from his trigger finger<\/a>!\u00a0 An action I could interpret\u00a0a couple of ways.<\/p>\n

1. He thinks I am younger than I am and only young people ride off road because we lack the sophistication to ride a\u00a0Serrotta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. He\u2019s condescending\u00a0me because I could never understand what it takes to be of the caliber rider it takes to ride a Serotta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. Or he\u2019s just insecure and thinks that\u2019s what \u201cRidazz<\/a>\u201d do. \u00a0(Which to my knowledge they don’t, I’m assuming he’s assumed they do…..)<\/p>\n

A few days of decent riding later came a bright and unseasonably warm Friday, out early I encountered three fluorescent figures coming towards me in the opposite lane, riding three abreast.<\/p>\n

I could see the line of cars forming behind them as one pulled out to get around (this was about 8 am, prime morning rush) these three oblivious and selfish goofs.\u00a0 As I recovered from thwarting a near head-on collision there it was again \u201cEl Pistolero<\/a>\u201d from the middle rider. \u00a0After an inside chuckle I shouted, \u201cGet Out<\/span> of the road!\u201d \u00a0Which left them confused, so I shot a quick<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

please don't confuse my love of rock music w\/any adoration for the now bankrupt Rock Racing<\/p><\/div>\n

and then watched all three roll on by in their homage to Homer Simpson continuing to give all cyclists a bad name.<\/p>\n

The non-cyclists I meet who learn I\u2019ve ridden across the US seem to ask me the following questions :<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Do I shave my legs?<\/li>\n
  2. Am I one of those guys in the silly shorts?<\/li>\n
  3. Have I ever heard of Lance Armstrong?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Then invariably the same story comes out,\u201d Last weekend I was driving in Norwalk <\/em>(Or wherever, I chose Norwalk because that was the scene of last story like this I heard) and there was this long line of riders, taking up the whole lane, I couldn\u2019t pass them for miles!\u00a0 I was like dude, get out of the way man!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    Having taken part in large group rides where the pace is all out as fast as you can go, it\u2019s intense and I understand losing yourself in the moment and forgetting about the cars\u00a0but in reality there’s no defense for acting that way.<\/p>\n

    I know I\u2019m making enemies by saying the things that need to be said but I\u2019ve had the unique opportunity to see my own cycling\/road sharing behavior on film.\u00a0 My brother and I took up the lane of a single-lane highway across parts of Nebraska and in the film you can clearly see how some drivers had to struggle to get around us safely.<\/p>\n

    That is not good road sharing. \u00a0It’s not an excuse for a driver to run one of us off the road or hit us, but if cyclists want to be taken seriously we must treat the drivers of cars like children: give them as little opportunity to fail as possible and reward their \u201cgood behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Since most recreational spandex wearing, finger banging cyclists also drive, how come they don’t cycle like they drive? \u00a0Imagine if they drove like they cycled, it would be mayhem all over the roads! \u00a0Two really expensive cars slowly driving next to each other talking about carbon fiber and gear ratios they don’t fully grasp, as a line of vehicles waits behind them without the chance to pass.<\/p>\n

    As a cyclist who drives, I do not understand why as cyclists we feel we own the road and can do whatever we want, whenever we want. \u00a0Every time a hipster runs a red light nearly escaping a collision and the driver gives them the finger, or some goatee yellow jacket wearing know-it-all clubman cuts off a soccer mom, a hostile environment is created. When I get finger banged by these guys, I’m not just laughing at the silliness of that action as much as I recognize how much more of a target I am because of their irresponsible road sharing.<\/p>\n

    So as far as waiving your gel glove enclosed plushy-finger-gun at me, go right ahead. \u00a0I’ll still laugh at you and ride with you, so long as you pick up the tab at the bar later.<\/p>\n

    Let’s be safe this bike month and make an effort to share the road.<\/p>\n

    Pearson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Twice in the same week\u2026\u2026. While passing road riders I\u2019ve been Finger Banged! Since when has Alberto Contador\u2019s Pistolero become friendlier than and apparently the new call sign of riders in white lycra advertising their availability for seasonal work as Santa Claus at the Galleria? Last Monday, I popped off a trail and onto the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[35,41,40,39,17,37,38,36],"class_list":["post-403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-long-bike-back","category-uncategorized","tag-alberto-contador","tag-bad-drivers","tag-iowa","tag-nebraska","tag-pearson-constantino","tag-ridazz","tag-santa-claus","tag-serotta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":433,"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions\/433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.longbikeback.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}