Comments on: The Universal Signs

By: Unknown

Unknown — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 19:41:52 +0000

OMG! This entry was too funny! And the comments were great as well. I gotta stop reading this at work, or you’re going to get me fired for giggling at my desk.One gesture I didn’t see was for the guy riding directly in front of you in a paceline (not lead), that cannot maintain a constant speed if his life depended on it. You know the guy – frantically spins to close the gap, so you have to spin up as well to not get dropped… he catches up so quickly that he has to hit the brakes to avoid running the guy over, in turn causing you to nearly slam into him as well… oop guy in front of him is pulling away again… rinse, repeat.I dunno what the gesture would be other than a pump into the spokes? After a few mins of that B.S., I usually jump and pass him, and then use the next available opportunity to cut in front of him in line.

By: tayfuryagci

tayfuryagci — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 09:45:06 +0000

platoon was a good movie. a platoon of cyclists wearing "livestrong yellow" skinsuits and m-16s at their backs. that sounds lovely.

By: Nanget

Nanget — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 01:44:32 +0000

There was an article/diary in bicycling australia magazine about 5 years ago about a soldier who was in Timor. He was a racer and wanted to do riding while he was there but he had to carry arms at all times. In short he wore yellow clothes because they were non threatening. But he carried a steyr over his back and a handgun in his jersey pocket.Not much gesturing to other motorists would be needed. However a platoon of riders ridiing paceline using the same setup would be interesting.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 01:29:26 +0000

Rocky, I appreciate your idea about rocks. Lord knows, I’m a big fan of the rocks. Big fan. Especially of BF rocks, when meeting a dire threat like bike theft. But for all paceline infractions? Sheesh. All I can say is I’m glad your nickname isn’t "Nuke" or "the Rifleman" or some similarly macho martial moniker. I can’t imagine what you’d be recommending then to police up the peleton. And yes, I do know an Air Force guy whose nickname is Nuke, for rather obvious reasons. He rides like you’d think a guy named Nuke would ride.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:08:23 +0000

dug, I mean ririe,rI ron’t rerall ranryrone raying anryring rice rin a racerine, revrer. Rhat romrent ras reird, revren romring rom rou, rir.Mumo…it’s mere coincidence.

By: Bryn

Bryn — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 23:48:07 +0000

I myself only ever use 2 hand gestures. One of course been the flipoff as you call it fatty. The other been similar but so much better. When you get someone such as that passenger in the green suv that screamed at you through their window or someone on a moped or such that decide to see how close they can get to you before you have to move off the side of the road, you simply (if possible) take both hands and clap, a normal clap as to say they should start a start up comedy career, but this gesture doesn’t stop their, as the clap continues you extend your middle fingers on each hand as raise them into the air in a clap turned ‘flipoff’ gesture. Ive tried many different gestures and remarks to ppl such as these and discovered that this is the best gesture to make in these such circumstances. One of the first times i unveiled this new gesture to 2 moped riding teenagers, they nearly ran themselves off the road, maybe because of my gesture, maybe because of their bad driving skills, that i shall never know. I say someone should set up a website or seomthing like that for new cyclists to discover the lost art of hand gestures, both to unruley drivers and fellow cyclists.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 23:08:25 +0000

The Magnanimous Flipoff — Is that wobbling side to side or front to back? I think I prefer the side-to-side, similar to the Queen Wave but lower and faster, and with a shoulder position and a bared-teeth look on the face like ehhhhhhhhh. (Bradley’s head shake is showing a lot of promise, too.)I think Rocky and Bob have some great ideas and I’m hoping all of you will think about coming up with some good ones to be used by us when we are driving or riding 4-wheelers. I mean, like, how about a universal sign that says, from a 4-wheeler to a 2-wheeler, "I see you there, I am aware of cyclists and plan not to run over you, sideswipe you, or cut you off."And is it only coincidence that Rocky’s ideas use actual rocks?

By: Unknown

Unknown — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 22:55:40 +0000

rocky, how would one use rocks to say something nice? (i’m asking not for me, of course, but for a "friend.")

By: Unknown

Unknown — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 22:06:32 +0000

er…egregious.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 22:04:18 +0000

I still favor throwing rocks. Here’s why:1) They are readily available2) It lengthens your striking distance3) If done properly, the recipient cannot retaliate, today4) It makes paceline riding something more like a biatholon5) It’s fun6) No memorization. You only have to remember to put some in a jersey pocket as part of your pre-ride prep7) It eliminates confusion. Folks will be clear that you are pissed about something–it’s just good communication.8) It does not presume that arcane hand gestures are intelligible or significant to someone that is already too thick to be doing it right. In the case of the "White Flag" gesture, it would offer some retaliation to the spat-or (which is almost always me so I know what I am talking about) for such egrigious offenses as having superior talent, training harder, toughing out the pain, etc. Rocks it is.