Coordinated stalking on the road

[aggie]

I just worked as a SAG on a ride across Nevada on Hwy 50 which is part of the western express.  There were several times during the ride where I was both approaching a rider and an oncoming car.  If I hadn't slowed down to allow the other car to pass a "scissors" would have occurred.  In my opinion in almost all cases this was the result of drivers not slowing down to ensure they could pass the bicyclist with the law required 3 feet.  It is unfortunate that many drivers are unaware of the law and many still consider the road only for motor vehicles and not a place for bicycles.  I don't consider it stalking unless I see the same identifiable car doing it again/repeatably.   There was one case where a truck driver appeared to deliberately change lanes to force one of the riders off the road but that was the exception.  (Unfortunately we were not able to get enough identifying information to report the truck.)  I also saw many instances where vehicles slowed down and waited for a safe place to pass cyclists with the law required 3 feet. 

Just as a side note Hwy 50 across has changed since I first rode it in 2002.  Traffic has picked up significantly and much of the road is now chip seal (awful stuff).  There isn't much of a shoulder and Nevada DOT has put a rumble strip on what little shoulder there is so riders have to ride to the left of the white line.  I've found most of the drivers to be considerate of bicyclists but as with anything there are exceptions.

[canalligators]

I wouldn't say it doesn't happen.  I'd just say that I can't remember it happening to me.  And I try to watch every car pass in my mirror.  I don't remember ever seeing a vehicle change speed when approaching, from either direction. 

What does happen to me with some regularity is they don't change speed to avoid a scissors, even if it would be a small adjustment.  My guess is that they're just not paying attention, don't think of it, or don't give a damn.

[Westinghouse]

I just worked as a SAG on a ride across Nevada on Hwy 50 which is part of the western express.  There were several times during the ride where I was both approaching a rider and an oncoming car.  If I hadn't slowed down to allow the other car to pass a "scissors" would have occurred.  In my opinion in almost all cases this was the result of drivers not slowing down to ensure they could pass the bicyclist with the law required 3 feet.  It is unfortunate that many drivers are unaware of the law and many still consider the road only for motor vehicles and not a place for bicycles.  I don't consider it stalking unless I see the same identifiable car doing it again/repeatably.   There was one case where a truck driver appeared to deliberately change lanes to force one of the riders off the road but that was the exception.  (Unfortunately we were not able to get enough identifying information to report the truck.)  I also saw many instances where vehicles slowed down and waited for a safe place to pass cyclists with the law required 3 feet. 

Just as a side note Hwy 50 across has changed since I first rode it in 2002.  Traffic has picked up significantly and much of the road is now chip seal (awful stuff).  There isn't much of a shoulder and Nevada DOT has put a rumble strip on what little shoulder there is so riders have to ride to the left of the white line.  I've found most of the drivers to be considerate of bicyclists but as with anything there are exceptions.

What you are writing about is a very different matter from what I posted. What you encountered was random traffic. What I encountered was most definitely not random. The exact same patterns forcing the same results at the beginning of every bridge across the continent and every small thing laid across the side lane is not random, and definitely not mere chance when there is almost no traffic for extended periods. As for your mention of the same vehicles over and over, that was what happened near the end of the stalking on one ST crossing. I was near and on highway 78 going west toward Glamis and beyond. There were these two tractor trailer trucks. They looked different from most others. They seemed a bit narrower and perhaps a little shorter than most. The windows were heavily tinted. They had sun visors on the outside that angled downwards over the tops of their windshields. First, the two came abreast of each other precisely where I was, crowding on a narrow almost shoulderless road. A while later the same two trucks and the same exactly coordinated move abreast of each other and me. A while later the same two trucks again, and later again, and again, and later again. It was obvious as hell. They coordinated it and did it. They went ahead, turned around somewhere, did it again, turned around and did it again, and so on. Believe me, I know more about this than I reveal outright. There is no way I would come on this forum and make these statements unless I know for absolute certainty what I am saying. That is felony stalking.

[Westinghouse]

Regardless of their motives, or whatever highly encrypted communications they use to coordinate their nefarious activities, the solution is simple: more bicycles.  To perform the scissors requires two motorists for every bicycle.  Each additional cyclist needs two additional motorists.  It is simple math, we can bury them.

I dare say they choose single cyclists. That means no witnesses around for one thing. They choose areas where there is not much traffic. The next time I tour I will keep a video recorder mounted. I reported this to  state attorney generals in every state from FL to CA and the FBI. The Feds said to contact local law enforcement where it happens. I pointed out they are all part of a group whose activities are illegal and cross state lines, thus making the offenses federal. They did not want to do anything about it. The attorney general of FL referred to it as "alleged" stalking and gave the same advice---contact local authorities where it happens. That means I would have to call county sheriff departments in myriad counties all the way across the southern tier. This country is really getting to be no good. It has fallen behind many others in various standards. It is getting worse. I would not contact local authorities. They are little better than gangs themselves, and might be complicit to begin with. 

[fastrog]

There is a less nefarious explanation for vehicles slowing before a bridge or a narrow road. A good driver might see the cyclist, slow for the cyclist and oncoming cars and proceed. In a car, I slow before a narrow bridge, checking of the oncoming to see of it is wide or weavy. On a bike, I watch the oncoming cars AND the rear-approaching ones. if the vehicles are wider than normal, not in their lanes  or are sporting a Rebel Flag, I might just stop, get a swig of water and wait for the traffic to clear. There are certainly plenty of nut jobs out there, but I find the chances of this kind of traffic conspiracy highly unlikely, maybe a little paranoid and even a little aggressive in sharing the road.

[Westinghouse]

Everyone has an opinion. Either you did not read the articles, or you have a problem with reading comprehension, or both. Considering the content, your response is inappropriate. Same old same old for the internet.

[John Nettles]

Westinghouse, remind me to never ride with you 

[Westinghouse]

Westinghouse, remind me to never ride with you 

LOL. I don't blame  you. After all that, I wouldn't want to ride with me either.

[Westinghouse]

Can't remember who said it, "Never ascribe to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity."  Or perhaps, in this case, chance.  How would two cars or trucks time things so perfectly without another one to alert them when and where that solitary cyclist is riding?  Remember, "no traffic for hours" to cue them.

The cyclist himself is the third party alert. His speed is easily determined. You can start out in a car two hours after he passes, and accurately predict when you will overtake. Same from the other direction. There you have your three parties. Where visibility is clear and infinite, as they call it, both motorists get him in sight, and fine tune the intercept by dead reckoning and adjusting speed. Besides that, I had already told you I had seen these deliberately coordinated patterns many times. That really equals=many times. I was directly involved in day after day, week after week---damn near every day. The people doing it are criminals.

[Westinghouse]

"Scissors" occur when a cyclist has a car overtaking as well as oncoming.
How often do scissors occur in a given stretch or road?
It's geometric.

If 100 cars are eastbound and 100 westbound, there will be 10,000 scissors.
If 200 cars are eastbound and 200 westbound, there will be 40,000 scissors.
(Provided all cars cover the entire route and the last eastbound departs before the first westbound finishes.)
* Real time traffic models are far more complex, of course.

The OP had little to do with scissors as you call it. It was about two or more vehicles crossing the first expansion crack of e-v-e-r-y bridge from Florida to California at exactly the same time as a transcontinental cyclist. And other matters like that which were not by any possibility chance. In fact this bridge noise happened on back roads where traffic might be seen only occasionally, a few cars in half an hour or so. Out on the interstate where there was much more steady traffic, it was observed the three-abreast arrangement happened not at all or so infrequently that observer stopped looking for it.

But that gives you an idea - - scissors are not uncommon.
In fact, they are to be expected.

[Westinghouse]

Please continue. your ignorance might just capture somebody's attention. You know you are lying.

[jsieber]

This topic has been locked as it is moving into behavior that is no longer helpful to fellow cyclists.