Monday, April 21, 2008
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
I went to the Long Beach Grand Prix and had a fun time there. Why do they call it days of thunder when race cars are 10 times louder than thunder? I knew I should have brought my ear plugs. After hearing the race cars go by all day, I think my hearing has been damaged. I think they already were from the last time I went there, because the noise from the engine wasn't as painful as before.
I must have walked about a marathon's distance, because it takes a long time to walk around the track. Plus, the signs weren't very good. If I didn't go the right way, it took forever to get back. There were a ton of stuff to see there besides the car races.
They had the Lifestyle Expo, RaceMania at Shoreline Village, Tecate Thunder on Pine Avenue, Tuner Thursday at The Pike, and the Shark Lagoon at the Aquarium of the Pacific besides the American Le Mans Series races and the Formula Drift Battle Races.
Long Beach is a beautiful place to have the races. I really like walking around the Marina while taking in all the events.
Got Hit By An Idiot @sswipe
I was driving home on Friday night, April 18, when I got hit from behind by an idiot jerk. This guy was totally obnoxious. I was stopped at a stop light. The light was red. I was waiting for the green light. I saw these bright lights come up behind me, then I felt a bump and then a push. It felt like this SUV was trying to push me out of the way on purpose. I looked back and got out of the car. The jerk denied hitting my car even when his bumper was touching mine! He then slowly backed up. He was trying to squeeze in between my car and another car parked along the curb on the right side. He was trying to make a right turn. He asked why I didn't move when the light was green. The light just turned green after he hit me. If he just waited a couple of seconds, before he tried to squeeze in to make a right turn, he wouldn't have hit me and we could have avoided this whole mess.
We agreed to pull over to the curb. I made a right turn and slowly drove ahead, but he wasn't following me at first. Then, he drove around my car. I thought he was trying to drive off so I pull the door handle of his Chevy Tahoe on the passenger side. He then pulled over and got out of his car. He started screaming at me like a maniac to not touch his car. He kept walking towards me yelling obscenities at me. He then said he was going to call the police. I called 911. I waited in the car because I didn't want to escalate the situation. He bumped me a couple of times trying to bully me and intimidate me. If he hit me, I might have gone insane and would have killed him. I was trying to keep cool so I waited in my car for the police to arrive. He kept yelling, "Get out your car!"[sic] the whole time. He was some chicano. I seem to be having a lot of incidents with these guys lately. I've been hit by them while in my car and on my bike before. Plus, they love to yell out at me when I'm riding my bike.
When the police officer finally arrived, the jerk said that I did not go when the light was green, which was totally false. He said that I just stopped there at the light. He said that he didn't hit me. This guy was just a 27 year old chicano kid. I can't believe his mother was a district attorney. How could an attorney raise such a bastard like him?
The police officer saw that there was some green paint on his bumper. There were only minor scratches on my bumper. I was given a choice whether to exchange our information. I chose to exchange our info. Now, I regret it, because I don't know what this crazy guy would do with my info. He later called me a couple minutes after the incident and wanted to know what I was going to do. He said his mother was a lawyer. I said let me think about it. He said he would call everyday until I decided. I just don't want him coming over to my place or stealing my identity. I certainly don't want him lying to the insurance saying that I did something wrong. I just don't want to deal with this crazy idiot.
We agreed to pull over to the curb. I made a right turn and slowly drove ahead, but he wasn't following me at first. Then, he drove around my car. I thought he was trying to drive off so I pull the door handle of his Chevy Tahoe on the passenger side. He then pulled over and got out of his car. He started screaming at me like a maniac to not touch his car. He kept walking towards me yelling obscenities at me. He then said he was going to call the police. I called 911. I waited in the car because I didn't want to escalate the situation. He bumped me a couple of times trying to bully me and intimidate me. If he hit me, I might have gone insane and would have killed him. I was trying to keep cool so I waited in my car for the police to arrive. He kept yelling, "Get out your car!"[sic] the whole time. He was some chicano. I seem to be having a lot of incidents with these guys lately. I've been hit by them while in my car and on my bike before. Plus, they love to yell out at me when I'm riding my bike.
When the police officer finally arrived, the jerk said that I did not go when the light was green, which was totally false. He said that I just stopped there at the light. He said that he didn't hit me. This guy was just a 27 year old chicano kid. I can't believe his mother was a district attorney. How could an attorney raise such a bastard like him?
The police officer saw that there was some green paint on his bumper. There were only minor scratches on my bumper. I was given a choice whether to exchange our information. I chose to exchange our info. Now, I regret it, because I don't know what this crazy guy would do with my info. He later called me a couple minutes after the incident and wanted to know what I was going to do. He said his mother was a lawyer. I said let me think about it. He said he would call everyday until I decided. I just don't want him coming over to my place or stealing my identity. I certainly don't want him lying to the insurance saying that I did something wrong. I just don't want to deal with this crazy idiot.
My 2nd Koreatown Forge & Gorge Ride
I went to ride with the Ktown Forge & Gorge Ride again last Wednesday night. They are a great group of guys. They're pretty fast on mostly fixed gear bicycles. Plus, their start time isn't too late like the other rides. They start at 8:00 p.m. instead of 10:00 p.m. like some of the other night rides.
There were about 30 or so guys that started out. I think we only had 20 or so guys left at the end of the ride. Some of the riders are incredibly powerful going uphill on their fixies. The typical gear they use are 46x16. I used 53x23 going uphill. I have an advantage, of course, because of my multiple gears. These guys are more hardcore though because they ride everywhere with one gear and they can't coast at all.
We had a blast passing tons of cars in crowded Hollywood.
There were some jerk drivers yelling at us to get off the road. They don't know the rules of the road. Cars are supposed to share the road with bikes and give them the right of way. Obviously, drivers are too self-centered and ignorant of the traffic laws. Some cars actually tried to run us over.
There was one Porsche that zoomed by me and almost clipped me by passing me too closely. I caught up to him when there was traffic. I used my very loud air horn that I just bought and honked at him as I passed his window. Drivers are so short-sighted. Don't they know bikes can catch up to them at the lights? They don't realize that we ride pretty fast. Just because they pass us, they think they can forget about us. In crowded L.A. traffic, I can pretty much go faster than cars, because I can ride between cars.
The other riders said that they appreciated my air horn. I should have used it more often.
I hate when cars keep honking at me when they are right behind me. They should just drive around me by going to the next lane. Drivers always try to pass me without leaving me any space. They're supposed to move into the next lane as they pass cyclists. Bikes can take up the entire lane if it is not safe for cars to pass due to the lane being too narrow, parked cars, car doors, debris on the right side of the road, etc.
Drivers and their ignorant passengers should not yell out the window at me. There's a good chance I can catch them at the next light and I'll return the favor. They usually get really surprised. Since their so short-sighted, they forget I can catch up to them after they pass me. I can go 25-30 mph average.
Drivers should not try or even pretend to run me over. That is assault. I will call the cops.
Driving and riding in L.A. has become pretty hostile. It's a war zone out there.
There were about 30 or so guys that started out. I think we only had 20 or so guys left at the end of the ride. Some of the riders are incredibly powerful going uphill on their fixies. The typical gear they use are 46x16. I used 53x23 going uphill. I have an advantage, of course, because of my multiple gears. These guys are more hardcore though because they ride everywhere with one gear and they can't coast at all.
We had a blast passing tons of cars in crowded Hollywood.
There were some jerk drivers yelling at us to get off the road. They don't know the rules of the road. Cars are supposed to share the road with bikes and give them the right of way. Obviously, drivers are too self-centered and ignorant of the traffic laws. Some cars actually tried to run us over.
There was one Porsche that zoomed by me and almost clipped me by passing me too closely. I caught up to him when there was traffic. I used my very loud air horn that I just bought and honked at him as I passed his window. Drivers are so short-sighted. Don't they know bikes can catch up to them at the lights? They don't realize that we ride pretty fast. Just because they pass us, they think they can forget about us. In crowded L.A. traffic, I can pretty much go faster than cars, because I can ride between cars.
The other riders said that they appreciated my air horn. I should have used it more often.
I hate when cars keep honking at me when they are right behind me. They should just drive around me by going to the next lane. Drivers always try to pass me without leaving me any space. They're supposed to move into the next lane as they pass cyclists. Bikes can take up the entire lane if it is not safe for cars to pass due to the lane being too narrow, parked cars, car doors, debris on the right side of the road, etc.
Drivers and their ignorant passengers should not yell out the window at me. There's a good chance I can catch them at the next light and I'll return the favor. They usually get really surprised. Since their so short-sighted, they forget I can catch up to them after they pass me. I can go 25-30 mph average.
Drivers should not try or even pretend to run me over. That is assault. I will call the cops.
Driving and riding in L.A. has become pretty hostile. It's a war zone out there.
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