The Right Hook - 90's Suburbans and Hakeem Olajuwon

For the Houston Rockets in the '90's, Hakeem Olajuwon's right hook was championship material.



In the world of bicycling among motor vehicles, the right hook is dangerous, if not deadly. Unless, of course, you are pedaling in the UK or Japan, for example, then the danger is in the left hook.



Here is a video snippet from a recent commute:



Along this particular section of road, I am ascending a road that bridges I-494 northbound in Eden Prairie, and the right lane of the two-lane road splits into an on-ramp lane. I check over my shoulder, signal that I am continuing straight over the bridge, but this guy clearly can't wait for the red light or yield sign. Folks with the right-of-way are entering the on-ramp, and he stuffs his 90's pinstriped Suburban into their flow. At least the guy behind him, wearing a Livestrong bracelet, said, "that's unfortunate, sorry, man." Well said.

While this example is pretty benign, often times, when I'm not recording, I have to figure out how to reduce my velocity from 20 to 0 mph over a short distance to avoid being a hood ornament. I wouldn't mind being a hood ornament for a Bentley or Maserati, however. Those guys have insurance...