Altercation in Rock Creek Park Today. Insight?

[thefalcon3a]

Hey guys, first time poster here… I’ve been trying to explore DC by bike a lot lately, and did my first ride through Rock Creek Park today. Awesome ride, except for one thing that happened today…

I was traveling south, maybe a mile above the zoo. There was a parking lot and some yellow “Walk your bike” signs at narrow parts of the trail. I was maybe 100 feet from one of these spots (a very small bridge) and going slowly to properly pass pedestrians when an old man started yelling “walk your bike!” at me over and over. Since I wasn’t familiar with the area and thought I might have missed a sign, I got off my bike and apologized. “Sorry, I didn’t see the sign”. The guy then got into it with me about people running senior citizens off the road, and how he’s not surprised I couldn’t read the signs or a map that I cited as designating this as a bike path because “once you put a helmet on, I assume you can’t read”. Not sure what that means…

This is where I figured I was just dealing with a crazy old man and should move on, but a younger guy with a stroller then joined the argument, saying something about how bikes have to follow rules at intersections just like everyone else. We weren’t at an intersection… There were people crossing the path from the parking lot to get to the shore of the creek, but it was just grass, so I would think bikes get the right of way there.

I was so stunned by neither of these guys making sense that I didn’t know what to say. I was just trying to politely understand when and where I’m supposed to walk my bike, but these guys seemed to be mad at me just for being there. Many other cyclists passed by us as we were arguing, and they didn’t say anything about them. I eventually just left, since my girlfriend was with me and told me to drop it. We’ve been talking about this ever since, trying to make sense of the situation.

Does anyone have any insight as to what happened? Are you familiar with where I was (I’ll try to find it on a map after I post this)? Were these guys just crazy, or did I miss a sign about walking through the entire area? We think maybe since we both look young, he was just taking some anti-cyclist anger out on an easy target. But then again, we both had helmets, bright clothes, nice bikes, and headlights on even during the day. I follow biking rules whenever I can, so what’s the deal? Thanks!

EDIT: I’m fairly certain I was at Peirce Mill, along the Western Ridge Trail. Here it is on a map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.940481,-77.05156&ll=38.940577,-77.05151&spn=0.001164,0.002309&num=1&t=h&z=19&lci=bike

Topic

[KLizotte]

Just remember everyone that MD, VA and DC are pure contributory negligence states meaning that “the doctrine a victim who is at fault to any degree, including only 1% at fault, may be denied compensation entirely, which is known as pure contributory negligence.”

Irrespective of how you think about the laws, breaking one, even a little bit, will probably mean you can’t seek redress in the courts.

[lordofthemark]

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Water+Street+Southwest,+Washington,+DC&hl=en&ll=38.878502,-77.023313&spn=0.000001,0.0006&sll=38.893596,-77.014576&sspn=0.37089,0.614548&oq=water+stret&t=h&hnear=Water+St+SW,+Washington,+District+of+Columbia+20024&z=21&layer=c&cbll=38.878563,-77.023392&panoid=9uQy_ZM5o7TuNBhm45SkSA&cbp=12,137.43,,0,5.33

See that stop sign? I pass it every time I commute to work. If I’m on the right proceeding down Water to make a box left (which since I will either walk or bike in the crosswalk across Maine, is what I usually do) there is no way a car turning left from 7th onto SE bound Water can hit me. And that’s the only traffic that can interfere with ANYONE bike or motor vehicle going through (but motor vehicles do not proceed as far right.) And there are almost never pedestrians there in the morning, and at 6-8 MPH and with excellent visibility I can easily stop if they should show up. The LAW in all its majesty wants me to stop – and argue about foot down or not foot down, stop means stop, not proceed at 8 MPH, or even slow down to 5 MPH.

Every time I see that stop sign I think of these kinds of discussions.

[mstone]

@KLizotte 83926 wrote:

Just remember everyone that MD, VA and DC are pure contributory negligence states meaning that “the doctrine a victim who is at fault to any degree, including only 1% at fault, may be denied compensation entirely, which is known as pure contributory negligence.”

Irrespective of how you think about the laws, breaking one, even a little bit, will probably mean you can’t seek redress in the courts.

1) Completely different argument than “you’re responsible for how other people perceive all cyclists”
2) good luck not breaking any laws. have you signaled every stop today?
3) Yeah, if you decide to slow instead of stop at a stop sign and then proceed through an empty intersection after looking and get run down by a truck, contributory negligence will bite you. I guess everyone can make their own judgement about whether they can correctly identify an empty intersection. This is still a different argument than “stop for the empty intersection for the sake of appearance”.

[DismalScientist]

I Idaho stop signs even if there isn’t an Idaho law. Of course I Idahoed a stop sign on a freeway offramp in rural Nebraska. There was a car 1/4 mile away. Turns out it was a cop car. I got a warning.:rolleyes:

[baiskeli]

@DismalScientist 83938 wrote:

I Idaho stop signs even if there isn’t an Idaho law. Of course I Idahoed a stop sign on a freeway offramp in rural Nebraska. There was a car 1/4 mile away. Turns out it was a cop car. I got a warning.:rolleyes:

You should have Nebraskaed instead.

[lauraemills]

As far as that location goes, I bike past there a lot and haven’t had any issues.

But I usually go by there when there aren’t that many people around.

I avoid that area on the weekends, too crowded for me.

I never walk my bike over that bridge, but I do yield to joggers and pedestrians coming the other way, and they seem cool with that.

[off2ride]

To sum it all up…..them blokes were just crazy. Ride on!!!

[Author]

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