I biked on a highway yesterday

[KLizotte]

Yesterday I decided to try out one of Bicycle Space’s City Explorers rides for the first time. Well, guess what. We were led down South Capitol Street from Anacostia to Oxon Hill Farm. IMHO it was a really, really stupid idea. The leader (I don’t recall his name but he is an owner of the shop) asked for anyone with a working blinky light to take up the rear as if a car traveling at 60 mph is gonna notice a blinky in the middle of the day (or expect to see cyclists on a three lane highway). Pic of where we traversed below. It should also be noted that there was no breakdown lane. I’m peeved because there are perfectly acceptable roads nearby that wouldn’t have put us in mortal danger. I’d never been to Oxon hill so was unaware of what we were in for.

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Strava download here.

Also, our fearless leader also encouraged riding through red lights while in the city and doing a rather charitable version of an Idaho stop.

While I really liked the other people on the ride and having an opportunity to chat with them I’m really on the fence on whether I’ll do one of these rides again because of the poor behavior of the group in general (riding 2-3 abreast while in traffic for instance) and our leader.

Anyone else have anything to add about these rides? Am I being a kill-joy?

Topic

[TwoWheelsDC]

The couple times I’ve made the ride from DC down to the Oxon Hill area, I’ve gone up and over the hill on the quieter residential streets, specifically to avoid S Capitol…but I haven’t actually ridden on it, so maybe I’m being overly cautious, but I don’t think so.

And I don’t think you’re being a killjoy. As I’ve posted here before, I now tend to avoid these social city rides after having the same general experience you describe. IMHO, a group ride leader should at least pay lip service to following the law…I think there would be serious liability issues if a shop advertises a ride, encourages people to break the law, then one of the riders gets hit while doing something illegal…they of course then point to the ride leader and say “he told me it was okay…he’s the ride leader so I trusted him.”

[mello yello]

Never been on the city explorer ride, but I went on one of the full moon rides that was a stressful chaotic and slow-moving event, with plenty of red-light running with MPD bike officers helping in the beginning. When MPD changed their minds about the red-light running, the squad cars were on the PA saying “Please Do Not Run the Red Lights” while the ride chaperons were waving us through. Being my first ride, I thought it was just some confusion, and the chaperons were just volunteers who had done this before.

I have to and do ride on 3-lane 40-mph roads (which generally means cars move at 50+) namely Martin Luther King Jr. Highway (MD 704), but never for more than a few blocks. I gotta say – I’d have at least taken MLK Ave all the way down, if not. It’s still 2 lanes each direction, but marginally better with a 30mph speed limit. There are no great options to get down there. I used to commute to the Carslile / “Eisenhower East” area of Alexandria, and while 295/S.Capitol is the straightest shot, bicycling I went through the city and used the MVT/Commonwealth to avoid having to try and make a safe connection down to the new bridge.

While riding alone I’m on the lookout for myself, and law-following is my own prerogative, and I do some of the actions described above. Riding with a group is another story, however. I follow the leader on led rides, or make sure that all of the group can safely and legally stay with the ride if I’m in front.

[americancyclo]

I think that’s the accepted route to Oxon Hill. The one time I’ve ridden that I remember there was high speed traffic, but it wasn’t for a large stretch, and I’d probably feel better about riding that in a group. It is a good way to see if you fit with a shop ride though. Sorry it was unpleasant for you.

[KLizotte]

It seemed like an especially bad call since we had such a range of riders. A highly experienced tourer, someone wearing flip flops riding an MTB, someone on a Brompton folding bike, and another lady who was up there in years, among others. We also had one minor crash on the Oxon hill trail (fortunately only road rash resulted).

[Brendan von Buckingham]

That’s a shame. MLK parallels that route and is a nice blend of challenging hills and quieter neighborhoods. Isn’t riding on a divided highway illegal. I would have bailed on the ride right then and there.

[DaveK]

@Brendan von Buckingham 60710 wrote:

That’s a shame. MLK parallels that route and is a nice blend of challenging hills and quieter neighborhoods. Isn’t riding on a divided highway illegal. I would have bailed on the ride right then and there.

It’s totally legal to ride there. I do it once a month or so as part of my “I’m bored and no one’s around to ride with me” loop. It’s not exactly a protected cycletrack but if you hit it mid-day the traffic is fine.

[rcannon100]

YIKES!!

Remember, by signing those waivers (I assume there was a waiver)…. you are saying to yourself “I am fully responsible and if I think its unsafe, I am bugging out.” One of the reasons I dont like those waivers is that it creates a culture by the organizers (in any context) of being callous to safety. “It’s not my responsibility – everyone has signed a waiver.” I have seen some bad things in this context; worst was organizer leadership off in a corner drinking coffee while absolutely all hell is breaking out somewhere else.*

Anyway, point is -> Waiver = you must make your own decisions about safety.

*And to any non-profits / organizers who might be listening, you really want to mitigate your liability? Get the waivers signed and take safety seriously. Act as if your liability is on the line (because with a good lawyer and a bad accident, it still might be if you act callously to safety).

[Subby]

This is kind of related – but a friend of mine often encourages early morning jaunts down the GW parkway from McLean. Early being 6am (and on the weekends). A little Googling shows that the NPS does not allow bikes on the Parkway, but I just wanted to check and see if I missed something and it is acceptable practice during “off-hours”.

[mstone]

@Brendan von Buckingham 60710 wrote:

Isn’t riding on a divided highway illegal. I would have bailed on the ride right then and there.

No, only riding on access controlled + bikes prohibited roadway is illegal. This includes most (but not all) interstates and some (relatively rare) state roads, especially tunnels & bridges.

Here in the ‘burbs it seems like all the new roads are divided, so you get used to those.

[dbb]

@Subby 60718 wrote:

This is kind of related – but a friend of mine often encourages early morning jaunts down the GW parkway from McLean. Early being 6am (and on the weekends). A little Googling shows that the NPS does not allow bikes on the Parkway, but I just wanted to check and see if I missed something and it is acceptable practice during “off-hours”.

I have seen some riders doing that in the past. The riders I’ve seen are quite fast and likely pretty expert. I don’t think the NPS has ever agreed to/endorsed the activity.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

That’s the term I was looking for, “Limited Access Highways.” http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/faqs/answer.cfm?id=9

[americancyclo]

@Subby 60718 wrote:

This is kind of related – but a friend of mine often encourages early morning jaunts down the GW parkway from McLean. Early being 6am (and on the weekends). A little Googling shows that the NPS does not allow bikes on the Parkway, but I just wanted to check and see if I missed something and it is acceptable practice during “off-hours”.

illegal, yes, enforced, hmmm.

http://www.nps.gov/gwmp/parkmgmt/lawsandpolicies.htm

Title 36 -Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Compendium
George Washington Memorial Parkway
PART 4 – VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC SAFETY
4.30 Bicycles.
4.30(a) Bicycle use prohibitions.
Bicycling is prohibited in the following areas:
Great Falls Park:
Patowmack Canal Trail
River Trail
Swamp Trail
Swamp-Ridge Connector Trail
Matildaville Trail
Mine Run Trail
Riverbend Road Trail
Between Old Dominion Drive and River Bend Road
Jones Point Park Trails (excluding Mount Vernon Trail)
Theodore Roosevelt Island
Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve Haul Road
Potomac Heritage Trail
The George Washington Memorial Parkway roadway from Mount Vernon Circle
to Interstate 495 near the American Legion Bridge.
The Spout Run Parkway roadway
The Clara Barton Parkway roadway

[KLizotte]

@rcannon100 60716 wrote:

YIKESRemember, by signing those waivers (I assume there was a waiver)…. you are saying to yourself “I am fully responsible and if I think its unsafe, I am bugging out.” One of the reasons I dont like those waivers is that it creates a culture by the organizers (in any context) of being callous to safety. “It’s not my responsibility – everyone has signed a waiver.” I have seen some bad things in this context; worst was organizer leadership off in a corner drinking coffee while absolutely all hell is breaking out somewhere else.

No waiver in sight and neither of the leaders wore helmets. The sweeper was in the back of the pack only part of the time. Overall I was very glad I knew my way around the area (except for the highway bit) and have experience riding in traffic. I imagine some of the others were either clueless or terrified.

I thought it was illegal to ride on roads with mph of 45+ (or was it 35+)…

I’ll stick to MLK next time.

[lordofthemark]

@KLizotte 60743 wrote:

I thought it was illegal to ride on roads with mph of 45+ (or was it 35+)…

If that were the case, it would be impossible for some folks on 45MPH roads (like little river tpke) to bike from home – except on sidewalks and in some cases not even then. Plus there are rural areas where people live along 55MPH roads.

Biking (and walking) can be banned on limited access roads, because no one has a limited access road as the only way to and from their house.

[KLizotte]

@lordofthemark 60745 wrote:

If that were the case, it would be impossible for some folks on 45MPH roads (like little river tpke) to bike from home – except on sidewalks and in some cases not even then. Plus there are rural areas where people live along 55MPH roads.

Biking (and walking) can be banned on limited access roads, because no one has a limited access road as the only way to and from their house.

You’re right. In VA there are no prohibitions based on vehicular speed.

http://www.virginiadot.org/programs/bk-laws.asp

[Author]

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