Missed connection

[baiskeli]

This is my version of a “missed connection” post…

You: headphones, no helmet passing me on the right in the bike lane on Clarendon Blvd. the morning of May 9 about 8 am.

Me: riding safely as usual

You should call your damn passes – especially when passing on the right. I could have swerved right into you.

Dumbass.

[CCrew]

Gotta love it don’t you? Some real tools out there.

I do a bi-modal commute car from Winchester to Reston then bike to downtown DC.

Mine was the one at 2:15 this morning wearing jeans and a dark tshirt, no lights, no reflectors no helmet riding his MTB down the right lane on Rt 7 in Sterling when I was inbound. Almost turned him into a hood ornament.

[acc]

Wow, what a combination: No helmet, headphones, AND passing on the right – seriously, it makes all my prep seem paranoid and insane (not necessarily in that order). My helmet is the first thing I look for, I wish I could listen to music but I don’t think it’s safe. Passing, if I’m so lucky, is always on the left. I review every ride afterwards and think about the decisions I made and what could be improved.

As for the hood ornament, well geez, something that big would probably be hell on your gas mileage.

All jokes aside, please be safe.

acc

[eminva]

Since the weather got warmer, I’ve seen some crazy stuff on the trails/streets, and I’m wondering whether any of you try to do any “education” in a constructive manner with other cyclists. On the one hand, I want to encourage anyone who decides to get on a bike. On the other hand, I often observe someone just having a narrow miss (or about to have one) and is completely oblivious. I’m sometimes tempted to say something (assuming the chance doesn’t pass too quickly), and I would try to do it in my stern-but-friendly-mother persona rather than crazy-dragon-lady guise. So far I’ve been unable to think of a way to offer anything that would be constructive and well-received. Maybe there isn’t any way to do it. Anyone else have any experience with this?

Thanks.

Liz

[baiskeli]

I was going to “educate” this guy but he turned off a different way before I could catch him and it wasn’t worth chasing him.

I’ve “educated” people before though – like the guy who once passed me on the right as I was also being passed on the left and veering to the right to make room. I usually emphasize that what the offender did was unsafe for the him/her as well as me.

I still remember seeing some hotdog on a mountain bike years ago on the Mt. V on one of these sunny spring days. There was a crowd, so she decided she wanted to pass on the right, in the grass–she did have a mountain bike after all, and those people can’t wait to get into the dirt. She ran right into a rock hidden in the grass and popped her tire wide open.

[PotomacCyclist]

I saw a young guy (early 20s?) on the MVT last summer sitting up, no hands on the handlebars, holding a cellphone to his ear, and riding on the wrong side of the trail. I noticed this because he was heading straight for me (since I was riding on the correct side of the trail). Fortunately I was able to shout at him to wake up and get his attention. He put his hands back on the handlebar and moved over to his right.

For some reason, my first thought was that he was a summer congressional intern who had only been in town for a couple weeks.

[acc]

Bahaha! I remember them well. I probably would have thought the same. The Dems had an earring and longish hair, the Republicans had very short hair (males).

Happy trails,
Ann

[baiskeli]

@acc 3571 wrote:

Bahaha! I remember them well. I probably would have thought the same. The Dems had an earring and longish hair, the Republicans had very short hair (males).

Happy trails,
Ann

Republicans ride bikes?

[brendan]

@baiskeli 3619 wrote:

Republicans ride bikes?

Yup, some even bike commute! http://www.commutebybike.com/2011/05/09/on-parking-and-bikeshare-not-all-republicans-think-alike-if-at-all/

Brendan

[DismalScientist]

I’ve never thought the bicycling community is particularly well served by introducing politics, and especially partisan politics, into its advocacy. My views are certainly closer to the Republicans than the Democrats. The biggest bicycle advocate in the upcoming presidential race is likely Gary Johnson.

[PotomacCyclist]

Ray LaHood is a lifelong Republican, although he’s currently the Secretary of Transportation in a Democratic administration. LaHood is perhaps the single most important individual in the U.S. today in terms of bike policy and bike infrastructure funding. He has been a very visible supporter of cycling. He has been pushing the government to give equal consideration to cyclists and pedestrians when designing and building new transportation infrastructure. As the Secretary of Transportation, he has a mighty big role to play.

Of course, he doesn’t carry out every project design and funding decision himself. But he has proven himself to be a major supporter of cycling in the U.S. and maybe the most important person for bicycling in the U.S. over the past few years.

[baiskeli]

@PotomacCyclist 3645 wrote:

Ray LaHood is a lifelong Republican, although he’s currently the Secretary of Transportation in a Democratic administration. LaHood is perhaps the single most important individual in the U.S. today in terms of bike policy and bike infrastructure funding. He has been a very visible supporter of cycling. He has been pushing the government to give equal consideration to cyclists and pedestrians when designing and building new transportation infrastructure. As the Secretary of Transportation, he has a mighty big role to play.

Of course, he doesn’t carry out every project design and funding decision himself. But he has proven himself to be a major supporter of cycling in the U.S. and maybe the most important person for bicycling in the U.S. over the past few years.

Okay, good point.

But does he ride?

[PotomacCyclist]

I don’t know. It’s not important. It’s hard to see how LaHood could be any more of a supporter of cycling than he already is. He is helping to make current and future streets, bridges and trails safer for cyclists. He is in a position where his efforts can make an enormous difference. Whether he rides or not doesn’t make a difference. I assume he does at least some riding, or did in his past.

He was recently speaking about the importance of safety for urban cyclists. Someone said that he sounded like a “run-of-the-mill hipster.” LaHood replied that he doesn’t even know what the term means. In the end, I’d rather have a Secretary of Transportation who doesn’t know what a hipster is but is a solid bike advocate than the other way around.

Granted, there are a few vocal bike critics in the Republican Party (including the so-called spokesperson of the Arlington Republican Party) but that seems to be just a vocal minority. Former president George W. Bush is also a mountain biking enthusiast, though bike infrastructure was not a main focus during his time in office.

As someone pointed out, cycling does not automatically need to be a partisan issue. Bike enthusiasts and advocates don’t help themselves by making it a Democrat-only issue. Large numbers of both Republicans and Democrats ride bikes, but for some reason, bike infrastructure has come to be seen by a certain segment as threatening the transportation system and the economy. Fans of everyday cycling need as many political supporters as they can get.

[acc]

[Hitting the Like button]

I don’t care if you are a member of the National Orangutan Party, if you advocate on behalf of the cycling community, you are terrific.

[Dirt]

@acc 3694 wrote:

I don’t care if you are a member of the National Orangutan Party, if you advocate on behalf of the cycling community, you are terrific.

Speaking as a card carrying member of the Orangutan Party, I can only say Amen, sista!

[Author]

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