Missed connection

[baiskeli]

@Drewdane 66440 wrote:

My thanks to the cabbie who (properly) slowed down to give me the right of way before his left turn. The opposite of that to the jackhole behind him who leaned on his/her horn in response.

Had the same experience the other day crossing Lynn St. Car starting to turn right saw me crossing in her path and stopped; car behind her leaned on the horn. I made sure both knew exactly what my opinions of their actions were.

[baiskeli]

Memorandum

Date: Last night
From: Me driving a car on a rainy night well after dark
To: Dude riding a bike in the street in dark clothes with no lights wearing big fat headphones
Subject: You/idiocy

You are an idiot.

[Xarici]

Me: heading south on 15th about to cross Constitution to go enjoy closed Jefferson instead of PA Ave, taking the left lane as the right turn lane was backing way up, stopping as the light was red.
You: Audi driver who zooms up and tries to cut me off with less than a car length to go. I yell at him to watch it as he was very close to me even though I was pretty much already stopped already.
You: “Now be smart about this, you’re a biker, and you should give way to cars.”
Me: ” I was biking legally, you crossed a double yellow to try to pass me, are well within 3 feet, disregarding my safety, and you gained a total of zero seconds.”
You: About to disagree when you’re cut off by the SUV driver next to you who says, “Hey, he’s right, I saw the whole thing, you cut over to try to cut unsafely, and didn’t give him 3 feet. Where were you trying to go anyway, the light’s red?” He then asked me if I was ok, awesome all the way around. I thanked him and got ready to go when the light changed. Funny thing is during this whole thing Mr. Audi kept trying to ease forward to cut me off, while we were stopped!

[bobco85]

Hate to say it happened again as I’ve posted on this thread about this before, but it HAPPENED AGAIN.

Biking along Carlin Springs Road from Ballston Common Mall to turn left onto Thomas Street, I got forced out of the middle of the lane where the bike sharrows are CLEARLY PAINTED on the road (and there is a sign saying “Bicycles may use full lane” but no one reads it apparently) by some driver who couldn’t bear the thought of being temporarily slowed down by a cyclist.

[video=youtube_share;faswm82mIGg]http://youtu.be/faswm82mIGg[/video]

[DCLiz]

@bobco85 66707 wrote:

Biking along Carlin Springs Road from Ballston Common Mall to turn left onto Thomas Street, I got forced out of the middle of the lane where the bike sharrows are CLEARLY PAINTED on the road (and there is a sign saying “Bicycles may use full lane” but no one reads it apparently) by some driver who couldn’t bear the thought of being temporarily slowed down by a cyclist.

It seems as if the driver was expecting you to move into the empty parking spaces to let him/her by. As someone who is intimidated by aggressive drivers, I probably would have done this, only to be faced with having to merge back into traffic after the car had passed (and thereby encouraging this sort of behavior in the future). Any advice on dealing with this? Just gird your loins and ignore the honking? Meekly move over, then wait for a break in the traffic to continue your ride?

My concern with holding the lane would be the passing car swerving back into the lane to avoid the oncoming traffic, squishing me in the process.

[KLizotte]

^^ would be a good video to send to AAA contact person.

Thank goodness you weren’t hurt.

[jrenaut]

Moving into the parking spaces makes it less safe for everyone who rides a bike on the street because it reinforces the incorrect idea that this is what is supposed to happen.

[KLizotte]

@jrenaut 66712 wrote:

Moving into the parking spaces makes it less safe for everyone who rides a bike on the street because it reinforces the incorrect idea that this is what is supposed to happen.

+1 but if you have to bail to the empty parking space to prevent getting hurt certainly do so.

Usually it’s possible to catch up to the offender at a light or stop sign. A polite but firm discussion sometimes helps the driver see the error of his or her ways.

[dasgeh]

I’ve had similar situations where a driver passes too close and/or crosses the double yellow to pass (with and without empty parking spaces to my right). It may have been that that particular driver thinks you should have been riding through those empty parking spaces, but it also may have been that the driver was unaware of/intentionally breaking the law requiring a safe distance to pass and/or the law prohibiting a crossing of the double yellow to pass. I couldn’t tell from your video. Regardless, it may be more productive on the specific law broken v. those signs.

[Occasional rider]

@baiskeli 3463 wrote:

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.

I know this is an old post, but I’m new here.

I was riding on the towpath up near Great Falls (on the MD side) on Sunday. Up there, the path narrows a little bit and the drop-off on the river side is nearly vertical and probably 200 feet up. Knowing how other cyclists and hikers tend to weave back and forth across the trail, I stayed on the canal edge even though I was on the wrong side of the trail by doing so. I just waited until everyone cleared out and then quickly cycled past that point.

[bobco85]

Usually on roads with sharrows, I’ll ride wherever the sharrows are located in the lane, sometimes moving over to let someone pass if it’s safe. On this stretch, due to the construction (the road has been really torn up over the past few months), the first set of sharrows is just after a wide area where it looks like there’s plenty of room for a vehicle and cyclist to ride side-by-side (the single lane is almost 2 lanes wide). There was a full car width of open lane to my left before I moved over to line up with the sharrows which probably made the driver approaching from behind think that I was cutting her off (and in the DC area, feeling like you got cut off brings instant rage).

On this stretch, oncoming traffic is what usually tends to save me because it allows me to move to the left side of the lane in anticipation of my left turn without having to worry about someone trying to cross over the double yellow lines to pass me (because waiting is for patient people).

I think for situations like this (and I have to remind myself to do this from time to time), the best advice I can give is to take the lane and keep it.

Road rage be damned, I would rather be seen and beeped/yelled at while taking the lane instead of accidentally getting hit because the driver didn’t notice I was also there.

[KLizotte]

And be sure to look behind you/to your left when making a left turn or getting into a left turn lane. I once had a dingbat pass me on the left hand side, in the intersection, while I was making a left turn. I wasn’t expecting the side of truck to be there as I turned and all of a sudden I see a white wall and hear the passenger screech in alarm. Fortunately no contact was made but I’m pretty sure it woke all of us up.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I witnessed a not-so-missed connection last night, while waiting to cross Lynn St. at the Crossroads o’ Death. Cyclist was heading north on Lynn, crossed Lee and rode up onto the sidewalk to head toward Key Bridge…no big deal, except she was going *really* fast. Sure enough, another cyclist, riding southbound on the sidewalk from the GWMP offramp was just kinda absent-mindedly meandering and blocking the other “lane”, and the northbound cyclist couldn’t stop in time and collided with him. I couldn’t tell if she just wasn’t paying attention or if her brakes were just terrible, but given her speed she should’ve easily been able to stop. Nobody got hurt and there was no damage, but Sweet Jeebus, slow down when your riding onto a crowded path/sidewalk…

Also, it was clear the offending cyclist had a case of target fixation…she fixated on the obstacle and thus rode right into it. The most important thing you can do in this type of situation is to see the obstacle, then look where you want to go. If you focus on the obstacle, you’ll hit it every time.

[PeteD]

Me: Cyclist, being a PAL and stopped at Great Falls/Little Falls Light, going north on Great Falls.
You: Mercedes GL behind me.

It’s not my fault that Great Falls is a downhill slope, and I was speeding, but you decided to keep up with me, until we got to to the speed bump. I’d write a letter to the Falls Church city council to see if they’ll replace your suspension.

Me: Cyclist, being a PAL and stopped at the stop sign just past Thomas Jefferson Elementary.
You: Mazda SUV behind me.

Yet again, sorry for your Mazda needing a new suspension. Not sure you gained anything trying to pass me on a narrow neighborhood street, but I’ll bet one of the local repair shops will help you out for hitting that speed bump at a speed much faster than you should have been going. At least you were smart about things and slowed down for the second one; that Mercedes earlier didn’t learn that lesson.

Me: Guy in a plaid jersey, trying to get home by 9am.
You: Guy in a Missouri State University jersey.

Please, look at Core workouts. Your shoulders should not bob that much going up a 1% grade. Situps, Crunches, Leg Lifts, Planks. I suggest http://nsfitbitch.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/30-day-ab-challenge/

–Pete

[baiskeli]

@Occasional rider 66719 wrote:

I know this is an old post, but I’m new here.

I was riding on the towpath up near Great Falls (on the MD side) on Sunday. Up there, the path narrows a little bit and the drop-off on the river side is nearly vertical and probably 200 feet up. Knowing how other cyclists and hikers tend to weave back and forth across the trail, I stayed on the canal edge even though I was on the wrong side of the trail by doing so. I just waited until everyone cleared out and then quickly cycled past that point.

Understandable in that situation – unless you forced other cyclists to ride on the dangerous side.

[Author]

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