Missed connection

[baiskeli]

Two missed connections today:

1. Cyclist comes from behind me and shoals me at a red light. Okay. But then he waits to let me proceed first when the light turns green.

Thanks.

2. Yes, you stopped your car in the closer lane to let me cross the GW Crossing of Calamity. But there’s another lane of traffic, and now cars can’t see me. All they see is one lane stopped, so like drivers do, they go into the other lane to pass you and avoid the problem. Being a smart cyclist, I don’t fly right in front of you, I wait until I see that the other lane is safe to cross. So don’t get frustrated that I’m not taking advantage of your generosity immediately.

[Terpfan]

I apologize to the three or so people I passed down by the Belle Haven Marina last night with my light on flashing mode. My light evidently no longer charges and the battery decided to end, which results in strobe-only. Of course, once the light kicked out a short while later, the ride became fun. It was one of those few times where I stuck to the sidewalks along streets to ride with the ambient light. I also have absolutely no idea how anyone could ever ride any of the trail without lights.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@dasgeh 69537 wrote:

As I got on the Custis this morning at 20th, I saw a cyclist coming towards me… wait it was two cyclists… on a tandem… on an orange tandem… I’m starting to get excited as I roll to a stop. But wait, the lead cyclist guy is not getting bigger as he gets closer… He’s almost to me and he’s not of super-human proportions…

Alas: not every orange tandem is Dirt’s commuter taxi.

So a missed connection instead of a Dirt sighting. *Sigh*

You were right behind me. I saw them as they started up the hill out of Rosslyn and our encounter went much the same as yours.

[kcb203]

This is an actual connection, not a missed one:

Me: Crossing 15th Street going eastbound from Pennsylvania onto New York Avenue near the White House. I waited for the light and started crossing when it turned green.

You: Blue BMW making a U-turn from westbound on NY Ave. to go back eastbound as soon as the light turned green. You didn’t have enough room to make the turn, so you stopped blocking the bike lane as you started to back up to do a three-point turn.

Me: Slamming on my brakes to avoid hitting you from behind as you crossed in front of me and blocked the bike lane.

You: Shifting into reverse and starting to move back toward me.

Me: Yelling at you to stop moving while I tried to shuffle sideways out of the way behind you.

You: Not hearing me or ignoring me and continuing to back into me.

Me: Slapping your trunk to draw your attention to the fact that you were about to run over me. I then went around and went on my way.

You: Pulling to the curb at the next light where I was stopped, and getting out of your car, walking toward me, and yelling at me.

Me: Explaining that you failed to yield when making a U-turn and that I slapped your car gently to draw your attention to the fact that you were about to run over me.

[Jason B]

You: the group of 5 guys in ncvc/fresh bike kits
Me: the commuter in red your mini peloton passed cranking up glebe/williamsburg. thanks for making me feel fat. :p
Ah, what a wonderful day to start my day

[KLizotte]

Wowsie. Glad you are ok. Amazing how protective people are of their excoskeletons. Extraordinary how the driver didn’t seem to recognize his fault for backing into someone!

[83b]

@kcb203 69556 wrote:

You: Pulling to the curb at the next light where I was stopped, and getting out of your car, walking toward me, and yelling at me.

I’m sorry that happened and am glad you’re okay. Stories like this, the MBT attacks, and a scare I had on the Hill are why I keep this little guy Velcro’ed to my stem.

[jabberwocky]

@KLizotte 69564 wrote:

Wowsie. Glad you are ok. Amazing how protective people are of their excoskeletons.

I almost got into a fight a few years back with a guy who was completely blocking the crosswalk at the red light where the W&OD crosses Wiehle in Reston. I threaded my way around his giant pickup and put one hand on the fender as I did so and he went absolutely ballistic and started screaming homophobic slurs at me and trying to unbuckle his considerable bulk so he could “kick my ass”. At the time I thought it was kind of funny, but in hindsight its probably a good thing he didn’t have a gun or anything.

[pfunkallstar]

@jabberwocky 69608 wrote:

I almost got into a fight a few years back with a guy who was completely blocking the crosswalk at the red light where the W&OD crosses Wiehle in Reston. I threaded my way around his giant pickup and put one hand on the fender as I did so and he went absolutely ballistic and started screaming homophobic slurs at me and trying to unbuckle his considerable bulk so he could “kick my ass”. At the time I thought it was kind of funny, but in hindsight its probably a good thing he didn’t have a gun or anything.

Maybe we ran into the same guy! I encountered a similar gentleman downtown a few years back – with his emergency blinkers on chatting in the bike lane. I informed him that he “must be lost of something,” to which he responded with a flurry of homophobic insults interspersed with conjecture about my anatomy, which seemed even more strange since I had spandex on. I bid him a good evening and he frantically tried to unbuckle his seat belt, gave up, and peeled off into oncoming traffic. Class act!

[vvill]

Lady in cream Mazda MX-5, license plate BODHA with Human Rights sticker. Please do not constantly drive within 1 foot of my left pedal. When I’m riding in the middle that means there isn’t space for two abreast in the road – every other driver seemed to understand that just fine. Also, please do not cross a double yellow in a 25 zone to overtake, and please do not then brake to turn right 300 yards later on a fast downhill.

[MattAune]

@vvill 69756 wrote:

Lady in cream Mazda MX-5, license plate BODHA with Human Rights sticker. Please do not constantly drive within 1 foot of my left pedal. When I’m riding in the middle that means there isn’t space for two abreast in the road – every other driver seemed to understand that just fine. Also, please do not cross a double yellow in a 25 zone to overtake, and please do not then brake to turn right 300 yards later on a fast downhill.

It’s a good thing that “cyclists aren’t human”, otherwise her sticker would have been so ironic.

[jrenaut]

Hey, Honda Civic, you should probably leave enough following distance and pay enough attention so that when a car two in front of you stops for the bike in the crosswalk (thanks, car two in front), you don’t lock up the brakes with a giant squeal that probably scared the crap out of the car in front of you. Also, get better brakes.

[pfunkallstar]

You: Everyone getting their knickers in a knot about light brightness.
Me: Just appreciate visibility, look to the side of the trail, move on.

[hozn]

@pfunkallstar 69989 wrote:

You: Everyone getting their knickers in a knot about light brightness.
Me: Just appreciate visibility, look to the side of the trail, move on.

You: Everyone getting their knickers in a knot about that guy urinating all over the toilet seat and floor in the bathroom stall.
Me: Just appreciate that he’s peeing in the bathroom, use the stall a couple over, move on.

[americancyclo]

@hozn 69992 wrote:

You: Everyone getting their knickers in a knot about that guy urinating all over the toilet seat and floor in the bathroom stall.
Me: Just appreciate that he’s peeing in the bathroom, use the stall a couple over, move on.

Man, you have a strange workplace

[Author]

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