Missed connection

[baiskeli]

@jrenaut 81619 wrote:

You: Pedestrian waiting in the middle of the cycletrack on PA Ave at 11th or something
Me: The cyclist who thanked you for moving back to the center of the pedestrian island to clear the cycletrack
You: “You’re welcome”.

I’m honestly still unsure if this really happened. A pedestrian-cyclist interaction on PA Ave that was pleasant and polite on both sides? In the SPRINGTIME? What is this world coming to?

To add to this theme:

A cabbie pulled up next to me last week and said “isn’t it a nice day?” Yes, thanks.

A guy did a really dumb U-turn in front of me, so I caught up and told him it was dangerous and illegal, but I told him nicely. When you leave such an encounter with the driver saying “thank you,” you know you did something right.

I propose a new award for people who are nice to you or for when you’re nice to them in a conflict situation – a Dirt Point. I win the first one, since I thought of it.

[slowtriguy]

You: Guy on black and red road bike, in-ear headphones, and WABA sticker on the back of your helmet
Me: Guy on the green mtn bike, waiting at the W&OD crossing of Washington Blvd about 0745 AM

I regularly see folks make the careless choice of running this light, which I honestly don’t understand.

That said, it takes an extra level of carelessness to run the light when there are cars moving through the intersection, with the light, and less than two feet from you. Thankfully, you stopped in time to avoid a collision, and even backed up to the sidewalk before going ahead and blatantly running the light.

The light that changed to green for us less than 15 seconds later.

Were those 15 seconds really worth nearly getting creamed by oncoming traffic that had the light and the right-of-way? I encourage you to reconsider your priorities, fellow rider.

[creadinger]

You: Sitting on a stone ledge checking e-mail on your phone ,100 yards south of the River Rd. overpass on the CCT.
Your 3 kids: Cliimbing on the rocks of the drainage ditch and having an awesome time of it.
Your kids’ bikes: All three parked in the middle of the CCT, while you and your kids did you own thing ignoring them, and other trail users…

It was Saturday morning and the trail wasn’t super busy, and if ever I was going to stop and say something to someone doing something REALLY stupid it would be you. I didn’t however, because I wasn’t sure I could explain the situation without swearing, especially if you tried to feign ignorance. Also, what you had done, while ridiculously self-centered and inconsiderate, wasn’t particularly dangerous. I sincerely hope that someone with more manners told you how stupid you were being after I passed by. Jesus… who thinks parking your bikes in the middle of the trail to let them play is a good idea?

[mstone]

I have to tell my kids not to drop their bikes in the trail every single time they get off their bikes on a trail. It’s almost amusing sometimes. Almost.

[83b]

@creadinger 81907 wrote:

[W]ho thinks parking your bikes in the middle of the trail to let them play is a good idea?

Someone trying to raise the next generation of BMW-owning Marylanders?

[ShawnoftheDread]

You: at the head of a line of cyclists heading west through the Custis Chute:

Me: the genius who passed you just as you were about to pass a runner. Sorry, I totally mistimed that one.

[cyclingfool]

You: The smug, self-important prick in the fancy suit driving up Potomac Avenue this AM through Potomac Yard. You honked your horn and raced your engine as you passed, only to have to stop at the red light a few hundred feet up the road. When I rolled to a stop behind you in the right lane, you gestured to the bike path on the side of the road as if that’s the only place I should ride.

Me: Seeing you looking at me in your rear view, I gestured to the left lane to let you know that, like all the other cars, you could use the left lane to pass.

You: Rolled down window and and yelled back, “Ride in the bike path, fat boy.” Classy. You didn’t appear to be at your ideal body weight either FWIW, and at least I get exercise on my way to work

Me: “Pass using the left lane…” (<--This may or may not have been followed by an expletive :rolleyes:) Great way to get the blood flowing in the AM!

[NicDiesel]

@cyclingfool 82007 wrote:

You: The smug, self-important prick in the fancy suit driving up Potomac Avenue this AM through Potomac Yard.

Was he in a silver Infiniti by chance? If so, I ran into that guy pretty regularly when I lived in Crystal City and rode Potomac Avenue in the morning. If it makes you feel any better, and this is the same needledick, he lives in those terrible overpriced townhouses behind Target and seems to live a pretty miserable life.

[cyclingfool]

@NicDiesel 82034 wrote:

Was he in a silver Infiniti by chance? If so, I ran into that guy pretty regularly when I lived in Crystal City and rode Potomac Avenue in the morning. If it makes you feel any better, and this is the same needledick, he lives in those terrible overpriced townhouses behind Target and seems to live a pretty miserable life.

No, gold colored Nissan Altima. Maybe he had to start slumming it in a Nissan in order to keep up w/ house payments. Either that or he lives on King Street and is pissed about the newly approved bike lanes.

[OneEighth]

@cyclingfool 82044 wrote:

gold colored Nissan Altima

Ew.
No wonder he’s pissy.

[NicDiesel]

@cyclingfool 82044 wrote:

No, gold colored Nissan Altima. Maybe he had to start slumming it in a Nissan in order to keep up w/ house payments. Either that or he lives on King Street and is pissed about the newly approved bike lanes.

The dude that I always had run-ins with was a total clown. I found that laughing in his face was the best reaction to his tomfoolery.

[kcb203]

Yesterday, 6 pm

You: Sitting in your car going south in the middle of the crosswalk where the W&OD crosses Gallows as the light turned red.

Me: Going east on the W&OD when the walk signal turned white for the trail, annoyed at you for blocking the crosswalk. I couldn’t decide whether to go in front of you or behind you–I decided to go in front because a rider going the other way was going behind.

You: Starting forward straight toward me while looking straight down at your phone, oblivious to the fact you were 1) running a red light; 2) in a crosswalk; 3) while looking 100% at your phone and not at all at the road.

Me: Slapping your hood to get your attention–and to keep you from running me over–and yelling “Get off your fucking phone.” (I normally don’t curse, but these situations bring out the worst in me.)

[scorchedearth]

@kcb203 82088 wrote:

“Get off your fucking phone.”

I find myself saying that far too often these days. Sometimes, it’s not with the purpose of getting the driver’s attention like in your case but mainly because these idiots are using their phones while driving and being oblivious to the fact that their actions are impairing their driving.

[83b]

@kcb203 82088 wrote:

“Get off your fucking phone.”

If someone puts that on the Bike Ambassador trailer I’ll take vacation days to pull it all over the city.

[bobco85]

@scorchedearth 82090 wrote:

I find myself saying that far too often these days. Sometimes, it’s not with the purpose of getting the driver’s attention like in your case but mainly because these idiots are using their phones while driving and being oblivious to the fact that their actions are impairing their driving.

Add in cyclists and pedestrians to said list of idiots on their phones. I’ve seen a collision and many near-collisions from all combinations of drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians because one or both were on their phones instead of paying attention.

Note: the collision I saw was a cyclist cruising slowly down a street at night, head completely down, oblivious to the fact that there was a car about 100 feet in front of him that had stopped and there were bright red lights in front of him (yes, he kept his head down the entire time). The result? The cyclist hits the bumper of the car, acts surprised, and doesn’t fall off his bike, so there are no injuries, but the driver was quite annoyed (for good reason). I witnessed this and had to turn away so they couldn’t see me cracking up.

As far as I’m concerned, anybody trying to use a phone while moving in any direction is a potential threat to themselves and other people/objects around them. Also, I don’t buy the argument that some people make when they claim, “But I CAN be safe and alert while using my phone when I walk/bike/drive!” Anecdotes aside, there’s actual empirical evidence to the contrary of that claim.

[Author]

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