Missed connection

[vern]

Me: Heading east this A.M. on the WOD just north of the Rt. 267 underpass.
You: Jogger guy heading in the opposite direction, simultaneoulsly talking on a cellphone with your head down, clearly unaware that you started to run on a diagonal, how halfway into my lane.
Me: Heads UP!!

Hate, hate, hate it when cyclists, joggers and even walkers get on their electronic devices on the MUPS. We all know the research shows distraction and accidents rise when folks access these devices. I am not looking to be a victim of such an accident because you cannot put aside your device and just ENJOY your ride/run/walk.

[baiskeli]

@mikoglaces 93973 wrote:

When I first started riding local MUPs, I thought kids didn’t belong there. I was wrong. Kids have never ever caused me any problem. Lots of kitted up guys have.

Sooner or later you’re bound to encounter a kitted up kid.

[dplasters]

@baiskeli 94003 wrote:

Sooner or later you’re bound to encounter a kitted up kid.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6568[/ATTACH]

[dasgeh]

@Dickie 93954 wrote:

Wish I had seen you, I would have been the kitted guy encouraging your kids and complimenting their skills. Awesome that you were out there on the weekend, it’s seeing families riding together that makes the MVT tolerable.

Of all the Kidical things I know something about, I have yet to find a good encouraging phrasing to say to families as I ride by. Suggestions?

[dkel]

@dasgeh 94013 wrote:

Of all the Kidical things I know something about, I have yet to find a good encouraging phrasing to say to families as I ride by. Suggestions?

One of the first times I ever rode on the W&OD, my whole family was out together, and my youngest son still sported a license plate with his name printed on it on his bike. A small group of “kitted up” riders passed us, and all of them called out to my son by name and cheered him on, “good job, Andrew,” “keep it up, Andrew!” It is one of my favorite memories of the W&OD, even after riding on it almost daily for a year now. So, it doesn’t take much to be encouraging to families, in my experience.

[JimF22003]

I don’t like to on-yer-left little kids when I pass them, because I’m afraid of spooking them. I always try to give them a wave or a thumbs-up as I pass though.

[Drewdane]

@JimF22003 94017 wrote:

I don’t like to on-yer-left little kids when I pass them, because I’m afraid of spooking them. I always try to give them a wave or a thumbs-up as I pass though.

I do it, because I figure they need to learn that’s what people are supposed to do. But I do it in my best kindergarten-teacher-cum-peter-pan-cum-barney-the-dinosaur-cum-Mr. Rogers voice.

[PotomacCyclist]

I call out “passing on your left” when approaching little kids. But I also slow down to a near crawl, because I know there’s a good chance that he/she will dart out or veer suddenly to the side. When that happens, I will be riding so slowly that I can easily avoid a collision. Even if I collide, I will be riding so slowly that nothing serious will happen. I figure that I can lose a few seconds here and there. If I ever hit a child because I was being unnecessarily aggressive, that would bother me for a long time. I’m always surprised when I see the occasional person zip through the crowded area of Gravelly Point because they are in such a hurry.

Once people become familiar with the crowded conditions at GP, they should incorporate that into the commute schedule. If the rider is doing a workout, well, GP is not the place to be doing a speed workout. I do wish some of the adults would refrain from standing in the middle of the trail while watching the planes. It’s easy for them to step a few feet forward or backward and stand off the trail. But it’s the occasional cyclist who rides through there too aggressively that bothers me the most at that location. It doesn’t happen often, fortunately. But when it does, I find it disturbing.

Maybe NPS will proceed with the GP improvement project sometime before the end of the decade?

[AFHokie]

@PotomacCyclist 94026 wrote:

I call out “passing on your left” when approaching little kids. But I also slow down to a near crawl, because I know there’s a good chance that he/she will dart out or veer suddenly to the side. When that happens, I will be riding so slowly that I can easily avoid a collision. Even if I collide, I will be riding so slowly that nothing serious will happen. I figure that I can lose a few seconds here and there. If I ever hit a child because I was being unnecessarily aggressive, that would bother me for a long time. I’m always surprised when I see the occasional person zip through the crowded area of Gravelly Point because they are in such a hurry.

Once people become familiar with the crowded conditions at GP, they should incorporate that into the commute schedule. If the rider is doing a workout, well, GP is not the place to be doing a speed workout. I do wish some of the adults would refrain from standing in the middle of the trail while watching the planes. It’s easy for them to step a few feet forward or backward and stand off the trail. But it’s the occasional cyclist who rides through there too aggressively that bothers me the most at that location. It doesn’t happen often, fortunately. But when it does, I find it disturbing.

Maybe NPS will proceed with the GP improvement project sometime before the end of the decade?

I’ve found adults as well as kids are just as likely to turn to the left whether I say “on your left”, “passing on your left”, “passing”, or any combination. I’ve found its 50/50 they’ll turn left to look even when ringing a bell. In that regard, its situation dependent and even sometimes saying nothing as you pass is the safest course of action.

I don’t mind little kids, they’ll do what little kids are supposed to do. Adults on the other hand…a few of my favorites: the woman who made eye contact with me as she crossed the trail, turned away from me as she stepped off the trail and then immediately back onto the trail in front of me…yea, there’s a reason I suddenly yelled “behind you”. Then there’s the guy who smiled at me as he split the yellow line between me and the folks he couldn’t wait to pass…I’m sure he’ll still be smiling when he catches somebody’s handlebar. Finally there’s the kitted up guy who not only shoaled me on the WOD at the intersection with Walter Reed, but also blocked pedestrian right of way on the sidewalk to do so. He’s making friends wherever he goes. I keep reminding myself…don’t take it personal.

My pet peeve: the people who decide they can’t wait and must pass you as you’re passing someone. Often because you slowed down for a safer moment to pass. I almost knocked a guy into traffic on the 14th St bridge a few months ago when he decided he couldn’t wait for me to pass a family with three kids. Lucky for him, I have cat-like ninja reflexes even while on a bicycle.

[Raymo853]

@Supermau 93972 wrote:

I’ve had to fine tune my own 700 lumens after blinding a couple folks, don’t feel bad.

Mine is only a 420, but I used to have a L&M Taz 1200 lumen light. That thing was insane, really too bright for anything even trail rides. It was ruined when it turned on in a gear bag and melted the lens. But Light & Motion covered that, gave me full credit ($240) towards new lights. My new Urban 800, Urban 650 and one of their fancy tail lights should be carefully aimed next week.

[mstone]

@dasgeh 94013 wrote:

Of all the Kidical things I know something about, I have yet to find a good encouraging phrasing to say to families as I ride by. Suggestions?

I usually give a little wave and smile, but in my experience kids aren’t the most observant and you’d need dynamite to make them notice you. (That is, if you’re a person speaking to them. If you’re an unusual rock or something equally interesting/random on the side of the trail, then you’ll get noticed a lot. ) Seriously, though, I tend to not want to do anything that’s going to make a kid get confused and tend to stop & look around. So I’ll do the ding for passing, but not try to engage them.

[jrenaut]

@Drewdane 94021 wrote:

I do it, because I figure they need to learn that’s what people are supposed to do. But I do it in my best kindergarten-teacher-cum-peter-pan-cum-barney-the-dinosaur-cum-Mr. Rogers voice.

Yeah, this. When I see kids I usually slow down more than I would otherwise, ring the bell earlier, and give an “on your left”. I’ve noticed a lot of parents that this is the standard procedure for passing or being passed, teaching them to be responsible trail users, and this is awesome.

[cephas]

You: newbie
Me: teacher

Coming up Washington Blvd, after it flattens out eastbound after the mega-hill up from the W&OD, I took the left side of the right lane to avoid the craptastic patch job that runs the right 2/3 of the lane. As I threw an awareness glance over my left shoulder, I was startled to find a car passing within half a foot. When I caught up to him at the next major intersection, I almost shocked myself as I calmly offered that there was a new rule requiring three feet to pass. In response to his hypothetical query why a very slow vehicle wouldn’t move further right, I explained that there was a safety element: to discourage close passes and that it was my judgment call to make. He started another non-hypothetical, at which point I turned to the newly turned green, and continued on my way. Much more productive than yelling at the idiot moving truck driver a few weeks ago who turned into the intersection only looking backwards.

[Terpfan]

@PotomacCyclist 93981 wrote:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140703-combined-sewer-overflow-washington-storm-water-tunnel/

‘The new excavations correct a problem that dates from the 19th century, when the city was fitted with a “combined sewer overflow” system. A combined system means storm water and sewage are channeled into the same pipes. About 750 communities around the country still use this system, notes Ray.

On dry days, the pipes are big enough to move that combined flow to local water treatment plants. But if the city gets more than a quarter inch of rain at one time, the system is overwhelmed, and engineers have to divert the entire flow—sewage and all—directly into the local rivers.

Washington has been diverting three billion gallons of raw sewage into the rivers on an annual basis, says Ray. The Anacostia takes the brunt of that flow, which is especially bad for its water quality because impurities tend to linger in slower and shallower rivers.’

It’s a good thing Arlington banned those charity car wash fundraisers. Not like DC wasn’t pouring raw sewage into the Potomac after every rainfall or anything. :rolleyes:

[baiskeli]

Here’s a new hazard I discovered while attempting to avoid hazards.

I was on Vietch at Lee Highway, about to move from the bike lane to the special bike box at the front of the traffic lane:

Getting to a box like that is dangerous, though, when the front car is trying to turn right on red, or the light changes just as you’re moving in front of the car lane.

But it’s even more hazardous if a car, as I witnessed, starts moving forward while the light is still red, anticipating the green. (The car then turned right).

Luckily I hadn’t gotten close enough to take the box yet. Watch out for this hazard when you’re taking the lane in front, box or no box.

[Author]

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