Missed connection

[Subby]

shawnofthedread;95088 wrote:

I’m sure you realized i was the one whistling past you as you started your climb out of rosslyn.

Rosslyn Justice!

[KWL]

@dplasters 95102 wrote:

One day, I feel like I should ride into the city on the W&O to see what all this complaining is about. I keep asking the cars to call their passes out here in Fairfax and damn it if all I get is a honk once every few weeks.

All kidding aside, sometimes I swear it sounds like the roads I’m on are safer than some of the trails you all are riding on….

Calling your pass on a MUT is akin to drivers honking as they pass cyclists on the road. Just a bit irritating. Hey, I know you are there, you don’t need to announce it. That said, I do it because so many seem to think it is important.

[Boo Boo]

I mostly prefer road traffic to trail traffic – the $#@%# $%@# who ran a stop sign at Post Forest/Random Hills this morning and would have left-hooked me had I not been alert being a notable exception, of course.

The W&OD can just be downright annoying some mornings. (It’s strange how the evening commute is usually much better than the morning) I have the option to take the Cross-County instead and I like doing that at least a couple of mornings a week – the solitude is wonderful, and it makes the ride home on the WOD absolutely fly by.

All that said, the biggest annoyance is hopping in the car rather than on the bike!

[dkel]

@KWL 95216 wrote:

Calling your pass on a MUT is akin to drivers honking as they pass cyclists on the road. Just a bit irritating. Hey, I know you are there, you don’t need to announce it.

Your senses must be sharper than mine: I often get surprised by stealthy cyclists sneaking by me. I’m not one to make sudden course changes, so I don’t expect to run into anyone passing me, but I wouldn’t trust anyone I’m passing to be so courteous (that’s based on experience, I’m sorry to say). I say calling passes is better than the potential alternatives.

[bobco85]

@KWL 95216 wrote:

Calling your pass on a MUT is akin to drivers honking as they pass cyclists on the road. Just a bit irritating. Hey, I know you are there, you don’t need to announce it. That said, I do it because so many seem to think it is important.

It’s not, though. Drivers are not instructed to honk at cyclists as they pass them on the road, although some do it out of being a jerk while others really do think it’s helpful to the cyclist. Of course, there is no driver training that teaches drivers to do this.

Cyclists, on the other hand, are supposed to “give an audible signal” before passing because it lets other users know of their intent to pass. This is often mentioned in trail rules/etiquette and on trail signs. It’s part of the “Predictable” third of being a PAL (Predictable, Alert, Lawful).

[TwoWheelsDC]

As someone who walks the trails every day with my dog, I actually don’t give a crap about people calling passes. For one thing, I have my headphones in, so I don’t hear most of them anyway, but I walk in a predictable fashion and maintain positive control of my dog. And it’s an MUP…of course I’m going to get passed by bikes regularly, so I just always assume a bike is coming. It’s like those people on group rides who yell “car back” in downtown DC…yes, it’s the middle of the city, when is there NOT a car back? Anyway…

My biggest issue as a walker is the disconcertingly large number of riders that call their passes but then proceed to buzz past me with only inches to spare, despite having 4 feet of pavement to their left to get by…if you really want to be a courteous trail user, save the ding and move three feet further to the left instead.

[Emm]

@jrenaut 95097 wrote:

Ahh, Freezing Saddles, when the fair-weather clowns clear out of the garage and I can park my bike in the choice spots again even if I don’t arrive until 9:15.

It appears at my work the “fair weather crowd” stops riding Sept 1. We went from 3 racks with 10-15 bikes on each, to 3 racks with 1-2 bikes on each within a 2 week period. It happened to all my other agency buildings too. Racks you couldn’t find a spot on Aug 25 were half empty Sept 3. And it’s not even cold yet!!! I’m wondering if it has to do with kids being in school making it so parent’s can’t ride in anymore. Only explanation I can think of…

[Terpfan]

@KWL 95216 wrote:

Calling your pass on a MUT is akin to drivers honking as they pass cyclists on the road. Just a bit irritating. Hey, I know you are there, you don’t need to announce it. That said, I do it because so many seem to think it is important.

Cars have mirrors. Most cyclists don’t. For me, most of my time is on the MVT, which is pretty loud from the GWMP, airport, etc. So I usually don’t hear people coming. I appreciate when folks call their passes and try to do the same in return. But it’s not the end of the world for me so long as they’re not pulling d-bag passes. I’ve noticed some people trying to split the gap in some really dangerous spots recently, eg right underneath the last bridge heading southbound on MVT where the path is inches from the road. C’est le vie I suppose.

[mstone]

@Terpfan 95241 wrote:

Cars have mirrors. Most cyclists don’t.

Yeesh, first the pannier kerfluffle, and now I learn that some commuters don’t even have a mirror?

As far as signaling, you’re going to get a ding unless you’re wearing a big sign that says “please pass me silently”. Since I have no way to know whether you want to be signaled, I’ll default to doing what’s safest (and required) even if it annoys some fraction of people that I pass. I think it’s fairly clear that people who do want to be passed silently are in the minority.

[jrenaut]

Our cages were full yesterday and empty today (though I got in early today so they might fill later). I suspect it’s the rain forecast?

[mikoglaces]

@TwoWheelsDC 95231 wrote:

As someone who walks the trails every day with my dog, I actually don’t give a crap about people calling passes. For one thing, I have my headphones in, so I don’t hear most of them anyway, but I walk in a predictable fashion and maintain positive control of my dog. …

My biggest issue as a walker is the disconcertingly large number of riders that call their passes but then proceed to buzz past me with only inches to spare, despite having 4 feet of pavement to their left to get by…if you really want to be a courteous trail user, save the ding and move three feet further to the left instead.

I’ve been riding on local MUPS commuting year-round for 20 years, and I call my passes because some walkers do not “walk in a predictable fashion” (which I take it means in a straight line on the right). Some walkers and joggers start to turn without looking. Ride on the W&OD or Custis or whatever MUP and sooner or later you’ll hit one of these folks if you don’t call your passes.

I agree that calling a pass doesn’t give license to buzz the walker/runner. And i know cyclists do that.

[mstone]

@jrenaut 95247 wrote:

Our cages were full yesterday and empty today (though I got in early today so they might fill later). I suspect it’s the rain forecast?

what rain forecast? doh!

[jrenaut]

@mstone 95251 wrote:

what rain forecast? doh!

Well, not until 8 or 9pm, but still, some people are wimps.

[cyclingfool]

@mstone 95251 wrote:

what rain forecast? doh!

@jrenaut 95252 wrote:

Well, not until 8 or 9pm, but still, some people are wimps.

Yeah, well, let’s hope it holds off. I took my rain cape out of my pannier a couple days ago and hadn’t put it back in yet b/c I didn’t think it was supposed to rain anytime soon. I don’t mind getting wet in rain if it’s not too cold out, but every time it rains, and I get wet, my wife makes a point of asking why she got me a rain cape (from my Amazon wish list) for my birthday a few years ago if I’m not going to use it. I’d rather not have to hear that tonight.

[dasgeh]

Oh, I have a positive ped interaction from Monday: I was puttering along on the TR Bridge, almost to the VA end, and I see a runner headed up the hill, towards me. He gets to the end of the asphalt, and suddenly pulls a Crazy Ivan. I was far enough away that this move didn’t bother me, and luckily, there wasn’t anyone coming up behind him, but I could see the whole thing clearly, and I could see that he didn’t even attempt to look behind him. Plus he was double earphoned.

Once I reached him, I summoned my inner Dirt/Kelley, and spoke to him, very nicely. He was nice and we actually went back and forth before he got why what he did was dangerous. He seemed honestly oblivious to the fact that he could have caused a collision. And he seemed like he’d look in the future. So yay.

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