Missed connection

[GovernorSilver]

@Tania 118263 wrote:

Just got almost bowled over TWICE in a half a block by two different cyclists on the @*#&#$ sidewalk. Next one to come anywhere NEAR me is getting pushed.

Yes, I’m cranky.

That would make me cranky too.

I feel fortunate to have been struck by a cyclist (as a pedestrian) only once – he hit my arm with the handle of his bike on the university campus – not enough to break it but enough to cause pain. My friends/classmates had to restrain me from running after him to retaliate. Of course, I was less mature back then but to be hit again by a bike would be a severe test of my emotional control, assuming I could still stand.

[Tania]

@consularrider 118284 wrote:

You’re cranky ’cause it’s not you on the bike, right?

My coworkers are giving me a wide berth this week, yes.

[PotomacCyclist]

Me: Standing on a sidewalk next to the CaBi bike, not moving, completely minding my own business because I’m fiddling around on my phone. I’m stationary, on the sidewalk and not on the bike, so there shouldn’t be any problem with looking at my phone.

It’s after sunset and getting close to full darkness. I’m not far from the WWII Memorial, which is still active with a lot of visitors walking around. I sense someone walk up to me. I didn’t figure anything is going to happen so close to so many other people around, but it’s unnerving when someone walks right up to you and just stops. So I look around. A woman is standing there, inches away from me, just staring at me. Did I do anything wrong? There’s nothing wrong with being stationary on a sidewalk. There isn’t even any pedestrian traffic so there was space around me.

I look back at her, trying to signal that she can pass by if she wants, or to inquire why she is just standing there. She continues to look at me, not saying anything. Now I get a little upset. It’s not normal to approach someone like this, especially at dark. She walked up to me, stood next to me and didn’t say anything. I grimaced a bit. Then she finally said something. “Don’t threaten me again!”

What? I’m trying to figure out why she walked right up to me, stood right next to me, and started glaring at me.

I wasn’t expecting that response at all. So I asked, “What did I do?” I did say it loudly because I was just standing still, minding my own business. How is that threatening? She walked up to me.

I’m not in the business of getting into angry confrontations, particularly with a woman after dark. I stepped to the side slightly, just to get away from her. She finally walked past. I saw that she had a limp or hitch of some sort. Perhaps she stopped because she wanted to see if I would get on the bike and move in a particular direction. But when she walked up to me, I was stationary and looking down at my phone. If she was concerned about me moving again, she could have simply said something. Even if it were just a mere, “Hello” or “Good evening.” That would be much better than walking up to a stranger, standing inches away from them and staring intently at them without saying a word.

It wasn’t a big deal, but perhaps with all the news today, and after riding for a while, I might have been a little on edge. I just stood there as I was before as she walked off. There were large tour buses only 50 feet away or so, plus dozens of people walking around the WWII Memorial nearby. I could only shake my head and wonder what all that was about. Then I rode off in the other direction. I won’t demonize her, but she was definitely unpleasant to encounter.

[thucydides]

Mental illness perhaps or perhaps she had a recent bad experience with someone on a CaBi and it was a case of mistaken identity. People on CaBis all look alike, you know. Definitely a disturbing encounter.

[Vicegrip]

Champagne colored escalade. Thanks for the “Oopsie” wave while slowly passing me and then making a right turn smack dab in front of me. I waved back but as I had just finished standing on the brakes and skidding my new rear tire I might have used less fingers than normal.

[pfunkallstar]

Old guy talking on TWO CELLPHONES AT ONCE. I respect your desire to multitask, or to achieve stereo cellphone transmission, but holy hell that is NOT the way to walk in the bike lane on 15th street. Not even close, can’t indicate more clearly how not right that is/was. Please seek help.

[kcb203]

Me: Waving at the car that yielded to me as I crossed the W&OD at Cedar Lane.
You: Coming the other direction and also waving at the car, then saying to me, “Wave, asshole” because apparently he didn’t see my simultaneous wave.
Me: “I did wave, asshole.”

I’m not sure that an admonition to wave has ever been followed by the word “asshole” in my experience. I don’t generally call strangers assholes, but he said it first.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@kcb203 118871 wrote:

You: Coming the other direction and also waving at the car, then saying to me, “Wave, asshole” because apparently he didn’t see my simultaneous wave.

He probably read somewhere that “Cyclists have to do their part as well….thinking about the role they play in the public perception of cyclists.”

[rcannon100]

@TwoWheelsDC 118873 wrote:

He probably read somewhere that “Cyclists have to do their part as well….thinking about the role they play in the public perception of cyclists.”

I know its early in the day, but I am sorry ~ TwoWheelsDC has already won the Internet for the day.

[Crickey7]

@kcb203 118871 wrote:

I don’t generally call strangers assholes . . .

So, I take it that’s reserved for friends and family?

[kcb203]

@Crickey7 118876 wrote:

So, I take it that’s reserved for friends and family?

I think it, but don’t say it with strangers, friends, and family! Today, it was just an instinctive reaction. The juxtaposition of his friendly wave and shout of “thank you” to the driver and his “wave, asshole” comment to me immediately thereafter apparently struck a nerve.

[mstone]

Me: the guy who slowed down for the wobbly kid on the bike and his mom yesterday afternoon after the VA Ave overpass westbound on the W&OD

You: the guy who passed all three of us at a high speed on the blind curve so you wouldn’t have to slow down

That was a dick move.

[bobco85]

Two for today

Situation #1
Me: riding my bike on Wilson Blvd just about to enter the bike lane heading west
You: driver talking on his cell phone on a cross street on my right; you look left, then right, then left, and then like I’M NOT EVEN THERE start to accelerate just in front of me
Me: slamming on my brakes, I stop just in front of your front bumper and glare (sorry, but it was one that burned holes clear through the back of your skull)
Dude, put the cell phone down, you obviously can’t multitask talking on the phone and checking traffic to make a left turn!

Situation #2 (about 2 minutes after Situation #1)
Me: riding to the Westover Italian Store in shorts and a t-shirt to meet with my parents for dinner, having checked the weather forecast and radar, and seeing that there was no precipitation predicted for the next few hours
You: the microburst that decided to open the heavens above me and soak me completely before I got there
Me: I made it ANYWAYS and had some DELICIOUS PIZZA, even though I did have to wring out my clothes before entering the Italian Store. I curse the weather gods for this one

[Terpfan]

From yesterday evening’s commute home. To the guy in the gray shirt who decided to attempt a double pass on the straight away MVT stretch of trail adjacent to the Roosevelt Island parking lot: don’t be a douchebag. The thing about the game of chicken is that at some point your luck with run out. Don’t make stupid passes, don’t make stupid passes with people coming at you, and if you’re going to try something stupid, at least try to do so quickly.

[komorebi]

This is both a found connection and and missed connection for the rider who passed me this afternoon on 4MRT, near the GW Parkway underpass.

Found connection: thank you for waiting until we were around the curve and then politely calling your pass. Your courtesy is appreciated.

Missed connection: you needed to either pull your shorts up higher or pull the back of your shirt down lower, if you know what I mean.

Should I have said something when I later caught up to him at a traffic light?

[Author]

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