Missed connection

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Tania 119795 wrote:

On almost every ride on the WOD/Custis, as I’m about to pass and am signaling with my left hand and looking over my left shoulder that I’m about to pass: WHAM! There’s a cyclist overlapping wheels (or just about to) with me. I’ve almost touched their bars a few times with my outstretched arm.

I now just assume there’s a ninja biker right behind me. And again, on pretty much every ride, someone from behind me passes ME as I’m passing (after having called the pass) someone else.

I bike to avoid aggressive drivers who are in a rush to get wherever they’re going. Sadly, many cyclists aren’t any different.

It’s little consolation, but at least the risk of going down falls almost squarely on the bad actor in this situation, since the person doing the passing is most vulnerable if bikes or bodies touch. I’ve had guys overlap my wheel, then I moved slightly for whatever reason and their front wheel touched my back wheel, they went down and I didn’t even realize anything happened until I heard them hit the ground.

Again, it doesn’t make their actions okay, but it allows me to take a slightly more zen–with a touch of schadenfreude–attitude toward these types of situations.

[Tania]

Jabs – totally agree.

I just try to adjust my ride expectation a bit. A MUP means there will be kids and dogs and pedestrians etc and they really have the right of way so I expect to have to ride a little more slowly and be patient. And that’s cool, it lets me look around, enjoy my ride and chit chat with other trail users.

Some people just seem to be in a hurry to get where ever it is they’re going 10 seconds before than everyone else. But they’re clearly much more important than I am.

[DanB]

@jabberwocky 119796 wrote:

… kids/dogs (these are basically the same thing to me) …

At least the dogs tend to be on a leash.

[jabberwocky]

@TwoWheelsDC 119800 wrote:

It’s little consolation, but at least the risk of going down falls almost squarely on the bad actor in this situation, since the person doing the passing is most vulnerable if bikes or bodies touch. I’ve had guys overlap my wheel, then I moved slightly for whatever reason and their front wheel touched my back wheel, they went down and I didn’t even realize anything happened until I heard them hit the ground.

Hah! My story isn’t a passing story, but a “someone decided to draft me 3″ from my back wheel without saying anything” story. I was rolling along pretty good on the gentle downgrade heading west out of Vienna, and suddenly spotted a deer emerge from the brush on the right. I naturally grabbed some brake because I assumed said deer was about to jump into the trail, and immediately felt a bump and heard a crash. Mister three-inches-from-my-wheel rammed me and went down pretty hard. Surprised me because I had no idea he was there. I stopped to make sure he was ok and got some whining about how I shouldn’t brake so suddenly when someone is behind me (like I’m leading the peloton at the TDF or something). I commented that I didn’t even know he was there, and maybe drafting strangers wasn’t such a great idea. He was very sulky about the whole thing.

@DanB 119802 wrote:

At least the dogs tend to be on a leash.

And are probably, on average, smarter. Or at least better trained with more survival instinct.

I’m gonna make people mad…

[creadinger]

@GovernorSilver 119794 wrote:

I usually ring the bell at a schoolbus length away (which my possibly faulty childhood memory associates with 100 ft), then ring again when I’m about 5 ft. away. I just replaced the bell that came stock with my bike because it fell apart after just two months of bike ownership. The new bell is a brass Incredibell. Usually one ring delivers such resonance and volume that pedestrians immediately start moving to their right.

School buses are 40 feet long. I looked it up, but considering most tractor trailers are under 50 ft, 100 ft just sounded ridiculous. A 100 ft bus would be awesome! Impossible to drive, but awesome.

Hah! My story isn’t a passing story, but a “someone decided to draft me 3″ from my back wheel without saying anything” story. I was rolling along pretty good on the gentle downgrade heading west out of Vienna, and suddenly spotted a deer emerge from the brush on the right. I naturally grabbed some brake because I assumed said deer was about to jump into the trail, and immediately felt a bump and heard a crash. Mister three-inches-from-my-wheel rammed me and went down pretty hard. Surprised me because I had no idea he was there. I stopped to make sure he was ok and got some whining about how I shouldn’t brake so suddenly when someone is behind me (like I’m leading the peloton at the TDF or something). I commented that I didn’t even know he was there, and maybe drafting strangers wasn’t such a great idea. He was very sulky about the whole thing.

I saw this kind of thing happen in front of me recently. A few of us waited at the Gallows Rd light eastbound to get the walk sign. It turned, people took off, and at the next little road, the guy in front dared touch the brakes to check for cars from the left or right, and the guy behind him rolled up on him and crashed pretty bad. He was pretty sulky for as long as I could keep up. The guy in front gave a half-hearted apology, but seriously – DON’T DRAFT strangers that closely!

[chris_s]

My 2 year old and 5 year old (in the box) agree. That’s not 3′

[GovernorSilver]

@creadinger 119818 wrote:

School buses are 40 feet long. I looked it up, but considering most tractor trailers are under 50 ft, 100 ft just sounded ridiculous. A 100 ft bus would be awesome! Impossible to drive, but awesome.

Haha, I figured I was off somewhere.

I don’t want to be yet another cyclist who alerts a pedestrian when he’s already one foot behind or less, allowing for little reaction time if said pedestrian does the unexpected. I probably do my first ring well within the 100 ft after all, but definitely farther than 1 ft.

[Oldtowner]

You: Woman in Black Audi behind me on Union Street in Alexandria this morning.

Me: Following slow pick-up truck (15 mph) and stopping behind him at every stop.

You: Honking furiously at me and pulling up parallel to me on my left and trying to pass me, then riding next to me (in the opposite lane).

Lady, seriously? I can’t go any faster than that truck and neither can you.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@Oldtowner 119833 wrote:

You: Woman in Black Audi behind me on Union Street in Alexandria this morning.

Me: Following slow pick-up truck (15 mph) and stopping behind him at every stop.

You: Honking furiously at me and pulling up parallel to me on my left and trying to pass me, then riding next to me (in the opposite lane).

Lady, seriously? I can’t go any faster than that truck and neither can you.

4-lane behavior on a 2-lane road.

[GovernorSilver]

@Oldtowner 119833 wrote:

You: Woman in Black Audi behind me on Union Street in Alexandria this morning.

Me: Following slow pick-up truck (15 mph) and stopping behind him at every stop.

You: Honking furiously at me and pulling up parallel to me on my left and trying to pass me, then riding next to me (in the opposite lane).

Lady, seriously? I can’t go any faster than that truck and neither can you.

Reminds me of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFM5QiAd3QA

After I watched that, i started setting up my iPhone so that the Camera app is the first one that is active when I wake it up. If that were me, crazy lady would soon be recorded to video.

[dplasters]

@Oldtowner 119833 wrote:

Lady, seriously? I can’t go any faster than that truck and neither can you.

Not that it would have been safe to do so, but as a cyclist you can legally pass the truck in lane/gutter/sidewalk/via go go gadget bike jumper etc.

Bicyclists may pass another vehicle on the right or left, and they may stay in the same lane, change lanes, or ride off the road if necessary for safe passing.

VA Bike Law

So the Audi is stuck. You have options.

[mstone]

@dplasters 119858 wrote:

So the Audi is stuck. You have options.

Ideally, you’d ride in circles around the Audi chanting “nyah nyah”

[Terpfan]

Preface: This isn’t a bike missed connection as I wasn’t riding today for a couple reasons (and got to enjoy the glorious Metro), it’s a pedestrian one.. Walking to lunch down Wisconsin Ave southbound at Idaho Ave/Ordway. The light changes and my crosswalk sign comes on to proceed across Idaho Ave so I take one step inward when from behind me, a large, black, suv comes turning right barely missing my toes. Who’s driving? A MPD officer. And who observes it coming up the street? Another MDP officer in a cruiser. (Their station is down a block from here). Fast forward to walking back from lunch and I see the same cop from the cruiser pulling over a woman for not stopping for a pedestrian in the crosswalk. I was so close to saying something, but bit my lip.

[Drewdane]

You: the pair of cyclists buzzing by me without warning this morning, one of you shaking your head at me like I’m the jerk for reminding you to call your passes. My opinion of you can’t be expressed in a family-friendly forum.

[Crickey7]

With my youth, as I passed one of those all-nights raves wrapping up at Malmaison (I think) near the end of the CCT at about 8:30 a.m on Wednesday. They had a rack of electric bikes out front, I know not why.

[Author]

Posts