Missed connection

[rcannon100]

@Judd 140634 wrote:

I will vote for anyone who can promise a new requiring all trail trimming to accommodate someone who is 6’3″ on a 58 cm bike.

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Typical politician. Always compromising and thereby disenfranchising key constituencies.

[Mariner]

@Harry Meatmotor 140629 wrote:

you: a bird

me: NB MVT @ 21.4 mph

THUD – I hope you’re okay, cause you smacked right into my chest, and bounced off my leg. feathers went up my nose.

OMG! I’ve come very close to bisecting squirrels, and birds have flown close by, but never up my nose.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Mariner 140639 wrote:

OMG! I’ve come very close to bisecting squirrels, and birds have flown close by, but never up my nose.

so far, during 15,000+ miles of commuting by bike, only two interspecies collisions. One squirrel (who appeared ok after getting whomped by both F&R tires) and now this birdie. Looked for an avian carcass on the way home, and didn’t see anything so I’m hopeful he/she only received some rustled feathers, both literally and figuratively.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Mariner 140639 wrote:

OMG! I’ve come very close to bisecting squirrels, and birds have flown close by, but never up my nose.

https://g.co/kgs/CSxsCz

[Vicegrip]

Traveling west on Shreve between Rt7 and the W&OD at 6:07 am. Riding to the right with no traffic. As I crest the slight rise and approach the the W&OD intersection I check behind me noting it was clear of cars and move to the left taking the lane. I take the lane so I can make the turn on the W&OD to go West without slowing down too much. I hear a car coming up faster than standard and lift off as he nears. Then the black mid size sports sedan moves left to pass me just as we are rounding the curve and descending down to the intersection with the W&OD. The car starts to pass. Then he simultaneously turns on hidden flashing blue lights and sharply chops back into me while my front wheel is even with his rear wheel. I grab brakes and dive for the curb getting within a foot or so of the side of the moving car. At this point I am at the intersection and I dive onto the W&OD. “WTF”!? was my first though then it dawned on me what happened. The cop felt the need to pass me on a curved section of road and chopped me rather than hit the flexible bollard in the middle of the intersection. He then turned off the lights and continued on.

Must have gotten between him and his hourly coffee and donuts break.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11885[/ATTACH]

[Sunyata]

Vicegrip – Any chance you got the license number? That was a 100% dick move and an abuse of authority (the lights). 😡

[Vicegrip]

Nope. Too busy staying upright and out from under his car. (I prefer remaining 3 dimensional) I turned off on the WOD and he turned left off Shreve at the next intersection. By the time I got squared away he was off my sight line.

All black, looked to be a newer US builder sport sedan with bright wigwag blue in the tail lights and rear window.

[AFHokie]

@Vicegrip 140770 wrote:

Nope. Too busy staying upright and out from under his car. (I prefer remaining 3 dimensional) I turned off on the WOD and he turned left off Shreve at the next intersection. By the time I got squared away he was off my sight line.

All black, looked to be a newer US builder sport sedan with bright wigwag blue in the tail lights and rear window.

I’d still report it, with a known time & location it’s within reason they should have an idea as to who was in that area.

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[bentbike33]

@Vicegrip 140766 wrote:

Must have gotten between him and his hourly coffee and donuts break.

Reminds me of the time I was on E. Basin Drive signalling my left turn onto the ramp to the 14th Street bridge and the motorcycle cop passed me ON THE LEFT. 😡

[OneEighth]

Misuse of the g-ride (making an assumption your buddy was a fed) = time on the beach. That would be without pay.
Pretty darn sure that every federal agency with 1811s has orders in place regarding use of the emergency lights.
I’d encourage anyone who witnesses any sort of misuse of an official vehicle to report it. And those “official police business” dash placards? They are not an excuse to park illegally for routine matters just because it is inconvenient to park legally and voucher the cost. They are, however, an excellent way to identify which internal affairs or IG office to contact.
Think of it like the broken window theory. These sorts of lower-level abuses create a culture that eventually leads to much more newsworthy behaviors.

[Rockford10]

@Vicegrip 140770 wrote:

All black, looked to be a newer US builder sport sedan with bright wigwag blue in the tail lights and rear window.

There are some FCC police that frequent Mike’s Deli on Monday morning and at least one drives an all black Charger. I bet it was the same car.

[kcb203]

@Vicegrip 140766 wrote:

Must have gotten between him and his hourly coffee and donuts break.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11885[/ATTACH]

Today is National Donut Day after all.

[Zack]

@bentbike33 140777 wrote:

Reminds me of the time I was on E. Basin Drive signalling my left turn onto the ramp to the 14th Street bridge and the motorcycle cop passed me ON THE LEFT. 😡

At least he wasn’t driving his motorcycle on the bike trail! I saw one doing that a few months ago on the trail next to E. Basin Dr. Yelled at him that there was a perfectly nice street right over there but didn’t stop to obtain his information. Unfortunately, law enforcement culture doesn’t encourage following the laws themselves.

[scorchedearth]

To the guy riding on the 4MR trail underneath Mt Vernon Ave where it is a winding path with bad sightlines. Perhaps if you weren’t sitting on your clip-on tri-bars while navigating tight turns, you may have been able to better hold your line. The trail isn’t a time trial course. Don’t treat it like one.

[ginacico]

Yesterday, at about the height of the squalls, Peter and I had decided we had enough of work and headed outbound on the W&OD. Not as crowded as rush hour, but still not without interaction aggravation.

I can’t even adequately describe the near miss by a guy in front of us, who swerved and shouted to avoid a woman and her dog who’d suddenly gone in separate directions. Fortunately she reacted in time by dropping the leash, otherwise he would’ve been clotheslined or worse. He stopped, they chatted and apologized.

Then there was eminva, in the oncoming lane somewhere past Vienna, shouting in full sentences to warn us about a guy teaching his kid how to ride a bike on a very crowded trail (by then it was rush hour). We watched the kid, who was wobbly but upright, and his smiling dad go by with no incident. Thanks for the amusing heads up!!

The prize though, goes a pedestrian just as we approached the climb up to Virginia Lane. She was fine at first, unremarkable and easily avoidable, I called the pass (going hoarse by that time) while trying to gain momentum for the hill. Then as I was in the oncoming lane to go by her, she inexplicably wandered to the left, and despite my utterances and gyrations to alert her, just kept closing the gap between us. By that time I had both brakes locked up, fishtailed and skidded within inches to her left. And I swear, she barely looked up. She was nearly catatonic, there was ZERO situational awareness whatsoever. Somehow I did not hit her, I did not go down (yay bike control), and by further miracle Peter was sufficiently behind me not to be affected. He witnessed the whole thing though, and confirmed that when he passed her and glared, she barely acknowledged his presence. Downright creepy that someone could be that oblivious. I cursed, we moved on. If you find 25mm skid marks on the pavement at one of the entrances to Idylwood Park, they’re mine — that extra bit of pavement is what saved me.

Some days, I get home just thankful there were no injuries or calls to 911. I suspect they’re just normal days. The joy was worth it — trading pulls in squirrelly winds, poking around Vienna Hardwoods and the Clock Shop, finding the Great Harvest Bread store open (for a change) in Herndon, and drinking coffee at Green Lizard — a perfect weather hooky afternoon.

[Author]

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