Missed connection

[KLizotte]

I saw someone wearing a motorcycle helmet while biking last weekend on the W&OD. It was missing the clear front plastic piece so I’m guessing he intended to wear it as a bicycle helmet??

[TwoWheelsDC]

@KLizotte 142325 wrote:

I saw someone wearing a motorcycle helmet while biking last weekend on the W&OD. It was missing the clear front plastic piece so I’m guessing he intended to wear it as a bicycle helmet??

Maybe he was trying to tone his neck muscles?*

*in all seriousness, this could actually be dangerous because it could cause a neck injury…for motorcyclists, that potential is outweighed by the protection gained by the heavy helmet, but for a bicyclist that isn’t the case

[Judd]

@scoot 142293 wrote:

6:30pm yesterday

Me: riding CaBi southbound on S Joyce passing Pentagon Row, taking right lane
You: beige SUV, VA Gadsden flag plates, approaching from behind, with no one else around
You: honk
Me: continuing to pedal
You: honk
Me: deliberately signaling a move into bike lane, moving into bike lane after passing the last parked car
You: passing me, gesturing wildly while pointing toward the bike lane
Me: mimicking you with a mirror image of your antics (pointing toward the still empty left lane)

I wish I could have refrained from engaging you in this nonsense, but it can tough to resist sometimes.

I also wish the street design didn’t fuel this missed connection by implying that bikes don’t belong in the lane. If I ride in the middle of the bike lane, I’m in the door zone; also my ability to see and react to wayward pedestrians is compromised. If I ride at the left edge of the bike lane, I’m clear of the doors and have a bit better visibility, but I get buzzed too frequently by drivers who don’t adjust their line. Taking the lane prevents unintentional buzzing, and it provides the most space and best visibility, but it leads to interactions like the one above.

I have mostly stopped using the bike lanes in Crystal City and Pentagon City for these same reasons.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KLizotte]

Intersection of Army Navy Drive and South Joyce Street last night. I’m in the left turn lane and waiting 1/3 of the way through the intersection for oncoming cars to clear so I can finish my left turn on to S. Joyce Street. Cell phone talking driver behind me decides he can’t wait so passes me on the *right* hand side so he can make the left turn too at top speed. He passed me with only two feet to spare and waved “thanks” as he sped by. Not surprisingly, I easily caught up to him at the next traffic light. I really should have knocked on his window and told him that was an illegal and unsafe move but I was so tired that I just let this one go. Sigh.

[scoot]

@KLizotte 142335 wrote:

Not surprisingly, I easily caught up to him at the next traffic light.

Until I reached this sentence, I read your post thinking that you were going from eastbound AN onto Joyce northbound under the freeway. Either my initial assumption was backwards, or you ride much faster up that hill than I do

[KLizotte]

@scoot 142338 wrote:

Until I reached this sentence, I read your post thinking that you were going from eastbound AN onto Joyce northbound under the freeway. Either my initial assumption was backwards, or you ride much faster up that hill than I do

Nope. I came out of the pedestrian tunnel located under 395, took a right on to Army Navy Drive, then hooked a left on to South Joyce.

[sjclaeys]

@TwoWheelsDC 142323 wrote:

To the guy wearing bibs over a t-shirt last night….I’m perplexed by your choices, but hey, you do you man.

That’s better than the guy who just wears bibs with no shirt at all.

[AFHokie]

@sjclaeys 142345 wrote:

That’s better than the guy who just wears bibs with no shirt at all.

Is he in his 70’s or older? If so, I saw him twice tonight in CC.

[mstone]

@sjclaeys 142345 wrote:

That’s better than the guy who just wears bibs with no shirt at all.

Hey, better bibs with no shirt than shirt with no bibs, amiright?

[consularrider]

@mstone 142351 wrote:

Hey, better bibs with no shirt than shirt with no bibs, amiright?

That’s Boomer in Bristol. :rolleyes:

[sjclaeys]

@AFHokie 142347 wrote:

Is he in his 70’s or older? If so, I saw him twice tonight in CC.

He is certainly an older gentleman. I think also wearing headphones.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@sjclaeys 142345 wrote:

That’s better than the guy who just wears bibs with no shirt at all.

Actually saw this guy (or one similarly attired) this morning.

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

Sounds like the old guy I used to see last year riding through gravelly point in nothing but his boxer briefs. glad to hear he’s moving in the right direction clothing wise. perhaps next year we can expect a shirt of some kind.

[jrenaut]

Nice job, woman approaching National on the MVT from the Alexandria side. You should DEFINITELY be yelling at a jogger to move over as you pass on a blind corner into oncoming traffic. That was ABSOLUTELY the jogger’s fault for not jumping into the bushes so you could maintain your speed on a MUP on a beautiful Saturday morning of a holiday weekend.

[notinthe18]

It boggles my mind that people out for an exercise-type ride go anywhere near the MVT on a nice afternoon/evening on a holiday weekend. And then to have the audacity to bark at people out jogging or walking? I did hill repeats on city streets yesterday for precisely that reason.

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