Missed connection

[bentbike33]

YOU: Young woman riding a CaBi with similarly mounted friends going south on the MVT at the curvy bit south of Memorial Bridge. Your shoulder length auburn hair having been blown around by the wind to completely cover your face, you were blindly riding squarely in the northbound lane and otherwise being entirely unpredictable.

ME: With barely enough time to react, bailing off the MVT very widely onto the grass, thankful I had that option at that point in the trail.

Maybe CaBi should leave a few rubber bands hanging on the seatposts of their bikes for their similarly unprepared customers.

[Emm]

@bentbike33 148461 wrote:

Maybe CaBi should leave a few rubber bands hanging on the seatposts of their bikes for their similarly unprepared customers.

My bike has rubber bands stored on the handlebars for when I have an “unprepared” day, although generally my helmet keeps my hair in check

[Tania]

I always get nervous around CaBi riders. Too many incidents of stupid.

[bentbike33]

@Tania 148464 wrote:

I always get nervous around CaBi riders. Too many incidents of stupid.

I have some suspicion that this may have been an incidence of stoned based on the reactions of her companions.

[viennabiker]

@huskerdont 148270 wrote:

Are people no longer taught while learning to drive not to look directly at an oncoming car’s high-beams but to look slightly off to the side? I mean, I turn my light away from people when I can, but it’s just not a big deal when someone doesn’t. Just don’t look right at it. You can look down at the trail where you’re going and still use your peripheral vision for everything else.

Yes, one can look off to the side. And that’s what I do. But using high beams when there is oncoming traffic is unlawful in many states. The Virginia code reads “Whenever the driver of any motor vehicle approaches from the rear or follows within 200 feet of another vehicle proceeding in the same direction, the driver shall use the low beam of his vehicle’s headlights or shall dim the headlights if the vehicle has single-beam lights.”

What works for motor vehicles seems to make sense for bikes. Yes, I can avert my eyes if I have to, just as I won’t press the point if someone runs a stop sign in front of me; I’ll just brake. But accomodating unlawful or unsafe behavior doesn’t excuse it. When I’m driving I want other drivers to avoid shining their high beams at me. And I have the same preference for bicyclists–I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect my fellow cyclists to avoid shining bright lights in my eyes and asking me to look away.

I’ve noticed much use of flashing headlights on the bike trails this year. I do find them distracting at best and unsafe in some circumstances. I don’t contort my face or explode in anger, but it’s hard to get out much more than a “Please turn down your light” at a cyclist going the other direction. I’m not the person in question in these postings (since I was out of town on the days the postings referred to), but I have asked (with the 4 or 5 words I can get out to a cyclist going the other direction) for others to turn down their lights. I think the request is a reasonable one and I don’t understand the hostility and sarcasm it generates here.

I make this request only if I’m on a trail and the light is bright and pointed at eye level or flashing very brightly. I certainly won’t make it if a light is not that bright or pointed down. A couple times when I’ve forgotten to point my light down I’ve had a similar request made of me. I comply–and apologize if there’s time before the other cyclist passes.

If it’s dark, a bright light in one’s face can be blinding. And if it’s not dark, it can be very distracting and force me to take my eyes of the trail in front of me; if there is a string of cyclists make it a bit harder to navigate.

So lights are necessary at night and they’re fine during the day. But please don’t point them in the eyes of oncoming cyclists especially if they’re very bright. I don’t understand the need for flashing headlights at all on the trails–they can help on the roads to make us more visible to drivers not used to noticing bikes but on the trails we’re used to seeing each other.

[notinthe18]

Guy salmoning* on Constitution NW west of 21st last night… who continued salmoning onto Henry Bacon .. and then continued salmoning onto the Lincoln Memorial circle… oh man.

*By salmoning here I mean hugging the shoulder of the *wrong* side of the road

And I also saw a guy take the lane on Washington Blvd north of the Pentagon heading towards Memorial Bridge, which I’ve never seen before (and frankly never even contemplated).

[tnelson]

@notinthe18 148544 wrote:

And I also saw a guy take the lane on Washington Blvd north of the Pentagon heading towards Memorial Bridge, which I’ve never seen before (and frankly never even contemplated).

I would see that once every couple of months back when Washington Boulevard was my commute. Never understood it, either, especially during rush hour.

[Drewdane]

@huskerdont 148311 wrote:

There are folks that have a problem with blinking lights on the trail. I’ve had a similar guy (same guy?) admonish me for forgetting to convert my light from blinky to solid once I moved off of the streets and onto the trail. Some people just need everyone to do things exactly like they do.

Blinking lights don’t bother me, but apparently they really dazzle some people and cause real problems with vision. So I switch to steady out of basic consideration, not because I “just need everyone to do things exactly like do.” :rolleyes:

[Drewdane]

@Crickey7 148344 wrote:

I do at times try to tell people to turn their light down or off on the trail in the daylight, via a so-far universally unsuccessful pantomiming of petting a giant invisible poodle.

I raise my hand in front of my face and yell “AUGH! BRIGHT LIGHT!”

[scoot]

@tnelson 148546 wrote:

@notinthe18 148544 wrote:

And I also saw a guy take the lane on Washington Blvd north of the Pentagon heading towards Memorial Bridge, which I’ve never seen before (and frankly never even contemplated).

I would see that once every couple of months back when Washington Boulevard was my commute. Never understood it, either, especially during rush hour.

Having ridden that “trail” a few times, it’s very understandable IMO, even though I would likely never do it. Thankfully there are other routes into DC.

[bobco85]

I’m not sure if it’s a sign there’s something wrong with me, but upon seeing this video all I could think of was “Why are you walking in the PA Ave cycletrack? Get out of there!” (Note: I understand why they’re in the cycletrack as it provides a really nice view of PA Ave and the Capitol)

No need to watch the first part, skip to 1:30 to see what I’m talking about. No anger here, but I did have a “there’s something wrong here” vibe that was confirmed when I could see cyclists having to go around him in some of the footage.

[notinthe18]

@scoot 148569 wrote:

Having ridden that “trail” a few times, it’s very understandable IMO, even though I would likely never do it. Thankfully there are other routes into DC.

Agreed. The “trail” is in real need of work, especially the bridge closest to the Pentagon. (But while I’m on the subject, I should give a ton of credit to the Pentagon Protection Force officers who man the access gate near the 9/11 memorial — they are far, far more friendly than their compatriots at the Eads exit.)

[Judd]

@notinthe18 148580 wrote:

Agreed. The “trail” is in real need of work, especially the bridge closest to the Pentagon. (But while I’m on the subject, I should give a ton of credit to the Pentagon Protection Force officers who man the access gate near the 9/11 memorial — they are far, far more friendly than their compatriots at the Eads exit.)

The sidewalk, I mean “trail” will get a bit of improvement with the bridge work that is currently in process. At least the bridge portion is going to be widened to 10 feet if I recall correctly. It’s unclear if the sidewalk all the way to paved asphalt at the Pentagon will be widened as well.

All of the guards at the little booth on the 9/11 Memorial side have always been friendly in the morning, although I now go all the way around the Pentagon to the River Entrance to get LBJ Memorial Grove now, partly because it adds another half mile to my trip, but also partly because that narrow sidewalk is no fun when there’s anyone oncoming or a group of tourists unaccustomed to trail traffic.

[huskerdont]

@Drewdane 148557 wrote:

Blinking lights don’t bother me, but apparently they really dazzle some people and cause real problems with vision. So I switch to steady out of basic consideration, not because I “just need everyone to do things exactly like do.” :rolleyes:

As do I, but I have little sympathy for people who think they’re the trail police and want to angrily admonish people on the trail who choose to do things differently. As long as you’re not riding in an unsafe manner, I don’t give a rats what you do. And if some clown shouts at me angrily while I’m going about my business, he’s likely to get an earful back, so hopefully he knows how to tolerate the language I’m likely to use.

[huskerdont]

@viennabiker 148541 wrote:

Yes, one can look off to the side. And that’s what I do. But using high beams when there is oncoming traffic is unlawful in many states. The Virginia code reads “Whenever the driver of any motor vehicle approaches from the rear or follows within 200 feet of another vehicle proceeding in the same direction, the driver shall use the low beam of his vehicle’s headlights or shall dim the headlights if the vehicle has single-beam lights.”

What works for motor vehicles seems to make sense for bikes. Yes, I can avert my eyes if I have to, just as I won’t press the point if someone runs a stop sign in front of me; I’ll just brake. But accomodating unlawful or unsafe behavior doesn’t excuse it. When I’m driving I want other drivers to avoid shining their high beams at me. And I have the same preference for bicyclists–I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect my fellow cyclists to avoid shining bright lights in my eyes and asking me to look away.

I’ve noticed much use of flashing headlights on the bike trails this year. I do find them distracting at best and unsafe in some circumstances. I don’t contort my face or explode in anger, but it’s hard to get out much more than a “Please turn down your light” at a cyclist going the other direction. I’m not the person in question in these postings (since I was out of town on the days the postings referred to), but I have asked (with the 4 or 5 words I can get out to a cyclist going the other direction) for others to turn down their lights. I think the request is a reasonable one and I don’t understand the hostility and sarcasm it generates here.

I make this request only if I’m on a trail and the light is bright and pointed at eye level or flashing very brightly. I certainly won’t make it if a light is not that bright or pointed down. A couple times when I’ve forgotten to point my light down I’ve had a similar request made of me. I comply–and apologize if there’s time before the other cyclist passes.

If it’s dark, a bright light in one’s face can be blinding. And if it’s not dark, it can be very distracting and force me to take my eyes of the trail in front of me; if there is a string of cyclists make it a bit harder to navigate.

So lights are necessary at night and they’re fine during the day. But please don’t point them in the eyes of oncoming cyclists especially if they’re very bright. I don’t understand the need for flashing headlights at all on the trails–they can help on the roads to make us more visible to drivers not used to noticing bikes but on the trails we’re used to seeing each other.

That all sounds reasonable enough. People will fail to dim their lights in cars on the road though, so I just accept it. I avert my helmet light on the trail, but some people aren’t going to. After these discussions over the last few days, I’ve almost always remembered to change my blinking front light to solid and then change it back once I reach Rosslyn, even though I don’t think it’s one that strobes or would be blinding, but I’d just be setting myself up to be mad at the world if I expected everyone else to act similarly.

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