Missed connection

[bentbike33]

@Tania 159212 wrote:

I truly didn’t see you until the last second with the angle of the sun and the shadows.

I sometimes wish more westbounders would keep their lights on longer in the morning.

[Steve O]

@Tania 159212 wrote:

I also had to pass the woman in front of him…just as another cyclist appeared from the shadows who was cresting the hill from the other direction. I kinda had to put the squeeze on him a bit and I apologized to him as we passed – there was no where for me to go other than close-ish to him or close-ish to the woman I was passing and he looked much more seasoned. Was it a super close pass? No, but I usually try to avoid any thread the needle type passes – I just don’t pass if there is immediate oncoming traffic (bike or pedestrian). Sorry, guy! I truly didn’t see you until the last second with the angle of the sun and the shadows. Thanks for being cool about it.

I have done this exact same thing and also felt way guilty about it. The combination of sun, shadows and topography at just the wrong time of day can do this. Since then I’ve tried to be cognizant about when and where I pass in that section. But I totally empathize with you, Tania.
Oh, and kudos for dusting Mr. Oblivious!

[Drewdane]

Me: walking along the WOD yesterday with my wife.

You: buzzing us at speed with absolutely no warning whatsoever, wearing a W&OD Trail Patrol vest.

Dude, are you f**king joking?!?

[AFHokie]

Me: stuck in traffic watching everyone ride by

You: my bike at home waiting for my knee to heal

Me: stupid knee

[Emm]

you: feral toddler running across the MVT at Belle Haven Park without looking for cross traffic, running back and forth across the trail, and generally having what appeared to be an incredibly fun, but super unsafe time during last nights PM commute.

me: the cyclist who saw your mom put you down outside the car and knows toddlers well enough to slow the hell down. I eventually stopped in a position to block part of the trail once you made your break for it since I decided I didn’t want to see you get hit by me, or anyone else coming down the trail.

cyclist behind me: ignored my verbal warning that a little kid was loose on the trail ahead, and then passed my stopped bike by riding on the dirt until you too saw the kid and had to you slam on your brakes way too close to the kid and her mom for comfort.

I mean seriously dude. I know people stopping on the trail is annoying and I generally hate when people do it, but I pointed out the people ahead and said “LITTLE KID!” loud to make it clear I was stopped on the trail for a reason. For you to then try to pass me on the dirt was ridiculous. The kid was going nuts running back and forth and down the trail, and was clearly visible had you looked a few feet ahead. At that moment the girl’s mom was frantically trying to grab her, but she was still a good 10-15 feet from the kid. Trying to get around them could have really hurt someone since that toddlers actions were unpredictable.

I judged that mom harsh at first, but then felt bad for her since she had a seriously tough time catching her little girl and seemed really embarrassed. That was one fast 2 year old. Hopefully the mom learned her lesson about setting her kid down by a busy trail though. Had I not been far enough back to easily stop, it could have led to a serious accident.

[creadinger]

Sunday, late morning outside the 7-11 at the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Hummer Rd.

I was applying sunscreen after having just purchased some fluids and food. You pull up on a tricked out touring bike with 5 full looking top of the line Ortlieb panniers and some sort of fancy saddle that rotates down making it easier to mount I guess. Whenever I see cross-country looking touring bikes I always feel like I should say something to start a conversation but I’m also a big time introvert so I usually don’t. In this case I was just left confused.

You pulled up, looked around, had a cigarette and left again. What? Hardly the behavior I would expect from a hard core touring cyclist.

[Judd]

You were the guy wearing your Georgetown cycling jersey making several close passes and passing when there were oncoming cyclists. Although whistling at someone is an unconventional way to call a pass, I was happy to see that you made some sort of indication you were already totally on my left as you were passing. Of course, I already knew you were there because I heard the squealing of your disc brakes as you decided at the last minute that trying to pass while I and LeprosyStudyGroup were performing a 180 degree turn on the 4MR detour was an awful idea.

All of that close passing was unnecessary of course, since once you no longer had a tailwind, you were a quite slow biker and we arrived at the 14th St Bridge at nearly the same time despite the numerous times that I slowed to make safe passes.

[lordofthemark]

@creadinger 159461 wrote:

Sunday, late morning outside the 7-11 at the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Hummer Rd.

I was applying sunscreen after having just purchased some fluids and food. You pull up on a tricked out touring bike with 5 full looking top of the line Ortlieb panniers and some sort of fancy saddle that rotates down making it easier to mount I guess. Whenever I see cross-country looking touring bikes I always feel like I should say something to start a conversation but I’m also a big time introvert so I usually don’t. In this case I was just left confused.

You pulled up, looked around, had a cigarette and left again. What? Hardly the behavior I would expect from a hard core touring cyclist.

to paraphrase “forget it Jake, its Annandale”

[dkel]

1) Thanks for signaling, driver. That way I was able to avoid piling into your rear quarter panel when you right hooked me.

2) As you and your friend decide to stop and talk to someone on the other side of the trail, when one of you cuts left and the other stops in the lane, I have nowhere to go! You’re lucky I was able to slow way down, and I’m lucky that you saw me in time to get out of the way. Best to just move off the trail to your right.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@lordofthemark 159467 wrote:

to paraphrase “forget it Jake, its Annandale”

18-year (ex-) smoker here. It’s only a habit to make other cyclists feel bad.

“man, that hill was tough!”

“really? i could go for a smoke.”

[anomad]

@Harry Meatmotor 159803 wrote:

18-year (ex-) smoker here. It’s only a habit to make other cyclists feel bad.

“man, that hill was tough!”

“really? i could go for a smoke.”

I’ve had my ass handed to me by a smoker more than once. Maybe Nicotine doping will be the next thing??

[DrP]

Two very similar ones this morning. If any runners on the forum, I would love to understand better why these guys were jogging on the left.

First, in LBJ Grove heading from parking lot to bridge to Boundary Channel Dr.:
You: Jogger running in same direction as I am going, but on the left side of the trail – even when a jogger came towards you, you moved just out of the way and back to the left side.
Me: ding-ding and planning to continue on the right.
You: suddenly veering right stating “I’m turning here”
Me: quickly grabbing my brakes (I wasn’t going fast to begin with)
You: getting huffy and making a comment about my being there and my needing to stop and not be in his way
Me: “Hey, I stopped for your completely unexpected move, but I needed time.”

Second, minutes later (1 or 2?) on the boundary channel drive sidewalk heading clockwise around Pentagon:
You: jogger running the same direction as I am going, but on the left side. You appear to notice me and move off the sidewalk on the left then slow way down across from the curb cut where a cross walk is.
Me: Slowing down to about nothing asking, in what I believe to be a friendly way, “are you crossing here?”
You: Crossing but making some noise and gesture like “what do you think you are doing?”

The first guy seemed clueless and hostile. The second was trying to be nice and I would have thought little of it had I not just missed the first guy. Perhaps he was miffed because his attempt to be nice was thwarted by my attempt to be nice (I have likely made similar noises when cars stop for no apparent reason (blocking other traffic) to allow me to cross where I shouldn’t).

[Emm]

@DrP 159809 wrote:

Two very similar ones this morning. If any runners on the forum, I would love to understand better why these guys were jogging on the left.

I asked a jogger once on the W&OD since during the 70 miles I did that day, she was the only person jogging on the wrong side. She got huffy saying bikes kept bugging her but she had a right to jog wherever she wanted. She told me it was safer since bikes see you easier. I pointed out on blind curves they wont see you, and it could in fact be more dangerous since she wasn’t being predictable.

Other times I think people genuinely don’t know, or aren’t paying attention.

[Anonymous]

@DrP 159809 wrote:

Two very similar ones this morning. If any runners on the forum, I would love to understand better why these guys were jogging on the left.

I don’t actually know for sure that this is true, but I’ve always assumed it’s because we’re generally taught that if we have to be pedestrians in the road, we should walk (or jog) on the left, facing traffic http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/program-tools/when-walking-road-do-you-walk-against-or-traffic and people just translate that habit to the trails either without giving it much thought or thinking of bikes as fast and scary things like cars that should be treated similarly.

[anomad]

I’ve seen kind of a 3 lane system in other countries with one center lane and two outside lanes. Or two lanes, one for peds one for bikes. They were painted with little footprints or bicycles to give people guidance on where to be.

Separating peds and bikes from 14th street bridge to 4 mile run would be much to my satisfaction on busy afternoons.

[Author]

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