Missed connection

[jrenaut]

@Tim Kelley 40836 wrote:

Sounds like a DC based Happy Hour type of place!

As it’s almost exactly the mid point between WABA headquarters and my house, I think that would make a lovely happy hour location.

[eminva]

@KelOnWheels 40835 wrote:

That very place! Doener Bistro in Adams Morgan. SO TASTY.

Third Wednesdays they have DAS GERMAN PARTY from 6-9 with a DJ – it was pretty packed last night!

It just amazes me that cuisine brought to Germany by Turkish immigrants was embraced by Germans, Germani-fied and then exported to the US. How will we modify it, and where will it go next?

Liz

[Dirt]

@KelOnWheels 40835 wrote:

That very place! Doener Bistro in Adams Morgan. SO TASTY.

Strongly recommend that over the Donner Party Bistro.

Sorry. I had to say that.

[pfunkallstar]

You: Lady driving ZipCar sedan on 11th and F.
Me: Dude in hyper Orange vest with shit-ton of lights.

Proposal: Lady, you seemed pretty nice, what with your blackberry in one hand and iPhone in the other. I like people who are connected to digital nature – oh yeah. But lady, please, you need to turn those lights on at 7pm in the winter, it gets pretty dark and lonely out there without your ZipCar lights. Also, lady, I know you hate the “dink, dink” sound of the turn signal, but I think they are just all right. Now let’s go draw a happy little tree together.

[PeteD]

@eminva 40838 wrote:

It just amazes me that cuisine brought to Germany by Turkish immigrants was embraced by Germans, Germani-fied and then exported to the US. How will we modify it, and where will it go next?

Texas?

[KelOnWheels]

@Tim Kelley 40836 wrote:

Sounds like a DC based Happy Hour type of place!

They’ve got outdoor seating (which plenty of people were using last night), so it would be a great spot for HH-ing.

Plus if you time it right you can get in a nice visit to CityBikes and WABA at the same time

[DaveK]

@KelOnWheels 40869 wrote:

They’ve got outdoor seating (which plenty of people were using last night), so it would be a great spot for HH-ing.

Plus if you time it right you can get in a nice visit to CityBikes and WABA at the same time

If we could ever get enough spaces in there to fit people, we should do a HH at Standard.

[eminva]

@PeteD 40868 wrote:

Texas?

Yep. Went to Wurstfest 1980 and brought a real German with me. She was appalled.

Liz

[UrbanEngineer]

You: Lady riding down Pennsylvania Ave trying to turn left onto L-Street. You got honked at for not signaling your turn when you were in the straight/left turn lane and the vehicle behind you was going straight. I really wish you had thought about that before yelling at the driver. This will happen to anybody who does this, whether in a car or on a bike.

Me: In a taxi telling the driver to watch out for you because you were not in the proper lane and will probably be swerving in front of us to get to the bike lane shortly. I really wish you had checked over your shoulder or signaled before making those ill-advised lane changes. I’m not in every car around here.

On another note, let’s get some sharrows in the far left turn lane on Pennsylvania so riders like this will have better direction on how to execute this turn safely.

[Bilsko]

@UrbanEngineer 41311 wrote:

You: Lady riding down Pennsylvania Ave trying to turn left onto L-Street. You got honked at for not signaling your turn when you were in the straight/left turn lane and the vehicle behind you was going straight. I really wish you had thought about that before yelling at the driver. This will happen to anybody who does this, whether in a car or on a bike.

Me: In a taxi telling the driver to watch out for you because you were not in the proper lane and will probably be swerving in front of us to get to the bike lane shortly. I really wish you had checked over your shoulder or signaled before making those ill-advised lane changes. I’m not in every car around here.

On another note, let’s get some sharrows in the far left turn lane on Pennsylvania so riders like this will have better direction on how to execute this turn safely.

You’re talking about this intersection? http://goo.gl/maps/iwdnc

Agreed that its not fun to be on a bike there (especially since you’ve just slogged uphill from the bridge over RCP). However, if the lane is clearly marked as both straight and turning (which, if we’re talking about the same one, it is) then the driver had no right to honk at a bike (or car) waiting to make a left turn there. Left turns from that lane are controlled by a left turn arrow which has a delayed start compared to the straight-on-Penn arrow – if you want to go straight and are in a lane that is open to people who are waiting to turn, then that’s your tough luck (not specifically yours, UrbanEng. – anyone using the road). I can’t speak to the cyclists erratic behavior, but the way you describe it, I’m struggling to see how she was wrong to yell at the motorist.

The lane furthest to the left is for turns onto L St. and northbound onto 25th and the next lane over (straight+left) is for getting onto L. St only.
As a cyclist, you’re best off in the furthest left lane because that dumps you into the cycletrack on the far left side of L St., but its not always possible to get all the way into the left lane on Penn – I know, occasionally, I’ll get stuck in that mixed lane and have to work my way across the two lanes of vehicle traffic on L to get into the cycletrack.

[UrbanEngineer]

@Bilsko 41316 wrote:

You’re talking about this intersection? http://goo.gl/maps/iwdnc

Agreed that its not fun to be on a bike there (especially since you’ve just slogged uphill from the bridge over RCP). However, if the lane is clearly marked as both straight and turning (which, if we’re talking about the same one, it is) then the driver had no right to honk at a bike (or car) waiting to make a left turn there. Left turns from that lane are controlled by a left turn arrow which has a delayed start compared to the straight-on-Penn arrow – if you want to go straight and are in a lane that is open to people who are waiting to turn, then that’s your tough luck (not specifically yours, UrbanEng. – anyone using the road). I can’t speak to the cyclists erratic behavior, but the way you describe it, I’m struggling to see how she was wrong to yell at the motorist.

The lane furthest to the left is for turns onto L St. and northbound onto 25th and the next lane over (straight+left) is for getting onto L. St only.
As a cyclist, you’re best off in the furthest left lane because that dumps you into the cycletrack on the far left side of L St., but its not always possible to get all the way into the left lane on Penn – I know, occasionally, I’ll get stuck in that mixed lane and have to work my way across the two lanes of vehicle traffic on L to get into the cycletrack.

Anybody, whether in a car or bike, who is turning from a left/straight lane, and does not signal so, is in the wrong. The vehicle behind them was given no indication of them turning. Is this worthy of a honk? Maybe, maybe not. Do I think she should have yelled at the driver for honking? Definitely not. I think an apology for not signaling would’ve been more appropriate.

I bet when you work your way across two lanes of vehicle traffic, you wouldn’t recommend doing so blindly without signaling.

[Bilsko]

@UrbanEngineer 41319 wrote:

I bet when you work your way across two lanes of vehicle traffic, you wouldn’t recommend doing so blindly without signaling.

You’re right – I do signal when moving across two lanes of traffic. And I’d recommend that everyone, whether cycling or driving, do the same.

Can I have “Taking the High Road” for $400, please, Alex.

[jopamora]

@UrbanEngineer 41311 wrote:

You: Lady riding down Pennsylvania Ave trying to turn left onto L-Street. You got honked at for not signaling your turn when you were in the straight/left turn lane and the vehicle behind you was going straight. I really wish you had thought about that before yelling at the driver. This will happen to anybody who does this, whether in a car or on a bike.

Me: In a taxi telling the driver to watch out for you because you were not in the proper lane and will probably be swerving in front of us to get to the bike lane shortly. I really wish you had checked over your shoulder or signaled before making those ill-advised lane changes. I’m not in every car around here.

On another note, let’s get some sharrows in the far left turn lane on Pennsylvania so riders like this will have better direction on how to execute this turn safely.

Was the rider waiting awhile at the intersection? Maybe her arm isn’t strong enough to be held up in the air for more than 30 seconds.

[DismalScientist]

I find that the middle lane is more safe than the far left for this move. In the far left lane, you are at risk of a left hook from those drivers going to 25th. If in the mixed lane, you can turn onto L and merge left into the bike lane when safe. As far as signalling, it is difficult to signal while trying to maintain speed up the hill. I generally choose to keep my speed up rather than signal, not that I would move left without plenty of room. If a cyclist is in the middle lane, if I were driving, I would assume that they are turning left. There is no other reason a cyclist would be in that lane.

[ShawnoftheDread]

Me: riding to work happily in the cold.
You: in a house somewhere along my route, with what looked like a very active dryer vent but which smelled very strongly of MJ. I don’t know what you were doing, but carry on sir.

[Author]

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