Missed connection

[americancyclo]

@Vicegrip 48784 wrote:

I think some of the mega watt LED headlamps are almost there. I ride west in the am and get a tan on the way in to work

I got hollered at this morning for running my 250 on low after dawn.

[Vicegrip]

@americancyclo 48807 wrote:

I got hollered at this morning for running my 250 on low after dawn.

Not by me. I am in the live and let camp unless it cramps up my day. I like to turn my light straight down once I can see the ninjas. Makes a pool of light for others to see and I can turn it back up to light up the trail bunny’s that like to race with me lately. Think I will rig up lights under the bottom bracket so the bike looks like it is floating like the tuner cars used to.

[Dickie]

You: High school kid riding/weaving up N. Van Buren St. with massive DJ cans on your ears and your helmet in your hand.
Me: Passing on your left
Me: passing on your right
Me: passing on your left
Me: passing on your right
Me: Humming the Battle of Britain theme song out loud!

[consularrider]

@Dickie 48831 wrote:

You: High school kid riding/weaving up N. Van Buren St. with massive DJ cans on your ears and your helmet in your hand.
Me: Passing on your left
Me: passing on your right
Me: passing on your left
Me: passing on your right
Me: Humming the Battle of Britain theme song out loud!

Humming won’t do it. Hook up the speakers and blast out “Ride of the Valkyries” and don’t forget the bike to bike missles!

[Subby]

Me: Grudgingly getting on the sidewalk at E. Basin Dr.

You: Walking two abreast with your friend on said sidewalk.

Me: [SUPER CHEERFULLY] On your left!

You: Not budging.

Me: Hey guys, coming up on your left! *ring* *ring*

You: S l o w l y move to the right with your friend, give me death glare..”You know that bikes are not allowed on the sidewalks right?”

Me: (NOT SUPER CHEERFULLY) Actually, they are right here…that road is one way, so bikes are supposed to be on the sidewalk.

You: No.

Me: We can go ask the police officer right there…

You: Look of pure disgust.

Me: Reach for flaming trident, or witty/crushing barb, or something. Find none. Bike on.

Bike on!

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Subby 48835 wrote:

Me: Grudgingly getting on the sidewalk at E. Basin Dr.

You: Walking two abreast with your friend on said sidewalk.

Me: [SUPER CHEERFULLY] On your left!

You: Not budging.

Me: Hey guys, coming up on your left! *ring* *ring*

You: S l o w l y move to the right with your friend, give me death glare..”You know that bikes are not allowed on the sidewalks right?”

Me: (NOT SUPER CHEERFULLY) Actually, they are right here…that road is one way, so bikes are supposed to be on the sidewalk.

You: No.

Me: We can go ask the police officer right there…

You: Look of pure disgust.

Me: Reach for flaming trident, or witty/crushing barb, or something. Find none. Bike on.

Bike on!

Since car traffic on Ohio was decently busy last night, I also opted for the path….for about a hundred yards, then I decided to take my chances with oncoming traffic.

[jrenaut]

1) That’s not a sidewalk, that’s a MUP.
2) Even if it were a sidewalk, biking on the sidewalk is legal in DC except for the random polygon around the CBD.
3) Tourists!

[creadinger]

@TwoWheelsDC 48838 wrote:

Since car traffic on Ohio was decently busy last night, I also opted for the path….for about a hundred yards, then I decided to take my chances with oncoming traffic.

Going with the traffic is bad too. From about the fish market to the 14th street bridge…. I hate this time of year. The car backups make everyone angry so they’re more likely to do crazy things (like pull U-turns on Water St), and then the double lane backups along E. Basin Dr, there’s not much room for bikes. The sidewalks are just as bad but in a different way of course. Lately I’ve been choosing the mix it up with the cars over the peds but I’m definitely not comfortable with it. There’s just no good place to be and the usual filtering through heavy traffic thing seems much more dangerous than usual.

[jnva]

@creadinger 48872 wrote:

There’s just no good place to be and the usual filtering through heavy traffic thing seems much more dangerous than usual.

Totally agree. As I was crossing key bridge this morning and saw traffic backed up on whitehurst, I thought about splitting through, but people are probably pissed off stuck in that traffic. At least I was when I used to drive.

[Steve]

@creadinger 48872 wrote:

Going with the traffic is bad too. From about the fish market to the 14th street bridge…. I hate this time of year.

This. I couldn’t take the peds on the sidewalk there anymore, so I’ve started crossing at 9th and taking the Case Bridge over the water to Hains, thru the NPS(?) parking lot, and coming up to 14th St. from the other side. It’s not ideal, but it is helping me keep my sanity.

[baiskeli]

@Subby 48835 wrote:

You: S l o w l y move to the right with your friend, give me death glare..”You know that bikes are not allowed on the sidewalks right?”

Me: (NOT SUPER CHEERFULLY) Actually, they are right here…that road is one way, so bikes are supposed to be on the sidewalk.

You were both wrong, except that makes you right.

Bikes are only banned from sidewalks in the “central business district” (Map) and you weren’t in it. So you had a right to the sidewalk regardless of the one-way situation. But it sounds like you already knew that and just didn’t explain it to the guy as, shall we say, emphatically as I might have.

[Terpfan]

Dear Metro Bus operator of Bus 2553,

Where are you in such a rush to? You were out of service and for whatever odd reason, decided to roll through the light at 15th and Constitution. You ran the red about 5 seconds into it because a pedestrian coming from White House side and myself (heading north) had already gone into the intersection. Lucky for us your road runner ways didn’t get us killed. To cap it off, you threw your hand up in the air as if we were crazy. It’s too bad WMATA doesn’t penalize you guys for receiving red light tickets. Needless to say, I will make sure to let them know that if they need a daredevil route run in a Speed-like scenario, you’re their man. Until that scenario, do the rest of us a favor, and just try to follow the lights. Thanks

[ebubar]

Angry Introverted Me: “Stupid BMW’s always trying to run me over on Glebe Road. Two empty lanes of traffic and they seriously have to cut me off?”

Overly Polite Me: “Oh what a beautiful day. I hope Mr BMW makes it to work on time so he can make enough money to keep up the payments on his car!”

Seinfeld Me: “Hey Mr. BMW. The jerk store called. They’re running out of YOU!”

Sarcastic Me: “My sincere apologies Lord BMW. I now realize that I can’t accelerate my bike from 0-60 in 4 seconds like your amazing automobile. I should
get off the roads and let you have both lanes of traffic all to yourself so you can cruise right down the middle of the road going 60 in a 30. You deserve it.

Vindictive Me: “Next time you cut me off, i’m not going to swerve and brake, you’re going to hit me, wreck my bike just enough that I need a new one (i’ll make sure of that),
get a nice gouge in your paint job and give me whiplash. Your grand prize will be buying me a nice new dream bike. I’m sure I can find one comparably priced to your BMW.”

I’m partial to a combination of Sarcastic and Vindictive.

[mikoglaces]

@PeteD 48616 wrote:

You: Guy in White Nissan Maxima, whose license plate I have memorized and written down.
Me: Having just topped the hill in my neighborhood, just 1000 feet from my front door

Just wanted to remind you that I did call 911, and report your harassment, making sure to mention to the operator that you said you were in the employ of the police department. You coarse language and volume did nothing to convince me you actually knew the rules of the road, and your admonition for me to Stay On The Sidewalk(tm) was not unexpected. Thanks for being my first, I’ll always remember you.

I am curious. What did the cops do if anything when you reported it? Forgive me if you’ve posted on this. I haven’t seen it.

[rcannon100]

@PeteD 48616 wrote:

You: Guy in White Nissan Maxima, whose license plate I have memorized and written down.
Me: Having just topped the hill in my neighborhood, just 1000 feet from my front door

Just wanted to remind you that I did call 911, and report your harassment, making sure to mention to the operator that you said you were in the employ of the police department. You coarse language and volume did nothing to convince me you actually knew the rules of the road, and your admonition for me to Stay On The Sidewalk(tm) was not unexpected. Thanks for being my first, I’ll always remember you.

A number of police departments have specific procedures for reporting police misbehavior. For instance, in Arlington you can report police misconduct here. If you go down this path – be prepared that this is a formal complaint, you will be making a statement, and you will be asking for appropriate action.

[Author]

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