My Morning Commute

[Left Field]

I also feel I should I add, I like of e-bikes. Anything that reduces cars, makes folks more aware of their surroundings and reduces the impact on our world, and allows those who would otherwise never saddle up – thumbs up. However, trails are multi-use and already potentially dangerous – ninjas. This is simply a gut feeling, but as e-bikes are new, many of their riders are not as experienced for the speeds they are traveling. Perhaps an unfair observation, but it does take some time to develop the handling skills and environmental experiences to avoid dangerous situations. We all know those moments, you look ahead and just start to slow down; intuition built over time. That dude this morning would have been seriously injured along with the runner he never would have seen.

[dasgeh]

@Left Field 165306 wrote:

This is simply a gut feeling, but as e-bikes are new, many of their riders are not as experienced for the speeds they are traveling. Perhaps an unfair observation, but it does take some time to develop the handling skills and environmental experiences to avoid dangerous situations. We all know those moments, you look ahead and just start to slow down; intuition built over time. That dude this morning would have been seriously injured along with the runner he never would have seen.

Maybe. Or maybe the universe of folks willing to ride ebikes but not regular bikes is overall more risk-adverse that the universe of folks who ride regular bikes. In which case, one would expect ebike riders on-the-whole to take fewer risks (like passing on blind curves) than people on regular bikes.

That would be consistent with my experience this morning. On my route around north Arlington – Courthouse – Iwo Jima – Lincoln – Foggy Bottom, I saw probably 30% ebikes. Didn’t see any people on ebikes do anything egregious. I was almost hit by 3 different folks on regular bikes who were on my side of the trail as I came around blind corners (1 was passing a jogger, 2 were just taking a convenient line). No crashes, but people who either didn’t know or didn’t care that they were endangering others as they shaved a little time off their commute.

Of course, I also had to stop at 3 crosswalks where I should have had the right-of-way to avoid being seriously injured by a car, which would have been worse than any of those bike collisions. The real enemies here are the selfish drivers.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I passed both Emm and Judd in the span of 100 feet and they both ignored me. I guess focusing on the ramp up to the 14th St. bridge was more important…..

[Judd]

@TwoWheelsDC 165345 wrote:

I passed both Emm and Judd in the span of 100 feet and they both ignored me. I guess focusing on the ramp up to the 14th St. bridge was more important…..

Talk to the hand. I recognized Emm hitting the ramp as I was on Humpback and was trying to catch up. She is super recognizable from her Po Campo purse/bike bag, so you should probably get one so I can say hi to you more often. It seems like I usually recognize you right at the last minute.

I’ve passed you a lot lately… Who is stalking who?

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Left Field 165306 wrote:

This is simply a gut feeling, but as e-bikes are new, many of their riders are not as experienced for the speeds they are traveling. Perhaps an unfair observation, but it does take some time to develop the handling skills and environmental experiences to avoid dangerous situations. We all know those moments, you look ahead and just start to slow down; intuition built over time. That dude this morning would have been seriously injured along with the runner he never would have seen.

Ehhhh…but how many inexperienced e-bike riders do you think there are compared to the number of inexperienced regular bike riders out there hitting the trails every April or so? Maybe you have 5% (just ballparking, probably an overstatement) of new riders on e-bikes going slightly faster than they would be able to on a normal bike. Is it more likely that those 5% of new, inexperienced riders are going to cause you problems, or will it be the other 95% of new, inexperienced riders? It’s like mindlessly car commuting to work every day but being convinced you’ll be killed in a terrorist attack…

[Emm]

@TwoWheelsDC 165345 wrote:

I passed both Emm and Judd in the span of 100 feet and they both ignored me. I guess focusing on the ramp up to the 14th St. bridge was more important…..

Whoops sorry. I feel like we’ve passed each other alot and every time I’ve been oblivious to it…Shouting “HI ERIN!” generally works though if I’m off in my own bikey-world.

@Judd 165346 wrote:

Talk to the hand. I recognized Emm hitting the ramp as I was on Humpback and was trying to catch up. She is super recognizable from her Po Campo purse/bike bag, so you should probably get one so I can say hi to you more often. It seems like I usually recognize you right at the last minute.

I get discounts on the po campo bags, so when you’re ready for your very own colorful bike bag (or plain black bag if you’re boring), let me know

[Left Field]

[QUOTE=Maybe. Or maybe the universe of folks willing to ride ebikes but not regular bikes is overall more risk-adverse that the universe of folks who ride regular bikes. In which case, one would expect ebike riders on-the-whole to take fewer risks (like passing on blind curves) than people on regular bikes.[/QUOTE

@TwoWheelsDC 165348 wrote:

Ehhhh…but how many inexperienced e-bike riders do you think there are compared to the number of inexperienced regular bike riders out there hitting the trails every April or so? Maybe you have 5% (just ballparking, probably an overstatement) of new riders on e-bikes going slightly faster than they would be able to on a normal bike. Is it more likely that those 5% of new, inexperienced riders are going to cause you problems, or will it be the other 95% of new, inexperienced riders? It’s like mindlessly car commuting to work every day but being convinced you’ll be killed in a terrorist attack…

I agree with both of you. I had a rough ride last weekend on W&OD due to the amount of threading, impatience and overall foolishness with regular bike riders. Never leave late morning on a nice Saturday on a long ride.

Yesterday just surprised me. Most of the e-bikes I run across are doing it “right.” But the percentage of those doing it “wrong” has been anecdotally higher than I see when April/May rolls around from regular bikes. Again, my sampling is weird because my morning ride is so early and there is usually no one out there and the afternoon is at commute time where you know the trail is busy. Again, my thought was not to disparage, but a concern that the speeds may not be appreciated.

And I had to tragically smile at the car commuting comment. The amount we worry about “terrible things” and forget over 30,000 die in cars every year.

[Judd]

@Emm 165349 wrote:

I get discounts on the po campo bags, so when you’re ready for your very own colorful bike bag (or plain black bag if you’re boring), let me know

This one would look great on your bike, TwoWheels: https://www.pocampo.com/products/kinga-handlebar-bag?variant=15041947972

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Judd 165374 wrote:

This one would look great on your bike, TwoWheels: https://www.pocampo.com/products/kinga-handlebar-bag?variant=15041947972

Their bikeshare bag actually looks badass! And the rendering they have of me riding around with it is uncanny…

[Judd]

@TwoWheelsDC 165377 wrote:

Their bikeshare bag actually looks badass! And the rendering they have of me riding around with it is uncanny…

If Emm’s discount for being a Po Campo super fan on Twitter isn’t enough to sway you, they’re also supporters of the League of American Bicyclists.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Saw Judd at 14th St. bridge AGAIN…this time as I was riding past the offramp on Basin. I may have to alter my commute route and/or schedule if this keeps up.

[Judd]

@TwoWheelsDC 165473 wrote:

Saw Judd at 14th St. bridge AGAIN…this time as I was riding past the offramp on Basin. I may have to alter my commute route and/or schedule if this keeps up.

Did I look dead? I felt dead?

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Judd 165475 wrote:

Did I look dead? I felt dead?

Well you were coasting down the hill off the bridge, so you just looked like Judd.

[TwoWheelsDC]

A lot of people didn’t get the Car Free Day memo, apparently…

[Judd]

@TwoWheelsDC 165688 wrote:

A lot of people didn’t get the Car Free Day memo, apparently…

Traffic actually seemed pretty light for me this morning, but no lighter than a typical payday Friday.

[Author]

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