My Morning Commute

[elizsnyder]

I am pleased to announce that I had no close calls this morning. I did not have to spew my venom at any deserving vehicular offenders. However, I do respectfully request that cyclists use their bells or call out when passing. I am not continually staring into the mirror I have hanging below my left side handle bar. Instead of surprising me and almost grazing those tiny blonde hairs on my forearm, how about a notification and a foot personal space when you pass? yes, I would appreciate that. I am 40lbs bike with another 25lb-30lbs (that’s 65-70lbs of moving weight not including me…take note) of white panniers and trunk bag full of computers, clothes and lunch. If I hit you, sideswipe or otherwise, you will cry when your carbon fiber fluffernutter cracks upon impact. boo hoo. do not say you were not warned flyboys.

[Crickey7]

You’re preaching to the choir here. The vast majority of us bemoan the same thing, try to model polite trail behavior, even call out non-triggering reminders to offenders. I’d say few if any of the offenders go onto this forum. On the CCT where I ride, it’s even posted on signs in non-discretionary language.

[Zack]

@elizsnyder 180584 wrote:

I am pleased to announce that I had no close calls this morning. I did not have to spew my venom at any deserving vehicular offenders. However, I do respectfully request that cyclists use their bells or call out when passing. I am not continually staring into the mirror I have hanging below my left side handle bar. Instead of surprising me and almost grazing those tiny blonde hairs on my forearm, how about a notification and a foot personal space when you pass? yes, I would appreciate that. I am 40lbs bike with another 25lb-30lbs (that’s 65-70lbs of moving weight not including me…take note) of white panniers and trunk bag full of computers, clothes and lunch. If I hit you, sideswipe or otherwise, you will cry when your carbon fiber fluffernutter cracks upon impact. boo hoo. do not say you were not warned flyboys.

You can tell very quickly the difference between a regular and a recreational rider by whether they ring their pass or say bike on your left. I have almost knocked a few people off (accidently) when they did not all their passes too.

[hozn]

You should always look behind you before you change lanes. If you hit someone changing lanes, it’s at least as much your fault as theirs.

[lordofthemark]

@hozn 180593 wrote:

You should always look behind you before you change lanes. If you hit someone changing lanes, it’s at least as much your fault as theirs.

I usually do a hand wave behind my bike (as I learned from my revered teacher, Komorebi) to indicate to following riders that I am about to pass someone ahead, I find that more comfortable than looking behind, as I worry I will hit someone while my head is turned (and I currently ride without a mirror). Of course that means trusting them to know what the signal means.

[OneEighth]

@hozn 180593 wrote:

You should always look behind you before you change lanes. If you hit someone changing lanes, it’s at least as much your fault as theirs.

Moto GP rules.

[josh]

@lordofthemark 180600 wrote:

I usually do a hand wave behind my bike (as I learned from my revered teacher, Komorebi) to indicate to following riders that I am about to pass someone ahead, I find that more comfortable than looking behind, as I worry I will hit someone while my head is turned (and I currently ride without a mirror). Of course that means trusting them to know what the signal means.

I feel like that’s just something that should be practiced then. I remember learning to drive (a car) and checking the blind spot before changing lanes, and I’d always turn the car towards the left while pivoting my upper body and my mom would freak out. I am now capable of looking back without changing my direction significantly . Maybe make a point to keep your bars turned a little to the right when looking over your left shoulder.

[lordofthemark]

@josh 180607 wrote:

I feel like that’s just something that should be practiced then. I remember learning to drive (a car) and checking the blind spot before changing lanes, and I’d always turn the car towards the left while pivoting my upper body and my mom would freak out. I am now capable of looking back without changing my direction significantly . Maybe make a point to keep your bars turned a little to the right when looking over your left shoulder.

I learned techniques for looking back in the WABA City Cycling class, and use them when changing lanes in general traffic (where I am not likely to hit a car in front of me in the couple of seconds I am not looking forward – and the lane I am merging into is in the same direction) On a MUT though, the issue is my concern about slow moving trail users ahead of me. I will try to look behind me from time to time to see if anyone is following close, but on crowded trails with lots of peds (like the MVT) I am not sure that it is a reasonable approach to do that each time I pass someone. The following cyclist has to take some responsibility to either call their passes or at least to be look for my signal.

Of course that is why I often try to avoid the MVT at peak times.

[komorebi]

@lordofthemark 180600 wrote:

I usually do a hand wave behind my bike (as I learned from my revered teacher, Komorebi)

Haha, that’s a good one. I nearly snorted my coffee all over my keyboard.

To be clear, I do the hand wave only after I’ve used my helmet mirror to make sure that no else is trying to pass on the left. Especially on crowded trails like the MVT, I don’t trust the faster-moving cyclists to call their passes or be paying enough attention to notice my hand signal.

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

Mups or anywhere else, if you are careening through life faster than those around you, and instead of modifying your own behavior you are expecting them to consider what you are doing behind them, you are being a dumbass.

[streetsmarts]

@LeprosyStudyGroup 180616 wrote:

Mups or anywhere else, if you are careening through life faster than those around you, and instead of modifying your own behavior you are expecting them to consider what you are doing behind them, you are being a dumbass.

Where’s the ELITE button when I need it?

I really wonder what happens in biking cities in Europe…when there’s slow riders and faster riders? On 11th st. Going to work in rush hour, bicyclists pass me within inches on the L and R with no announcing. I could understand it if we were all going at the same speed but we’re not. And sometimes they pass me *in the bike lane* with no notice.

Grateful for my safe riding friends!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[josh]

@streetsmarts 180617 wrote:

Going to work in rush hour, bicyclists pass me within inches on the L and R with no announcing. I could understand it if we were all going at the same speed but we’re not.

Assuming you’re all going in the same direction (after all you both are in the bike lane), I don’t think cyclists would be passing you if you were all going at the same speed.

I’m definitely an advocate of passing responsibly and I try to call all my passes, but I think there is something to be said for passing quickly. Minimize the time you’re in the opposing traffic’s lane and get it over with.

[hozn]

Yeah, I should clarify that I also think it is important to let people know that you are passing; keeping everyone aware of your presence is basic courtesy and safety.

But I think it is equally important to look behind you before changing lanes. Being aware of your surroundings is ultimately your responsibility.

It takes a fraction of a second to glance over your shoulder before switching lanes, as you’re only checking if it’s clear for 10-20ish feet behind you. I will say that I’m usually moving relatively quickly on the trail when passing, so I’m not worried about someone flying up behind me. If I were moving much slower I’d need to look farther back. So speed relative to other cyclists on the trail is probably a consideration too.

[consularrider]

@streetsmarts 180617 wrote:

…I really wonder what happens in biking cities in Europe…when there’s slow riders and faster riders? On 11th st. Going to work in rush hour, bicyclists pass me within inches on the L and R with no announcing. I could understand it if we were all going at the same speed but we’re not. And sometimes they pass me *in the bike lane* with no notice…

I’ve said it on other threads, but in my experience the only place where “calling your pass” is expected (or practiced) is in the US. Most countries require bells, just like a car has to have a horn, but they are rarely used, and then in cases to warn of true danger or to deal with people blocking a path.

[dasgeh]

I think the passing buffer (distance between the person passing and the person being passed) should increase as the difference in the speeds between the passer and the passee increases. If you’re just going a bit faster than the passee, passing within a smaller space is more comfortable. Also, the more people bike, the more comfortable they are being passed with a smaller buffer.

That’s why I think it works in Europe — those bike lanes/trails are only bikes, so the difference is speeds is smaller than you have on our trails (which have the range from people walking to people biking fast). Plus, people bike a lot more. Both point to smaller passing buffers being more acceptable over there.

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