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@ShawnoftheDread 96063 wrote:

Lord, I hope so.

Whatever man, Annie is going to ride a bikeshare around NYC in the new movie. I know that I, for one, am supportive of women cyclists of color who happen to be singing, dancing, orphans.

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@hozn 95987 wrote:

And maybe if you just want to casually spin the pedals around the loop, there would be better times to do this.

I’m afraid I take issue here. Suggesting that casual riders should avoid the most popular loop in the city at very popular times to ride (every weekday lunch hour and Thursday evening) seems to me like too much to either ask or expect. And since there’s no organization around these rides, casual cyclists are only going to find out that they’re infringing on the Elites’ training time when they show up and experience a problem like KLizzote and the OP.

@gtmandsager 96010 wrote:

In your fury, you focused on mansplaining a proper apology. I’m surprised you didn’t tell her to curtsy.

Unless that rider has some sort of particular expertise in apologies, “mansplaining” doesn’t really work here. We don’t have to play social justice bingo just because two people of different genders treated each other poorly.

As for my take on the situation, it’s no different than the last time this came up. I think everyone agrees Haines Point is the least bad location for a weeknight training session that the city has, but that it doesn’t absolve the training group from the responsibility to act appropriately towards others. And in the absence of any better facilities:

• group rides are going to continue at HP;
• some group rides and/or particular group riders will ride without due regard for the safety of other park users;
• many non-group riders will feel aggrieved when forced to bear the negative externality of a group’s risky behavior;
• some aggrieved non-group riders will respond with mild opprobrium (see e.g., KLizotte);
• some aggrieved non-group riders will respond with spittle-flecked, profanity-laced (and perhaps threatening) tirades (see e.g., OP and, if I’m forced to be honest about my least attractive qualities, probably me in this situation);
• at some point we will surely see a thread describing a group ride that hits and injures another park user;
• at some point we will surely see a thread describing some aggrieved non-group rider starting a fight or intentionally knocking down a rider or riders;
• a whole bunch of threads about idiots killing DC cyclists with cars are very likely to appear before either of those HP disaster threads are realized;
• the sun will come out tomorrow (am I the only one looking forward to the Annie remake?)!

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Terribly close call on the ride home last night.

Passing the Treasury building in the 15th St cycletrack, I was slowing because the light was about to change and I anticipated coming to a stop (or at least pausing) between the F St crosswalks, even though there were no pedestrians currently queued up. Just as the light went yellow, a kitted-out rider came flying around me to the left easily doing 25+ mph (probably trying to clear the light). And just as he did that, Business Bro in a nice suit stepped into the cycletrack without looking on his way toward the crosswalk. The only reason he didn’t get absolutely destroyed is that his buddy roughly yanked him back at the last second. They missed each other by inches.

Business Bro and I stopped and exchanged wide eyed looks. He exclaimed, “WTF, Yous Guys are Crazy!” I declined to point out that he’d just stepped into the road without looking and that the cyclist technically still had the light, because there was, frankly, plenty of poor judgement to go around. But man, I can totally see how disastrous ped/bike accidents like the recent ones in Central Park happen. If Bro had gotten hit at those speeds and his head had contacted the curb or one of those bollards…

I was a little shaken up for the rest of the ride home.

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@dkel 94446 wrote:

I want to give a shout out to John, one of the marshals, whom Rockford10 and I had the pleasure of riding with for the entire last half of the ride. I didn’t even get his last name, but for a while it was just the three of us riding through rain and more rain; then we passed in and out of other groups together; we got separated a couple of times and got back together; ultimately, he pretty much stuck with the two of us for 30 miles, and not only did all the navigating, but really looked after us for all those miles. His efforts are a big part of why we had such a good ride. I caught a glimpse of him at the end-of-ride happy hour, but didn’t have a chance to buy him a beer or express my gratitude. So, THANKS, JOHN!!!

We had friends in town this weekend, so I wasn’t able to join the ride. But while out running errands around the Hill (picking up a couple of 1/6 kegs from my beer guy in the car) I saw you guys around 15th and K SE. I hope it was a great ride!

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Thanks again!

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Thanks to you both! Those changes save a chunk of climbing, which I know will be appreciated.

In terms of R Street vs Union Station/Louisiana Ave–I was going to suggest using the wide Capitol Grounds sidewalks after the LA Ave. parking lot. It’s a shame there isn’t a good way to link to Penn Ave yet. For the R Street option, how do you find the section before it crosses Florida Ave to be in rush hour traffic? I recall that the bike lane doesn’t pick up until Florida or 2nd…

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Thanks! The privacy settings should be fixed.

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@Crickey7 93592 wrote:

[T]he alternative is a succession of self-serving leapfrogs or people edging forward to the very limits of safety.

I’m actually pretty surprised that there aren’t more retaliatory re-shoals. Amazingly, I can’t think of a single time I’ve seen anyone do that.

Also, it’s fairly clear that the author is an inveterate shoaler, trying mightily to defend his choices. Unfortunately, he also lives in my neighborhood.

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Just….grrrrr….

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/08/cyclists-lets-talk-about-shoaling/379232/

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@Brendan von Buckingham 93409 wrote:

Why do joggers run against traffic? To see oncoming cars. What’s the point of seeing oncoming cars? So the jogger can jump out of the road before being hit by a wayward car. When it’s a bike lane I’m the “car.” I don’t mind contra flow joggers as long as they follow the compact and jump out of the lane when they see me coming.

This is also how I tend to feel about it. Most contra-flow joggers on the East Capitol bike lane either jump out of the lane or hug very tight to the door zone when you’re passing, which leaves plenty of space. In contrast, many of the joggers moving with traffic are unresponsive to bells (headphones!) and stake out a lane position that requires moving into the adjacent lane to pass them.

On the cycletracks I generally have less patience for jogging interlopers. There tend to be a lot of bikes during high-traffic times of day and also lots of oncoming cars that make it unsafe for the contra-flow riders to move out and pass.

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Thanks for leading these rides Ray! I had a great time discovering new trails just minutes from my house.

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@AFHokie 93056 wrote:

If the rack is near the guards I’d make it a point to get to know all the guards. Even if they’re not required to protect the bikes, I’d like to think if I was friendly with the guards and they knew which was my bike they’d be quicker to say something if someone other than me started fiddling with it.

This is how the racks are configured in my building, so I make sure to say hello when coming and going and also occasionally bring coffee or baked goods. Small bribes are infinitely cheaper than new bikes!

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I saw some dude flying a drone (looked like a DJI Phantom) with a mounted camera over Freedom Plaza circa 8:50AM. He had it up fairly high, maybe 20-30 feet above the tops of the fairly tall trees on the SW corner. He was starting to attract some attention from tourists and the traffic cop at 14th and Penn. I hope he’s not having a very bad day now.

What I found particularly interesting was that I couldn’t hear it at all over the ambient noise. I’d heard that the major drawback is that they’re majorly noisy. But I only noticed it because I saw a group of kids pointing up at it excitedly (and I almost didn’t look because I thought they were just mistaking some news ‘copter for Marine One).

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Under the preferred naming convention, they’re all Doctor Screeching Ninja, but I prefer to call them:

• The Embarassment of Riches — the commuter
• The LeMond — the all ’rounder
• Biek — the stationary bike

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@hozn 92258 wrote:

Half of those riders were probably in elementary school back when he was actually a cycling icon and the other half could care less about some washed up doper.

I kinda thought that’s what makes the insult brilliant! Associating someone with cycling’s greatest villain and an all-around objectively detestable human being…

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