[Brendan von Buckingham]

@Emm 159687 wrote:

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Looks like he’s put the sign by a desire crossing, and not the actual crosswalk. But still, they’re 50 feet apart, and drivers are going to think it’s an official sign and that it’s talking about the crosswalk. I’d call the police and the state DOT.

At least the guy’s not anonymous. That way when a driver kills a cyclist because of the sign he can go to prison like these people in Florida who went to prison for 15 years. They stole a stop sign. Which caused an accident that killed three people.

Is it illegal to paint over an illegal sign?

[Brendan von Buckingham]

As a semi-professional pessimist I reject your facts and will stick with my scarred and over-compensating memory. Thank you for your support.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@anomad 158533 wrote:

Which one was it? There are a few. I’ve seen orange, blue, white and kind of silver.

Homer Simpson Yellow

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Homer Simpson Yellow.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Alas, I’m passed my Strava phase. Haven’t used it in a while. The flyby function was the best feature of it though.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Me: Casually commuting home on the Custis Trail yesterday evening.
You: Fat tires, motorized vehicle, doing 30mph+, passing on a blind curve.

I have two facts and one opinion for you. Take you’re pick which is which:

+ the most bicycle thing on your vehicle is your tinkly little bell
+ your bicycle helmet won’t do much for you or the pedestrian in your inevitable accident at motorcycle speeds
+ you’re a douche bag

I’ve grown accustomed to the power-assisted bicycles on the trails. Most people blend in fine enough. My instinctive response to get into some sort of John Henry thing with the speedier ones is my own short coming. I’m working on that. But I have my limits. If you have a motor, and your tires are wider than your saddle and you’re going over 30mph you’re riding a motorcycle. Man up and ride that thing in the street.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Regs typically say you can have as many people on a bike as you have seats: one seat = one rider, two-seat tandem = two riders, etc.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@Steve O 148192 wrote:

Yep. Here he is. Not only blocking the lane but also partially blocking the driveway.
I went in and told the crew there that I had just photographed the car and was sending the photos to the Arlington police. One of them dashed out.
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Awesome. I’ll email you 30 minutes before I ever have to use that lane so you can clear the lane for me. Like Smokey and the Bandit.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

For incidents during commutes, I presume everyone’s on a regular routine. If I want to have words with a driver on my terms, I’ll stake out the route and usually come across them again within a week or so. But it works both ways, so Blue Maserati might be looking for you too.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

My regular route.

Inbound cross 50 (on either Filmore or Irving) and go all the way to Pershing, then Pershing to the Ft. Cass Trail at Ft. Myer. That let’s you swap ugly 50 for more Filmore and low traffic/bike lane Pershing. At Memorial Bridge, you just have to get used to the murder lane at the crosswalks (where the near lane yields to you, but the far lane doesn’t see you and blows right through).

Outbound, after Memorial Circle and near the entrances to the Metro you have to be doubly cautious about cars coming up from 110 and GWP and making the right to go to DC. All of them roll the stop while locked into only looking left. The bastards never look right. Big dumb animals.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Every time I’ve been by, Dominoes is parked in the bike lane.

Cattle chutes aren’t good if you’re a cow.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

So many lines it’s hard to keep track of them.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@rcannon100 144749 wrote:

I will avoid entering religious helmet debates – but add one thing

Risk analysis involves these factors

* What is the cost of risk avoidance
* What is the chance of event occurring
* What is the harm if the event occurs

I will go back to my example of car headlights.

I don’t think your headlights example matches up exactly with helmet use. You use headlights to reduce your risk and the risk of other road users. You are being responsible to yourself and others mutually. Helmets reduce your risk, but do nothing for the risks of other road users.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Don’t go to court if your argument is anything like: I knew what I did was illegal but in my opinion what I did was safe anyway. A judge won’t have anyway to judge what was safe, other than taking your word for it, but they will have the cop’s citation and the traffic code in front of them. Judge doesn’t need to go fishing for more information than that. I don’t like that intersection either. I use the T-intersection at Ireland’s Four Courts to get west on Wilson or Clarendon or whatever you call it. Been here 25 years and still can’t keep that straight.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I take the lane to pass an idling vehicle. I move to the front of stopped traffic where drivers can see me. I try not to split the lane to pass a bus, but if I do and before I commit to the pass, I make sure I can make it the length of the bus before it comes up to speed, changes lanes, etc. Eye contact to the driver by way of their mirrors is helpful to know the bus’s blindspots, but I don’t count on the driver using his mirrors. The worst blindspots are next to and in front of the driver if you’re below his line-of-sight. Getting under line-of-sight is good for assaulting a fixed position, but not for urban cycling.

Also depends on the bus. Most Metro busses are OK to dance with. The exurban commuter buses like Loudon county are generally jerks. In town coach companies are OK. Out of town coach companies are hit or miss. Chinatown buses are big, dumb and blind and get a wide berth from me.

[Author]

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