[jabberwocky]

@cvcalhoun 130480 wrote:

I don’t see those as contradictory. Motorists are to yield to those already in the crosswalk. However, pedestrians/cyclists should not enter the crosswalk in the first place if there is a car coming. This avoids a situation in which a pedestrian or cyclist enters the crosswalk when it is too late for the motorist to stop.

The question is who has the right of way if I enter a crosswalk in such a way that a car has time to slow down and let me cross, but if they held the speed they were going they would hit me? I can argue that I didn’t enter the crosswalk in disregard of traffic (since they had plenty of time to see me and stop) but they could argue that I entered in disregard of traffic, since they had to change speed once I left the curb.

See, for instance: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-11-04/news/0311040307_1_crosswalk-enforcement-stings-state-highway-administration

Maryland has taken the point of view that, as long as there is room for the car to see and stop, pedestrian has the right of way (at least for the purposes of these stings). But they admit the law isn’t clear, and I’m not sure how much faith I would put in a VA cop interpreting it that way.

[jabberwocky]

I tend to treat them as I would any stop sign. My baseline is to do a full stop. If its an intersection with good visibility for cars and pedestrians and is obviously clear, I’ll usually roll it (by which I mean I brake, slow down to 5-10mph while looking both directions, then accelerate across the intersection). I acknowledge its not strictly legal, but its never caused a problem for me. I only go when there is obviously no traffic.

I do think theres a hidden danger in getting into the habit of rolling intersections. You tend to start doing it when you really shouldn’t. It becomes the familiar action. Its also worth noting that sightlines for a lot of trail crossings sucks for motorists (the smaller roads the W&OD crosses are commonly like this). In a car, you need to be right at the crosswalk to see anything that isn’t 10 feet from the roadway on the trail. You probably see the car well before they see you, especially if you’re rolling quickly.

The law varies by jurisdiction but is generally not clear. My recollection for VA is that it says something like “motorists shall yield right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks” but also that “pedestrians shall not enter the road in disregard of traffic”. Which are, to an extent, contradictory.

[jabberwocky]

Loud buzzy hubs are the sound of quality. I was surprised by people complaining about that, but then I remembered “oh, right, fixie riders. The only point of which is to look down on everyone who isn’t a fixie rider, probably while wearing tight jeans and a stupid hat”.

[jabberwocky]

@PotomacCyclist 129975 wrote:

I don’t feel like I need to be the “alternative voice.” I’m just posting what I think about this particular video, and how I think it’s much different from his previous videos.

How so? His previous videos have been chock full of dangerous stuff. This one has more exposure maybe (riding stuff high in the air), but in terms of “likely to cripple or injure him”, its not the high stuff thats the issue. Its the flips and tricks, because those are where he’s likely to land on his head if he screws up (and for the most part, its the head or neck injuries that kill and cripple people).

I don’t really get the focus on him and comparisons to commuting and such. Yeah, for normal people, the kind of stuff Danny MacAskill gets up to is ridiculously dangerous. Hes freakishly talented and obviously into pushing the limits in dramatic ways. He may pay a high price (ala Martyn Ashton), but its worth noting that most trials riders seem to have long careers, and we have plenty of data in the realm of skateboarding/rollerblading/bmxing that says the vast majority of these guys don’t end up dead or in a wheelchair (and trust me, some of the shit bmxers and skateboarders get up to would probably give Danny pause).

Some of this discussion is like someone watching evel knievel jumping schoolbusses and then start droning on about motorcycle safety. You are missing the point. :p

[jabberwocky]

My first thought:

From https://xkcd.com/451/

[jabberwocky]

@LeprosyStudyGroup 129938 wrote:

Seeing that pic of Jamie doing the Leap of Faith gave me some warm nostalgia fuzzies
**apparently he’s still skating and still making videos for zero, wow

I’m actually surprised how many pros from my day are still around and riding. Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen are both pushing 50 and still ride! Hell, I can remember watching Danny Way in Plan Bs old Questionable video (circa 1992), and he apparently just set a world record for air a few months ago.

Its hard on the body for sure, and most pros don’t hang around that long. But some guys just keep doing it forever and ever. Jamie is impressive just because he’s known as a handrail skater, and that shit is a really good way to kill yourself. But hes apparently pretty durable.

[jabberwocky]

@PotomacCyclist 129915 wrote:

I’m not calling for any sort of ban. I’m simply adding commentary to these videos, because I don’t think a lot of viewers appreciate how destructive the process actually is. I used to watch the videos in amazement and awe, but then I started looking into the price that they pay. I liked the creativity and the bike skills in the earlier videos. The latest one not as much. It comes across to me as more like one of those amateur YouTube videos, where some adrenaline junkies do insane stunts just to film it. I hope MacAskill doesn’t go down that path, because that didn’t appear to be his approach before. He has much more to offer than just extreme risk taking.

A lot of old skate videos had slam sections, which was usually several minutes of the riders falls. Many were very nasty. I harbor no illusion that these guys are doing it injury free. I can remember watching a friend (who had a cast on after snapping both bones in his forearm and needing surgery/metal plates to put it back together) slamming over and over trying a huge set of stairs. He was in pain, but he kept going back to try again until he got it.

I don’t think you quite get the mentality of these sorts of riders. They aren’t doing a risk/reward analysis. They are looking at a line and thinking “it would be awesome if I could ride that”. The injury list is almost badge of honor. You just don’t ride at that level unless you really want to (and are frankly a bit insane). Just from knowing some people with that mentality, I’m firmly convinced that the camera is incidental. They would be doing crazy shit regardless, because they are driven to constantly one up themselves, find that next even more awesome line to try, hit that trick down ever bigger gaps, do ever bigger drops.

We can tut-tut and say he’s gonna hurt himself, but the reality is that he already knows that and does it anyway.

[jabberwocky]

I come from the skateboarding world, where this sort of risk is pretty routine. Honestly, the type of person who gets really good at this sort of thing is an inherent risk taker, always pushing the limits. I knew several guys over the years who went on to skateboarding sponsorships and such, and they were constantly getting hurt but always itching to get back on the board and keep pushing things. I think they would have been doing it no matter the outside reward (and the guys I know were getting rewards like “free decks and t-shirts”, certainly no compensation for constant broken bones).

I personally really doubt Red Bull is telling him to get out there and do crazy shit he doesnt want to do.

[jabberwocky]

@mstone 129846 wrote:

I forgot the link: http://www.gripstuds.com/Bicycle.php

Looks slick, but at those prices (1$ per stud!) its cheaper to just buy the studded tires.

[jabberwocky]

I propose we allow them and come up with a massive overly complicated formula to determine how their miles should be modified. My proposal:

(150/motor power in watts)*([cargo weight in pounds+50]/75)

So someone with a 250 watt motor hauling around 100 pounds of kids would get:
(150/250)*((100+50)/75)=1.2 points per mile.

Someone riding their 750 watt ebike with no cargo would get:
(150/750)*((0+50)/75)=0.133 points per mile.

Note: tongue in cheek

[jabberwocky]

Should really have been reported. Police wouldn’t have been able to do anything most likely, but it would be very helpful if he repeats or does assault someone in the future.

[jabberwocky]

There was a house on a small road on my old commute that was obsessive about watering their lawn. All seasons, all hours of the day. They would sometimes set up sprinklers that sprayed into the road. I would occasionally ride through the lawn to avoid the sprinkler on cold mornings.

[jabberwocky]

This is why its good practice to salt your front yard with landmines.

[jabberwocky]

@OneLessCar 128444 wrote:

`

Are you all training for the Olympics? Face it, you and your lousy overpriced, Chinese Cannodales are a fashion statement, a diversion, a recreation, a kinetic devotion to consumerist idiocy, and, ironically, a symbol of the victory of Communism, right next to our capitol. Alexander Hamilton is rolling in his grave, Why don’t you walk right over and put another bullet in his corpse, while your at it? What kind of jobs do you all have that allows you to shower and change clothes before you start work? I just hope hard working, tax paying Americans like myself aren’t subsidizing that stupidity.

GIVE ME A U.S. MADE ELF, OR GIVE ME DEATH!!

(No cheap cracks. They won’t be funny)

This is the stupidest thing I’ve read on the internet in years, and I browse reddit and read youtube comments.

[jabberwocky]

In Tanias case, I’d bet that what happened is the cyclist saw her slowing and assumed she saw them and was letting them cross, when in reality she didn’t see them and was just slowing to check for cyclists.

My method for crossing trail-road intersections after dark was to basically assume I was invisible. Don’t ever ride out in front of a car, even if you think they see you. That said, I found a several-hundred lumen light helps a lot; it illuminates so much in front of it that cross traffic knows something is there, even if they can’t see exactly what.

I do think it would behoove some cyclists to actually drive some of the intersections sometime. Visibility up and down the trail, even in daylight, is often nowhere near as good as you think it is. A great many intersections, if someone is more than 10 or so feet back from the road you basically can’t see them. Its only compounded at night.

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