[kcb203]

Yesterday, 6 pm

You: Sitting in your car going south in the middle of the crosswalk where the W&OD crosses Gallows as the light turned red.

Me: Going east on the W&OD when the walk signal turned white for the trail, annoyed at you for blocking the crosswalk. I couldn’t decide whether to go in front of you or behind you–I decided to go in front because a rider going the other way was going behind.

You: Starting forward straight toward me while looking straight down at your phone, oblivious to the fact you were 1) running a red light; 2) in a crosswalk; 3) while looking 100% at your phone and not at all at the road.

Me: Slapping your hood to get your attention–and to keep you from running me over–and yelling “Get off your fucking phone.” (I normally don’t curse, but these situations bring out the worst in me.)

[kcb203]

How do these bike counters work? Do they differentiate between pedestrians and cyclists? How?

[kcb203]

@cyclingfool 79608 wrote:

Must be what it’s like riding a motorcycle. (Something I’ve never done but have some interest in trying.)

I went skiing once on a night that was so windy the ski racks blew over (and they don’t present much surface area to the wind). On the flats around the lodge, I extended my arms like a sail and just took off flying forward.

[kcb203]

You: Silver SUV going west on Lee Highway at Nash at 6 pm yesterday, completely blowing through the red light at 40+ mph and coming a few feet away from some pedestrians crossing Lee Highway with the walk signal. I know the sun was blinding you and you probably didn’t see the light, but sun in your eyes is a very good reason to slow down.

[kcb203]

Go south on Silcott Springs Rd. to Snickersville Turnpike, and go west to Mt. Weather. You can then hit Mt. Weather and do parts of this route:

http://bikewashington.org/routes/bluerdg/

There’s a convenience store on Snickersville at Airmont Rd. and another in Bluemont. After that, you’re on you own going up and over Mt. Weather.

[kcb203]

@hozn 77087 wrote:

Yeah, I agree; harder than the wooden bridges. This looks loosely like the rutted ice on the trails, though probably is tougher. Someday I’ll ride some stretches of real French/Belgian cobbles and then I’ll be able to compare more accurately

There will be some cobble stretches during the Tour de France this year. Chris Froome has already announced his objections.

[kcb203]

Border collies are awesome. My Ibizan Hound loves to mountain bike with me, and can definitely go faster than I can bike.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4718[/ATTACH]

Hypothetically, my whippet has run with me while I biked on the C&O canal towpath for 8 miles at 4:18/mile pace, including a 2:49 mile. I say hypothetically because I certainly wouldn’t let him off leash on the towpath, particularly not at 12:30 pm on a cold Tuesday in the winter with nobody else around. 😎

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/297720113 He could definitely go faster, but I couldn’t go faster in the gravel/mud than 21.3 mph for any longer.

Supposedly a saluki will run 2 miles in 4 minutes. Not quite as fast a sprinter as a greyhound or whippet, but a lot more endurance.

[kcb203]

I can’t remember the last time I’ve commuted on my bike. Between cold, ice, and travel, it’s probably been three weeks. I tried to go from Arlington to Reston on Friday, but turned back due to ice. Today all was clear and good. I’m planning on leaving a bit early to beat this evening’s ice storm, though.

[kcb203]

@Phatboing 76399 wrote:

Speaking of this, is there anywhere in the area where it is possible to ride in the rain without ruining things for everyone? I love me a good summer thunderstorm, and I’d rather be off-road than on, and I’ve wanted to combine the two for a while now.

The C&O Canal Towpath is fine in the rain, but it’s not really a mountain bike trail–just 184 miles of flat gravel with pretty but unchanging scenery.

[kcb203]

I tried to commute today from East Falls Church to Reston on my 700×23 road tires. I stupidly assumed everything had melted. I got to Gallows Road with a few long icy patches and then saw that it was all ice as far as I could see toward Vienna from Gallows, so I turned around and got in my car. A guy coming the other way said it was almost all snow/ice from 123 to Gallows.

[kcb203]

@TwoWheelsDC 72273 wrote:

I hit the Custis rollers pretty fast this morning…got a little air, but I was able to pull it out. Looks like a passerby caught it on film:

Where are the Custis rollers? I’ve heard them mentioned before but don’t know exactly what people are referring to.

[kcb203]

@MRH5028 71604 wrote:

I think for the first one of these he did he released a “behind the scenes” thing where he said he only had 1 flat during filming and no issues with rims or frame. Pretty amazing.

I wonder what tire pressure he used.

[kcb203]

@Dirt 71269 wrote:

Hi Henry. That’s called Lane Splitting. In DC it is legal. I don’t know about Virginia and Maryland. I generally don’t do it in any of the jurisdictions. That’s me though. I tend to sit in a line of cars unless it is a very wide lane and I can ride to the front of the line with 2 feet to spare.

Edit: From VDOT’s web site: “Bicyclists must not ride between two lanes of traffic moving in the same direction unless one lane is a separate or mandatory turn lane.”

As I read these arguably conflicting provisions of Virginia law (46.2-907), you can’t ride exactly in the middle between two lanes, but you can if you’re on one side of the line or the other and therefore are in one lane but not “between two lanes”:

A person riding a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, motorized skateboard or foot-scooter, or moped may overtake and pass another vehicle on either the left or right side, staying in the same lane as the overtaken vehicle, or changing to a different lane, or riding off the roadway as necessary to pass with safety.

A person riding a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, motorized skateboard or foot-scooter, or moped shall not travel between two lanes of traffic moving in the same direction, except where one lane is a separate turn lane or a mandatory turn lane.

[kcb203]

@dasgeh 69978 wrote:

I just deflated thinking that the recent enforcement hasn’t been about the crosswalk, but about stopping cars from illegally going straight from the left-only-onto-Lee to the left-only-to-the-GWMP. Did anyone see ACPD actually stop cars that had blown through the crosswalk? Or stop anyone? (I’ve seen cars stopped, but not the behavior that led to the stop).

*Just realized that they might also be looking for new decals… UGH*

A couple mornings ago I saw an officer pull someone over who was going NB on Lynn and turned left to go WB on Lee. It’s generally a legal turn–I’m not sure if she got busted for doing it from the straight ahead lane or because she ran the light. I thanked the officer, and he glared at me. Perhaps he didn’t hear me and thought I was giving him a hard time.

[kcb203]

This is an actual connection, not a missed one:

Me: Crossing 15th Street going eastbound from Pennsylvania onto New York Avenue near the White House. I waited for the light and started crossing when it turned green.

You: Blue BMW making a U-turn from westbound on NY Ave. to go back eastbound as soon as the light turned green. You didn’t have enough room to make the turn, so you stopped blocking the bike lane as you started to back up to do a three-point turn.

Me: Slamming on my brakes to avoid hitting you from behind as you crossed in front of me and blocked the bike lane.

You: Shifting into reverse and starting to move back toward me.

Me: Yelling at you to stop moving while I tried to shuffle sideways out of the way behind you.

You: Not hearing me or ignoring me and continuing to back into me.

Me: Slapping your trunk to draw your attention to the fact that you were about to run over me. I then went around and went on my way.

You: Pulling to the curb at the next light where I was stopped, and getting out of your car, walking toward me, and yelling at me.

Me: Explaining that you failed to yield when making a U-turn and that I slapped your car gently to draw your attention to the fact that you were about to run over me.

[Author]

Posts