[rcannon100]

The “Federal Cyclists Commission” laughs in the general direction of all those Bike Arlington teams! :p

[rcannon100]

Agreed fully; all but 7. Anything that moved, no matter how slow, passed me last night.

Of course this morning, nothing passed me. What a bunch of ‘posers. A wee little bit of rain and I have the Custis Trail all to myself. :p

That said…. pedestrians wearing ipods. Need I say more? As Cyco said, their are bad apples in every group. (one difference is that some of the bad apples are driving one ton hunks of metal that kill).

As was also said, the infrastructure was not designed for bikes. No matter what we do, we are the bastard step children. There are many traffic situations where there is absolutely no way for a bicyclists to “obey the law.” There is no option that would permit that. In other situations, blind obedience to the law results in laughable scenarios where you are doing nothing for nobody. The bad apples include traffic designers who regularly design faulty infrastructure (traffic lights throw reds for no reason – but that cant sensor bicyclists).

As the London Cyclists thingy suggested, you want to be a happy cyclists…. stop being so judgmental that everyone conform your notion of what a good cyclist is. (oooooh people are going to yell at me for that one)

You want to set an example, let safety be your priority (law and safety have a loose correlation)

[rcannon100]

When the police stop you for it, it’s simply your turn to be the one that got caught today.

MMMmmmm, no. Police can hold biases just like other people. Police can be corrupt. Police can do a lot of things. However, police are put in a unique position of public trust and must be accountable for their actions.

It is fair to say that police have been biased against bicyclists. I grew up in WDC; this was true in the past. I think its probably a lot less true now, through a lot of work of WABA and a lot of work of other people. It wasnt just the bicyclists turns – police were in error and through a lot of effort, bicyclists get more respect as participants in the transportation system.

I have twice been in situations where police were absolutely abusing power. This is a very difficult position to be in. The last time, I had witnesses and I started taking down the name of the officer – when I did that, he backed WAY off. Know that you can always report a police office to your local governments inspector general (but it wont necessarily be fun).

And of course we have seen, in the history of this country, situations where police have clear been on the side of injustice.

Sometimes yeah, its the way it happened. But we should not dismiss the situation where something is going wrong and law enforcement are violating the trust and the role that is given to them.

[rcannon100]

You have to remember, at our request, we just went through a period of “enhanced enforcement.” Some senior keystone told the junior keystones – ‘enhance your enforcement.’ And this is what we got. Enhanced enforcement of laws that make no sense and have little to do with safety – in traffic scenarios where the infrastructure design is flawed.

Well the period of enhanced enforcement is, I believe, over.

And we are once again met with the terrible separation between compliance with traffic laws – and anything that actually has to do with traffic safety. The two are only occasionally in alignment.

[rcannon100]

Which are the incorrect signs? What’s incorrect (honestly, this is an immeasurably vague area of law)?

[rcannon100]

Would any of the Bike Stores or Coops care to participate in the May 3 bike fair? It will be at the FCC in SW DC, in our courtyard which is the lunchtime area – very visible. We have participating NPS, WABA, FABB, goDCgo, and of course FCCycle. Please let me know if you might like to join us. You can email directly at rcannon100 at yahoo.

[rcannon100]

A thought on why experiences may be different.

One variable is WHEN the signal is give. As a fellow cyclists, I can share and confess that I hate the signal that is two feet from my ear. Yelling “LEFT” in my ear means you are already on my left, does not give me a chance to move right, and does not avoid me floating left into your path if I am avoiding something like one of those Custis Trail moguls.

I signal probably 50′ behind the person with a bell. It creates a nice doppler effect giving them notice not only that I am there but also how fast I am coming. I almost always get positive responses (except for those haters). One thing haters have yelled at me is when the signal is too close.

If you signal within 10′, that could be why you are startling people and why you are getting negative reactions.

[rcannon100]

If we all signal every pass, then we core commuters create a culture. The consistent signaling will make signaling normative, not obnoxious or startling. Those that dare tread on our hallow grownd :p will quickly become acclimated to the culture…. and of course the haters will still be in a bad mood. The best thing we can do is define the culture on the trail.

[rcannon100]

I dont ride the section enough to be specific, but past Ballston near the Beaver pond to Bluemont there are a lot of ruts.

OH! Hey, Custis Trail crossing 66 with Lee Hwy near Bergmans. The trail on the bridge is cement. The trail on either side is asphalt. At the ends of the bridge, the asphalt no longer meets the cement trail – there is maybe an inch or two difference between heights. Even just a patch of asphalt, ramping up to the cement, would be much appreciated.

Near that same bridge, between Lee Hw and 21st N, on the Custis Trail, is a very good mogul, particularly bad in the west bound direction.

And then there that intersection at Lynn St :p

[rcannon100]

My experience with hostility is small but consistent. Spending a lot of time on the trail, it does not happen often – but when it does happen, it is hostile. Both on the Custis and the MVT I have had people go absolutely ballistic. My usual read is that they were in a bad mood anyway and they want something to take it out on.

Contrary to Dirt, I use a bell and find I get the best response (your experience may differ, please consult a mortician if taken internally). I find that if I say something, noobs and tourists will instinctively turn toward me in response – meaning to their left into the trail. With the bell, I find most people step to the right and do not respond to it as if someone is talking to them.

I always ring. It’s better if its a habit. Dont think about it. Dont make a decision “do I signal or not signal.” Just signal. Make it a habit. The good people will hear you. The haters – well who cares.

And then of course I have an exception. Kids. If their are small kids anywhere near, I usually run silent – and try to move far away from them. I find that if I make any noise at all, they will move toward me. I slow down – and even go off the trail – to give them a wide berth.

The haters are a small but consistent group. Have learned to simply ignore them. They are their own worse karma.

[rcannon100]

If you were a responsible rider you’d obey the signs that say “no motorized vehicles” don’t ya think?

Yah. Just like I stop at the red bike traffic light to no where. #scofflaw

I’m a bike; not a car. When they start building bike infrastructure, I’ll start being a “responsible rider”, mindlessly obeying signs. :p

[rcannon100]

Welcome to the BORG. Resistance is futile.

Try the Potomac Pedalers website. http://www.potomacpedalers.org/ There are tons of rides, all over the city, of different lengths, and different speeds.

[rcannon100]

I have never heard of this happening; been traveling this route for years. There is a steady stream of bicycle traffic coming off the bridge into SW DC. I dont know whether to consider this a clueless aberration or that its time to talk to NPS again. Has anyone else had this experience?

I will say we raised this very point in the comments in response to the 14th St bridge EIS – that the connection from the edge of the bridge to Maine St is poor and is in need of significant attention.

[rcannon100]

Um… massive dock block???? Right????

[rcannon100]

If you ever drive up the ramp from 66, count the number of signs that already exist. Then note how many cyclists are visible. Then count the number of visible cross walks. Good for you; you have just engaged in distracted driving Seriously, one more sign, establishing the obvious, aint gonna do a whole lotta nothing. The intersection of doom needs an infrastructure solution. Either cops in the Intersection (like big grown up cities do) or moving the path.

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