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All cleaned up when I rode through shortly after 11

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Electrified (cheater)

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I ran in to work that day and definitely got my high-five from Erin (and no, I was not the crazy ivan jogger).

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@run/bike 114774 wrote:

I’ll try to add some pictures when I get a chance.

Pic as promised:

The new look heading northbound on Sycamore (taken a block up from Lee Highway). The road funnels down to one lane very quickly once it crosses over Lee. You can’t really tell from the image but they have bumped out the yellow line a good 3 feet or so from the median. I wonder if future work will fill that in with more greenery, making it look similar to Patrick Henry over in Westover.
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Comparison shot of the old configuration courtesy of Google Streetview (you can even see the old, faded sharrows):
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chris_s;112503 wrote:

which part(s) doesn’t it meet?

[mic drop]

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@DismalScientist 112426 wrote:

I would think that a car turning right should always merge into a bicycle lane when turning right, particularly when there is no “no right turn on red” sign. A bicycle coming from behind should either stop behind the car or pull up to the car on the left. Otherwise, there is the possibility of a right hook collision. If I were a driver on northbound Ohio turning left onto Washington Blvd, I don’t see why I should be concerned about a car pulling up on my right making a right turn on red. I do not know why you would be in the main lane on Ohio if you were intending to turn right on Washington Blvd (even with your turn signal on).

I will check to see if the bike lane is correctly painted with a dashed left line as it approaches Washington Blvd.

I ride/drive this section of Ohio all the time and there is a dashed line, although my opinion is that the dashed line starts too far back from the intersection and there are often parked cars that force drivers to cut across the bike lane after the dashed line has ended.

Here’s an image from google street view – https://www.google.com/maps/@38.886757,-77.146723,3a,49.2y,0.86h,84.73t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1shBFyuUVI-HBmRxLSD8uMkw!2e0

And yes, once across the bike lane the road is narrow so unless the driver puts effort into it (most don’t) they will be partially in the bike lane. Occasionally I’ve had to queue behind a car or two that are waiting to make that turn, but I’ve never felt unsafe at that intersection.

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Really old thread, but new info from the county regarding the Marriott stop sign on the Custis Trail. Awhile back I created a “see, click, fix” report on this issue – http://seeclickfix.com/issues/638919, because Arlington does monitor the site and I hoped they would address it. Well it only took 2 years but they finally responded regarding its legitimacy. Long story short, it will stay for now but will be taken down upon completion of the esplanade project.

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@Orestes Munn 99260 wrote:

Re: SUVs and nearly missed “connections”, the vehicle now topping my extensive fecal roster, having earned the honor by the product of prevalence in my corner of the world and sheer, clueless, mortal, threat, is the Mercedes GL450. The dealer must administer a stupid test and cyanoacrylate an iPhone between your left palm and ear before accepting your 65,000.

Half-hearted apologies to anyone here who owns one.

OMG – I was literally thinking this past weekend that I should start a thread entitled, “What Make/Model Car Terrifies You the Most When You’re Riding?” This came to me after a particularly harrowing encounter with none other than a Mercedes GL series and I realized that I instinctively assume that any GL I see (either while driving or riding) can and will do something stupid, thus bringing it to the top of my personal list. Your post pretty much seals the deal; I will start that thread shortly!

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I think I have a relatively simple fix from the regulation standpoint. Hear me out –

We have a federal definition of electric bicycle that sets limits on watts, speed cutoff, etc that is applied for manufacturing standards. To me this means that any company making an electric bicycle that exceeds those standards is no longer allowed to use the term “bicycle” when marketing their product. Call it what it is at that point – an electric motorcycle.

Part of me wonders how companies like Stealth Electric can proudly call their Bomber a “bicycle” on their website. Dude, just because you slapped a pair of functional pedals on it doesn’t mean you can take it on the same MUPs where you would a $50 Huffy from Walmart. But that seems to be where a lot of the fear is coming from in this debate, the idea that somebody who buys one of these things will say, “Hey, they sold it to me as a bicycle, so now I’m going to take it on the WOD!”

So maybe I think people really are that stupid, but if companies are forced to live up to the federal definition in their marketing materials this whole issue would evaporate. Because in my mind that simple change, from “bicycle” to “motorcycle” carries with it a whole new schema that would keep people from engaging in the kind of behavior we’re all afraid of.

BTW – Stealth does have a disclaimer, but it’s buried under the “policies” section at the bottom of the homepage under the nondescript heading “product liability”. It’s only there that you’ll see their bikes are “designed for recreational or off road use. Please consult you local authorities to find out the rules and regulations for electric vehicles.” Note how when it matters (like, cause their lawyers wrote it) they call it an electric “vehicle” :p

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Nike made a jacket called the Vapor Flash. I don’t know if it’s still in production.

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@Oldtowner 97555 wrote:

This is the real concern. I can imagine serious traffic issues on the trails, if the e-bike market takes off. Imagine the W&OD starting to look like the streets of Hanoi.

But the bike traffic issues are coming with or without growth in the e-bike market. There’s 100K more people living in the DC metro area than a decade ago, and they project a similar influx over the next 10 years. That, combined with the data showing more folks taking up bicycle commuting, means you’re going to see more and more bikes of all types on the roads and trails in the years to come. E-bikes may constitute a greater share of bike commuters in the future, but they’ll still be no match for the expected growth in the good old human powered kind.

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@Steve O 97534 wrote:

If I’m on the opposite side of the road from the loading side, I’m generally tempted to go up on the sidewalk and ride by at a reasonable speed. I think that would be totally legal in places where riding on the sidewalk is legal. After all, if I were a pedestrian, I could just walk by the bus; why would it be different as a bicycle on the sidewalk?
Either that, or I wait for an indication from the driver as others have suggested.

When I am traveling behind the bus in the same direction, I always wait.

This exact scenario happened to me on my commute this evening. It was raining and the bus was full so I dismounted, walked over to the sidewalk, and proceeded past the bus on the opposite side of the road. A good 4 car lengths later I hopped back on and was on my way. No danger to anyone.

Having the ability to magically transform from cyclist to pedestrian is pretty neat [emoji4]

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The CCT org website has an “ebike forum” that apparently came about because one dude, a Mr. Michael McNamara, keeps raising a fuss about being buzzed by e-bikes. http://www.cctrail.org/EbikeForum.htm.

After reading the whole back and forth I’d give it above 80% probability that the guy yelling at your friend is this McNamara fellow.

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@baiskeli 94478 wrote:

Forget about what’s legal for a moment – is running at night in the roadway actually safer than on a sidewalk? It wouldn’t be my choice.

It depends. I tend to run in the road more often than not after many, many bad experiences at stop-signed intersections. You know that white line that’s usually painted next to the stop sign? The one cars are supposed to come to a complete stop behind BEFORE moving out? Yeah, for most drivers it doesn’t seem to exist. I’ve had way to many scary situations where I’m either in or about to enter the intersection on foot and encounter a car that clearly wants to stop fully across the cross-walk. By running in the street (against traffic of course) I find this gives me that extra buffer zone that I’d normally have if drivers actually adhered to normal stop sign rules.

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@dasgeh 91133 wrote:

Was that pink shorts guy? He was super annoying — he was on the path where I got on (Lincoln St). I passed him and another group (did you see them — really big guy with two women behind) before the over pass. I’m pedaling along, then right before the last hill hop to Lee Hwy in Rosslyn, he passes me. Ok. But then proceeds to slow down and take the downhill SUPER slow (which, coming from me, says something). Fine. Past the IoD, it’s clear that he’s just not all that fast, but I didn’t get a chance to pass him again until the hill up to the TR Bridge — which he was HAMMERING, I think to keep me from passing. Ugh. I don’t mind being passed by people faster than me, but if you have to go all out just to pass someone or keep them from passing, and you’re not willing to keep going all out, you’re just being a jerk.

But speaking of ebikes, I did beat one up Capitol Hill this morning on my road bike. Hooray! Too bad my phone has shut off so I didn’t Strava it

Not sure if he had pink shorts…he passed you on the uphill just before the “bridge to nowhere” and I doubt he called that pass too. I did see the group with one dude/two women; they didn’t appear to be in any kind of hurry.

Yeah, too bad you didn’t Strava…I’m obsessed with the “activity playback” function!

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