[scoot]

Sorry to hear that. Hope you recover quickly.

That’s a tough spot, especially due to those grates. They won’t eat even the skinniest of tires, but the traction can be unpredictable. I try to avoid ever riding directly on them, by either fully taking the lane (if traffic is uncongested), or else going around on the right when possible, but every day produces a different set of circumstances. Aside from slow and careful filtering through congestion, the bike lane on N Lynn is otherwise completely useless. Even when not blocked, it is too narrow and lies entirely within the door zone of the parking spots.

[scoot]

@dasgeh 169225 wrote:

Failure to yield to person crossing at a crosswalk (46.2-924)

I can’t make tonight’s meeting, but this reminded me of my experience last Friday afternoon at Fairfax and Kenmore. I picked up a CaBi at the GMU dock, intending to ride east on Fairfax to 10th then southbound on Irving. I do this exact route often, typically in the evening when there is little traffic. This time, there were multiple Martz buses idling blocking the bike lane and right-hand general lane on westbound Fairfax, but there was a gap between them (coincidence I’m sure) at the curb cut / crosswalk. With limited visibility I walked the bike into the crosswalk just far enough to peer into the other westbound lane. With the bike clearly visible ahead of me in the crosswalk (almost to the midpoint between lanes), three cars whizzed past before one slowed to let me cross. Then I stood at the median waiting for eastbound traffic to relent. About twelve cars passed before I eventually pump-faked pushing the bike into the left lane, which finally got someone to stop. Two more vehicles went around in the right lane before I was able to complete crossing safely. All this on a clear day at 2pm, and I was wearing a bright neon yellow jacket while walking a bicycle in a painted crosswalk in a 30MPH zone.

Let this be my location suggestion for ACPD’s next crosswalk sting.

[scoot]

Victim? Did some poor driver get run over by a bicyclist?

[scoot]

@lusevier 168415 wrote:

Hi!
I’m a software developer in the area, very excited about this group. Are there any bike hackathons coming up?

https://www.meetup.com/Transportation-Techies/events/245217212/

Not a hackathon, but you’ll meet lots of likeminded folks at this meetup. I’m disappointed I can’t attend this time.

[scoot]

Also, 140dB is quite the horn! Remind me never to ride within a couple blocks of you.

[scoot]

Have you considered taking the lane coming down that hill? That would make you much more visible to drivers, as well as give you more space to react to those who drive unpredictably.

Presumably it is much quicker and easier for these drivers to drop passengers here than at the Visitor Center. So even if it’s illegal (is it?), you’ll probably continue to see these maneuvers in the absence of constant enforcement.

[scoot]

Doesn’t count unless you ride it on a CaBi. And check in the bike at every dock.

[scoot]

@EasyRider 168202 wrote:

Who’s up for a word problem?

I’ve been trying to calculate the speed of the full throttle e-bike that passed me alongside the Pentagon Monday night. I guess it was Class 2, because the rider wasn’t pedaling as he/she accelerated past me in the bridge construction zone, without warning (out of ignorance, I’m sure, not malice, but I digress). By the time I got almost to the guard booth near the 9/11 memorial, I could look up to the AF Memorial and see the e-bike (it’s taillights) nearing the intersection of Columbia Pike and Southgate. Google Maps estimates that to be a little less than half a mile away. Since I was going about 12mph myself, how fast was the e-bike going to put that much distance between us? Hint: I have no idea

I doubt the rider is on Strava (I’m not) but he/she would have passed the AF memorial about 6:50pm on Monday.

Very rough estimate: 27 MPH

According to Google Maps, you covered 0.4 miles (from the bridge over 110 to the guard booth near the AF Memorial) in the time that the e-bike traveled 0.9 (to the intersection of Columbia Pike and Southgate). 12MPH * (0.9/0.4) = 27 MPH

Presumably one could get a better estimate using distance data more accurate than a tenth of a mile, but this is probably within 20%

[scoot]

That’s 34th in the photo (east of Key Bridge), not 35th.

[scoot]

@n18 167678 wrote:

I carry pocket tissues all the time for such an occasion.

Also: disposable latex or nitrile gloves

[scoot]

@komorebi 166971 wrote:

I talked with reji about this earlier today. The most distinctive parts of the costume are the head and the torso, so you could probably get away with cutting the hood off and attaching that to your helmet, turning the torso into a vest, and wrapping appropriately colored ribbons at your elbows, wrists, and knees.

Great idea; thanks!

[scoot]

That’s awful. From the distance in your north-facing photo, the metal bar looks like a harmless line of paint on the asphalt.

[scoot]

@Judd 166441 wrote:

My costume arrived in the mail this past week. I’m hoping for cold weather or I am going to be the grossest, sweatiest, TMNT of all time.

You will have strong competition for that honor. The forecast high is 67, although the morning low is 44.

Roll out early?

[scoot]

I find CaBi to be extremely reliable for my admittedly atypical ridership patterns. I’d guess about 95% of my rides proceed from my optimal origin to my optimal destination. The other 5% of the time I either start or end at a less convenient station, but there is always something available within a fairly short walk. My CaBi experience has been positive enough that I use it for almost all of my commuting and utility cycling nowadays. My bikes stay home unless I’m riding for recreation or unless my destination is outside CaBi zone.

That said, the CaBi data do clearly show supply/demand problems for more popular routes and times. There is a lot of latent demand that the system currently lacks capacity to serve. I would be curious to learn how many of the dockless rides are between CaBi-accessible destinations (and especially when capacity is strained), as opposed to their other main selling point: location flexibility.

[scoot]

@baiskeli 166764 wrote:

Lesson for cyclists: watch out for idiots.

Just in case the previous 4962 posts in this thread hadn’t made that lesson abundantly clear already.

[Author]

Posts