Rode on the new OGR bike lanes on saturday, in the rain (the first part, not the thunderstorm)

[Anonymous]

I echo the wish they would go the same on River Road. I drive River Road multiple times each day but haven’t been brave enough to bike as I constantly see school buses paused in the bike lane and cars cutting out early to use them as turning lanes. If they were separated, our entire family would use them.

[Anonymous]

Agree, it's awful. And, after sitting at the light at Tuckerman through multiple cycles (stuck behund those turning on Tuckerman), I just avoid driving OGR - not bothering going into Bethesda any more. Nothing special there anyway

[Anonymous]

OGR has become considerably safer. The sidewalks are safer, the bike lanes are good enough for me to feel comfortable riding in them, the bus stops are more comfortable to wait at, and I feel safer driving too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if drivers have the right-of-way there, and I doubt the police do either. I do know that, as a driver, I don't want to hit a bicyclist, regardless of who has the right-of-way. I also know that, as a bicyclist, I don't even expect drivers to see me, let alone know when I have the right-of-way and yield it to me. I do agree that, in the long term, this is one of the parts of the design that could be improved. The bike lanes are surprisingly good, but they could be even better.

Exactly. No one knows who has the right of way because it’s not intuitive and there are no signs. But what I do know is that drivers turning onto Tuckerman are going to be focused on making that light and not on the cyclist who’s cutting across a lane of traffic.

[Anonymous]

Right-of-way is not a question of intuition, and bicyclists aren't "cutting across", they're following the bike lane. Hopefully the green paint will indicate to drivers that they can't just look at the traffic signal, they also need to watch out for bicyclists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was actually pretty nice. They've recently come back and painted them green here and there near the intersections to be more apparent that there's bike infrastructure. I'd feel better if the whole thing was green the whole way, but even the pieces they've done is a marked improvement from the first time I rode in them a couple months ago. Anyway, the buffer is great too. I took them from Democracy to the past where they end headed to Bethesda (not sure why they end abruptly without continuing to Bethesda? Seems like it would be obvious to keep them going all the way there?). Then I went north to Tuckerman and out Tuckerman to Falls Rd. MoCo is making good strides with bike infrastructure. I'd like to see River Road's updated to be more like OGR's.

Also, I saw more than a few people out using the lanes on both sides, despite the weather being a bit gloomy.

I hope you are not married. I'm married to a bike rider who will ride in all sorts of "a bit gloomy" weather and already stated that if there's an accident of any kind due to riding in nasty weather, I will not be helping in any way, shape or form with recovery. You don't get to take risks and then expect your spouse to pick up the pieces.

[Anonymous]

To the "I hope you're not married" PP: maybe you would be happier being not married?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right-of-way is not a question of intuition, and bicyclists aren't "cutting across", they're following the bike lane. Hopefully the green paint will indicate to drivers that they can't just look at the traffic signal, they also need to watch out for bicyclists.

The bike lane cuts across the turn lane just like it cuts across the lanes of Tuckerman.

People traveling in the bike lane must turn to follow the bike lane across the turn lane, while the people in the turn lane just need to go straight. Usually the vehicle traveling straight has the right of way, just like a cyclist riding in the far right lane going straight has the right of way when another vehicle is making a right turn.

The law doesn’t even matter. What matters is how road users behave, and if you think all drivers are going to be more focused on the cyclist and the green paint than they are on the light, then you give drivers more credit than I do. We probably won’t even find out what the law actually is until someone gets fatally t-boned. I’m not going to volunteer to find out.

[Anonymous]

I live in the neighborhood and like the bike lanes but agree that the tuckerman interchange could be better. For the person saying they wished it connected to the trolly trail —it basically does. When the bike lanes end at cedar, just go on the east side of OGR—the wide sidewalk there turns into the trolley trail which goes to downtown Bethesda. It ends at battery park and From there you aren’t very far from the crescent trail (but agree if you be nice if those two connected somehow.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the "I hope you're not married" PP: maybe you would be happier being not married?

If it means not being sentenced to a life of caretaking someone who wanted ride a bike in dangerous weather? Yes. There’s something about a bike that makes bikers extremely selfish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the "I hope you're not married" PP: maybe you would be happier being not married?

If it means not being sentenced to a life of caretaking someone who wanted ride a bike in dangerous weather? Yes. There’s something about a bike that makes bikers extremely selfish.

Or perhaps the bike is their mode of transportation and they got caught by an early rainshower??

[Anonymous]

I think I love you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was actually pretty nice. They've recently come back and painted them green here and there near the intersections to be more apparent that there's bike infrastructure. I'd feel better if the whole thing was green the whole way, but even the pieces they've done is a marked improvement from the first time I rode in them a couple months ago. Anyway, the buffer is great too. I took them from Democracy to the past where they end headed to Bethesda (not sure why they end abruptly without continuing to Bethesda? Seems like it would be obvious to keep them going all the way there?). Then I went north to Tuckerman and out Tuckerman to Falls Rd. MoCo is making good strides with bike infrastructure. I'd like to see River Road's updated to be more like OGR's.

Also, I saw more than a few people out using the lanes on both sides, despite the weather being a bit gloomy.

Did you get a sticker for being the 100th rider?

Trying again.

I think I love YOU!

[Anonymous]

I'd be taking lots of bike rides in the rain too if this was what my interactions were like at home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the "I hope you're not married" PP: maybe you would be happier being not married?

If it means not being sentenced to a life of caretaking someone who wanted ride a bike in dangerous weather? Yes. There’s something about a bike that makes bikers extremely selfish.

Or perhaps the bike is their mode of transportation and they got caught by an early rainshower??

Those aren’t the bikers I’m referring to. It’s the spandex mob