What’s up with the bike rage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does it SEEM there are more cyclist-car or cyclist-pedestrian complaints than pedestrian-car complaints?

I'm not sure it's true but cyclists are sharing the road with drivers much of the time, whereas pedestrian-driver conflicts tend to happen mostly in crosswalks or near them.

Plus drivers apparently realize they need to coexist with pedestrians but it's not clear they recognize the same with cyclists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That describes every cyclist in this area.

+1

Cyclists in this area have serious issues.

+1. Speed on trails is definitely an issue. And why do they insist on passing so close to runners like me on the trails, when I’m all the way to the freaking right. White male thing for sure. The entitlement to space is unbelievable.

These same ones mashing their spandexed balls on a bike seat are probably the ones who manspread on the Metro.
Most cyclists are ok but the ones that are annoying are the ones who want all the rights of cars with none of the obligations of cars. Like the PP with the four-way stop; if you're a cyclist and see that it's all-clear to blow through a four-way stop, good for you, but if it's not all clear then you have to stop and take your turn.

Yes! I’ve always said they want all the rights of both cars and pedestrians and none of the responsibilities. Most bike riders are fine (my mid-60s parents and aunt/uncle are avid leisure/hobby cyclists and ride 5-10 miles at a time on trails) but the bad ones are HORRIBLE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does it SEEM there are more cyclist-car or cyclist-pedestrian complaints than pedestrian-car complaints?

I'm not sure it's true but cyclists are sharing the road with drivers much of the time, whereas pedestrian-driver conflicts tend to happen mostly in crosswalks or near them.

Plus drivers apparently realize they need to coexist with pedestrians but it's not clear they recognize the same with cyclists.

Cyclists don’t ever appear to want to coexist with pedestrians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^Are you defending the bicyclists?

Why?

I'm going to assume you're a guy. What if this happened to your wife? What if she didn't have time to react and crashed head-on with the other vehicle?

Would you still defend the bicyclists?

Be honest.

I'm trying to understand why someone is blaming cyclists when a driver clearly was going too fast and opted to go into the opposite travel lane and run someone off the road. That's ridiculous - the cyclists are at most an unexpected impediment, like another slow driver, a deer, or a mattress. The driver who crossed the road is at fault in this situation. If my wife crashed into the driver who crossed the yellow line I would blame that other driver.

I'm sorry you got run off the road, but blame the driver who was in the wrong, not the cyclists.

Exactly. And my takeaway from the no-doubt terrifying situation this PP endured is to remind myself how important it is to be-extra vigilant when driving (or cycling, if I were a cyclist) around a blind curve.

It sounds like the cyclists in that accident situation were jerks, but that in no way shifts the

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In response to your comments above, recently I almost got killed by a vehicle that crossed a double line onto my lane because he rounded a curve (50mph zone) and there were two idiots riding bikes in the middle of the two-lane narrow road. He either took them out or crossed the double yellow line. He crossed the double yellow line. I came around the next curve and found him on my lane. In a split second, it was either take out the spandex jerk-offs to my left, or drive my car into a ditch to my right. Thank God I had an option, and drove my car into a ditch. I had no choice. The bicyclists never stopped, never indicated in any way they almost caused a tragedy, and as far as I know they couldn't have cared less. They clearly saw my car driven into the ditch, and unless they're brain-dead, they understood what happened.

Now, what is that you're saying about stopping the stereotyping?

It's time to hold them accountable for their extremely irresponsible behavior.

I’m no fan of cyclists in general, but the situation you describe is the fault of the driver who ran you off the road. If he needed to swerve into oncoming traffic, it was because he took the corner too quickly to be able to safely react to whatever might have been around the bend.

I’m one of the first posters who now lives close to Persimmon Tree Road where ther are a lot of blind curves. I’ve given the possibility of this exact situation some thought and if it should arise I will take the cyclists out. I have young kids and they are stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought of this thread when I heard a WAMU segment this morning on bike safety. Honestly the bikers came off as whiners. I think you have to be either crazy or stupid to ride a bike in DC traffic. They enjoy biking (or perceive there to be some social benefit), so they want to make biking work EVERYWHERE. Well, that’s a fairy tale, absent an existing, viable bike infrastructure/trails.

Yes we definitely need more and better bicycle infrastructure. Protected bike Lanes. Lower speed limits. both of these would have helped to save the life of that young man who died in front of the YMCA in Bethesda the other week. He was cycling along on a crappy sidewalk and fell into old Georgetown road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In response to your comments above, recently I almost got killed by a vehicle that crossed a double line onto my lane because he rounded a curve (50mph zone) and there were two idiots riding bikes in the middle of the two-lane narrow road. He either took them out or crossed the double yellow line. He crossed the double yellow line. I came around the next curve and found him on my lane. In a split second, it was either take out the spandex jerk-offs to my left, or drive my car into a ditch to my right. Thank God I had an option, and drove my car into a ditch. I had no choice. The bicyclists never stopped, never indicated in any way they almost caused a tragedy, and as far as I know they couldn't have cared less. They clearly saw my car driven into the ditch, and unless they're brain-dead, they understood what happened.

Now, what is that you're saying about stopping the stereotyping?

It's time to hold them accountable for their extremely irresponsible behavior.

I’m no fan of cyclists in general, but the situation you describe is the fault of the driver who ran you off the road. If he needed to swerve into oncoming traffic, it was because he took the corner too quickly to be able to safely react to whatever might have been around the bend.

I’m one of the first posters who now lives close to Persimmon Tree Road where ther are a lot of blind curves. I’ve given the possibility of this exact situation some thought and if it should arise I will take the cyclists out. I have young kids and they are stupid.

Slow down. We all have kids and families.

[Anonymous]

Last week I was walking with my child in a stroller across a walkway on a bridge. It's narrow, no doubt about it. A cyclist came around a corner while I was at the most narrow section and said, "get the F*CK out of my way!"

I can't even imagine the type of psychopath that is triggered by such a non-event. I walk everywhere and rarely (read: never) run across pedestrians like that.

I told her she better hurry home because her cats are waiting for her. Then she called me a b*tch. Unreal.

[Anonymous]

Cyclists on the Mount Vernon Trail are awful and incredibly aggressive. The path is already very narrow - they should NOT be threading the needle and going in between people in both lanes, moving in the opposite direction. I can only imagine how much worse it'll be when Amazon comes to town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does it SEEM there are more cyclist-car or cyclist-pedestrian complaints than pedestrian-car complaints?

I'm not sure it's true but cyclists are sharing the road with drivers much of the time, whereas pedestrian-driver conflicts tend to happen mostly in crosswalks or near them.

Plus drivers apparently realize they need to coexist with pedestrians but it's not clear they recognize the same with cyclists.

Cyclists don’t ever appear to want to coexist with pedestrians.

This. On roads, cyclists take the lane and demand a big buffer.

On crosswalks, trails, or sidewalks. GET OUTTA MY WAY MIDDLE AGED ANGRY BUT VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT LYCRA GUY COMING THROUGH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cyclists on the Mount Vernon Trail are awful and incredibly aggressive. The path is already very narrow - they should NOT be threading the needle and going in between people in both lanes, moving in the opposite direction. I can only imagine how much worse it'll be when Amazon comes to town.

I've stopped going on the Cresent trail as well, especially on weekends. Way too stressful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does it SEEM there are more cyclist-car or cyclist-pedestrian complaints than pedestrian-car complaints?

I'm not sure it's true but cyclists are sharing the road with drivers much of the time, whereas pedestrian-driver conflicts tend to happen mostly in crosswalks or near them.

Plus drivers apparently realize they need to coexist with pedestrians but it's not clear they recognize the same with cyclists.

Cyclists don’t ever appear to want to coexist with pedestrians.

This. On roads, cyclists take the lane and demand a big buffer.

On crosswalks, trails, or sidewalks. GET OUTTA MY WAY MIDDLE AGED ANGRY BUT VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT LYCRA GUY COMING THROUGH.

This is why I say they should yield to slower traffic just as cars are expected to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In response to your comments above, recently I almost got killed by a vehicle that crossed a double line onto my lane because he rounded a curve (50mph zone) and there were two idiots riding bikes in the middle of the two-lane narrow road. He either took them out or crossed the double yellow line. He crossed the double yellow line. I came around the next curve and found him on my lane. In a split second, it was either take out the spandex jerk-offs to my left, or drive my car into a ditch to my right. Thank God I had an option, and drove my car into a ditch. I had no choice. The bicyclists never stopped, never indicated in any way they almost caused a tragedy, and as far as I know they couldn't have cared less. They clearly saw my car driven into the ditch, and unless they're brain-dead, they understood what happened.

Now, what is that you're saying about stopping the stereotyping?

It's time to hold them accountable for their extremely irresponsible behavior.

You ever see one of these signs?

[Anonymous]

^ that's a great sign, and I obey it when I drive. I also obey it as a pedestrian (running/walking) on trails.

It would be really, really nice if cyclists practiced what they preached and passed pedestrians slowly, courteously, and with ample distance - instead of zipping between lanes and often side swiping, startling pedestrians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ that's a great sign, and I obey it when I drive. I also obey it as a pedestrian (running/walking) on trails.

It would be really, really nice if cyclists practiced what they preached and passed pedestrians slowly, courteously, and with ample distance - instead of zipping between lanes and often side swiping, startling pedestrians.

The PP who posted the sign was responding to the misguided poster who blames her almost-head on collision on cyclists legally taking the lane instead of the negligent driver who swerved into her lane because he failed to see them in time. There are many examples of dreadful behavior cyclists from this thread (and in real life, every minute around this area), but that PP didn't seem familiar with the concept of taking the lane.