Comments on: Dumb Moves: Obliviousness

By: Mighk

Mighk — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:33:45 +0000

I wonder if having a fixed gear bike creates in some riders the analog to “Must Pass the Cyclist” — “Must Keep Pedaling.”

By: Keri

Keri — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:51:54 +0000

I think his bike was red. Didn’t get close enough to notice if it had gears or not. It did have drop bars. He was completely unpredictable and hooked across the path of that dump truck like he had a death wish.

By: Arch Bernard

Arch Bernard — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:00:03 +0000

I like that word; espouse.
I am generally a fan of anything with drop bars, but you’re right, the fixed gear culture doesn’t really bring any more responsible riders to cycling. I’ll keep my gears.

By: ToddBS

ToddBS — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:13:37 +0000

fixed gear bike with track drops

A lot of people riding that bike would behave the same way in the road, sadly. Which is not to say that fixed gear itself is bad. Just that that there is a certain element drawn to it that is not the vehicular cyclist that those of us commenting on this site espouse.

By: Arch Bernard

Arch Bernard — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:27:57 +0000

I used to ride with a kid who did just that kind of dumb stuff. His name is Nick, and the way you told it, I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if that was him you saw. Whenever he and I rode together, he gave shoddy directions, sometimes saying “left up here” then turning right, swaying into me, hopping his rear wheel and doing other kinds of erratic things, really close to me and then all of a sudden, being in the middle of the road. I ride in the road a lot, and I move pretty fast, and usually I feel safer with another person, but people like that make me feel like I would be safer riding alone in the middle of the night with no lights in a black hoodie than riding with them in midday. I think he does it just to be cool, but when I read the title “Dumb Moves” i thought of him.
Green steel frame fixed gear bike with track drops.

By: Serge Issakov

Serge Issakov — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:41:49 +0000

Yet another incident showing how bike lanes make bicyclists less relevant to others and so more likely to be overlooked.

We’re all enamored with the traffic orderliness that is associated with lanes, but the problem with bike “lanes” is that they are not perceived as traffic lanes but as unused buffer space at the edge of the road, like a shoulder. You know, space that one can safely drift into briefly while attending to a distraction like finding Howard on the Sirius dial.

The combination of the two factors all too often leads to the tragic unintended drift into the unnoticed bicyclists in the bike lane or shoulder.

Because I find bike lanes to be too far right anyway, and for the reason above, I generally avoid riding in bike lanes, except to move aside temporarily to allow someone who has noticed me, and those immediately following him or her, to pass me. But once they’ve passed, I’m back out in the traffic lane, thank you very much.

By: Keri

Keri — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:01:18 +0000

Yeah, the workload gets on my nerves in a hurry. That’s why I try to avoid bike lanes for the most part. There is a stretch of Edgewater where I just claim the lane for several blocks because the BL is so conflict-ridden and moving in and out of it lane is a pain in the ass.

I know the roads I use and the traffic patterns on them. There are some intersections where I always leave the BL, often moving all the way to next to the center line (for visibility). Otherwise, usually at least move onto, or a little over, the line. And always at least a glance behind on the approach.

But aside from knowing where most traffic turns, you can still get caught off-guard. I’ve been almost hooked and crossed by people entering their driveways on Lakemont. Now if traffic is backed up, I use a parallel street rather than that bike lane.

By: fred_dot_u

fred_dot_u — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:48:24 +0000

I know better, Keri, but I envision you riding, in the land of perpetual intersections, by moving out of the bike lane prior to entering an intersection, then re-entering the bike lane once clear. Uh oh, one hundred feet ahead is another intersection… That’s akin to weaving and I’m only exaggerating, because I know what you mean.

In a reverse manner, I see people on bikes, riding in the bike lane, then weaving more to the right when crossing an intersection, then weaving back into the bike lane. Scary people, no wonder other road users are uncomfortable with bikes on the road.

By: Keri

Keri — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:38:03 +0000

Another thought on this topic. I typically leave the bike lane before intersections. This is especially critical at intersections where a significant percentage of traffic turns right (a few examples: Glenrdge eastbound at General Rees, Lakemont northbound at Whitehall, Livingston eastbound at Summerlin, Rosalind at Robinson).

Right hooks aren’t the only reason to leave the bike lane. Left cross crashes are common, too. Especially if thru traffic obscures the left-turning motorist’s view of you. If you can’t see oncoming traffic as you approach an intersection, move left until you can, and you know they can see you.

@Lyle, thanks for those links!

By: rodney

rodney — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:17:10 +0000

Me and “hooks” don’t get a long.