Saturday Morning Ride

This week

• The FBI has it's own Mountain Bike Patrol Team
• Kate Ryan observes the aftermath of a bike-ped crash on the Capital Crescent Trail "Initial eyewitness accounts indicate that the runner and cyclist were originally headed in the same direction, with the cyclist behind the runner, when the runner suddenly stopped and did a U-turn. According to one witness, she did this just as the cyclist was swinging wide to pass her, and the two collided--hard. The witness I spoke to could not recall hearing the cyclist call out to the pedestrian that he planned to pass her."
• A story about Delaware's Junction and Breakwater Trail
• Sunlight Labs writes about how difficult it was to create the subsidyscope study of road funding that I linked to recently. They call for more open government data.
• The new library in Shaw has plenty of bike parking.
• The extension of HOT lanes to McLean would carry benefits for cyclists "The extension project also would replace the bridges at Old Dominion Drive, Georgetown Pike and Live Oak Drive, and provide new bicycle and pedestrian areas on those bridges, officials said."
• RTC on Edmonston's new green streets
• Bike theft on the rise in Fairfax County
• Warning for cyclists crossing Route 7 in Tysons

Comments

[Michael H.]

Unfortunately I see too many cyclists on the trails who don't call out a passing warning. At the same time, I also see too many runners (and cyclists) wearing earphones. Many of those people are lost in their own little world, completely oblivious to their immediate environment. Some runners weave or suddenly dart out to the left, for whatever reason. If they are wearing earphones, it's impossible to get their attention when passing.

It does seem like the runner in the CCT incident was not wearing earphones though.

I've also seen cyclists and runners using their cellphones while riding/running on the trails. Frankly, that's insane. One guy was on his cellphone, sitting up on his hybrid bike and not holding onto the handlebars, and riding on the wrong side of the MVT last week. I can only shake my head. Well, actually I had to yell at him first because he was headed straight toward me.

People need to be much more aware of basic safety principles and use some common sense. I remember the comments from one poster here earlier in the year about how cyclists should be moved to bike/run trails only so they wouldn't have to use bike paths or roads. Well, I don't think the bike/run trails are really that much safer than the roads because of so many acts of idiocy. I think it's safe to ride on the trails and most roads (not high-speed highways) but it can be frustrating to see so many clueless people out there. That includes car drivers, cyclists, runners, pedestrians, rollerbladers and dog walkers.

[J]

Ive seen many runners suddenly stop an do a uturn. I have no idea what the hell theyre thinking.

[Michael H.]

Someone at work did that a couple weeks ago on the MVT. She was wearing earphones and did a sudden U-turn. A cyclist smacked into her when she did that and knocked her over.

When she told me about it, I tried to be nice but I made sure to mention that it's better not to wear earphones on the trails or the roads. She wasn't seriously injured, just a few scrapes. I really think earphones should be limited to running on the treadmill or using a stationary bike.

People always say that they have the volume down low and they can hear what's going on around them. That's not what I see everyday. Most of the earphone wearers can't hear anything other than their music.