@ascentale At intersections with roads on Burke-Gilman, at least, they are generally very good (maybe even too good at times, sometimes it's like, dude, you have very clear right of way and are wasting all our times) about yielding to trail traffic.
@ascentale A8. This wasn't one I experienced personally, I think I heard it on the Family Pedals podcast a while back, but I can't remember. Whatever it was, the host described riding along with her kids on the back of the cargo bike and someone rolling down their window and shouting "Are you from the future‽"
I think about that driver a lot and how much I hope they're right!
@ascentale#BikeNite A8. I have a significant number of drivers who wave me through intersections or stop at one of the pedestrian crossings I use (which I use because there's a high speed section of road I have to cross and it has warning lights), which is great. (which is better than the people who apparently are blind to warning lights and speed through at 60mph). Also, have had at least one driver (with a bike rack on their car) drive by my bicycle TWICE to check it out slowly as they drove by, LOL. (apparently wondering what kind of brightly glowing steel road bike I was riding...).
And a follow-up, about more immediate responses also from @sam:
Q7. Is it okay to yell back at drivers after a bad interaction? If not, are you or have you done anything to try and have less road rage? Mindfulness exercises? A calming cup of tea? How do you train yourself not to react from a place of anger?
@ascentale@sam#BikeNite A7. I generally do not react, because 1. this is the US, and we've devolved to road rage with firearms involved 2. I think that maybe an aggressive response from someone on bike will likely mean "revenge" on someone else on bike who is not involved 3. I don't need my heart rate any higher after pedaling around town 🤪
@sam wonders how to respond after a bad driver interaction:
Q6. When you have a dangerous interaction with a driver that doesn't involve a crash (drivers throwing things, pulling in front of you and getting out of their car and attempting to stop your bike, etc.) do you call the police, file a report later, get away and then do nothing, or something else? What factors go into making your decision?
@ascentale@sam A6: I've reported shit to cops in the past, but they've never given a fuck. Probably partly because I've never had a license plate.
The guy who really seriously deliberately tried to force me into cross-traffic with his truck, I wasn't able to get his plate. Same for the people who cruised through the stop sign and broadsided me. Fortunately in that case I was on foot and jumped onto their hood. I pounded on it a bit before sliding off, I hope I damaged it.
@sam@ascentale Yeah, basically. The cops will obviously be on the driver's side, but it's good to get the reports in. "Vision Zero" is a political winner and this interacts with that.
@ascentale@sam Oh and the guy who rear-ended me and sent me to the ICU in a coma for days, that guy I never even saw. Bumper was truck-height and that's all we know. (We know that from the height of the dent in the back wheel.)
@moira@ascentale oh wow, that's a bad one! I'm glad you're okay. So far I've been lucky and never been actually hit except at very slow speeds (though I've had some very close calls at high speed).
@xtaran asks about terms discussed enough BikeNites ago for me to forget somewhat 😅
Q5. I remember that someone said you should not use the word "cycling" but "riding" instead. Or was it the other way round? And I also forgot why. I vaguely remember it was something political. And what about "biking"?
(Generally, how do you prefer to refer to the act of riding a cycle, and someone who rides one? And why? Do some of the terms have confusing or undesirable meanings?)
@ascentale@xtaran A5: I use "biking" because "cycling" to me kind of implies competitive and spandex. And while I've worn my share of spandex and have absolutely nothing against people who ride for those kind of purposes, that's not what I'm doing.
A5 @ascentale@xtaran I'm happy to be a person riding a bike but please don't refer to me as "a cyclist", since that's not my profession or identity and I don't do sports. Maybe if you're in England it's cycling and you get a biscuit. #BikeNite
Next question is from @meganL about national cycling advocacy organizations:
Q3. What advocacy item would you like the League of American Bicyclists (or whatever your national/local cycle advocacy group is) to add to their lobbying agenda?
@ascentale@meganL A3: I'd personally like all cycling safety orgs to advocate for safe and well-connected cycling infrastructure, and to NOT advocate for anything that promotes vehicular cycling. It is a fine line because some of the VC techniques, such as taking / releasing the lane, are necessary to ride safely in much of North America where cycling infrastructure is scarce, but I believe those can be taught as safe cycling techniques without mentioning VC. #BikeNite
@ascentale@meganL#BikeNite: A3. As a utilitarian cyclist (newbie) the things I see right now most missing in our community are multi-use trails/paths/shortcuts between neighborhoods, and bicycle racks. No idea if organizations are advocating for them... I just know it's annoying there's not a way to get a bicycle from point "A" to point "B" in many places without fighting some busy streets, where even bicycle lanes are iffy. (mostly, we have a lot of long straightaway roads in our suburb where cars are going 55-60mph 😬 -- even with a painted bicycle lane it's not very safe.)
@ai6yr@ascentale@meganL oooh, yes, bicycle parking is a good one! Almost no business around here has a bike rack and I'm always shocked that when they're developing new shopping malls and stuff they don't just take one car parking space and fill it with racks so you could get like 10 bikes in there plus a few cargo bikes spaces on the ends. Having someone advocating for municipalities to include this in the requirements to get development permits would be amazing.