Urban road realities

I am more sympathetic than most cyclists when it comes to obstructing bike lanes. Most cyclists oppose any and every time a bike lane is occupied by anything other than a bike. I get it. I mean, the bike lane is a designated lane of traffic, just like a bus lane or a carpool lane. It shouldn’t be violated, even if it opposes the whole “share the road” philosophy. At the same time, cars often need to stop to talk on the phone, make a quick stop, or deal with a hazard. There are many legit reasons a vehicle needs to stop, and urban bike lanes nearly always eliminate the option of a shoulder. Bike lanes also tend to be on smaller, residential roads with street parking. Cars turning into traffic don’t have good visibility and often need to nose into the bike lane to see. I get it. It’s OK.

There are exceptions, and Washington Driver BNY3804 is one of them. You see, BNY3804 opted to park on the north shoulder, when the south should has street parking. There is no excuse, except for a mechanical failure. I’m pretty sure BNY3804 just stopped for a delivery, because you see this sort of quick stopping with Amazon, Fedex, and UPS trucks all the time. Luckily this road had good visibility and I could safety bike around it.

When cars turn in no turn lanes

So this happened the other day. A car made a left hand turn in a no-turn lane. It wouldn’t be that big of a violation, except they turned into my path. Without signaling. Luckily, the Postal van in front of them made a left hand turn while signaling, so I was already on the alert, and already slowed down. However, I didn’t actually think the car would turn because it waited until the very last moment to turn its wheels. I’m not sure if the driver even noticed me. What you can’t tell from this video is how dangerous this is for a cyclist. Unlike cars, cyclists don’t have the braking power cars do in the rain. The wet road and sharp breaking caused my tires to skid and my rear will to kick up and swerve off of the ground. I am an experienced cyclist, so I new to hammer my brake levers with caution. A less experienced cyclist probably would have hammered hard on the brakes which would have sent the bike into an uncontrollable skid. Once the bike is skidding uncontrollably, the options would be to either hit the car or fall to the ground. Usually falling is the best option, but I wouldn’t recommend it downtown where drivers are looking at their phones and might not even notice something lower than their grill. I’d hate to be run over after nearly hitting a car and crashing my head on the concrete. I’m not sure what I could have done here, other than stop at the green light.

If the bike lane didn’t exist, I would have been biking in the farthest left lane, which had sharrows before this lane was made last summer. Because I would have been biking with traffic, I would have been behind these turning vehicles and not next to them. I would have been safe. It is not intuitive for a car to make a left hand turn on a green light and have another vehicle in the way. I don’t blame the drivers here. Downtown driving is confusing. There is a lot going on and the drivers have to notice one tiny “no turn” sign at the light level. THis is the first intersection with a “no turn” sign after several others. I might have easily done the same thing. I don’t blame the drivers for this hazard. I blame poor traffic planning and poor road design.

This is why I am a cyclist who tend to vote against the cycling safety “improvements” pushed by the city. I am 100% for protected cycling lanes, but Seattle hasn’t figured out what those are. Seattle’s “solutions” are inconsistent across the city. THe city depends entirely on painted roads, cones, and signs. Maybe urban planners can absorb more data in traffic than I can. I’d rather a simpler road structure with fewer colors and signs.

Justice for Floyd

It's a small act of programming, but thank you for being on the side of humanity, Strava. Nicely done!

They decided to turn the routes black in the activity feed only:

Athletes for Equality Support for equality, and especially justice for George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, is at an all-time high in the Strava feed. We’re proud to see athletes standing up for what’s right. Starting this weekend, use these hashtags in your activity and we’ll add a special polyline to your workout to be sure it stands out in the feed: #equality #justice #justiceforfloyd #breonnataylor #irunwithmaud and more. Everyone in the Strava community – and beyond – deserves justice and equality. We’re more than happy to amplify the voices of those who are calling for it.

Speed Wobbles

Wintergreen Steve's speed wobble

I learned a new term today, “speed wobbles”. Just a few miles into a group ride (one of Cascade Bicycle Club’s free rides), a fellow rider pulled over with a mechanical. I asked the rider just behind him if he could tell what the mechanical was. Speed wobbles was the answer. I wouldn’t normally blog about something like this, I hear new terms all the time. But the term instantly grabbed my heart. Years ago on a Nordic Club bike trip, a felllow rider crashed in front of me. Amil’s bike wobbled back and fourth in front of me. I pedaled up to him and asked if he was ok. He said he was fine and the bike went back to normal. He pedaled faster than I expected, so I dropped back. Then his bike started wobbling again. What started out to be a tiny oscillation grew bigger and bigger until he was thrown off the bike. He slammed onto the road and rolled into the ditch. His bike flipped back, airborne. I swerved hard into the car lane to avoid it crashing down onto me. I had a split second to hope I wasn’t swerving into an oncoming car, but when something is flying at you every instinct makes you escape. It was an intense moment for me, but worse for Amil. He tore up his face, neck and shoulders. His jersey was but shreds. His bike needed some serious repair. He eventually went to the ER and suffered facial scarring he’ll have the rest of his life. We all struggled to figure out exactly what caused the crash. The cause is still unknown, but at least now I know what to call what happened to him, “speed wobbles”.

Drivers! Stop texting!

I approached the intersection at Bell and 5th avenue. One car sat behind a red light. A car parked along the street suddenly jutted it's front end out, so that it was partially in the lane. It didn't use a turn signal, but I guessed that it's goal was to get onto the street when the light turned green. I decided to be a nice citizen and let the car go in front of me, even though I was already next to it in the lane. It didn't matter, my next light will be red no matter how long it takes me to get through the intersection. I was in no rush. I positioned myself behind the car, which was a little weird since it was crooked, but I wanted to make clear I was letting it go first. The light turned green and the first car drove off. The crooked car didn't move. I waited. beat. wait. beat. wait. Well, maybe I totally misinterpreted the car and it was actually trying to park again or something. So, I slowly pedaled up to it's passenger window and peered in. The driver had her head buried into her phone. I guess she wasn't going after all. So, I proceeded forward to pass the car. The SECOND I got in front of the car she bolted and the car lurched forward. I swerved. It stopped. I leaned back and gave the driver the arms out, shoulder lifted, "What gives?" gesture, then went on my way. Granted, I was much closer to the car than I normally would have been, given that the car was half way in the lane and that I pulled up to look inside. I am CERTAIN the driver concluded that I was an asshole cyclist; she had a green light and I pulled in front of her! The nerve! I really hope that the light turned yellow before she got to go. That's my only hope for her to realize that she was the one in error. 

There's a Reason Cyclists Take the Center of the Lane Sometimes

A metro bus crowded me against a construction barricade the other day, brushing my arm with its side body. Bikes have to merge into one-lane traffic during a stretch of road where construction overlaps the bike lane. I take “merge with traffic” literally, assuming the center of the lane with my bike as though I were a car. Depending on the traffic load, sometimes cars have to wait behind me because I can’t get up to the 30 they like to go. Usually the traffic is heavy and we all go slowly through the construction. Some bikes speed by, weaving in and out of cars, but I stay safe and center. For some reason I hugged the side of the road the other day. I don’t know why I did that. Perhaps I was preoccupied with thoughts in my head. And that's when the bus brushed me. The rest of the day, the resultant rug burns on my elbow rubbed painfully against my clothing, a constant reminder of my idiocy. I felt completely at fault. Why didn’t I take the defensive center of the road position?

Then the burns scabbed over, lessening my pain and subsequent guilt. For the next several days, the tender bruising on my elbow completely changed my conscience. I have several bright lights on my bike. I wear reflective, bright clothing. I signaled my merge and rode at a consistent speed. The bus came up from behind and passed. The driver had no reason not to see me. As it approached, I slowed my speed, but it slowed as well. I was so sure it would veer left and give me more space. Instead, it veered closer to the construction barricade and blocked me in. The bus driver had every opportunity to see me, and every opportunity to give me space. Even if I wasn’t being defensive, I should have been safe. As the bus wall banged into my left arm, my bike involuntarily short to the right, making my front tire touch the construction barricade. Here, as I tried with all my might to keep my bike steady, the bus driver still had opportunity to veer left. Instead, it continued to narrow my passage. For a moment, while my elbow kept banging again and again along the bus wall and my wheel swerved madly, I was sure I’d fall. I didn’t fall, and I take full credit for that. Had I not had the practice of commuting 60 miles a week for the past 5 years, I may not have maintained control. If I were a new rider, that could have been my last ride. 

I’ll never know if the bus driver didn’t see me or was just being an ass. One thing I do know is that I will always take the center lane now when no shoulder is available. I also know that even if I am not riding perfectly defensively, others on the road share a responsibility to keep all of us safe.

I wish I could teleport all the drivers who honk at me and hate on me to that moment when I was sandwiched between bus and barricade, just for a moment. I am not trying to be “that” cyclist. I am not trying to hog the road and make life miserable for everyone else. I don’t have an agenda, I don’t have any snooty attitude. I am just trying to get to work. I think we all have a right to do that without having to wonder if we’ll ever make it in. 
 

PSA: Stay vigilant on the road; unseen hazards are all around!

Last weekend I rode with a large group on the east side of greater Seattle; Bellevue, Renton, Issaquah, and neighboring areas. Washington is often considered the friendliest state for cyclists to ride in. I generally agree. The city of Seattle is a city of passive and inattentive drivers, so while it is not a bad city to bike in, I don’t think it’s the best. Outside of Seattle, the roads and the behaviors immediately improve. I am impressed by how I can visibly see the friendliness increasing the farther I get out of town. You can imagine my surprise when a line of vehicles honked, yelled, and flipped off the string of us riders last weekend. We were riding on a wide, newer road with a wide shoulder and no bike lane. The weather was clear and dry. The cyclist in front of me switched gears as the incline switched grade, and his chain fell off. He recovered pretty quickly, and was able to get it back on track with his foot. I didn’t sway, but I did brake suddenly when he lost momentum. I couldn’t see the riders behind me, but they were all aware as they hollered, “Are you OK? Can you get your chain back on?” I have to wonder if the vehicles all honked at us because we were an unorganized mess at that moment (they drove past me less than a minute after the guy’s chain was back on). His whole ordeal lasted seconds, but it caused 10 people to brake and swerve and we all probably looked erratic from the viewpoint of a driver. Some of the riders behind me may have even swerved on to the road, I am not sure. This is the sort of incident that, had any of us been any less attentive or riding any more quickly or closely, could have been a disaster. Just one tire touching another could have meant the whole lot of us crashing. It’s probably more likely that the drivers just had some hate they had to get out of their system, and cyclists made a good outlet. But I wonder if that erratic ripple is what made them honk. I hope not. Often cars assume cyclists need to ride perfectly on the shoulder of a road, without ever changing their course. The shoulder of a road poses several hazards for cyclists that drivers probably never think of. Potholes, wet leaves, broken glass, roadkill, drainage grates, and parked cars are all roadside dangers to a cyclist. In this case, a mechanical issue is another invisible danger that could put a cyclist’s head under a car tire in seconds. We were all riding the safest we possibly could, but some hazards are out of our control. This is my reminder for all travelers to stay ever vigilant on the road, as something might happen to the person next to you that is undetectable yet completely uncontrollable. 

pulling over to talk on the cell phone

To those of you who pull over in your car to talk on your cell phone, I commend you! Thank you for making a responsible choice. Driving is the most life-threatening thing most people ever do, so it means a lot when you give your caller your focused attention.  However, there are ways to be even safer, which I’ll highlight below:

1.  If possible, choose a parking spot to pull over in. You won’t have to pay if you sit in the car and are just there for a few moments. Please make this choice especially if there is an empty parking lot less than a car length away from you. Please, please make this choice if there is an empty parking lot and open street side parking on the same block you want to stop.
2. If there is no available parking spots and no shoulder, it may be better to wait to answer the call until you find such space. If you must stop you vehicle in the middle of the street, please turn on your hazard lights. If you can’t turn on your hazard lights for some reason, at least turn on your headlights. 
3. A bike lane is part of the street. Conditioned cyclists can ride 25-30 mph, the same pace as cars in city and residential streets, so a bike lane is very much a part of the street. Think of it the way you would think of a carpool lane; part of the road but not intended for everyone. Go ahead and use it in the event of an emergency, that’s cool, but if it’s not an emergency, you may be causing more danger than you are fixing. 

I encountered this situation as I was riding into work. The morning was dark, wet, and rainy. I heard the tiny “ding ding ding” of a bike bell long before I saw it. As I strained my ears to figure the source of this patient, yet persistent “ding ding ding”, I saw in front of me a large SUV parked in the bike lane and a cyclist stopped behind it dinging their bell. “YOU WANT ME TO HONK MY HORN?” I yell at the top of my lungs as I approach. The SUV obviously didn’t hear his persistent “ding ding ding”

“AAAAAWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN”

I laid on my air horn and it was fully charged. A loud blaring honk jolts the driver, causing them to point their finger angrily. Neither me nor the quiet cyclist could tell what he was pointing at. He obviously heard my honk and he obviously wasn’t moving. Because the SUV was wedge in the bike lane between the curb and a parking lane bump out, we had to get off our bikes and walk into traffic to get past him. Sometimes I see delivery trucks or whoever using the bike lane as loading zone, which I am completely OK with when there are no other options. It’s obvious the driver is making the safest choice in their given situation. However, most of the time there is a perfectly good shoulder or parking spot just a few feet away. In this particular case, this SUV couldn’t have picked a worse spot to pull over. As we passed we could see he was on the phone. The person on the other end probably heard my air horn, too. The cyclist was amazed by the OOMPH of the air horn. I told him it was effective on "green light texters" as well.

The SUV was parked inside of a protected lane, like the one above, so there was no way for a cyclist to pass without hopping a curb. photo credit: http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/it-turns-out-that-protected-bike-lanes-are-fantastic-for-walking-safety-too

I often hear that the shoulders and street side parking of many roads were eliminated so bike lanes could be added. This pisses people off, and I sometimes wonder if people park in bike lanes out of spite. To that end, I have a few points to add:

• Adding bike lanes allows more people to ride their bikes, meaning fewer people on the road, meaning car drivers can get where they are going faster and with less traffic!
• If there was not a bike lane, people like myself would still be biking. Except we’d be on the road. Slowing you down!
• That doesn’t mean I agree with the City’s decision to add bike lanes at the cost of parking. I don’t. But the City didn’t listen to me. It doesn’t help you to take it out on the cyclists. If your neighbor comes over and drops a big bowl of dog food on your floor and your dog eats all of it, you’d take this up with the neighbor. You can’t blame your dog for eating the food, that’s what dogs do. You can’t blame the cyclists for using the bike lanes, that’s what they do. Would you rather the alternative? 

Traffic light triggers for bikes

when I first moved to Seattle, only a few intersections had sensors for bikes to trigger light changes. Often I'd have to waddle over to a crosswalk and press the pedestrian crossing button, or just wait for a car to come up behind me. Then I started noticing these little "T" shaped markings all over the place. I have no idea if I just didn't notice them at first or if they were installed in the last few years. 

The key is to get your tire over the "T". If your tire is merely near the " T" the light will not change in your favor.  

Some markings are big, some are small, but I see them at nearly every intersection with lights affected by sensors.  

What surprises me is how many cyclists I pedal up to who don't use the sensors. Even a Cascade Bicycle ride leader didn't know about the "T". They either sit, waiting for the light to turn on it's own, or hobble over to the pedestrian crosswalk. I've heard some cyclists think they could be anywhere over the car sensor to trigger it and I've heard some say they were too light (I'm pretty sure it's a magnet, people, not a scale) or that their bike was such a fancy compost that the magnet didn't respond. I am fully convinced it's all about having your tire RIGHT over the "T" as pictured in the photos. 

I, for one, am thanksgiving thankful for these sensors. My commute is better since their installation. Thank you, Seattle!

Protected lefts are still not safe

The other day, during evening rush hour, I made a left-hand turn on a 5-lane intersection. I waited in the left-hand turn lane until I had a protected turn with a green arrow. Sometimes this intersection is busy, sometimes not. Just as I was completing the turn, a car facing me in the opposite oncoming lane decides to turn right. There is nothing against a car turning right when the light is red. However, it’s typically most accepted to do when the intersection is clear. While still dangerous in a car, this sort of thing is especially unnerving on a bike for a few reasons. First, I essentially have 6 lanes of traffic to cross before my light turns red. Traffic lights are timed for easy-to-accelerate cars, and a cyclist with fully loaded panniers starting up from a dead stop need to generate as much momentum as possible to have the speed to cross in time. It’s a law of physics. By the time I reach the end of the intersection, I am pedaling as fast and hard as I possibly can. I was also turning onto an uphill road (Stone Way), another count against a cyclist’s speed. When the car turned in front of me, I had no choice but to brake as the speed at which he accelerated made it clear he was not going to yield to my right of way. I doubt this driver has ever tried to put on the brakes while turning a bike. Braking on a bike when going at full speed while in the peak of a turn is not a good idea. I’ve never lost ground, but it feels like the wheel will just skid out from underneath you and you end up landing on your side. Hard braking is just not an option. I had to straighten my turn while braking. As my rear tire fishtails across the pavement, my front time comes within inches of ramming into the car’s bumper. My angle was such that I was able to change direction and turn to the inside of him rather than stop. Had he decided to brake at all I would have hit him.  As I watched my wheel approach his bumper, I pumped my brakes harder, skidded further, and gasped a little. Luckily nothing happened. A few feet ahead we both had a red light (all his rushing was for nothing; the cars turning with me, in front and behind me, all had to wait at this light). As I approached and passed him, he didn’t appear to have any idea I existed, much less just saw my life pass before my eyes due to his actions. 

The picture above depicts my fear, what really happened was that when he accelerated, I braked and the bumper I nearly hit was the opposite (passenger side) rear bumper. While the above collision would probably have been the most damaging to my skull, we could have collided in many other ways that still would have been a bummer on my part. These are the things you ponder while pedaling in the city.