The Good, the Bad, and the Good and the Bad

Interesting commute this morning. I got to witness good and bad in two ways.

Situation One: On my way down Dodridge Road and passing by the OSU Wetlands Research Station, I had a driver slow down to turn into it. And stop completely. I stopped behind her, wondering what the hell was going on, naturally. She (I think it was a lady) then waved me to go past her.

The good: she was obviously trying to be bike-friendly.

The bad: huh? Folks, if you really want to be bike friendly, just turn. I wasn't so close behind her that I was going to ram her or anything. Also, if you interrupt the normal flow of traffic to accommodate bikes, you create dangerous situations where other drivers, including the cyclists you're trying to help, don't know what to do or why you're acting a certain way. And you can also create situations where you upset other drivers by trying to be TOO nice to bikes.

Situation Two: I got to work, and pulled up to where I'm normally the only bike in residence. SURPRISE! I was totally unable to park my bike in the rack because it was full!

The good: more people are biking to work!

The bad: I had to lock my bike to a post. Luckily it was still under cover.

Time to send off an email to facilities and see if we can't get a second rack out there!

Comments

  1. Hey I just found your blog and I love what you're doing. I've been fighting a bike lane battle in Upper Arlington lately and could use your help getting the word out. I'm a daily commuter (for about 3 years now) and I'm probably one of the few who is looking forward to the snowy days over these humid days but hey, I'm from the great white north so what can I say?

    I linked up some info about your site and the SFPD video you found, it's cheesy but great. Here's info about what's happening in UA.

    http://elephantsonbicycles.teenymouse.com/?p=89

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  2. Interesting stuff from UA. Good for you for being so proactive on getting bike lanes put in for Upper Arlington. It sounds like the need for the lanes simply wasn't getting forwarded up to the city council or that they were ignoring it, thinking it was just the desire of a few individuals.

    I'm concerned a bit by the format that they are looking toward using for the lanes. Having the lanes right next to the lines of parking is just asking for people to get doored a lot. But any progress is good, as they say.

    Interesting comments about COBAC - I've tried to contact them several times and never have I gotten a response. I've pretty much given up on them as a force for proper bicycling in Columbus.

    Try looking at the Consider Biking link to the right on my blog - it's a new group but it might be a little more active on your behalf.

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  3. Just found your blog and THANKS for putting this out there. I'm seriously looking into riding again to work.

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  4. Re: case 1 - I'd like to append to that irritant the car drivers who think they're doing me a favor/paying me respect by matching my speed and driving behind me by about 10-20 feet. I understand (and appreciate) that perhaps they don't want to blow by me at 45 MPH and clip my elbow with their mirror, but on the other hand its no picnic worrying that if I somehow slip and fall into the lane that I'm guaranteed to be run over. Pass me as reasonably as possible and we'll both be much happier.

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  5. Tom - hope you get back out there! It's a pretty good environment for it, and the more people doing it the more impetus City Hall will have to make changes in our favor.

    Matt - I hate that, too. I've found, though, that if you just give them the old "pass me" wave, they generally do.

    On a similar note, though, I've mentioned before how much I hate when my bike doesn't have enough metal to set off the detectors at traffic lights, and I hate it even more when I'm sitting on one and a car pulls up behind me, but so far back that it doesn't set off the detector either! So we both sit there, waiting for the light to change, until I basically have to run it and look like a tool for being impatient. Sigh...

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