Revenge of the Wrong Way Riders

Good grief. The riders were out in droves today.

I'm seeing people I've never seen before, and at the beginning of July 2007, I started ditching the bus full-time. I've been riding as many round trips by bike as I can possibly handle for just over a year now. The people I'm seeing are almost certainly neophytes to bike commuting. They're distinctly a different breed from your typical crowd that's just out for some pre-work exercise. Almost all of them are in plain clothes wearing backpacks, carrying things from their handlebars in plastic sacks or have items bungeed to their racks. This is not your average roadie/fitness freak crowd.

This morning, most of them were on the sidewalk and/or riding against traffic. This one was riding in the oncoming gutter even though there was a sidewalk. Not more than 50 feet in front of him is an oncoming right-turner, directly in his path. He cut right in front of that car to ride in the right-side gutter, almost getting creamed in the process. After the car had passed, he wove back across into the oncoming gutter. Sigh.


I know why this is. It's because as kids, many of us were taught to ride against traffic to see cars. You see, we also didn't have helmets when we were kids. Those were for racers only. I don't think you could even buy "commodity" helmets in child sizes when I was learning how to ride. Of course, when I was growing up, riding in the back of a pickup truck on the way to baseball practice was a fun summer treat, and we could stray as far away from home as we desired, provided we were home in time for dinner -- both of which will get you labeled as a "child endanger-er" these days. Also, runners often jog against traffic. I don't mind this too much as long as they get out of the way when vehicles are on approach. Bicycles, however, are less maneuverable when it comes to hopping up onto the sidewalk from just anywhere.

Someone is going to get hurt or killed if these guys don't get schooled. Sidewalks are okay tools to use in certain situations. If you want to get around a wreck or a traffic jam without the risk of filtering, riding against traffic in the passing lane or lane splitting, the sidewalk is a great option, if not the safest.

A good number of them were out in the road against traffic, running red lights, cutting off cars and just being stupid, like this guy. Other cars were crossing legally, and he just passed right on through without a care in the world. The sidewalk end a block up the road and he'll ride against traffic on Quivira. I see him occasionally and have often said "it's safer if you ride on the other side of the road with southbound traffic" but he doesn't care.


While all of this unfolded (the above two offenders were merely 30 second apart), I waited for Karen at 79th. It's hard to see, but it was a balmy 76°F with 84% Relative Humidity. Some forecasters are calling for highs in the mid-90s this afternoon! Ye guads.


Stuck waiting for the train.


This wrong-way rider passes in front of the Office of the Mexican Consulate (Mexican Embassy?) on Baltimore. I suppose he gets bonus points for riding through the parking spaces along the road?


Tree Carnage! Not sure when this happened, but we've had some pretty powerful storms the past few weeks.


Other than yelling "the other side is safer!" and leading change by example, I'm really not sure what else to do. I did pass one wrong-way rider last week who was going the same was as me, and then changed lanes to get behind me. I suppose that's score one for the good guys?

Random Tunage:
Steve Winwood - Finer Things
Crystal Method - Busy Child