Think of this as a Missed Connection.

You blew the red light east bound on Lawrence at Damen at 5:26 pm this evening.

 

There was enough time for the biker in front of me to make it half way into the intersection, northbound on Damen, before you came whizzing past my front wheel.

 

I yelled "You're an idiot!" at your big haired chick, self, and you looked back at me. I meant it!

 

I woulda testified for any of the cars, that managed to not kill you, if they had.

 

Keep riding like a tard!

love,

gabe

 

Witness bad behavior during your commute? Feel free to post. Maybe that lovely human can read it and think they are famous. Maybe you can also inspire the whole generation of kids to shower but we can start with small things.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jamais716 on October 15, 2012 at 4:28pm

To the car that ran a red light on Canal at Adams at 9pm- I'm very glad my new bike came with disc brakes and extra spidey senses.  Your light had been red for at least 30 seconds and we were both approaching our respective crosswalks at about the same speed.  If I hadn't noticed that you did not seem to be stopping at yours, I would have been plastered across your hood and very angry that you broke my new bike.  Please get both your vision and hearing checked since you didn't even slow as the bright flashing light on my bike stopped 2 feet from your car and I screamed at you.

That was my first close call in 5 years of commuting to the loop.  I really am happy about my disc brakes because I don't know if the brakes on my old bike would've stopped in time.

Permalink Reply by Vilda on October 16, 2012 at 1:56am

Glad you are ok.

Permalink Reply by Tim S on October 16, 2012 at 2:33am

To the young lady heading N on Damen in a white Sentra through the construction zone north of D/N/M where there is enough space for two cars to pass N and S safely but not much else... WTH were you thinking as I was riding my bike, at the speed of traffic, 15-20 feet off the car in front of me when you pulled up on my quarter then barely passed me to fill the gap between me and the car in front. Were you demonstrating that Mother Nature abhors a vacuum or are you just that dimwitted to not notice I was going with the flow. Happy you had your sunroof open so I was able to convey the thrilled feeling I had when you crowded me into the gutter, to bad you were unable to actually look me in the eye.

FWIW I was actually quite polite, far more than I should have been considering the offense.

Short follow up shout out to the Silver Jeep MI Plate "XY" that passed me 3x on Augusta way closer than 3 feet. Not sure what the law is in MI but in IL you need to give me room.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 16, 2012 at 3:11am

I'm glad that you and your new bike survived that close encounter intact.  Disc brakes saved me from a close call recently.  Not ending up as a hood ornament is a beautiful thing.

Jamais716 said:

To the car that ran a red light on Canal at Adams at 9pm- I'm very glad my new bike came with disc brakes and extra spidey senses.  Your light had been red for at least 30 seconds and we were both approaching our respective crosswalks at about the same speed.  If I hadn't noticed that you did not seem to be stopping at yours, I would have been plastered across your hood and very angry that you broke my new bike.  Please get both your vision and hearing checked since you didn't even slow as the bright flashing light on my bike stopped 2 feet from your car and I screamed at you.

That was my first close call in 5 years of commuting to the loop.  I really am happy about my disc brakes because I don't know if the brakes on my old bike would've stopped in time.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 16, 2012 at 9:54am

It wasn't at all clear what you were responding to, so there wasn't much context to put your words in.  No intention to misinterpret here.  Sometimes it's helpful to give a point of reference if one's comment is so far removed from the original post.  It helps avoid misunderstandings.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on October 16, 2012 at 10:10am

Hannah

Now that I know what you were referring to I disagree.  We do have a right.  No question there are plenty of times when it makes much more sense to keep our opinions to ourselves.  Restraint is a seldom used skill. Nonetheless, on the road we are not individuals. We are specks on the cosmic Rube Goldberg cartoon operating in concert with a greater whole.  One seemingly individual move may have profound effects one somebody or something up or downstream (or road).  Thus, when somebody, whether they be a pedestrian, a driver, a cyclist, a blader, or a dog walker, does something as foolish as that which was observed by Gabe in the original post, they are fair game.  I don't have a problem with somebody committing suicide. That is their choice. However, if their method of doing so potentially puts the rest of us at risk I have a huge problem.  There was a sad young lady who tried to kill herself in the suburbs a few years ago.  She tried to do so with a car and took the lives of three others. She lived.

I agree that our ire should be save for the truly suicidal or reckless actions.  Perhaps its a judgement call as to where that line may rest.  If you are close to that line and I am on the same street, you might hear some raw language coming from me.  Hopefully, my language will be less salty and I will find the teaching moment rather than the reacting one.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on October 16, 2012 at 10:36am

For those that do not know what David and Anne are referring to, here is a Wikipedia page for Jeannete Sliwinski who took the life of 3 innocent bystanders while attempting to commit suicide.

Anne Alt said:

Well said, Dave.  That Morton Grove suicide attempt/vehicular homicide was horrible, and I'll never forget it.

I like your "specks on a cosmic Rube Goldberg cartoon" image - very fitting with the Morton Grove tragedy.  Most of the time, we don't have the luxury of riding/walking/driving in isolation.  What we do does affect other people.  Sometimes when we are just bystanders, we see some horrendous things that cause other categories of road users (such as drivers) to stereotype our category of road users (cyclists or peds).  This may make them think they have justification to hate all of us, even if we as individuals have done nothing to deserve that hate.

"I agree that our ire should be save for the truly suicidal or reckless actions."  Agreed.  On the road, I make a conscious effort to avoid yelling at people unless they've done something that could cause a crash or is potentially life threatening.

Off the road, in a context like this discussion thread, being able to vent among our peers can help us to blow off steam so we can keep things more civilized on the road - or at least that's how it's been working for me.

Permalink Reply by Michelle Gregorek on October 16, 2012 at 2:42pm

What the heck was all that????  Maybe all comments, this one included, that the troll Hannah caused could be removed?  Why mess up a really nice thread.

Permalink Reply by Chris Hainey on October 16, 2012 at 4:37pm

Hannah Rose, you truly are a missed connection.

Permalink Reply by Tim S on October 17, 2012 at 2:06am

Maybe others should do the same... what a waste of time. I like this thread and dislike it when it goes off all tangent like.

Deposit a story and go.

Gabe said:

Troll has removed troll posts so I'll take down mine.

Permalink Reply by Joon Kim on October 17, 2012 at 2:50pm

Gabe, sorry to get off topic and run your red light.  I'm rather new around here and wasn't aware of the rules, unspoken or otherwise.  I'll be sure to stick to the topic from now on.  Peace.  :)


Gabe said:

Joon, did we take a time machine back to the time of I Don't Give a Shit? You wanna debate use a different thread. This thread is clearly about Missed Connections. You only Missed the Point. :-)



Joon Kim said:

Have to disagree Gabe.  I cycle to work on Lincoln from Lawrence to downtown almost every day.  I would say less than 10 percent of bikers follow traffic rules, and I'm not just talking about rolling through stop signs.  The majority of cyclists blow through red lights, even when there is clearly traffic present.  I think cyclists in the US have to change their attitude toward traffic laws if we're going to continue to increase cycling and cycling infrastructure.  The problem is not just with 'bad cyclists'.  The problem is ingrained in our cycling culture which defends, denies and excuses unsafe riding practices.  Cycling in Europe is a completely different experience and everyone is expected to follow the rules.  There are even cycle specific traffic lights.  One of the biggest ironies is that unlike in Europe, almost everyone here wears helmets.  Just wish more members of the cycling community would use the head they're protecting a bit more.

Gabe said:

Registration comes all the time and always has but implementation and enforcement would be cost prohibitive and impossible. i have 3 bikes right now. Register all? 1 plate for all 3? and when the bike gets stolen should i expect CPD to look for it like they would a car?

More fun to just howl at the moon, or in this case, bad cyclists. (ps on 848 on NPR they had a mini-bike sumit and some random asshead caller said 70-80% of all bikers break traffic laws. 20-30% obey. with no logical or noted back up. so all the people that saw the 3 bad riders we noted will remember them ridin like idiots and not us stopping.) yay!
Permalink Reply by Eric R on October 18, 2012 at 10:52am

(Second-hand missed connection.)

Setting

You: Male, mid-forties, maybe a mustache, wearing a black and red jacket AND riding against traffic on Wabansia near Wood (heading west in east bound lane) this AM.

My GF: Expected you to move - you didn't, instead you stopped - so she had to pass between you and parked cars putting her in the door-zone. THE DOOR ZONE!

Conversation

You: "Turd!"

My GF: "Excuse me?"

You: In a manner of a sniveling, mocking brat "Excuse me?"

Really? Is that your standard M.O.? I almost want to say that the worst of the worst is a cyclist that puts another cyclist in the door-zone, even if it is a quiet side street but I don't want to be mean. Is there a term to more easily describe/ identify these people? Argh!

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