Nasty bike on bike crash on LFP near 31st this morning

Biking north into work this morning I observed a racer dude and a guy on a mountain bike plow into each other. The mountain bike guy was heading south and the racer dude was going north. They both basically turned right into each other. Why neither one could get on their brakes is beyond me. The racer guy was on a TT type of bike and even had on a one of those TT teardrop style helmets. I suspect he was on his aerobars and was haulin' ass and didn't want to slow down. They both got up yelling at each other about one guy keeping on coming towards the other while the other guy was yelling about the other one turning in towards him. This incident occurred right where the path splits south of 31st, right near the basketball court. For some reason, the path splits there and the more western branch is labeled "Bike Only" with both signs and painted icons on the pavement while the essentially straight, northbound lane is now marked "No Bikes" with actual painted words on the pavement spanning the entire path. The dumb thing, is that the north end of this area of the LFP where the two paths merge back together (just a hair south of the new underpass at 31st), there is no painted markings telling bikes that they have to veer right onto the more western path when heading south. Apparently the guy on the mountain bike was headed south on the "No Bikes" path and TT-guy was heading north, intentionally disregarding the "No Bikes" markings. The guy on the mtb was swerving to his left thinking TT-guy was going to veer west onto the "Bikes Only" path. Neither one gave ground or speed and thus a collision. An ambulance was called for TT-guy who was rolling around on the ground rubbing his lower back and moaning a lot. Mountain bike guy seemed to be fine. I see several things that should be discussed about this situation.

1. TT-guy needed to slow down. There are too damn many people out on the path going balls out at 25+ mph, many of them on aero bars. The path, even in the morning at 7:20 AM is TOO CONGESTED to be going all out on a training ride. Ride fast and reckless like a dick and crap like this bike crash happens.

2. What the hell is up with this absurd "Bikes Only", "No Bikes" crap? I can understand where someone might have thought it was a good idea to segregate these two stretches of the path to maybe keep the pedestrians away from bikers and vice versa, but I can tell you it doesn't matter. There are plenty of bikers on the path they're not supposed to be on, and just as many peds as ever on the path that they apparently are not supposed to be on. Also, if the essentially more straight path, the eastern-most one, is supposed to be "No Bikes" why the hell isn't that painted on the northern edge so southbound cyclists will divert to the western-most path? Finally, why is there even this segregation of this part of the path? The little "Bikes Only" section is so short it's practically pointless not to mention it's a major access point for the skate park and the basketball court.

3. Final point - bike defensively. I'm always on my brake hoods when other bikes or peds are around and my head is on a swivel. I constantly anticipate that some other cyclist or ped is going to do something stupid so I don't ride balls-out when I'm around other people. I only open up and really increase my speed when I've got plenty of distance to react to anyone up ahead of me or when the path is more or less clear sailing ahead. How many times have we seen a thread this year regarding the aftermath of some collision between a high speed cyclist and a pedestrian or other cyclist? If you want to ride balls-out, take it easy until you get to Northerly Island and then do intervals 'til your little heart's content. Keep your high speed jackassery off the LFP when you're around other people.

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Permalink Reply by Michael A on June 30, 2012 at 2:35am

While it may seem silly to you the only way to get better is to practice, and to do so with the equipment you will be racing with. Race day is not the time to be trying out equipment you are not familiar with.

I do not think the LFP is the best option to train for a triathlon,to use aero bars, or to wear a sight limiting helmet. For some it is the only option other then an indoor trainer.

If it makes you feel better about yourself to laugh at somebody who is training for a triathlon go right ahead.

Permalink Reply by Vondo on June 30, 2012 at 3:17am
I personally wouldn't care if someone was wearing a full kit, TT helmet and riding a $10K carbon fiber Cervelo or whatever, as long as they kept their speed down around 15mph, slower than that even, in certain sections. Its certain riders' habit of going too fast for the conditions on the lfp that bugs me, not what they wear. There's dudes in tight jeans and flannel shirts that go too fast on brakeless fired gears too, which is just as ridiculous.
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 30, 2012 at 3:25am

I'll take a spandex clad Fred over a brakeless hipster day.

Michael A is right, in this whole accident situation the fact that the rider looked like astereotypical racer has nothing to do with the actual accident; poor decisions and bike handling on both sides of the accident caused it.

Permalink Reply by Matt Talbert on June 30, 2012 at 3:45am

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, however, I think it would be nice to have two separate paths: one for pedestrians/joggers and the other for bikes. This is how they roll in Minneapolis and it works great. However, this would not be possible on the lakefront path in Chicago, at least through certain stretches. The worst part of the path where this is not physically possible from Fullerton all the way to Ohio where the beaches are. Granted, there are a few idiots that purposely stand in the middle of the path and know exactly what they are doing. However, there are many space heads that don't even realize they are on the a path for both pedestrians and bikes. Better signage COULD help. However, do we really listen to the "Please Dismount" sign at the Shed Aquarium. Granted I'll slow down when I see bottle necks, but sadly, those who prioritize speed over safety won't listen.

To your point though, those racers NEED to slow down. I will sometimes take my racing road bike out there, but I at least will be courteous enough to realize that my top speed is less important than safety. I try to keep my fast road bike to the North Shore Channel and North Branch. I will more often bring my hybrid out to the LFP, which will keep me at a safer speed and does not have pedals that will clip my feet on.

Permalink Reply by Adam Kitzmann on June 30, 2012 at 7:22am

Exactly. If you can't handle your shit and don't know how to use common sense on the path stay the fuck off it. Sometimes I think the streets are way safer. Too many people get way to aggressive on the LFP regardless of what they ride. Now let's all stop hating on fellow cyclist and start hating on the people who really deserve it, FUCKING ROLLERBLADERS!

Vondo said:

I personally wouldn't care if someone was wearing a full kit, TT helmet and riding a $10K carbon fiber Cervelo or whatever, as long as they kept their speed down around 15mph, slower than that even, in certain sections. Its certain riders' habit of going too fast for the conditions on the lfp that bugs me, not what they wear. There's dudes in tight jeans and flannel shirts that go too fast on brakeless fired gears too, which is just as ridiculous.
Permalink Reply by Joe Studer 8.0 mi on June 30, 2012 at 11:38am

There has been talk of putting in some kind of separated bike lane south of where this accident happened.  I was thinking that this current split was a lead-in to the creation of those separated lanes.

I'm curious how this separated bike lane idea will play out.  At this current split, the signage from the north is horrible.  Cyclists coming from the south, where the signage is actually OK, seem to routinely disregard the NO BIKES signage.  And I see pedestrians on the bike portion of the split path all the time. 

Granted, this split is basically a brand new situation.  So maybe people will eventually adjust.  I guess we'll see. 

I am still looking forward to the promised "bike only" lanes that have been discussed for furher south on the LFP.

 
Matthew Talbert said:

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, however, I think it would be nice to have two separate paths: one for pedestrians/joggers and the other for bikes.

Permalink Reply by Joe Schmoe on June 30, 2012 at 11:50am

@Dug: "spandex clad Fred" = oxymoron.  Isn't a Fred someone who bikes in street clothes?  I like to consider myself the king of the Freds, that's why I ask. Anyway, I personally think that 7:20 AM is ok for a TT run.  You have to be careful still, and I'd like to see some of the tri-guys slow down a bit in certain spots, but I've also never been almost hit by a tri-guy burning an intersection on a city street either.  Dickery takes all kinds.   

 

The "bikes only" bit will never work in Chicago, unless you post security guards.  Waste of time.  Too many people completely ignore posted rules, somewhat on purpose. What we need is a double-wide path, with TONS of "pedestrians keep right" signs.  That might have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding. 

Permalink Reply by Gerry G on June 30, 2012 at 4:21pm

Traumatic LFP accident, 8:00 A.M. hour, South of Addison.  It was similar to driving by a car collision on a two lane highway.  Heading Southbound, people were attending to a person on the East side of the path, 15' away from the path.  125' or more South, a person was being attended to on the West side of the path.  This person took a head shot.  Direct pressure was being applied to his forehead?  Copious amounts of blood pooled on the LFP.  I do hope these people completely recover .  They looked like they were being  attended to.  

 

    

Permalink Reply by Martin Hazard on June 30, 2012 at 4:59pm

There is a "please dismount" sign by the Shed'? I must have been too bussy dodging peds to see it...

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on July 2, 2012 at 5:20am
I agree with kiltedcelt. A MUP has too many different users on it during peak hours to be a sensible training spot. Multi-use might mean everyone has equal right to be out there, but if you can't see that morning rush hour is not the right time to get out and go completely balls out there's something wrong with you.

If you've got the discipline to train that hard I salute you. But you should also have the discipline to get up an hour earlier and train when traffic isn't so heavy. 8 AM isn't the time to pretend it's the tour.
Permalink Reply by Katie on July 2, 2012 at 6:45am

I ride my TT on my training in my apt because it is too damn hard to find someplace to sustain speeds without worrying about crashing.  I can't possibly imagine taking my TT out on the LFP. 

Permalink Reply by Leah Jone on July 2, 2012 at 7:21am

I recently went riding in Vancouver and the seawall has pedestrians and cyclists separated and it was great.

Matthew Talbert said:

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, however, I think it would be nice to have two separate paths: one for pedestrians/joggers and the other for bikes. This is how they roll in Minneapolis and it works great. However, this would not be possible on the lakefront path in Chicago, at least through certain stretches. The worst part of the path where this is not physically possible from Fullerton all the way to Ohio where the beaches are. Granted, there are a few idiots that purposely stand in the middle of the path and know exactly what they are doing. However, there are many space heads that don't even realize they are on the a path for both pedestrians and bikes. Better signage COULD help. However, do we really listen to the "Please Dismount" sign at the Shed Aquarium. Granted I'll slow down when I see bottle necks, but sadly, those who prioritize speed over safety won't listen.

To your point though, those racers NEED to slow down. I will sometimes take my racing road bike out there, but I at least will be courteous enough to realize that my top speed is less important than safety. I try to keep my fast road bike to the North Shore Channel and North Branch. I will more often bring my hybrid out to the LFP, which will keep me at a safer speed and does not have pedals that will clip my feet on.

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