The Chainlink

Passive aggressiveness-let me know how i did!

So today on my ride to work i was almost run down by a 2010 mercedes that gave me about six inches while he passed me in the same lane on sheridan (no shared marking or bike lane)

He then proceeded to turn into the same parking lot i was heading into and the thought crossed my mind to let him know in a friendly manner that he should give a cyclist 3 feet when passing. )I have heard rumblings that the 3 ft passing law exists here so correct me if I am incorrect) But anyways I let it go and rode on to work.

About 30 minutes later I get a request from one of the graduate students in the lab that I need to call parking services to have a car towed because a family has come to participate in an experiment and they have no where to park. (I manage a developmental and adult cognition lab at northwestern) So i give them a ring, tell them the plates and they respond that they CANNOT tow the car because the individual is a trustee of the university. My initial reaction was to kick his side mirror off and after that i have provided a visual progression...



and finally



So considering these guys must wield some kind of power around here to be able to literally park *wherever* they want, I felt like the message was tempered but crisp. I am interested to know the cyclist point of view. Too much, not enough?


btw he drives the same car that douche hit and run guy from colorado drives, do they do mercedes on bike stats?

 
he is second from the bottom....

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on November 12, 2010 at 1:32pm
Yes, Sheridan along the Northwestern campus can be quite hazardous. When I was in school there, a few people were injured or killed by hit and run drivers there.

I spent a bit of time checking out Evanston's bike laws online after posting earlier. It appears that the information in the Northwestern memo is quite out of date. The only current street restriction for bikes is the one we're all familiar with: Ridge from Howard to Emerson.

Evanston has added a LOT of signed bike routes and striped bike lanes in the last few years as part of their bike plan. Conditions there are much better for bikes than they were 30 years ago.

mike w. said:
Yeah. But only for a mile or so in Evanston.

Actually, for pretty good reasons- such as the unobeyed speed limits along the narrow stretch of Sheridan along the NWU campus, plus large numbers of Northwestern students who just step out without a look... just jump over a block or two west to Sherman or Orrington.

Also, i believe the street restrictions listed in the memo are a bit dated. i think Sheridan is okay north of Central st., about 2-3 blocks south of Isabella. Also, IIRC Main street is open to bikes altogether, unless of course they've changed that since i lived near there and used Main daily.

Evanston in fact used to have quite a few more restricted streets in years past, but most of them were taken off the list about 30 years ago.



Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
WTF? So it's actually illegal to take Sheridan all the way up to Tower?
jamimaria said:

Bicycle riding is, however, prohibited on the following streets:

• Sheridan Road, between Chicago Avenue and Isabella Street

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on November 12, 2010 at 1:56pm
If I ever make it up that way, I'll go spit on his rear view mirrors.

Duppie said:
I don't think he is the 573rd richest man in the world. Rather Republic Services is listed as #573 in the Fortune Global 2000.
Besides, if that is him, he has a bigger problem than being rich. He is 79. He should no longer be driving

garrett said:
Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on November 12, 2010 at 9:16pm
A note isn't too passive/aggressive but more direct/polite. In any event keep up the good work.

My story for the day is... guy stops in front of me may park, then pulls out stops puts on left signal, then turns right and puts on signal AS turning then stops! Got a big bang on the side of the car from me as he looks like OMG why is this crazy biker hitting my car? I'm only lost and talking on my phone not paying attention.
Permalink Reply by Mark Kenseth on November 12, 2010 at 9:49pm
i have the same Audi theory. Audi's, Mercedes, a BMW, some Mustang's. It's amazing the percentage of times it is one of these types of cars.

i like the third note. and bring it up the board/university.

jamimaria said:
I agree with Ryan that Audis are horrible. Probably half of the cars that nearly kill me are Audi's. Almost any luxury SUV is horrible. I know that many of them have proximity sensors and likely some drivers rely upon that way, way too much.

Also, note the guy's parking job.

Permalink Reply by Megan S. on November 13, 2010 at 12:06am
Oh man, can I please go off about the jaywalking students? The first batch will look RIGHT AT ME when I'm riding and cross into the road. Then, the kids behind them will notice that the kids in front of them are walking, and will step into the road. Suddenly, the crosswalk (on my fabulous green light) is littered with students looking at the ground, checking their ipod, texting... I need an airhorn. My crazy yelling just isn't getting through to them. And I know they're smart boogers too - I've been their T.A. in classes here, I mentor some w/ research, but GEEZ! This is the best example of book smarts versus street smarts I've ever seen.

And instead of NU and/or Evanston police banning me from that stretch of road, they really should take care of the actual problem and hire crossing guards for every dang crosswalk up Sheridan by NU.

Oh, and ticketing errant Mercedes would be nice too. :)




mike w. said:
Yeah. But only for a mile or so in Evanston.

Actually, for pretty good reasons- such as the unobeyed speed limits along the narrow stretch of Sheridan along the NWU campus, plus large numbers of Northwestern students who just step out without a look... just jump over a block or two west to Sherman or Orrington.

Permalink Reply by dav on November 14, 2010 at 8:08am
Perfect, except it should have started with "Dear Dickhead,".
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on November 14, 2010 at 9:32am
Sounds like that's gotten a lot worse than it was when I was in school. Sorry to hear it.

Megan S. said:
Oh man, can I please go off about the jaywalking students? The first batch will look RIGHT AT ME when I'm riding and cross into the road. Then, the kids behind them will notice that the kids in front of them are walking, and will step into the road. Suddenly, the crosswalk (on my fabulous green light) is littered with students looking at the ground, checking their ipod, texting... I need an airhorn. My crazy yelling just isn't getting through to them. And I know they're smart boogers too - I've been their T.A. in classes here, I mentor some w/ research, but GEEZ! This is the best example of book smarts versus street smarts I've ever seen.

And instead of NU and/or Evanston police banning me from that stretch of road, they really should take care of the actual problem and hire crossing guards for every dang crosswalk up Sheridan by NU.

Oh, and ticketing errant Mercedes would be nice too. :)




mike w. said:
Yeah. But only for a mile or so in Evanston.

Actually, for pretty good reasons- such as the unobeyed speed limits along the narrow stretch of Sheridan along the NWU campus, plus large numbers of Northwestern students who just step out without a look... just jump over a block or two west to Sherman or Orrington.

Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on November 18, 2010 at 12:07pm
I thought you couldn't make it illegal to ride a bike on a street? Right to travel and all.
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on November 18, 2010 at 9:53pm
Students? Just students? Really?

I don't understand why Evanston wasted their residents' money to put up walk signals. It's a f'ing miracle (and thank God) that the motorists don't act like the pedestrians in Evanston!

"Oh, you want to walk right now, in the middle of the block, when neither intersection (which you aren't at) has the walk light? Ok! Fun physics fact: If I happen to hit you, that's a 175lb rider and a 25lb bike hitting you at 15mph - it will hurt."

And haha about the crossing guard comment. I wonder if treating them like little children would make them act like adults.
Megan S. said:
Oh man, can I please go off about the jaywalking students? The first batch will look RIGHT AT ME when I'm riding and cross into the road. Then, the kids behind them will notice that the kids in front of them are walking, and will step into the road. Suddenly, the crosswalk (on my fabulous green light) is littered with students looking at the ground, checking their ipod, texting... I need an airhorn. My crazy yelling just isn't getting through to them. And I know they're smart boogers too - I've been their T.A. in classes here, I mentor some w/ research, but GEEZ! This is the best example of book smarts versus street smarts I've ever seen.

And instead of NU and/or Evanston police banning me from that stretch of road, they really should take care of the actual problem and hire crossing guards for every dang crosswalk up Sheridan by NU.

Oh, and ticketing errant Mercedes would be nice too. :)




mike w. said:
Yeah. But only for a mile or so in Evanston.

Actually, for pretty good reasons- such as the unobeyed speed limits along the narrow stretch of Sheridan along the NWU campus, plus large numbers of Northwestern students who just step out without a look... just jump over a block or two west to Sherman or Orrington.

Permalink Reply by James Hartman on August 29, 2012 at 8:57pm


Ride at your own risk dude.


Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:

WTF? So it's actually illegal to take Sheridan all the way up to Tower?
jamimaria said:

Bicycle riding is, however, prohibited on the following streets:

• Sheridan Road, between Chicago Avenue and Isabella Street
Permalink Reply by James Hartman on August 29, 2012 at 9:08pm

I used to ride Sheridan, But Now I ride the Ever So Safe North Shore Isolated Bicycle Path.

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:

Students? Just students? Really?

I don't understand why Evanston wasted their residents' money to put up walk signals. It's a f'ing miracle (and thank God) that the motorists don't act like the pedestrians in Evanston!

"Oh, you want to walk right now, in the middle of the block, when neither intersection (which you aren't at) has the walk light? Ok! Fun physics fact: If I happen to hit you, that's a 175lb rider and a 25lb bike hitting you at 15mph - it will hurt."

And haha about the crossing guard comment. I wonder if treating them like little children would make them act like adults.
Megan S. said:
Oh man, can I please go off about the jaywalking students? The first batch will look RIGHT AT ME when I'm riding and cross into the road. Then, the kids behind them will notice that the kids in front of them are walking, and will step into the road. Suddenly, the crosswalk (on my fabulous green light) is littered with students looking at the ground, checking their ipod, texting... I need an airhorn. My crazy yelling just isn't getting through to them. And I know they're smart boogers too - I've been their T.A. in classes here, I mentor some w/ research, but GEEZ! This is the best example of book smarts versus street smarts I've ever seen.

And instead of NU and/or Evanston police banning me from that stretch of road, they really should take care of the actual problem and hire crossing guards for every dang crosswalk up Sheridan by NU.

Oh, and ticketing errant Mercedes would be nice too. :)




mike w. said:
Yeah. But only for a mile or so in Evanston.

Actually, for pretty good reasons- such as the unobeyed speed limits along the narrow stretch of Sheridan along the NWU campus, plus large numbers of Northwestern students who just step out without a look... just jump over a block or two west to Sherman or Orrington.

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