Salmoning poll

I ended up in West Town during the tail end of rush hour tonight, and saw a ridiculous amount of salmoning on the way there.... just wondering on average how often folks experience a rider coming at you going the wrong way.

How many times have you experienced it in the past week/month, and is there a place and time where you think you're more likely to encounter it? Have you noticed repeat offenders? Are there folks who seem to be doing it deliberately to endanger/scare the right-way riders?

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Permalink Reply by Banshee: 12-15mi on June 15, 2013 at 7:28am

I see it all the time and every day on Wabash St.

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on June 15, 2013 at 7:29am
I've seen two people in cycling kit salmoning on bike routes and even bike lanes in Riverside/Brookfield lately. But I don't see it that much in the near west suburbs, and usually by inexperienced riders.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 15, 2013 at 9:07am

+1

Julia C 7.5 mi said:

Sure it is. Doesn't matter if it's a "shortcoming of automotive death machines" - you're still going against the traffic flow and it's still dangerous. 

....The ones I spot salmoning in terrible spots seem to be oblivious to more than just the fact that they're the only one going the wrong way...


Tony Adams 7 mi (dirtbag hipstr) said:

Riding the wrong way on a one way street isn't salmoning. 

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 15, 2013 at 9:09am

Last Sunday morning around 7:30 a.m., when there was almost no traffic at all, I nearly had a head-on collision with a guy (middle aged, white) salmoning in the Milwaukee Ave. bike lane. He'd turned from a side street and was coming right at me - soon after the viaduct west of Blommer's.  I yelled at him, and he yelled back something unintelligible (drunk?).  Charming.

Permalink Reply by Reba 4.0 mi on June 15, 2013 at 12:26pm

Damen Ave between Grand and Division St is full of Salmons - I see them at least 5x a week. It's typically middle-aged men on cruiser style bikes, riding slow and meandering all over the street. I've taken to stopping in their path after yelling WRONG SIDE and pointing ridiculously at the other side of the street. I'm so. sick. of. this. 

The Augusta Blvd bike lane is also prime Salmon breeding ground, from Western to Ashland. I see young, well (stylish) dressed men doing this nearly every morning on my way to work. Between them and the double-parked (in the bike lane) parents dropping their kids off at any one of the three elementary schools on this street, I try and get going well before 7:30 or well after 8:05. 

Desplaines is a great street to take southbound, it's plenty wide, but I've given it up because of the stupid Salmons. 

This issue is one of the major reasons I tend to avoid protected lanes. I'd rather go out of my way and travel the lesser-traveled side streets.

Don't even get me started on the sidewalk riders...

Permalink Reply by SlowCoachOnTheRoad on June 15, 2013 at 1:51pm

Salmons are heading upstream to lay their eggs.  We definitely don't want middle aged male bikers leaving their sperm on the bike lane now do we?

Permalink Reply by SlowCoachOnTheRoad on June 15, 2013 at 1:55pm

Maybe the Salmons aren't really going the wrong way, have you thought about that?   Maybe they are simply taking advantage of an available bike lane in the direction they are going.  Maybe they are more communal minded.  Maybe they like to see bikers from the front instead of the rear. Maybe they are going in the right way and you are going in the wrong way and that is why you face lethal doors - in the opposite direction the opening doors are less dangerous.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on June 15, 2013 at 2:09pm
Other than Dearborn I don't see it in the bike lanes. I see and do it on side streets such as Winthrop now that Kenmore is closed.
Permalink Reply by Maurice on June 15, 2013 at 6:36pm
Once per week or less. Usually a 50+ year old person or a teenager.

I don't think I've ever seen it in Pilsen, even though I commute through there on my way to/from work.
Permalink Reply by Maurice on June 15, 2013 at 6:58pm
I think their age might be significant in a different way. Growing up in Chicago in the late 1970s and early '80s, we were taught to bike against the flow of traffic because it (foolishly) was believed to be safer since you could see the cars coming.

It was a different time. Don't even get me started on helmets, seat belts, and second-hand smoke.
Permalink Reply by Alex Z on June 16, 2013 at 2:56am

Surprised by all the references to Augusta. I bike Augusta between Western and Ashland 10x/week and have never once seen it.

Permalink Reply by william on June 16, 2013 at 6:21am

How do you say "wrong way, dude!" in Spanish? "Incorrectamente, El Vato!" maybe..?



William Beck said:

I commute daily from Uptown to Jefferson Park Blue Line.  Lawrence Ave.  And I'd say 3 out of 5 days I see a Hispanic male (30 years old or more) salmon.  I always say "Wrong way, dude!" as we avoid that dangerous near miss. 

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