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 Laura C on December 11, 2012 at 10:41am

Here you are dear Chainlinkers: a requested photo of the locks.

Laura C said:

Is locking your bike lock to the rack without a bike like the new using a lawn chair to block your parking spot?  This happens every day at my work, with at least 3 or 4 locks blocking spaces.

Permalink Reply by Deet 4.5mi on December 11, 2012 at 10:47am

it is rather ass like to leave your lock on that kind of rack, i thought we were talking about the city sidewalk racks.

Permalink Reply by Derek on December 11, 2012 at 11:04am

That's a super classy maneuver.  

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on December 11, 2012 at 11:06am

Laura - you have every right to complain in this instance. That right there is a dick move. 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on December 11, 2012 at 11:12am

I don't see any of those spaces that can't be parked in.  

But I do agree that those are ass moves.  All 3 of them are obviously trying to save the space.   

Then again, they can have those crap spaces in a wheelbender rack.  There is no proper way to lock to them unless you have a U-lock that is 30-inches long.   Let them have them.  Are there no other places to park?  I wouldn't want to park in a wheelbender rack for more than a few minutes to run in and get something from a store.  It's not a good locking solution for leaving a bike unattended unless you really don't like the bike. 

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on December 11, 2012 at 11:13am

St. Sheldon actually recommended this practice. But that was a different time when when there were fewer riders. At least that is my excuse for not removing his infallible status.

The practice is totally unacceptable!

Permalink Reply by Laura C on December 11, 2012 at 12:25pm

Thanks for the comments; I was feeling a bit shocked at the negative responses I was receiving.  Yes, James, they do not prevent me from parking there, but it makes it more difficult.  There is not a lot of parking where I work, so those are premium spots.  Thanks!

James BlackHeron said:

I don't see any of those spaces that can't be parked in.  

But I do agree that those are ass moves.  All 3 of them are obviously trying to save the space.   

Then again, they can have those crap spaces in a wheelbender rack.  There is no proper way to lock to them unless you have a U-lock that is 30-inches long.   Let them have them.  Are there no other places to park?  I wouldn't want to park in a wheelbender rack for more than a few minutes to run in and get something from a store.  It's not a good locking solution for leaving a bike unattended unless you really don't like the bike. 

Permalink Reply by yai danche on December 11, 2012 at 2:06pm

i work by a school and the students do this.  that doesn't stop me from locking my bike there.  good luck on jimmying your lock out from under my massive bike.  

Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on December 12, 2012 at 5:05am

You're not going to convince Jim and James they are jackasses.  Get the building to come 'em off.  

Take control of your life, Laura!  ;)

Laura C said:

Here you are dear Chainlinkers: a requested photo of the locks.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on December 12, 2012 at 5:21am

I have seen a lock on the giant inverted U where I park that is now the standard rack around the city. Its not a problem and not in the way.  However, on that rack its an "I'm important and nobody else matters" move.  Yeah, you can squeeze in a bike but do you want to? Its like the person who takes a seat and a half or has their bag on a seat on the train.  Sure, we can squeeze in next to them but we often don't bother.  Who elected you King or Queen? 

 

Sometimes people don't realize how inconsiderate they have been. You can consider passive resistance by placing a note,  poem or otherwise, advising them of their lack of manners and reminding them that you will have the lock removed in ____ days...or simply as mentioned above, simply get the building to remove the lock.  Or, perhaps you can invite Notorious Dug and his grinder to test the strength of the locks. The video could be posted here.

Permalink Reply by Derek on December 14, 2012 at 4:56pm

I'm currently too jacked up on adrenaline to type in the 3rd person.

I'm heading home on August and just past Western I see there are two cars parked in the bike lane up ahead.  Just taking off from the stoplight a few cars pass me and I can tell there's a van along side me approximately matching my speed and I figure they are just being nice so I wave for them to go by thinking I'll just stop in the bike lane and wait for the 3 cars.  It's a politeness roadblock and she keeps slowing down to give me room to cut in front of her before passing the cars in the bike lane, so I take the lane, sprint past the cars and pull into the bike lane.  As soon as I get into the bike lane the car behind the van (a little Geo Tracker style vehicle) races to the van's right, into the bike lane and ahead of me.  At first I think it's just a guy who's really in a hurry and is pissed off she slowed down to let me pass the parked car.  But as I try to maneuver out of his way it becomes clear he is trying to block my forward progress.

I unclip my left foot and touch down just short of the stop sign.  The lady in the van is sitting at the stop sign, the Tracker is in front of me in the right turn lane area with a few feet just behind him and maybe 15 feet from the stop sign.  A tall sinewy Puerto Rican male (aproximately 6'2) gets out of the car and runs at me screaming.  The first thing I notice is that he's swinging a hay maker at my head, so I quickly back up so he doesn't take my head off, unclip my right foot, and  put my bike in between us to try to maintain distance.  The conversation follows:

"Sir? What did I do?" 

"You. You stay in your lane of next time I kill you!"

"I'm sorry sir, did I cut you off?"

"You stay in your lane, little man, black, or next time I kill you."

"I'm sorry sir." (palms facing him, looking submissive) "Sir, please, what did I do?  I'm sorry if I cut you off"

"you little man, black. Stay in your lane or next time I kill you."

The whole time I'm in complete confusion.  As I'm typing this I can only assume that he thought I was somehow threatening the woman in the van.  I guess this because the woman in the van did not move from the stop sign where I was confronted until after the man left.  It's possible she was also in shock as this whole interaction occurred very quickly (maybe a minute, minute and a 1/2).  Another fact that I found really odd was after he left there was a young woman walking on the sidewalk that asked if I needed any help (having witnessed the encounter).  In the 20 seconds it took to have the conversation with her and get back on my bike there was a PoS mini van that stopped in the same place the Tracker had stopped and then "burnt out" from the stop sign.  I've been commuting on this road (mind you not at 9pm that often) for years and this seems like pretty odd behavior.  

It's the first time in quite awhile that I've had someone try really hard to run me down, he zigged and zagged at least 6 times to ensure I didn't get past him and in the end his car was almost pointing the wrong way in traffic he had the wheel cranked so hard to ensure I didn't get by.  Then the first thing he did was throw a punch... I was just moments from pulling out the U lock and going on the offensive but in hide sight I didn't know about his van of friends behind him and keeping my cool probably saved my life.

I didn't get a plate and barely have vehicle descriptions but damn... that was some crazy shit.

Happy Friday!

Permalink Reply by David P. on December 16, 2012 at 8:43am

To the woman in the '90s Elantra at Milwaukee and Armitage on Friday morning, who ran the red light when the left-turn signals went green and drove straight at me: it is not OK to move merely because the car next to you began moving. Instead, why not look at the traffic lights above you and see whether your is green yet? One day you're going to total your car doing thigns like that; I ony hope you don't hurt anyone else when you do. And to the woman in the Tiguan behind her who followed her through: really?!? The number of people who piggyback their judgement on top of that of the driver in front of them is remarkable, especially in left turns.

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