The Chainlink

To the "cyclist" who knocked my friend off her Divvy bike on the lakefront path.

She has a very large cuts on her face, her legs, she might have a concussion. Her nice dress and boots are ruined. She was shaken up pretty bad but she's determined to keep riding her bike dispite how nasty you were and blamed her.

And the first thing she said to you was "Are you okay?"

 

You make me embarrased to be a cyclist.

 

I know exactly who you are, burning ass down the trail like you own it. Agressively passing with a sense of entitlement. Too smug to bother to call out "on your left." I used to be just like you until I realized that the lake front path is not the place to train for a triathalon.

 

Slow the hell down and be nice to people!

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I think Dug is pointing out that we don't know who was being a jerk here. We have some dude coming in here ranting about his friend getting into a bike accident on the LFT. We know that the other rider was going "fast" and we know that OP was angry because fast guy "disrespected" OPs friend. There are plenty of ways this could have played out in reality.

Dug made some good points. We don't really know what happened and OP has been nothing but hostile at the suggestion that more of the story might be helpful.

The board LOVES to complain about people going too fast (read that as faster than them), especially on the LFT. Fast does not equal dangerous, necessarily, nor does is equal asshole behavior.

Just give some context, OP. Did fast guy run into her while she was riding perfectly straight, did fast guy pass too close and startle her off the bike, did fast guy pass too close and run her into a water fountain, did fast guy punch her in the face as he went by? Or did fast guy run into your friend after she made a sudden unsignaled turn? Or whatever.

Liz said:

I'd like more details before we decide to blame somebody just for being on a road bike a hippy...

Also why are you getting so hot headed defending an unknown person for being a jerk.  By just bolting they're definitely being a jerk, that much we can establish. 


notoriousDUG said:

If your friend made a un-signaled turn without shoulder checking or made a swerve more than a couple of feet over without checking over her shoulder then she may have deserved being disrespected.  2 years ago some hippie with headphones in swerved WAY off his line to go around a pot hole while I was overtaking him on Milwaukee and It hink I was totally in the right to give him an earful.


Paul O said:

It would be interesting to get the whole story. But the other cyclist fled the scene. In my opinion the details are irrelevant to this post. I know what my friend said, and I know what I've seen on the path. I don't feel the least bit confused about my assesment of the situation. Is it possible my friend make mistakes? Oh yeah. Did she deserve to be disrespected like that?

 

 

 

Your first paragraph is exactly my point.  We need more details before blaming anyone at all; all we know from the original post is that his friend on a Divvy bike and somebody passing her were involved in a collision.  The OP is pretty derisive about people who go fast and/or pass on the path but how do we know it was their fault?  It annoys me that the OP is speaking ill of somebody when there are no details about it.

Are they a jerk for bolting?  Last summer when somebody ran into me on their bike I called them an asshole and bolted, was it wrong of me not to care if the guy who ran into me was hurt?

Liz said:

I'd like more details before we decide to blame somebody just for being on a road bike a hippy...

Also why are you getting so hot headed defending an unknown person for being a jerk.  By just bolting they're definitely being a jerk, that much we can establish. 


notoriousDUG said:

If your friend made a un-signaled turn without shoulder checking or made a swerve more than a couple of feet over without checking over her shoulder then she may have deserved being disrespected.  2 years ago some hippie with headphones in swerved WAY off his line to go around a pot hole while I was overtaking him on Milwaukee and It hink I was totally in the right to give him an earful.


Paul O said:

It would be interesting to get the whole story. But the other cyclist fled the scene. In my opinion the details are irrelevant to this post. I know what my friend said, and I know what I've seen on the path. I don't feel the least bit confused about my assesment of the situation. Is it possible my friend make mistakes? Oh yeah. Did she deserve to be disrespected like that?

 

 

 

I'd like to hear more details on this.  If you were overtaking him, isn't it your responsibility to make sure its safe to do so?  Did you call out "on your left"?  Did you give him 3 feet clearance?  Doesn't he have the right to avoid a dangerous pothole, sometimes with little notice (hence the 3 foot rule)?

notoriousDUG said:

 2 years ago some hippie with headphones in swerved WAY off his line to go around a pot hole while I was overtaking him on Milwaukee and It hink I was totally in the right to give him an earful.




This board loves to complain about it, because there are a lot of jerks who pass very dangerously on the lakefront path.  AT LEAST once every time I ride the path I either have a close call with someone passing very closely or see a rider getting cut off by someone determined to get through a congested area too quickly for conditions.  

Does fast equate asshole, no.  Does everyone who goes "fast" present a danger, no.  BUT in congested areas of the path there are often people going too fast for CONDITIONS.  And passing others with little considerations.  Maybe these people have some justification for their annoyance (riding 2 across, weaving, whatever) but its generally on the passing vehicle to make sure conditions allow for safe passing.  

I avoid the LFP in the summer unless its early morning, because I do not like being slowed down waiting for groups of pedestrians and slower riders.  There are many alternative routes that going faster on present less danger to others.  I like riding fast, its really fun, that's why I put on lycra and take my fancy road bike out on rides, I just don't do it on the LFP. 

I don't care how "careful" you think you are, everyone has done something asshole-ish at one time of another (I know I have).  

Will G - 10mi said:

The board LOVES to complain about people going too fast (read that as faster than them), especially on the LFT. Fast does not equal dangerous, necessarily, nor does is equal asshole behavior.

Just give some context, OP. Did fast guy run into her while she was riding perfectly straight, did fast guy pass too close and startle her off the bike, did fast guy pass too close and run her into a water fountain, did fast guy punch her in the face as he went by? Or did fast guy run into your friend after she made a sudden unsignaled turn? Or whatever.


 


yes.

can we just let the OP vent about someone being a jerk to his friend and go drink beer and eat pizza now? 

notoriousDUG said:

Are they a jerk for bolting?  Last summer when somebody ran into me on their bike I called them an asshole and bolted, was it wrong of me not to care if the guy who ran into me was hurt?

I almost agree with dug on this one. In an era obsessed with lawsuits people will tell the police anything and try to sue you for just about anything these days. Somebody's child ran into my wheel on the LFP a few years ago. I turned around and the kid was sitting up and crying and the mom was right there... I left as it seemed like a lawsuit waiting to happen even though I did nothing wrong.

OK pizza and beer time.


Liz said:


yes.

can we just let the OP vent about someone being a jerk to his friend and go drink beer and eat pizza now? 

notoriousDUG said:

Are they a jerk for bolting?  Last summer when somebody ran into me on their bike I called them an asshole and bolted, was it wrong of me not to care if the guy who ran into me was hurt?

"can we just let the OP vent about someone being a jerk to his friend and go drink beer and eat pizza now? "
Liz I like that idea!
Sometimes that is all a person wants to do is vent plain and simple.

I'll eat anything on my pizza except anchovies!

After work Friday???

DUG is what some call a troll on other forums:

 

troll (/ˈtrl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people

 

OP, Im sorry to hear about your friend, I hope she heals quickly.  Some of the cyclists on the LFP are straight up dangerous. 

Sorry this happened to your friend. Hindsight is 20/20 and it's not always easy to know how to react. It seems to me the most appropriate way to act in the situation is to make sure she is okay, then to arrest his bicycle so he can't leave, and finally to call the police. Doing that would allow for the wrongful party to be cited appropriately. It may also help with making sure all the liability issues can be settled.

They swerved about 2 feet to their left, I had rung my bell several times but, you know, headphones. 

JeffB (7+ miles) said:

I'd like to hear more details on this.  If you were overtaking him, isn't it your responsibility to make sure its safe to do so?  Did you call out "on your left"?  Did you give him 3 feet clearance?  Doesn't he have the right to avoid a dangerous pothole, sometimes with little notice (hence the 3 foot rule)?

notoriousDUG said:

 2 years ago some hippie with headphones in swerved WAY off his line to go around a pot hole while I was overtaking him on Milwaukee and It hink I was totally in the right to give him an earful.



I have a feeling this will be a topic that will be on the front page for years. 

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