TimothyH

I had a drunk woman ask me for directions. I asked her if she had been drinking and she drove off. I dialed 911, reported and continued riding.

Chuck Naill

So, over the past month I have been stopped six times for directions. This includes me climbing a mountain, going in the opposite direction, and being stopped by a van that passed close earlier only to have to stop because they were lost and I caught up.


This has caused me to consider the relative impatience of motorists who must either slow or accelerate going around me and the patience they expect of me if they get lost. I will say that me stopping to give directions is longer than they must expend because I get in their way.


Maybe motorists who are not cyclist think we are not going anywhere important. Or, maybe I am more accessible since I am going more slow than cars. I wonder how many cars they tried to stop to ask directions?

Machka 

Wasn't this your thread?
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...irections.html

indyfabz

Why are you trolling?

cyccommute 

Happens to me all the time. I've been asked where the wind farm is outside of Dayton, WA on a very lonely stretch of US12 by a lost truck driver (he turned around to come back and ask). I've been asked where a bank is in Hot Springs, AR. I've even been asked where you can find waffles in Bruges, Belgium (just about any street corner). I was even asked directions, in Dutch, by a woman in The Netherlands. I get asked the question so often, I think I should wear a hat that says "Lost? Ask me!"

The Bruges one was particularly fun since the American asked me and I paused to think and he assumed that I didn't speak English so he asked slower and louder. He was really shocked when I said "No, I understand English but I'm just trying to remember where I've seen one lately." It was so "Ugly American" typical

FBinNY 

As I posted the first time around, motorists ask cyclists for directions for a few obvious reasons.

1- we're there
2- we're available
3- the assumption that we're local and know the area.

No big deal, and if it bothers you, simply call out "I don't know" or "No Habla Ingles"

Or, like me, consider them fellow pilgrims, and offer assistance the same way they do if you're lost or injured.

Jim from Boston

Motorists Asking for DirectionsI once posted regarding good deeds that cyclists perform as a result of their nimbleness, flexibility, and accessibility is that we are the Knights Errant of the Road [Wikipedia: The adjective errant (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalric virtues, either in knightly duels (pas d'armes) or in some other pursuit of courtly love.]

While we may not be aimlessly wandering with vague imagined goals in mind, we can consider ourselves descendants of the tradition. Besides directions, I have found and returned lost items,and even pushed cars stranded on icy patches.

However, I’m reluctant to ask motorists for directions, unless very local, because likely they don’t consider the special needs of cyclists in choosing routes. I’m particularly surprised when seeming residents of a neighborhood don’t know where a nearby street is. I very carefully assess any directions given by a non-cyclist, motorized or pedestrian.

Scarbo

Men don't ask for directions. Women do; and I don't mind a bit.

rgconner

True of Cyclists too.

"Mike's Coffee Shop? Well, you go down here half a mile, jump to the bike path, cross the converted RR bridge and the turnoff for Main St. is on the right."

BlazingPedals

I usually point to my cue sheet and tell them, "I don't know. I've from Chicago and that road isn't listed on my directions." They always act stunned and don't know what to say.

It never occurs to them that we might be more than 2 blocks from home.

cellery

This is not the forum you are looking for.

This is the forum you are looking for:
First World Problems | Know Your Meme

NYMXer

Is Chuck Naill having a bad day today? I read his other post about "on your left" and think that maybe he should be grateful his ride is over.
Really neither are issues enough to publicly complain about, but we all have days like this. Don't worry, tomorrow might be a better day.

CliffordK

Unfortunately I don't pay attention to all the street names.

But, in general, I think it is easier for a car to flag down a cyclist or pedestrian than to stop another car to ask for directions.

jefnvk

You must look friendlier than me. In the last three years, I don't think I've given directions six times. Only two I can even remember were both other cyclists, one on a popular tourist island and the other a solo lady tourer whom I had the misfortune of telling missed her turn by about ten miles...

rgconner

I get the impression he would be upset if we hung him with a new rope.

caloso

That will confuse English and Spanish speakers alike.

smarkinson

I haven't been asked directions in years. I figure smart phones and GPS must be making it easier for motorists to find their way.

Seattle Forrest

You're also not closed off with walls, and that definitely makes you more approachable.

jimmie65

I like being asked for directions and always try to include one step that includes "Oh, wait. You can't go that way in a car."

kickstart

Other than changing motorists to everybody, I totally agree.

FBinNY 

Perfect, since that's the objective.

Anyway, can't get a typo past you guys.

FBinNY 

Every once in a while I'm asked for directions that can be a bit complex, or where I know how to get there, but can't name streets or things like how many lights before the turn.

In that case, I might tell someone, "Oh, that's pretty close, but I can't explain it to you, so just follow me and I'll lead you there, it'll take about 20 minutes." It's a very rare motorist who's willing to follow a bike for 20 minutes, but I once had one who was.

Chuck Naill

Then what's your excuse for posting a reply?


Not a bad day, just two thoughts occurring on the same day.


Lately I have read new threads where people ask a sincere question only to have most of the replies chastising them for not doing a search or assuming they didn't and other's just saying something like yours that you have to wonder why they made the effort.


If no one wants to talk on a forum or want to complain when others do, why come here and join? Seems like an odd way to waste one's life.

fietsbob

Summer, Hundreds of bike tourists, so I'm as likely to be asked how my trip is going, as local directions..

canklecat

Somebody needs a new t-shirt. They come in XXXNope.