I'd say you handled the situation very poorly. Nothing personal as I don't know you, but only based on how you said you addressed the situation. No need to close pass and engage in argument.
What is the big deal about sharing the BL with ped? How hard is it to go around.
He probably was not using the roadway legally though.

Continue the discussion here if you want:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=235191

Al

Asphalt is MUCH softer and better on the joints than concrete. It's also safer since it doesn't have roots and driveway cut-outs. I run in the bike lane whenever possible, facing traffic, and but I hop on the sidewalk whenever I encounter a bike in the BL. It's just a lot easier and safer for me to move than the bike.

This can-not be a good sign . . . "Page 666 of 666". I tihnk it means we have moved one step closer to . . . The Apocalypse. I'm going to throw some salt over my shoulder. And onto the driveway. :)

Aside from the power being out in my town, the commute was absolutely perfect (again). Just like the past several days in the area, the weather has been right around 55-60F. :)

luckysnafu: Running on the street is much easier and softer on the knees than running on the sidewalk. Definitely read through the thread noisebeam posted a link to. :)

windy, and it looks like a thunderstorm on the way home. but hey, just makes life fun

Cold -- 11 degrees. But no wind, thank GOD. Oh, and I forgot to pack my underwear :eek:

everyone who posts on this page will grow horns tonight... crap.

Oh crap, I started this page with post 16626.

A couple months ago my bike thermometer kept reading 66.6F on the way to work.

Al

You commuters are sooo lucky. i do a quick ride in the am but cage it to work. i just posted because ragboy said i'll grow horns tonight if i post.

A bad day of bicycle commuting is better than…driving

It was a dark and stormy night. Yesterday it rained hard as I rode home from work and my bike was thoroughly soaked by the time I rolled into my garage. This morning the rain turned to sleet and snow with strong, gusty winds. The roads were slick and covered with glaze ice so I rode very cautiously to work (Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night shall keep this intrepid cyclist from his appointed bicycle commute). With a couple of miles to go, I found a trashcan that had blown into the street. Being a Good Samaritan, I tapped my rear brake and stopped to move the trashcan back to the side of the road.

When I got back on the bike, the rear wheel wouldn't turn easily and I discovered that the rear brakes had frozen in the "engaged" condition. No amount of wiggling or wrangling or tugging or shaking my finger at it would free up the rear brake calipers. Water in the rear brake cable had apparently frozen the calipers in place. Stupid noodle. Fortunately, I was able to ride it and nursed it along slowly with the rear brake dragging. Well, at least it was better than dragging the bike for two miles with a stuck rear wheel.

At the last 4-way stop sign, I stopped, and as I was going through the intersection, a car coming from my right, decided to do a rolling stop and tried to beat me through the intersection. I had to hit both brakes hard to keep from getting hit. When I tried to continue through the intersection, the rear brake was so badly locked up that I could barely get the wheel to turn. I didn't want to drag the bike the rest of the way to work so I rode it slower than a walking pace, breaking the 2mph speed barrier. I was practically standing on the pedals to get the rear wheel to turn.

Fortunately, I was now on campus sidewalks, mixing in with rush hour pedestrian traffic between classes. I was riding so slowly that many pedestrians were passing me. Passersby were giving me strange looks like "what is it with this guy?" I dragged the bike into my office and let it warm up, then took the brake cables apart to dry them out.

As I left work to go home (not going back to my office), I went to the spot outside where I always park my bike, and it WAS GONE!!! Oh NO! Wait… Doofus, the bike is in your office. D'oh.

Last, but not least, I almost dumped my bike on the icy sidewalk in front of a group of students as I headed home. What a day. At least it was Friday.

I agree. The guy was legally in the wrong, and shouldn't've yelled at you (luckysnafu, I mean) either. But threatening to hit people with your vehicle because they violated a rule of the road, especially in a way that didn't endanger anybody, is definitely wrong both morally and legally. Especially when going the wrong way on the road and violating the law yourself. :p

it went awesome !!

while leaving on of my favorite bike shops in town I saw a bicycle tail light up ahead of me. I decided I was going to chase it down and pass it like I have done so many others lately. Unfortunately it wasn..t happening as I poured on the power the tail light up ahead of me seemed to continue getting smaller. Till it got to the point I was in a full on sprint. Finally on a down hill I managed to catch up with the rider. While trying to slow my breathing I huffed over to him. ..Man you are fast... He lazily looks over at me and mutters, ..huh, oh I was half sleep... So we talk for a bit, and decide to ride together since we were headed in a somewhat similar direction. We take off together and talk about our various injuries. Eventually we reach another incline and this time he stands up. I don..t know if at that point he began channeling the soul of Lance Armstrong or what, but he shot away for me like my feet were on the ground. So I down shift and pursue him. This was my fastest ascent ever of that particular hill, but I still didn..t catch him. Only when he looked back to see me lagging back and coasting while waiting for me was I able to close the gap that suddenly appeared.

But in the end it felt really good, that fleeting moment, that spirit of competition, and pushing myself till it hurt in an attempt to catch someone. Gives me a goal to shoot for. Average is no longer good enough.

It was 30 degrees this morning. The coldest ride last year was 29 degrees. I'd say I'm headed for a personal record this year. I'm glad I've learned how to dress properly to not overheat or freeze in this weather. No one buzzed me, and everyone drove safely around me. It was unusual enough to mention. I had a nice relaxed ride both ways. I've given up trying to do a caloso nofooted commute. Crossing the highway at a 4 way light just about makes it impossible. I can't trackstand for 5 minutes. I still enjoy hearing what it was like though.

It has been 5 hours now since I arrived at work and my legs are still sore from fighting the 40mph headwind for over 10 miles.
But the ride was great! Got to break in my studded tires and see the look of awe on my coworkers faces who now have an ongoing bet on when I will drive in instead of bike in.
time to prove them all wrong.

blah. i doth not rock today. more stubborn than smart, i think would be the right term. we've still got about 5 inches of - heck, what do you call that stuff? we don't see enough of it to know the names. crusty, chunky, heavy, crumbly slush. it's snow that was powder to start with, got packed down hard by cars and rotted by salt into little round balls, froze together, got some more snow, started to melt so it settled and packed and got slippery, then got cold again. ball-bearings of ice, basically. there should be a dirty word to name it. breaks up and starts slithering as soon as you put any pressure on it, so the schwalbes didn't help as much as i'd hoped. i stumbled and slithered my way to work, still walking over the bridge and riding wherever it seemed possible. just weird. every city block has a different kind of snow. evening was the same thing, with a bit more water mixed in and/or black ice on all the bare surfaces. i'm drinking sprite with beer in it. tfif.

Wow, some rough times had by all by the sounds of it!
When I wasn't bike commuting, I used to see an older guy who'd always be on his paper-run in the morning. He walked down the street instead of on the sidewalk, and one day I finally had chance to ask him why. He said that the road was softer than the sidewalk, easier on his legs/knees. So this isn't the first time I've heard of that.

My ride home was tough going. I had a decent enough ride, until around Adelaide/Jarvis, waiting for the lights I knew I had to giveit some effort off the line to try and keep in with the traffic and not to delay anyone - so off the line, I powered down.

The pedals went, I got going, but not nearly as quick as usual and I noticed distinctly something wasn't right. The pedals were going 'round but faster than they were pushing the wheel. I immediately figured my freewheel (not being super knowledgeable about bike mechanics) was buggered or something. By this time I was over the intersection, and had pulled to the left (I was in the left lane of a one-way street) and stopped once I reached the opposite sidewalk. I looked the bike over, turned the pedal cranks with my hand - everything looked OK, freewheel was working, gears/derailleur was working. Once I got back on the road, the problem was still there, but as I didn't know what it was and it was still OK to ride - I carried on, tested my gears up from 1st to 7th cog on the cassette, seemed just fine, etc.

I later discovered when this happened, it wasn't pushing the drivetrain, so the chain wasn't affected and thus the rear wheel/derailleur was fine. Not sure how/why yet, but the pedals and/or crank are slipping when I'm putting down power (think of it like a permanently, but only half-engaged clutch - some power gets through, but not much, and certainly not enough for my liking). I'll take some photos, I've definitely got some damage on the front derailleur (more than before) so I guess it'll need replacing.

I rode home all the way, and although it was tough up Sherbourne and with the wind, I had a wonderful ride - loved it and had some really great tailwinds to pick me up too :) Seeing as most of this mechanical issue affected me on start-offs, I just tried to time lights better and keep momentum.

The rain yesterday morning and water on the roads was heavy as heck, so I was wet getting in (well, shoes, pants and socks) - the brakes worked incredibly well, no problems. On the way home, there was no rain - just some water on the ground. The brakes didn't seem so hot. So I'll be replacing my rear pads again (fronts are still bike-original, and still work great) and also give the bike a washdown - I think the crap all over the rims could be hampering the brakes too.

I felt unsafe, because not being directly connected to the power train I felt disconnected from the bike a little, but I knew I was OK and the ride went well anyway. After some harsh buffeting around this morning, I had a great ride and some really helpful tailwinds :D

Yesterday was long. Scheduling issue lead to all 4 of us taking the car, bike on rack on rear, drop 23 mo old at daycare, drop 5 yr old, me, bike, at my job, wife goes on to work. He watches Thomas DVD on my computer while I load up company car for trip I need to make, then drive 5 yr old back to K, continue off on my trip an hour NW, LONG, hard, physically demanding day, drive back home, say hi to everyone who's back from their day by then, drop some supplies, return to office, finish up there, bike home in the dark, after all traffic is pretty much done. So the bike was OK. I need to get those knobbies off, though. I never needed the clean clothes I packed in yesterday, so I left them in the office for Monday.

No commute since Tuesday. Wed: snowstorm. Thurs: experimented with the light rail and a bus line that runs near my house. Friday: day off Sat: day off.

I have the strangest temptation related to making my commute easier. With the advent of our new light rail line and my discovery of a express bus route to that line on the main street, my primary temptation will no longer be my car but mass transit. How bizarre. Mass transit is now easier for me than driving a car. What is this world coming to?! :p

Warmer today, 31 degrees this morning! My new alpaca balaclava sure is coming in handy. Great ride in, with some strange looks from my coworkers. I switched shifts so I have to get another group used to seeing me ride in I guess. Ride home was nice after a loooong 12 hour shift. Tomorrow's Sunday my favorite commute day. It's supposed to warm up about 8 degrees tomorrow, so I will be ridding above freezing. This is California, right?

Today was my first "screw you" to winter, 18 degrees with a healthy 20 mph wind. It's been freakishly warm up (60) until three days ago, I haven't even needed a coat. Only problem was my goggles kept fogging up. Other than that, my pearlizumi balaclava, multiple layers of clothing, and Stormsox (neoprene fleece-lined socks) really did the job. In your face, space-coyote!

No commute today but went on my first recreational ride since September. What was I thinking? It was 7F out and I made the mistake of wearing my normal shoes instead of my Goretex boots. I am lucky I still have my toes. Still was a generally good time... hoping the snow and ice melt soon!

OK, I admit it..... I loaded my bike up in my car and drove it home so I could go cross country skiing instead. Fresh snowfall and temperatures in the mid 20's drove me to it:o Just as well, cross training is good for you and skiing was a good workout.

Ride in was nice, except I've got to stop reading the wind chill on the Weather Channel. When I got ready to go home I found a rear flat and a goathead. I patched the tube and got about a mile before getting a second rear flat. Called for a lift home because it was easier than patching the tube again.The bead on these tires is really hard to mount.

Low 20Fs this morning. Clear skies. Tailwind. Not too bad. I could have used my neck warmer but it wasn't cold enough to be uncomfortable.

Back from a 4-day weekend in Washington, DC. Saw a lot more people with bicycles on the Metro than in previous years.