Way to go Jaxgtr.. you did the right thing. We're in the same city, but I commute from Avondale/Westside to Downtown. I hope I don't run into him!!

Yep, never heard that at any point in normal conversation which is why it stuck out, I was like, excuse me? Right after is when he spit at me.

It was 4:30 in the morning, dark, a little foggy and I suck at taking pictures with my phone. He would have been 5 miles down the road by the time I figured out how to turn the flash on.

That sucks. Police will often accept even cell phone vid/photo in a case.

- Andy

I suppose I'm willing to give some people the benefit of the doubt for simply not knowing anything about cycling protocol. I recently saw a couple (married or not, I don't know, but obviously poor) who had ridden down the street (actually, on the side-walk) in sub-freezing temperatures on cheap "mountain" bikes, wearing hoodies as their primary protection from the weather, to pick up a few things at the corner convenience store.

As a fellow "person who rides their bike as transportation," I felt a sense of solidarity with them, thinking "That's impressive, I'm not sure I would ride in this weather." (Of course, I have the option of driving my car in bad weather...they may not). I doubt they have any idea that riding on the road is safer for everyone involved...and in this case, for their riding speeds and bikes and skills and a mostly deserted sidewalk vs a very busy street and intersection, I'm not actually convinced that it would be.

(Kid in the OP is exempt from this feeling of solidarity, as he obviously has no regard for other people).

jaxgtr ~ well done Sir!

Wow!

Sounds like some in the motorcycle community. Always the cars fault; never mine. No matter WHAT happened!

yea it is, but you get used to it and it's actually quite peaceful. When I head home about 3 pm, completely different scenario. Cars all over, schools buses, school zones, business parks, hospitals, intersection near an interstate on ramp are all things I ride by\through. So it's nice not having to deal with all of that on the way to work.

I'm guessing you wouldn't have liked my commute where I used to live...25 minute bike ride from the outskirts of Boston to the heart of downtown...during rush hour traffic! (I thought it was very exiting).

Besides the 1/3rd I mentioned, 1/3rd of the bike commuters I encounter are fully kitted enthusiasts, and the final 1/3rd are working folks like myself.
I fully appreciate whats its like to be pigeon holed because of what I ride and wear, but there is a difference between judgmental prejudice and obvious facts.

I'm not sure I like the "wearing a hoodie" meaning "so poor they don't have a car".

The idiot kid in the OP is extremely lucky. Hopefully he realizes that he needs to change his behavior before he is seriously hurt or killed. I've encountered wrong way riders before. I always say "You're on the wrong side of the road". I get either no response, an eyeroll, or a "f*** you". :)

I'm going for my League Instructor certification this year, so hopefully I can get more riders educated on the correct way to ride on the road.

I was commuting to work a few weeks back, before sunrise. I was riding a 6 speed vintage beater previously and had just switched to a new 10 speed build. I had looked down and back for a moment to see what cog I was in (+4 cogs seems more like +20 at first), and when I looked up my eyes just happened to land on a an aberration against the dark background. Turns out it was a black man, wearing all black, against a dark backdrop, walking toward me on the right side of the road. I noticed him in time to avoid a collision; it appears he had no intention of stepping out of the road and there is no way he didn't see my blindnig magicshine headlight. There is a sidewalk on the opposite side, and upon passing I said "Wrong side of the road, man." He responded by swinging around and spewing threats and cursewords until I was a good 100ft away. Saw him again, doing the same thing on a different day, and he stopped and scowled at me while I passed...he knew it was me, I'm the only cyclist on that road at that time of day.

I'm not sure what it is that people feel they need to defend about walking/riding on the road against traffic...when a car with super-duper-HIDs passes me in the opposite direction, it's momentarily blinding - if that same car passes me from behind, it's a nice pleasant alert that a car is on the way. I just don't get it.

People should be walking against traffic when in the street.

It's probably a better policy to not advise pedestrians when we encounter them approaching us against traffic, particularly when we narrowly avoid running into them.

Yup, walk against traffic; ride with traffic. In most jurisdictions that's more than just the 'norm', it's also what's legally expected.

I see that all the time where I live. People dressed in dark (or even camo!) walking with traffic along the side of the road. Last night, as my wife and I were driving, a guy was walking along the white line in dark colored clothing with a dark green hoodie. With a wide shoulder he could've been using. (And yes, I know, people say that about bicycles too. But he's not gonna blow a tire out or crash shuffling down the street with his hands in his pockets) And if he didn't want to use that; he could've been walking against traffic or at least being more visible. We saw him, of course; but what if some distracted driver was looking at their phone and riding the white line? That's all it would take.

We also had a pedestrian killed by a train a while back when they crossed the tracks with their headphones in their ears looking at their phone. Witnesses (drivers behind him) said the 'arms' came down behind him, he never noticed the dinging, he kept on walking despite people honking their horns and even getting out of their cars and screaming at him (supposedly one person even threw a bottle at him to try to get his attention but missed), and he walked right into the path of the oncoming train. I guess I'm naive to think that walking THAT distracted is a bad idea anyway; but if you're going to do it, maybe look up when you're approaching train tracks?

It was not a narrow avoid or near miss. I cut my teeth riding in an area where verbiage from a passerby in this kind of situation is pretty much to be expected. I've also voiced my concerns to fellow drivers about nearly-flat tires or open fuel tank filler neck caps - sometimes I get the finger, sometimes I get a thank you. This guy made the choice to blow up, instead of giving it consideration.

"Because it's the norm" is no justification for an old wife's tale. From what I have seen, local jurisdictions commonly require walking against traffic when there is no sidewalk. There is a sidewalk in the area which my post concerns.

For my local area:

300.405. Pedestrians Walking Along Roadways
(1) Where sidewalks are provided it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon
an adjacent roadway. (2) Where sidewalks are not provided any pedestrian walking along and
upon a highway shall when practicable walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder
facing traffic, which may approach from the opposite direction.

Every state I have lived in has nearly exact legislation.

If there's a sidewalk, use it. On every road where I encounter people walking/running on the road and against traffic, there is a sidewalk on one or both sides of the road. Some of these roads allow speeds of 45mph. Norm or not, it's a terrible idea.

Oh, sorry, I missed the sidewalk part; my bad! Sorry about that.

The examples I was referring to were situations where there was no sidewalk. They are still permitted on the road, but are required and encouraged to walk against traffic. As you said. I'm sure we have similar legislation requiring pedestrians use the sidewalks when available. Though where I'm at (small town); that's mostly just a couple of select streets and main streets. Few sidewalks out here.

Frankly can't fathom WHY a pedestrian would prefer the roadway over the sidewalk.

Just my two cents
have I ever. Ridden on the wrong side of the road? Yes....now knowing about the dangers of doing that why? Could it be that we are not truly given the same equality on the road?

I took my car in to the shop for repairs and decided to bring the bike with me as work was only 8 miles away. Unfortunately the road where the shop is located is a fairly busy & fast road with 2lanes each way. Thankfully it was less than a mile to get to the inter section for the road I needed to use & it has some nice bicycle lanes.

However for the ride back iwas faaced with a problem. Do itry to ride it as a car WOULD? or do I ride on the right pull off and try to do a pedestrian cross? Or do I ride across the intersection and ride on the wrong side for that small distance to get to the shop?

Any one of those approaches have pluses and minuses.
I ended up diong the pedestrian cross but think next time doing the short salmon run instead

The whole point of walking against traffic is so that the pedestrian can see oncoming traffic, and get out of the way if necessary. I doubt the pedestrian mentioned by jfowler85 was concerned about any sort of traffic laws.

As far as I know, there are no legal requirements for lighting or reflectors for pedestrians; it is not assumed that drivers will see pedestrians at night. Even if the drivers DO see the pedestrians, the pedestrian will see the lights of the vehicle far sooner, provided they are walking against traffic; and, one would think, take appropriate actions to preserve their own life.

I agree though, dispensing "free advice" is seldom appreciated.

I didn't mean to imply that he was - just that he's in the right place if he's walking in the street.

It's also pretty stupid to be wearing dark clothes walking on an unlit roadway. Nevertheless, doesn't that incident seem uncomfortably similar to the car driver shouting at the cyclist "get on the sidewalk", "wrong side of the street", when they weren't paying attention and buzzed us too close?

It's never a good idea to shout at anyone - even shouting "watch out"! is likely to be too late to be of help. :)