What does this have to do with cycling?
Nothing. But by the end of the day, I'll have a scientific name for the coffee-sucking automoron who sat behind me honking his horn in traffic.
Oh, what's the deal with transit only lanes? Is it legal to ride your bike in them? A bus driver got all pissed at me because I was, then another one got pissed because I was in the traffic lane but apparently didn't feel three feet was enough space between me and him. Fuckwad.
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derrickito
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:39 am
now with 50 percent more EVILJoined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 10566
claim those lanes. whenever im riding solo and i feel someone is being a cock and going a little too close, i go out of my way to take that entire lane and force myself to be seen.
iro1751
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:40 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 723
lieutenantsean wrote:
Osedax mucofloris
. . .
Oh, what's the deal with transit only lanes? Is it legal to ride your bike in them? A bus driver got all pissed at me because I was, then another one got pissed because I was in the traffic lane but apparently didn't feel three feet was enough space between me and him. Fuckwad.
curious, where were you at? and I completely second derrickito there, claim the whole street if you can, I do!
lieutenantsean
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:46 am
Joined: 10 Oct 2005Posts: 1255
At the time I was riding down 522 between Kenmoore and Lake City.
Normally I just take however much of the traffic lane I feel entitled to. The cars behind me didn't seem to have any issues, just the shit stain in the bus and the shuttle.
I'm starting to think the biggest asshole drivers up here are the transit drivers. Haven't had any problems with people in cars. Most of them seem pretty polite.
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iro1751
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:48 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 723
lieutenantsean wrote:
. . .
I'm starting to think the biggest asshole drivers up here are the transit drivers. Haven't had any problems with people in cars. Most of them seem pretty polite.
they can all certainly be pricks, but yes the bus drivers seem to sometimes go out of their way to not let a bike pass them which makes little sense to me considering (downtown at least) they're going to stop immediately again at the next bus stop, they don't like it when you wrap on their doors and start bitching at them
i've also heard they get pissed when you bust their side-view mirrors, but that's obvious
lantius
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:50 am
1337Joined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 6705Location: right over
to be fair everybody is always taking a huge dump on transit drivers for being so slow. the thing i try to remember when i'm getting the metro bus squeeze-play is that i'd much rather have a city of buses, trains, monorails, etc than commuters in their lincoln navigators. so i make sure to give them space where i can and recognize that they're generally ill-respected members of the transit community.
plus if they do decide to go postal and hit you you're fucked. proper fucked.
langston
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:55 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 5547Location: Columbia City
admin wrote:
lantius wrote:
proper fucked.
snatch reference!
admin?!
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lieutenantsean
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:55 am
Joined: 10 Oct 2005Posts: 1255
Need to stop a cop and ask what the hell the story is with the transit lanes. If it's legal for me to be there, fuck the bus drivers.
This is why I hate bike trails. It gets drivers into the mode of assuming that's where you belong regardless of what the law says.
I'm gonna start chewing tobacco when I ride. I've got pretty good accuracy out to about 10 or 15 feet with a mouthful of chew spit. If they really piss me off, I can launch the chaw at them too.
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iro1751
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:56 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 723
lantius wrote:
to be fair everybody is always taking a huge dump on transit drivers for being so slow. the thing i try to remember when i'm getting the metro bus squeeze-play is that i'd much rather have a city of buses, trains, monorails, etc than commuters in their lincoln navigators. so i make sure to give them space where i can and recognize that they're generally ill-respected members of the transit community.
plus if they do decide to go postal and hit you you're fucked. proper fucked.
I'm not taking a dump on anyone (that's just nasty) and I agree, buses are better than cars, no doubt.
They can however use a touch more logic when squeezing a bike into parked cars, or not letting a bike pass them when they're pulling out from a bus stop, etc etc
lieutenantsean
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:00 am
Joined: 10 Oct 2005Posts: 1255
I think the thing that really put a wad in my knickers this morning was that I was keeping an eye over one shoulder so if a bus came up the transit lane, I could snuggle into traffic a little more and let them by.
When the bus drivers were getting all uppity with me this morning, some chick in a lexus (with a great set of tits) let me over all nice and polite-like.
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derrickito
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:03 am
now with 50 percent more EVILJoined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 10566
langston wrote:
admin?!
aint nothing to see here.. move along people. move along
iro1751
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:15 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 723
I would say this though, a bit of an assumption, but it's been my experience when I've see transit/bus lanes they've usually had a "bicycles allowed" sign tacked on somewhere
That's been in Baltimore and Ocean City, MD though. . .
lieutenantsean
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:21 am
Joined: 10 Oct 2005Posts: 1255
When the bus driver told me the transit lane was for buses, I could see his point, and I didn't see anything that said bikes were allowed. I wrote it up as him just telling me what the law was and I rolled with it.
It seemed a little odd to me, but things are a little different up here. The only places you see bus-only lanes in Portland are in the Transit Mall downtown. I've tried checking the WADOT website and can't find any laws on the books addressing the issue. If they are right, they are right.
I need to put a sign on my bike that says
"Don't bother honking, I know you're there."
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derrickito
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:22 am
now with 50 percent more EVILJoined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 10566
there are quite a few of those around here. i regularly ride eastlake into downtown. i take a right and go up the hill near the freeway onramp of mercer. there is a bus only left hand lane with a "bicycles ok" sign
cars always get behind me to take a left there and i love to just take my good old time slowly going left and up the hill with them stuck behind me, trying to taunt them into honking at me so i can stop my bike and yell at them for taking an illegal left.
im an equal opportunity hater.
joeball
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:24 am
Joined: 24 Jul 2005Posts: 6037Location: Ether
I tend to give buses the benefit of the doubt and figure there are 50 people on the bus that are not driving 50 individual cars. Granted sometimes a transit driver will irritate me but rarely is it as bad as something a car driver does. Buses are big, and usually signal so in general you can anticipate their actions. Car drivers can be much more erratic Transit drivers have to put up with their end of shit from cars too and I try to focus on that as a common point between buses and bikes.
I'm not sure about the 522 transit lane and bikes, in that case the buses are traveling much faster, downtown transit lanes the buses are traveling on par with what a biker should be able to do plus they are stopping more so sharing with bikes seems more reasonable.
As far as I'm concerned the dude who sits behind you honking the horn is an aggressive driver fostering road rage. The horn has stopped being a warning/safety device at that point. Horns should be like bombs or life meters in video games. Either your get 3 honks each time you start the car of you get 3 seconds of sustained honking and then it takes 3 minutes to charge back up.
lieutenantsean
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:32 am
Joined: 10 Oct 2005Posts: 1255
It looks like the answer is this:
SMC 11.53.230 High-occupancy vehicle lanes.
No person shall operate a vehicle in violation of a designation by the Washington Department of Transportation, the Director of Transportation or the Traffic Engineer reserving all or any portion of a street or highway, including any lane or ramp, for the exclusive or preferential use of transit coaches or other public transportation vehicles or carpools. (RCW 46.61.165)
The transit lane is theirs by law. I can work with that.
But yeah, I agree about the horns. Maybe I need to get one too.
Issues with buses notwithstanding it was a cool ride this morning. There is nothing more gratifying than passing a shitload of cars stuck in traffic. I think they envy us.
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derrickito
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:36 am
now with 50 percent more EVILJoined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 10566
horns on bikes are awesome. next time you see me, ask to hear mine
lieutenantsean
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:40 am
Joined: 10 Oct 2005Posts: 1255
Aaron used to have an air horn on his. Thought about putting one on mine, but my bike is already getting pretty cluttered. And heavy.
It would be satisfying...
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megafauna
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:41 am
Joined: 06 Oct 2005Posts: 250Location: first hill
That is the SMC that I was going to site.
One guy I talked to at SDOT told me that he rides in the diamond lane downtown himself but he doesn't act like he owns them. He is really just getting away with it.
While I was talking to him, he also told me that they are correcting the signs on 3rd avenue to make it clear that bikes can ride there.
I have a message on the voicemail of another bike expert at SDOT. I'll see what his second opinion is on the diamond lanes.
futurenorth
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:44 am
Bed BleederJoined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 839Location: Ballard
I ride down 15th every morning now.
Those bastards hate me. I take up as much lane as is comfortable and they freak out. Sometimes they're cool and pass with room, but then there are the assholes who pass with just inches between the two of us.
Then I catch up and get right in front of them. I look back and smile. It's pretty sad when you can get down 15th or Leary and keep up with the cars the whole time. Every light I'm gonna pass you and you're going to hate it.
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lieutenantsean
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:31 am
Joined: 10 Oct 2005Posts: 1255
The cops in Seattle don't seem to pay much attention to bikes unless you are part of a Critical Mass ride.
Not sure whether that applies out in my neck of the woods although my commute doesn't really start to get interesting until I cross into King County.
I don't like getting all shitty with drivers, even if they deserve it. I just write them off as spineless asshats with much larger issues than me taking up a bit of their precious space in traffic.
They need to calm down and ride their damn bikes.
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lantius
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:48 am
1337Joined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 6705Location: right over
derrickito wrote:
horns on bikes are awesome. next time you see me, ask to hear mine
man i am going to wire that toggle switch right into your saddle so it shocks you in the junk every time you flip it.
the sad thing is i am pretty sure that will just make you use the horn even more.
henry
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 12:00 pm
somewhat piggishJoined: 05 Aug 2005Posts: 5415Location: on porch with shotgun
lantius wrote:
the sad thing is i am pretty sure that will just make you use the horn even more.
undoubtedly.
could you just make a nut shocker for me? i don't really need the horn...
Didn't I read somewhere that bicycles get to use the HOV lanes because technically they're 'full'? The same reason motorcycles get to use the HOV lanes on the freeways. You have one seat, and that one seat is full, so... something like that.
Aaron
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:30 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 4645
SofaKing wrote:
Didn't I read somewhere that bicycles get to use the HOV lanes because technically they're 'full'? The same reason motorcycles get to use the HOV lanes on the freeways. You have one seat, and that one seat is full, so... something like that.
Here is what I sent in (It is fresh in my brain since I just rode up 4th Ave today.):
Dear Mr Mayor,
Is it leagal and OK for a bicycle to use a bus lane or HOV lane on non-freeway roads? For example: the Bus Only lane going up (north) on 4th AVE thru downtown. It is the far right lane, the place that one would normally ride a bike. It is very scary to have busses pass you on the right if you ride on the right and if you ride in the next lane over, people honk at you. What is the correct place for a bicycle?
langston
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:37 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 5547Location: Columbia City
Aaron wrote:
Dear Mr Mayor,
Is it leagal and OK for a bicycle to use a bus lane or HOV lane on non-freeway roads? For example: the Bus Only lane going up (north) on 4th AVE thru downtown. It is the far right lane, the place that one would normally ride a bike. It is very scary to have busses pass you on the right if you ride on the right and if you ride in the next lane over, people honk at you. What is the correct place for a bicycle?
Did Braxton write this for you? F7 can do great things to email credibility.
_________________ riders wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.
Aaron
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:50 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 4645
Actually I have not sent it yet, What did I misspell? And F7 does nothing on my 'puter.
langston
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:52 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 5547Location: Columbia City
Aaron wrote:
Actually I have not sent it yet, What did I misspell? And F7 does nothing on my 'puter.
on most microsoft products F7 is spell check.
_________________ riders wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.
joeball
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:54 pm
Joined: 24 Jul 2005Posts: 6037Location: Ether
langston wrote:
Did Braxton write this for you? F7 can do great things to email credibility.
Hoz dat engrish majer werkin fo ya Langston?
dennyt
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:54 pm
rocket mechanicJoined: 02 Aug 2005Posts: 2708
Legal, not leagal.
Aaron
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:55 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 4645
langston wrote:
Aaron wrote:
Actually I have not sent it yet, What did I misspell? And F7 does nothing on my 'puter.
on most microsoft products F7 is spell check.
I know but I am running Linux on a Mac Box with a Pentium 4 processor with 2kb of RAM! And I use Voice recognition and a tablet instead of a keyboard and mouse.
Here is the updated letter. I had my lefts and rights mixed up too!
Dear Mr Mayor,
Is it legal and OK for a bicycle to use a bus lane or HOV lane on non-freeway roads? For example: the Bus Only lane going up (north) on 4th AVE thru downtown. It is the far right lane, the place that one would normally ride a bike. It is very scary to have busses pass on the left if you ride on the right and if you ride in the next lane over, people honk at you and busses pass on the right. What is the correct place for a bicycle?
dennyt
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:58 pm
rocket mechanicJoined: 02 Aug 2005Posts: 2708
Good Jorb!
langston
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:04 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 5547Location: Columbia City
joeball wrote:
langston wrote:
Did Braxton write this for you? F7 can do great things to email credibility.
Hoz dat engrish majer werkin fo ya Langston?
It was History, with english and botany minors.
_________________ riders wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.
lieutenantsean
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:11 pm
Joined: 10 Oct 2005Posts: 1255
Ok, history major with an english minor sort of makes sense. But botany?
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langston
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:21 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 5547Location: Columbia City
lieutenantsean wrote:
Ok, history major with an english minor sort of makes sense. But botany?
I am an amateur gardener/horticulturist. I ran my own landscaping business as a kid, took some summer school courses in greehouseing, and supported myself in college by operating a minor grow-op in a spare bedroom.
This whole bio-fuel craze is soooo behind the curve. The real future of clean, safe, environmentally safe power is in photosynthesis!
_________________ riders wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.
Aaron
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:27 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 4645
langston wrote:
It was History, with english and botany minors.
Remember that time with those English Minors at that bar?
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