Comments

1
whoever drove that truck is a complete a-hole. there was obviously enough room to park closer to the curb and preserve non-life endangering bike space.
2
Public lanes are for all types of traffic, Including bikes. Yes, we need more bike lanes . OT- a federal agency reported this week that fully 1/3 of Americans are classified as overweight/obese. Maybe if more people were on bikes on dedicated bike routes, they could safely get healthful exercise!
3
Ansel, I've read it three times, and I still have no idea why you wrote bikelanes are "not signs of a world class city." Is this relevant to the truck crisis you're writing about?
4
Did you call the cops? Cuz parking in a bike lane is totally illegal. A cycle track is still a good idea. But we should also aggressively ticket/tow offenders like this one here.
5
trucks'll block stuff
that's what they do
add a cycle-track
and they'll block that too
6
Do you know what venue he was delivering to? Contact them and tell them to make their vendors park legally, or face the consequences.
7
Do you mean 12th Ave?
8

Hey why don't you vote for McGinn!

Oh...too late...you sold your souls....
9
@5 pretty much has it right. Shortly after the Broadway track opened I was riding north on it and got stuck behind a taxi that decided the cycle track was an excellent loading zone.
10
"There's a bike lane on Dexter Avenue a block away, which runs parallel!" is the kind of argument made by someone who has no concept of the fundamental difference between cars and bicycles.

I ride down Westlake all the time and Dexter sometimes. Taking Dexter anywhere typically involves a significant elevation gain that can be rather taxing on a bike, especially if you are novice cyclist, older, younger, carrying a lot of stuff, would prefer to not be quite so sweaty upon reaching your destination or would prefer to go faster rather than slower.

The Dexter bike lane is useful for getting to things on Dexter street, and not much else, whereas Westlake is a key route from Downtown, Lower Queen Anne and SLU to Fremont, SPU and the Burke Gilman Trail.

I'm unsure of the best way to articulate this difference to the Westlake Cycle Track opponents. Maybe showing the significant difference in actual travel times along the two routes, despite being parallel and only a block apart.
11
He meant 12th Avenue (obviously, the rage made him typo) and the business looks to be the chieftain, owned by the UW Finn MacCools people. And it's in Capitol Hill, not really near Westlake.

Considering that the westlake cycle track proposal involves a place with a special delivery access road in front of the businesses and has parking lots, this post is 100% red herring.
It reminds me of how much I hate reading comments by DOUG because Pridge Wessa is always such a troll.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.610739,-…
12
"and the Westlake cycletrack will have the additional benefit of being on flat terrain"

Please. Don't act like this is just an incidental benefit of the proposed bike track. That long, steep, bitch of a hill on Dexter is THE reason bikers want a Westlake route.
13
@10, maybe you should get the google people to actually register the elevation of dexter, because their special bike elevation estimator doesn't find either route challenging and both have about a 70 ft elevation change.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/The+Nick…
14
@13 Have you ever actually ridden Dexter and Westlake? As opposed to looking at them on map? There's a world of distance between the two.

15
I wouldn't hold up the Broadway cycle track as a good example. There, northbound cyclists have a green light to go through intersections, at the same time northbound motorists get a green light to turn right.

Watch for regular car/bike collisions along the Broadway cycle track.
16
The business they seemed to be delivering too was von Trapp's. Color me surprised.
17
@13, google maps does *not* show an elevation change of 70ft on both routes. The link you provided shows 115ft of elevation gain on the Dexter route versus 72ft of elevation gain on Westlake route.

When it comes to bicycle commuting, flatter is better and Westlake is significantly flatter than Dexter.

The travel time estimations bear seemingly no relation to the elevation changes indicated.
18
This is a tough call. I get that it sucks to have the bike lane blocked and it is a bit dangerous, but there's really nowhere in that area where the guy can park his truck and make a delivery. Maybe the city could dedicate small lots as exclusive truck loading zones for nearby businesses but then people would bitch about a space that remains empty for 80% of the day.
19
This is just another whiny, entitled vehicle operator who thinks their commute is important. Just because your vehicle has no motor doesn't mean it isn't a vehicle. You have to deal with other vehicles and take on the inherent risk of operating one, motor or no motor. Any competent driver can deal with a minor issue like merging, and if they are afraid in any way they should get off and WALK for a second. I'm sick of bicycle riders acting like they are precious in someway, or "helping the environment" simply by not using a motor. Walking is the only green transportation.
20
Bustling delivery schedules could also be considered a facet of a world-class city. Trucks displace drivers and pedestrians all the time. Looks like if you had taken the bus, this truck would have been no problem. But you chose to bike instead. I agree we should support bike commuting, but it is certainly a choice, and cyclists' choice to ride should get behind the needs of pedestrians and bus riders. Get in line.
21
Ask the drivers and they'll tell you the cops told them to unload in the bike lane. Ask the cops, and they'll say "Yeah, where do you expect them to go? We can't have them blocking traffic".

Ask them.
22
As someone who used to unload trucks for a living I can say that it is a shit job and there might have been something blocking him from pulling in further. As a cyclist, I have seen a lot of trucks needlessly block the bike lane on 12th. One night this place had barbecue trailers set up in the same bike lane.
23
@18 (and others): Look at the first photo. The delivery dude could've parked in a loading zone, but instead parked 4 feet from the curb, and in the bike lane.
24
The picture reminded me of a great book I read as a kid, The Pushcart War.
Thanks for the memories!
25
Oh, grow the fnck up. I commuted by bicycle in often busy streets for a decade, and I consistently found bike lanes to be scarier than simply owning my right to a place in the traffic lane (and either is better than those assho|es that bike on the sidewalk, which is what happens in Southern California).
26
@23, maybe the truck driver resented the bike parking ?
27
Unless you just moved here you really should know that it's not "12th Street" it's 12th Avenue. As far as trucks the trucks feel that they can pretty much do whatever the hell they want to and cops aren't going to ticket them. Trucks park in the turn lane all fucking day with impunity. The only thing that will change it on Broadway is when the trams start running.
28
Did you report this to SPD? I see a license plate. Easy ticket with photo evidence surely.
29
Why on Earth was it even upsetting to you that you had to bike around the truck and take extra precautions? Do you want life to seamlessly be at your beck and call 24/7?
I thought you were going to be less hyper about a lot of things than Paul or Dom, Ansel.

This is a city. There has NEVER been a post about a person in a car delayed by a truck delivery, EVER!
You're too talented to be working at The Stranger, Ansel. Your co-workers have infected you. I'd miss you, but get out before it's too late.
30
It can't have been that hard to merge into "traffic," since the second pictures shows not a single car on that side of the street for probably half a mile ahead.
31
I think the truck should park in the street and make cars go around. Done with special consideration for drivers. The environment can't afford them anymore.
32
it's 12th AVENUE, Ansel. AVENUE. please change this right now. and remember, avenues run north and south, streets run east and west. do not make this mistake again.
33
I don't know why they bitching about bike lanes on westlake, I mean there is a perfectly good car road and parking on dexter, why don't they just take that?
34
@30
But what would jesus do?
What would edward Snowden do?
What would Dan savage do?

I can't pass up an opportunity to mention the Holy Trinity.
35
@29:

But WHEN a couple of cyclists hog an entire lane on the street, slowing cars down to 10 or 15 mph, because of things like this and you'd be screaming bloody murder - because, we gave you cyclists YOUR OWN GODDAMNED LANE WHYN'T YOU BE USING IT??!!??

Also, reminds me of this.
36
The UPS truck that delivers on Dexter is always blocking the bike lane completely while parking four feet from the curb. Btw, I'm 58 and I bike Dexter all the time. I work on 7th and it is the straightest route.
37
@29: These arguments are trivial. The fact is that the State of Washington should enact a license fee, plus tab fee, for all bicyclists and for all human powered mobile devices.
After all, liberal progressives are more than willing to for everyone to pay fair share of the tax burden, right? So start puttin' your money where your mouth is.
Every license renewal, and tab renewal, for a non-motorized vehicle should be no more than %5 less than a motorized vehicle - to give complementary deference to those who believe that reducing global greenhouse emissions somehow reduces global warming. I think that is fair.
38
Darn, I meant to @35.
39
Traffic lanes get blocked all the time, by mail trucks, delivery trucks, garbage trucks, bicyclists in areas w/o bike lanes, etc. Riders have the same choice as drivers, they can wait for the lane to clear, or safely go around. Why should bike lanes be guaranteed obstruction zones? Oh yeah bicyclists feel entitled in this city to behave like cars or pedestrians, whichever is most convenient, often switching back & forth between the two. I see a higher percentage of cyclists intentionally not following traffic laws than I do drivers (as a percentage).
40
@37

If I own both a bike and a car, would I have to pay my fair share twice?

What minimum age do you have in mind for bicycle licenses?
41
@40, yes, same as if I owned a car, a 250cc motorcycle, and a 50 cc scooter... = 3 tags. You pay for each vehicle that is allowed to use the roads.
42
@18, Joel wrote, "I get that it sucks to have the bike lane blocked and it is a bit dangerous, but there's really nowhere in that area where the guy can park his truck and make a delivery."

That means it's an area unsuitable to make deliveries by truck, not that it's an area where parking delivery trucks in the bike lane is acceptable. If you want to use public resources for your private business, you don't get to write your own rules.
43
I know it's a blogger's job to generate outrage, but most bike commuters would just pull into the (empty in the pictures) traffic lane and keep on trucking without even giving it a second thought. If you are really scared of the big bad cars, it looks like there was room to ride around the right side of the truck...

It is kind of ironic that it was probably the fixed bicycle parking area that kept the driver from being able to maneuver his truck closer to the curb. Hard to tell though since we can't see what's in front of him.

I commute along Alaskan Way on my bike and there are always multiple delivery trucks parked at the curb blocking the lane that I have to maneuver around in the morning (not to mention seawall consruction). I feel like I'm part of a bustling city going about its business, and I would hardly expect everything to stop while I ride by.
44
@12 If you think that hill on Dexter is a "bitch", you are a total sack. Work on it you lazy doof.
45
The bike lane is designed incorrectly. In the picture, I see street, bike lane, parking lane, curb, sidewalk. It should be street, parking lane, curb, bike lane, curb, sidewalk.

Every bike lane next to a street should be fixed. You're never going to alter people's behaviors to the degree necessary to address this design flaw.
46
@37/38/41,

I'd be totally cool with paying taxes or fees or whatever for a bike, even in addition to what I pay for a car. That's just me though.
47
Some trucking companies have a policy of terminating their drivers if they hit anything. Given the choice between blocking the bike lane or bumping into anything, I'm sure all of you would rather keep your job.

Additionally; you have no idea what the parking environment was like when the trucker arrived only what it looks like in the picture.
48
So you slow down and look for car traffic and then steer the bike around the truck.

Wasn't that easy?
49
Of course, if the truck was double-parked in a regular vehicle lane most of the drivers here would be totally pissed. But hey, it's "just a bike lane, what's the problem?"

Licenses and tabs sound fine, but rather than base them on the cost of an automobile, which is several orders of magnitude more expensive than a bicycle, pollutes more, and does more damage and wear to roads, let's instead base the fees on the Carbon impact of said vehicle. I mean, for many people the whole point of biking instead of driving is to lessen their negative physical impact on the environment, so they're already doing their part.

Fair is fair, after all...
50
Seems like you're getting used to sharing the road. You know, 13th Avenue, the residential avenue one block to the East, has much less traffic, much less trucking, and a lot more shade.

Cars re-route to avoid garbage trucks, Buses re-route to avoid crime scenes, motorcycles re-route to avoid "use extreme caution" construction areas.

If you're arguing you deserve completely unobstructed routes on completely flat routes, I will counter there are plenty of ghost town streets in the Southwest just begging for someone to build a cycle track so they can feel world-class like us.

I would like to take your arguments seriously, Mr. Herz. Over-reactions and half-baked posts with incorrect details about the city you're too new to name correctly make this goal difficult to reach.
51
I would like to take your arguments seriously, Mr. Herz. Over-reactions and half-baked posts with incorrect details about the city you're too new to name correctly make this goal difficult to reach.

Amen.
52
@49,
Sure, just come up with a "so simple the DMV can do it" carbon impact analysis that takes into account how many gallons of fossil fuel will be used each year, if the emissions equipment was functioning correctly, the source of the power for electric vehicles, and how many more calories the biker had to eat/cause to be delivered to grocery stores/extra showers or bike clothes washing was required, and make sure the bikes get a fat license plate on them so we don't have unidentified scofflaws like this woman. If you want to base it on carbon emissions, then the truck that sits unused in the driveway for a year will pay nothing, right ?

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Bicyc…
53
I've been a cyclist for 30 years. From a real city.

stop being a pussy! go around. it's not hard.
54
@52 that makes as much sense as any other bike tax proposed.
55
@52:

Anyone who leaves a truck parked unused in a driveway for that long is not likely to be renewing the tabs on it anyway; or are you suggesting those rusting hulks strewn across lawns all over the Southend like some post-apocalyptic landscape get renewed every year? I would really be surprised to hear that's the case.

And sure, let's come up with the formulas - if we're going to use Carbon footprinting as the metric, then to be fair we should measure those impacts. Of course, I'm guessing someone's imported $115,000 12 mpg Mercedes G-Series SUV that they drive round-trip from Lake Stevens every day is going to end up costing, oh just for the sake of argument, maybe 50 times as much to license and tab as it does now, while somebody else's $1,500 used Davidson bike (manufactured here in Seattle) that they ride on a 10 mile round-trip each day from Northgate to Fremont pays only a few dollars a year. Sure, that seems totally fair to me.
56
Motorcycle registration is $43.75 + $20 Congestion reduction + $4 license plate fee + TBD fee + an TRA tax.

Campers, which are about as "carbon neutral" as a bike, I guess, are $11.65 + $20 license plate + inpection fees.

A bike inspection every few years would help ensure safety and the rider has a fitting helmet and proper safety gear (like headlamps that don't strobe and functioning brakes/no fixies) so that should be done at least every other year of the bike registration.
http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistratio…
57
With Google Glass and the right program, you can upload pictures of the crime straight to an SPD crime reporting email address, in just shy of real time using a simple voice command. After a dozen complaints or so, you can lobby to have the business fined for being a known public nuisance.
Don't get pissed. Get creative. Use the right hand of "the man" to swat the left hand of "the man".
58
Will somebody please give Ansel Hurts his ballsack and manhood back.

Sorry Ansel, and truck making a delivery is far more important than your little bike ride.

grow the fuck and up...and grow a pair of balls while you are at it, you whiny little fuck.
59
I think you showed amazing restraint in not titling this post in all capital letters, Ansel. Please be sure to update the post once you receive a call back from the Mayor or Governor's office addressing this travesty.
60
Oh Jesus, you're indignant over this? The guy's going to unload his truck and move on, it's not like he's setting up there permanently.

Regardless of your feelings on cars, the one type of vehicle we should absolutely accommodate in cities is delivery/commercial vehicles. Chill the fuck out. Everyone - cars, bikes, pedestrians - has to deal with this type of vehicle occasionally blocking a lane, bike lane, or sidewalk. You don't like it, you can move out to the 'burbs with their low-density, large parking lots and loading zones, and I guarantee you it will never be an issue.

I think cycletracks are a great idea and safer for everyone, but I don't get why you're so upset about this.
61
The last vehicle one should accommodate in cities (or suburbs for that matter) is delivery/commercial vehicles. Private profit obstructing public right of way? Screw that, every single time. Ticketting obstructing delivery drivers and getting rid of taco trucks are two easy ways we could make our streets more liveable and productive as avenues of transport.
Unfortunately Seattle is in the grip of rampant corporatists, so we can instead look forward to more private abuse of public properties.
62
37: Bikers already pay for Seattle roads exactly as much as car drivers. We pay well over $100 million a year to pay for roads, the vast majority of which are car use-only. They come out of property tax, sales tax, B&O tax. Also, the vast majority of city-owned land -- much more than all the parks and offices combined -- is dedicated to roads and parking lots for cars.

If you're thinking of other taxes, gas tax is for state highways only, car tabs are for transit and state projects, tolls are for bridges. Nothing to do with city streets.

If you want to be "fair" -- okay, make bicyclists pay a few dollars a year to pay for bike projects. And then raise a tax for car drivers only to about $250 a year for car infrastructure maintenance so we can stop charging non-car users, and another tax on cars to send a check to each non-car user for about $100,000 each to make up for all the city land that's dedicated solely to car users. That's a start -- then we can talk about car taxes to mitigate the air, water, and noise pollution by cars and the health hazards posed by cars.
63
@62 raku, gas taxes go into a lot more things than Interstates and state highways, at least according to the WSDOL people.
http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistratio…
Where fuel tax money goes

All fuel taxes collected are placed in the Motor Vehicle Fund. The Motor Vehicle Fund is used to support highway programs including:

Constructing and maintaining state, city, and county roads, bridges, and ferries.
Purchasing rights of way.
Installing, maintaining, and operating traffic and signal lights.
Policing state public highways.
Operating movable span bridges.
64
@62, I also look forward to the bicyclist license fee re-imbursing the gas tax fund the construction costs of whatever fraction of the pavement gets converted to dedicated bike lanes along westlake, dexter, 12th AVENUE, etc.
66
Seattle's roads are paid for primarily through sales and property taxes, which we all pay. And since bicycles have a very low impact on road infrastructure, cyclists subsidize drivers in this city. You're welcome.
67
@66, are you sure about that ? What physical items does the average person take out loans to pay for which then generate a lot of sales tax revenue ? Homes, automobiles... do banks give loans for bicycles much ?

Until your average bicycle sale is generating the same sales tax revenue as each car sale, I think you're not paying very much through that avenue.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/1…
....car dealers have a lot political power. Dealers contribute a big share of state sales tax revenues — as much as 20 percent in some states — and they tend to be big local employers.
68
@67: You're assuming that no cyclist ever buys a car. Or anything else.
69
@68, my apologies DOUG. I forgot about how the average Metro Bus rider is an upper 10%-er and that the average bicycle rider immediately turns around and spends the money not spent on car stuff on fine caviar and booze, which generates more tax revenue than cars.
70
ChefJoe, you have already exposed yourself as a fool and an idiot. Don't you know when to stop?
71
Holy shit folks. Avenue, not street. Got it. Fixed. Thanks.
72
@69: Apology accepted. I'm assuming you discovered that (according to a 2008 survey) the median household income of cyclists is about 20% higher than the overall national average.
73
@72, is that because so few cyclists are 65+ and the cyclists in the 15-24 bracket live in homes with parents, how about just individual incomes ?
http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshor…

Maybe it's the 2008 National Sporting Goods Association Survey ? You can boost your income by being an infrequent bicyclist too, if you believe that.

http://bettercitiesnow.com/infrastructur…
Infrequent adult bicyclists also had the highest percentage of college graduates among both men and women, and the highest percentage of households with incomes of $100,000 or more.
74
Jesus, people. He's not saying it was the worst thing ever. He's not even saying the driver shouldn't have done it. He's saying that bike lanes aren't as good as cycletracks, and here is one reason why.
75
Fuck you bike nazis! The guy had a delivery! It's not like he was going to be there all day. It probably took him 20 min. to unload and be on his way. Get over this"bike lane thing" You wanna ride a bike in Seattle, deal with the consequences, bunch of wussies! Sheesh, grow up and act responsible and realize that you bike morons are in the MINORITY.
76
Ansel, you perhaps haven't been reading Capitol Hill Seattle Blog or Seattle Bike Blog, both of which adequately documented trucks and cars blocking the Broadway cycle track. Yep, that's right, the Broadway cycle track (BTW there was a collision in this uber protected cycle track just like last week).

Couple of questions for you:

1. Did you stop and ask the truck driver why he was blocking the bike lane?
2. Did you call the police, or file a report? You took a photo, you could have written down the license plate and company name.
3. Did you call the company this fellow works for? Ask them to tell their drivers not to block bike lanes?
4. Were you able to safely maneuver around the truck? The truck is like, how long? How many feet did you have to ride in a traffic lane?

Trucks and drivers shouldn't block bike lanes. I'm a cyclist, I get it. But I also get the feeling you got outraged, and instead of doing something practical about it, you pedaled to the Stranger, sat down in your cubicle, and wrote your class-warfare screed to either make yourself feel superior, or to rile up the comments. Looks like it worked, and yet your actions are not going to make bike lanes any less blocked.

I live and work on congested streets. Streets full of cars, bikes, trucks, and pedestrians. There are times when I just need TO GO AROUND SOMETHING to get where I'm going. But outrage is so much easier, right?
77
I couldn't find the post mentioned by @76, but did see this. I miss Dannielle sometimes.

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/page/3…
Taxi vs. bike at 12th/Pike: The intersection at 12th and Pike was closed Saturday morning as SPD investigators documented the scene of a taxi vs. bike collision. We’re still gathering information on the incident involving a male rider and the extent of injuries he suffered. The crash happened just a few blocks from Friday’s car vs. pedestrian incident linked to above. UPDATE: A passenger in the taxi, former Stranger editor Danielle Henderson, posted this about the incident on Twitter: “Cab I was in just hit a cyclist who was bombing thru a red light w/ no helmet. The blood is…JESUS, guys, WEAR A HELMET, DON’T RUN LIGHTS.” Seattle Fire tells us the victim suffered head and possible internal injuries and was transported to the hospital in stable condition.
78
Ansel is an insufferable juvenile little cunt.
79
A bike is not viable transport for the vast majority of people trying to get around in Seattle. Hills, rain, and most importantly disinclination to use a childs toy as transportation, mean bikes will never, ever ever replace cars and mass transit. Heck, they'll never move more than 3 or 4 percent of folks.

I don't pay taxes in Seattle. I refuse to take on projects there. So basically my only trips into Seattle are two or three times a year as a tourist. So you idiots can block legitimate traffic and create silly bike lanes on useable pavement all you like. You can war on the small businessman with stupid regulations all you want. And when Seattle is all hipsters working at tech companies and corporate behemoths who can afford your toddler-esque policies- you'll complain about gridlock and affordability and diversity and how there are no neat little shops or restaurants around anymore. And, though by your nature as permanent children you won't ever understand this- it will be your own silly faults.
80
Oh, and possibly cyclists in Seattle aren't the entitled selfish halfwits they are in South Snohomish /North King every damn weekend where I live. Perhaps they don't run lights, go slow and refuse to allow legitimate drivers around (in Washington you MUST pull over if more than 5 vehicles are stacked up behind you) ride a 50 mile an hour road literally 50 feet from purpose built bike trail because gravel isn't to their taste and then have the unmitigated gall to act as though motorists were the problem.

But where I live everybody detests the arrogant jerks of Spandex Nation making running weekend errands into a fight with self righteous law breaking assholes.
81
@77, if you visit capitolhillseattle.com and enter "cycle track" in the search box, it will pop right up. The article and comments are from November when the first section opened, but my personal experience both on bike and in car are the same to this day - not to mention it is dangerous for users. As an experienced and frequent cyclist, I would never again ride on this thing. It's too confusing, crosses to many driveways and pedestrian paths, and is often blocked. Recently they added blue squiggles to further differentiate the track, but it still gets blocked regularly, and drivers have yet to learn the new infrastructure (I don't blame them, it's confusing as hell). The short cycle track on 65th between the BGT and Magnuson park is the way to do it. What they've done to Broadway is a dangerous, ugly clusterfuck, and I hope it is NOT the example Seattle will be using for future tracks.
82
@79 FTW.

83
@76 "instead of doing something practical about it, you pedaled to the Stranger, sat down in your cubicle, and wrote your class-warfare screed to either make yourself feel superior, or to rile up the comments."

Ailes and Murdoch have build an empire this way. Herz was brought onto the Stranger staff specifically to engage in this type of pseudo journalism. You're decrying the standards of an entity which rather obviously embraces sensationalism over research, buzzwords over critical analysis.
84
Just go around, ya whiners.
85
I love all the pricks here lambasting the author for mistaking an avenue for a street.

Yeah...that's right. All of you that are trying to invalidate his entire post because of that mistake which as since been corrected are entitled pricks.

I've lived here my whole life and still sometimes will accidentally say street instead of avenue at times, and yes I know the difference.
86
In fact reading the comments here it seems that a majority of the posters here a complete and utter dicks.
87
Also (and sorry for triple posting), but I do find it hilarious that all of the drivers on here (I'm not one due to medical reasons) are completely fine when other drivers break the law like this...and then piss and moan about cyclists who also sometimes break the law.

The only time I break a law as a cyclist is when there's an immediate safety concern (ALWAYS CAUSED BY DRIVERS) that requires me to do so. My bicycle is outfitted with every piece of gear required for day and night riding. I always use my hand signals properly. I always have flashers and the headlight on from dusk onward. I always wear my helmet. I always check before I change lanes.

Do you know how many pedestrians I've knocked over? 0.
Do you know how many cars I've ever hit due to my own actions? 1.

Do you want to know why I hit that car? Because the guy kept riding my ass even though I was as far right as the road would allow without going down an embankment. He had 2 complete lanes with which to pass me. I was 6 inches from the embankment. He decided it would also be fun to bump my tire a couple times.

So this jackass that decided to slowdown to my same speed and follow me for over a mile doing this? I finally stopped my bike, got off it, walked up to his car...and proceeded to beat the shit out of his car right then and there. I dented the living fuck out of it.

Then I got back on my bike and proceeded to continue riding. He didn't follow anymore.

Then there was the time that a bus driver decided that a bike trail (super short one connecting 2 streets that were right next to each other...but are each one-way streets with a viaduct running over the top of them) would make an excellent place to take the bus to try to make up some time.

So he turned onto it while I was riding on it, and nearly killed me. I followed his bus all the way back to the next station and slugged the son of a bitch right in the jaw and had him fired that same day.

I have no patience for drivers who always try to pin it on the cyclists. Usually when we have to do something unexpected in traffic it's either because you or your other fellow drivers weren't paying fucking attention.
88
@87

... thanks for sharing your psycho violent fantasies.
89
Psycho violent fantasies?

Not at all. I really did dent that car, and I did actually sock that bus driver right in the jaw.

The station was maybe a mile from where this occurred, and it happened in a smaller town than Seattle (Centralia). I also happened to spend a lot of my younger years living in that area...so it's not as if I had to keep pace with the bus the whole way either to meet him at the station. I knew right where he was going, and that he would have a layover before his next run.

Here's where the bus incident occurred around 12 years ago.

http://www.rtoadm.com/BusIncident.png

So in conclusion, I say fuck off if you're going to try to ever call me out on anything by being an asshole.
90
I'm also the guy that you will find on buses that when some random jackass is shouting his obscenities on the bus or getting physically violent with anyone or starts shouting at kids or women or even another dude...I'm the one who actually turns around and takes them on and tells them to get off the bus.

I'm also the guy that actually stops when I see someone being assaulted (verbally or physically) and steps in to try to solve the problem.

I'm not like you number 88. I'm not someone who acts like a wuss and lets everyone run roughshod over myself or others. I actually DO something about the issues I see in the world.

Perhaps you should learn just how much real power you have when you take control of situations and own them.
91
You know Ansel... you're the reason people bitch about kids raised believing everyone ought to get a trophy. You had to use your incredibly maneuverable vehicle to maneuver some this morning, you poor thing, and you're butthurt about it enough to stop and take pictures of the crime scene and insist the city spend a fortune in public money building you a protected lane that only you and your bike buddies can use.

Cars, busses, trucks, scooters, pedestrians... all of us, sometimes, have to maneuver around obstructions in the road (even sometimes in situations where doing so marginally increases our risk of collision) because we live in a WORLD CLASS CITY and it's busy and people are doing things on the public right of way like conducting commerce and living their damn lives, and sometimes you're going to experience little inconveniences. If you don't like it, you're welcome to crawl back into whatever hole in the ground you came out of, wrap yourself up in your binky, and place your fingers back in your ears.
92
@90

You lost all credibility with "He decided it would also be fun to bump my tire a couple times". A moving car doesn't 'bump' a bicycle twice. The chest thumping psycho violent fantasies only show me how impotent you actually are. Save the wannabe thuggery for your online gaming life.
93
All of you cyclists deserve a bike lane when you start paying taxes for them. What gives you the right to deserve something your not paying for. We pay for the roads due to the taxes we pay when buying a car and while owning it. Why do you cyclists feel as though you deserve anything your not paying for? At least the business that the person is delivering to is paying taxes. He deserves the right to park there more than you should have the right to use it since you pay nothing for it.
94
Try taking a different street.
95
92. I'm so worried about your opinion of me. Some person who I don't know and don't care about.

I'm sure you know all about the situation I dealt with on those occasions...because you were there right fucktard? :)
96
93. We all pay taxes to the State of Washington that includes money for the roads...and several of us have vehicles AND bicycles.

Stop being such an entitled prick.
97
In fact (again to 93) why don't I find a way to find out where you live, and then park my car right in front of your driveway on the main road, and block a lane of traffic while I do, and just leave it parked there while I do other things.

I mean after all if I pay taxes for the road I should be able to park wherever the fuck I want...fuck anyone else. Right?
98
@97 "why don't I find a way to find out where you live"

Psycho violent fantasies and threatening. I'm so glad we have you around to deal with scary people on the bus.
99
Looks so busy on that street. It's a miracle you didn't die both times you had to ride around that man working hard doing his job.
100
Ansel - How much is Thomas paying you to be their shill? Yes, it's that obvious.
101
In Berlin most of the bike lanes are on the far left side of the sidewalk, safely removed from car traffic and parked cars. I moved here from Portland, which has a pretty similar bike lane situation as Seattle. When I rode a bike around Portland, I was constantly scared for my safety. In Berlin the biggest threat is that pedestrians, mostly tourists who don't know that the red brick areas are dedicated bike lanes, often block the way. It's super annoying and slows you down for sure, but I'd take it over bike lanes next to car traffic any day.

    Please wait...

    Comments are closed.

    Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


    Add a comment
    Preview

    By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.