"So here we are, conscientiously stopped on the way out of the park, at 90th. The light is red for us and green for the number of runners and others coming into or leaving the park in the crosswalk.
Here comes Zippie, cutting his bike through our stopped group and managing to miss a walker in the crosswalk. Needless to say I catch up with him and, in full sarcasm, say, ""That was terrific the way you almost took out that pedestrian in the crosswalk, walking on the green."" He smiled broadly but said nothing. I repeated, ""No kidding, you were great. I mean you also put fear into the others."" A bigger smile. I return to the matter. ""Listen, I don't think you're getting me. It was our red; it was their green. You endangered them.""
His reply? ""It's the weekend. The lights don't count.""
I stopped on the GWB to chat with some workers. They wanted me to know they couldn't talk about what they were doing--they were electrical workers--because it had security implications. I didn't ask them what they were doing, but now that I think about it, what might they, as electrical workers, be doing of a security nature. Planting charges to detonate in the event a Taliban goes through the toll booth without paying?
Anyhow, what I wanted to know and what they said is the north side should be back in operation in two weeks."
Two things I learned on our ride today.
Great ride Richard, thank you- hope to ride in your group again soon.
Sorry we lost you Chris! And, whatever did happen to Heath?
~CML
Richard - OK, I have to challenge you on this one.
I know you must be on a mission to reform the bad traffic behavior of millions of New Yorkers, even if you have to do it one at a time. But...
To slow down and proceed cautiously at a light on a Saturday morning in Central Park seems to be the right thing to do. To take a group of cyclists and come to a full stop does not. I don't know how large your group was but if it was more than 5, you were probably causing more havoc and confusion by stopping there and congregating than you would even by blazing through the red light (after all, that is what everyone expects).
You say the cyclist barely missed a pedestrian, almost taking them out. Yeah I guess but it must be the same way I barely miss the curb that I ride next to for 50 miles because if he hit the pedestrian, we know he would have went down in a heap, too.
One of these days, you may confront the wrong person, ie. a violent criminal-type or just a road rager, and I fear the consequences.
Let me see if I get what you're saying, Chris.
Here are pedestrians in the middle of the roadway, crossing in a crosswalk on their green light...and what we're supposed to do is thread between them, making them look up for us bearing down on them, putting them in fear of our hitting them, making them suddenly look up in mid-crossing and suddenly stop in their lawful tracks?
I think not.
"I have to agree with you. If you literally have to weave to get through the pedestrians, you should stop instead because at that point you're just too unpredictable to the pedestrians. It's a different matter than when crossing when there's one or two pedestrians on the crosswalk. In that case, you should cross behind them (not in front), and in either case give them wide berth (at least 5 feet) rather than graze by them (especially once they see you). Provided you've got enough room, it's much easier for you as a cyclist to swerve completely clear of their way, than it is for them to anticipate your path and get safely clear out of your way. If you don't have enough room, slow considerably or stop.
The importance of wide berth shouldn't be underestimated. I know this because several years ago, I was almost hit by a very fast moving cyclist while walking down a wide, empty street. We were going opposite directions, and there was no one else on the road besides me and him. Despite seeing me from way ahead, he chose to blow by me leaving less than a foot of space instead of just swinging out a few feet in advance of reaching me. We narrowly avoided hitting each other and facing serious injury because, moments before he reached me, I couldn't tell from his path whether he was going to try to pass me on the left or the right. So we ended up playing that little game, where I'd flinch to my left just as he was flinching to my left, and we'd both respond by flinching the other way, and back and forth as he got closer and closer, each of us unsuccessfully trying to do the opposite of the other. He could have easily prevented the whole thing by swinging his bike just a few feet outward (a half-second maneuver at most), so that I could relax and keep walking, knowing our paths wouldn't intersect at the wrong time. I think this is the origin of the pedestrian ""freeze"". The pedestrian is not pretending to be a deer caught in its headlights, but is waiting to see where you, the much faster-moving object, is going to go, before he/she chooses whether to wait or proceed. That's why it's so dangerous to weave close to pedestrians, even if you think you know what you're doing."
"""Let me see if I get what your saying, Chris... I think not."" I don't think you get what I am saying either."
Don't we all get annoyed when a CAR passes too close to us or decides to cut us off on a bike path? We need to have respect for others who share the road just as we demand respect from them.
Most of us cycle on the roads and in parks for pleasure and fitness. And yes, it's frustrating to have to slow down or stop for others. Fact is, however, *this is not a race.* The goals of safety and awareness of our surroundings are superior to any training goals we may have.
When we see a pedestrian, we need to signal and STOP if it looks like we are going to hit or come too close to them. No matter *who* has a signal or a light.
If we see a pedestrian or another cyclist coming at us in another direction, we ought to signal or call out to let them know our intentions. In a group of cyclists this responsibility increases, since we can do more damage to ourselves and to others.
Richard has the right idea in wanting respect and order in the Park. But we can't control others; we can only control what *we* do.
~CML
Well, Claudette got there ahead of me but, at the certain risk of sounding and being sarcastic (alas, my all too regular metier) I'll still go ahead with telling you this little trick I have that proves effective at slowing down and even stopping riders behind me when I want to stop for crossing pedestrians who have the right-of-way.
What I do, see, is I raise my hand. Or I wave it. Try it. It works. Except on trunculs. (Oh, goody, I got to use a French slang swear word I just learned (from VeloNews)). Do you really want to conduct yourself in conformity with them?
(I am hardly a martinet/disciplinarian on my rides but I do tell the group at the outset: just as I'll be pissed off at any driver or pedestrian who transgresses their right of way, so, too, will I be really pissed off if they violate the right-of-way of a driver or pedestrian. Yet they do, most notably on Ft. Washington. Shame on me for not expelling repeat offenders. Shame on me.)
