wow! a day of masochism!

[winterbadger]

1. Went to play ASL with Jim Mehl of the DC Conscripts (Mr 77-37). I lost. But it was fun!

2. Went to the Black Rose Exploratorium with a friend. Got to play with several cool toys. Parts of me were hurting afterwards, but in a good way :-).

3. Left just as the DC v. LA game was starting. Got there as DC scored its tying goal (1-1). Left with 5 minutes of overtime to play, at which point DC was losing 2-5 (it didn't get worse, but...)

The first two hurt but were fun. The last didn't hurt so much, but it was definitely not fun.

I'll go into the traffic incidents on the way home later; suffice to say that I loathe (a) arrogant asshole cyclists who think they are above common traffic laws and (b) jerks who cut you off and then pretend they are "from out of town" and so don't know where they are going. (Yeah, you guys are from out of town like Madonna is a virgin...)

Comments

[jan-rosencrantz.livejournal.com]

I also hate asshole arrogant cyclists - especially those who 'trickle' through traffic lights [as in track stand, moving forward very slowly until noticing they're already half way across the road and may as well just ride. Fucks me off.]

best I ever saw was a full blown moron cycling through the cluster of lights at the junction of Haymarket, Gorgie and Roseburn, who was deeply amused that every vehicle there had to pull emergengy stop to avoid killing him. Including me.

[jan-rosencrantz.livejournal.com]

I get that *as a cyclist* on a daily basis.

I am fast enough that I can overtake cyclists who run lights between sets of lights. They always look a bit shocked and try harder, which puzzles me greatly. It ends up feeling like I'm racing someone who has no interest in following the rules.

However, what pisses me off more than that is guys (it's always guys) who overtake then slow down. What's the fucking point? All you are going to do is encourage me to overtake you so that I can carry on at my normal speed. At least have the decency, if you want to overtake, to carry on at a decent speed.

puzzling

[winterbadger]

This guy and I were going down East Capitol Street (which runs, as you might expect, east-west from the US Capitol; RFK Stadium, where DC United play, is at the east end of it). Every time we would come to a red stop light, I would stop and he would cruise straight through at full speed. Since I was driving a car, I overtook him several times, and each time he would so the same thing. The second and third times, I honked my horn at him when he blew through the light. He just waved lazily.

I enjoy cycling, and I'd like to work up to the point where I'm skillful and confident enough to ride in traffic. But every jerk like this is making other drivers more and more angry at cyclists, and many people are not going to bother disccriminating between one cyclist and another. They're just going to react in accordance with how they've seen some cylcist behave. And people who break the law, unsafely, and rub your face in it are much more memorable than law-abiding folk.

[cutedeadgirl.livejournal.com]

Ooo Black Rose thing sounds much fun.

I am glad I don't drive or one day I would just let every suicidal asshole see the underside of the car (this would be the main reason I don't drive). Last time I saw my doc on the way home one guy just crossed accross the intersection right on middle of it, and crossed our way coming inches from the front of the car (and we had a *big* car atm too). Roomie could barely stop in time and the ass actually shook his head at us as if it was our fault he got so close to being a pancake.

[carolinab.livejournal.com]

I commute by metro and walking every day and at least once a week when I'm crossing with the light at a cross walk a car comes close to hitting me and 9 times out of 10, the driver is not even looking. I've stopped listening to music when I'm walking, because I really have to stay alert, because obviously the drivers aren't paying attention. But even worse are the bike riders who blow through stop signs and red lights. I see even more close calls with them. And the worst offenders aren't wearing helmets. I've seen the results of those accidents before, and I sure don't want to see one happen.

And man, that DC/LA game was so painful. :(