BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

last week i got "Yo! That's not a bike!"

My favorite is when you can see people's mouths moving and pretty much know they are yelling at you, but their windows are up.

In 2005, when I had recently returned to serious riding, the Senior Olympics were held in Pittsburgh. A week or so after they ended I was riding with some friends up the cobblestones on Wyoming Street atop Mt. Washington. As I ground up the hill a woman sweeping her front walk said "Are you folks with the senior olympics?" For once my wit did not desert me, my response? "No maam, we're just crazy."

It was a hot day and I must have looked like hell because I was only 43 years old at the time.

Once, a 10 year old boy asked, "can I borrow your bike?" as I rode past. And I'm sure we've all gotten "Yo Lance Armstrong!" before.

Major agreement with buzz up there. It's also funny when car-folk yell something as they drive past, and you really only hear like one or two syllables fading in and out.

I can't, it's too crude. Maybe after a few beers sometime...

A year ago I was getting "chink!" and "gook!" a lot. Recently I've gotten "unicycle!" (counting is hard for college students) and "that's a tall bike!" on the tall bike, and "bike!" on my bike that says "bike".

I rode my tall bike about 20 miles yesterday and had a bunch of conversations about it. Mainly how you get on and off it. A few people asked me if I build and sell them, and a (possibly) homeless man offered me a burrito in exchange for it.

Last Friday Dan, Mark, Rob, and I had a nice short conversation with a women in a Blazer about safe passing (how she always does it)... after we pushed her disabled SUV off the road.

I'm on Perry Highway southbound at the goofy H-shaped intersection by Willi's Ski Shop, in the left lane, waiting at the light to make a left onto Three Degree. A man in a pickup pulls up in the right lane and says, "You got some balls riding a bicycle in this traffic." He was pleasant about it, and in the 60 to 90 or so seconds (it's a long light), we had a really thoughtful conversation about suburban road cycling.

Stu, he was right. You are a BAMF.

nick: "is that a bike on top of a bike?"

A guy on a motorcycle (sans helmet, of course) told me on Carson Street: "You're gonna git kilt on that thing."

I asked him if he was going to kill me. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Good times.

Haha! Steph, I completely forgot about that. I've had so many conversations on the tall bike. I think that is the best part about it.

The other day I had a woman honking at me in a VW Eurovan. I pulled over so she could pass. She pulled over too, just to ask me to show her 3 kids how I got on it. They paced with me for about 2 blocks screaming and waving.

It's hard not to smile around a tall bike. Plans are in the works for a taller one, once I can get my hands on some more cheap frames.

On friday a UPS driver pulled next to me at a light and the driver asked me if I wanted to trade, unfortunately my witty mind went blank and all i could come up with was "sure" He giggled and drove off.

@ ndromb ... homeless man offered me a burrito in exchange for it

Did ya take it?

I passed.

On Highland through East Liberty tonight between Penn and Penn Circle N, there happened to be 5 of us on bikes on the road. I think each of us were riding separately, and just happened to be passing one another on the same block at the same time. A pedestrian exclaimed, "What is this, bike night?" It made me smile, and want to declare every night as such.

My all time favorite was downtown, guy in an SUV that had driven rather close to me only blocks earlier. He got ahead of me, got out of his car and as he seems me coming up, he yells out "man, you're gonna catch a cold!". it was about 35 degrees, sunny. he said it loudly, like a concerned parent, not like the guy who had nearly harmed me blocks before.

Today I got "what's up Floyd!". Got a kick out of that.

I have gotten way too many "Hey Lance!" and "Hey let me ride that bike!" comments to count, and will get more tomorrow I'm sure.

Last night I was out and cranking up a slight grade, standing, in a slightly high gear, and a middle aged guy in a plain old work van yelled "push it, push it, push it!". That was cool.

hahaha. love it, edmonds.

My recent faves include:

A couple men at the Giant Eagle on Shady... one of them gave me a good ABC quick-check to make sure I was riding safe. Another assured me that anytime I went grocery shopping there, he'd be sure to watch my bike for me. He told me I could always just note his jacket hanging up near where I parked my bike, and that I'd then know it would be safe in his watch.

Another fave was this past weekend in Friendship. A woman was holding her baby and teaching vocab. As I rode past she annunciated "Bi-cy-cle. Bi-cy-cle."

Riding the north shore trail last week, a ped yelled "what's wrong with you, you're on a bike, why aren't you smiling?"

I hadn't noticed I wasn't, and of course this immediately put one on my face.

I think my two favorites are:

1 -- "That's right -- get your pedal on!" "Honey don't bother the biker" A couple on their way to easter service in Allentown.

2 -- "That's my boyfriend!" (Pointing at me) A 6 or 7 year old girl near the Catholic school in Greenfield. (Given that the parents didn't chase me down and beat me senseless, I can only guess that she'd been doing that to everyone... it was very cute.)

We get a lot of comments when we're out on the tandem. I'm the stoker, so I hear what people say when we are (mostly) past them. I cannot tell you how often a woman turns to the man next to her, points at us and says, "That's what we need."

The other comment -- frequently called out to my husband -- is "Hey! She's not pedaling back there!" That one always comes from a man.

If only THIS would happen...

You're gone too fast to hear the whole comment: "That's what we need so I don't have to pedal back there".

I only ever get (and hear the whole of) "You'll never make the Tour de France if you don't bike up the hills!" or something like that (Shannon Drive (20% grade on the gentle parts) WILL be mine, just not yet). Almost always shouted by someone who I swear I would have bet serious money they had never heard of the Tour de France, let alone that it's a bike race. I respond that I'm practicing the downhill parts today, tomorrow's the uphill practice.

I once had to lead my (car driving) fiance through 'sliberty and shadyside traffic to a restaurant because he didn't know how to get there (and I wanted to ride and didn't know street names) - he went to yell at me as he passed me to park, I thought he'd compliment my butt, or my precise and well timed hand signals, or my crafty navigation, but instead I got a "You scare me woman!"

I got a flat tire within blocks of my house and elected to walk it home to my stand instead of fixing it on the street. As I did this, a woman yelled from across the street "you can't even ride your bike up your street!" The streets here are pretty steep (Greenfield), but I always pedal up them (when there's air in my tires). I was disturbed enough by this that I pressed her for what she was getting at, and it turned out she was attempting to complain about the topography of our neighborhood on my behalf. Better. Glad I asked. Bad enough feeling cheated out of pedaling up those last few blocks. Maybe I'll go ride down them now just to come back up.

Also.

A couple years ago, from a young guy riding down the sidewalk (I think) with a pizza box balanced on his handlebars:

"Nice legs dude!" (I'm pretty clearly female, long brown ponytail out of the back of the helmet. I just looked at him, at a loss.) Then he clarified: "I mean, they look really strong!" I think I gave him a wave or nod of appreciation or something like that, before the light changed.

Many years ago, I was in my front yard stretching before a run. I was bent over at the waist, and some guy in a pickup truck catcalled. I stood up, looked at him, and his homophobia splattered all over the inside of his cab. It was funny.

his homophobia splattered all over the inside of his cab

that stuff's really hard to clean off.

My friend in San Francisco witnessed this incident:

The scene: A cyclist riding down the street with a stereo blasting music.

Bystander: "Hey look, you're a one-man critical mass!"

Cyclist: "Hey look, you're a one-man critical dumbass!"

Bystander: "..."

I still laugh just thinking about it.

Today, Second Ave, Hazlewood

*Three or four kids, 14-16 years old*

"What if I just cracked that guy and stole his bike?"

(Either they thought I was out of earshot or wouldn't say anything)

"I wouldn't recommend it"

"I didn't say I would, I said what if"

"Well it's happened the last couple of days in East Liberty so..."

My response wasn't exactly factually true or constructive, but I'm tired of being threatened on my bike. I probably should have said something like "how would you like if somebody stole your bike?"

Going to the CVS in East Liberty a few months ago, I couldn't find anywhere to park my bike so I locked it to the parking lot "entrance" sign. Some girl across the street said

"hey! you're not allowed to park your bike there!"

"well do you see any bike racks?"

"uh... no"

"well, then." I locked up and went on my merry way, WTF.

Oh, you just reminded me of something:

*Ross park mall parking lot, security guard on bike*

"Hey, bikes aren't allowed on mall property"

"Why not?"

"It's just the rule"

A lengthy "spending money at the mall" based letter got the rule clarified and a bike rack added (crappy bike rack, but bike rack none the less)

Today was my first ever bike commute - 10 miles from Irwin to Greensburg. I have to say that I received several encouraging nods and smiles.

+1 Smarti6

Thanks. I've just joined Bike Pittsburgh and the board recently... seeing everyone on here inspired me to try a little harder to incorperate biking in my daily life as more than a weekend hobby. Just wish I lived closer to town so I could be more involved.

Smarti6, is it the five star trail that goes that way? (Sorry for the poor sentence construction, I haven't had my coffee yet today.)

That trail starts in Greensburg and goes south for about six miles or so. Irwin/North Huntingdon is west of Greensburg, so I just followed some back roads that parallel Rt 30. The only thing I didn't care for was the rising sun in front of me... I was worried the cars behind me would have it in their eyes and be blinded a bit.

BTW, the five star trail is functional, but it's NOT one of the more scenic trails in western PA. I wouldn't make any special trips to visit it!

I concur on the review of the Five Star Trail, but we need to support it for one VERY important reason.....it is one of only a very small number of "rails with trails" or corridors where trails and active railroads co-exist in the Commonwealth. As we press forward on trail retention (Armstrong Trail) and trail development in new areas, the question of whether trail users and active railroads can SAFELY co-exist is one that we will come back to time and time again. The Five Star Trail says yes, it is possible. The more riders and walkers that use that trail, the stronger that message becomes. But, yes, it is a dismal trail from a user perspective, following the back of an industrial park for a long stretch, and "suggesting" that cyclists stop and walk their bikes across half a dozen road crossings.

Glad you enjoyed your commute smarti6.

If you don't have it already, I'd suggest an orange/yellow reflective vest and bright red blinky in the morning if the sun is in your eyes. Same goes for the evening when the days start getting shorter (or you end up working longer).

Days like today, when it is a little cloudy I even run my headlights. I figure it costs me nothing (rechargeable) and could make the difference between being seen and not.

If you want to come on a group bike ride, we have one leaving from the library in Oakland at 10 pm tonight. There is free parking for your car nearby at that time of night.

I agree, and I do support the trail(poker run, etc.). There was talk of a trail between Irwin/Jeannette possibly connecting to the trail in Greensburg, but I think it's dead.

I'll try to make tonight. I'm assuming it's the FOC post I saw? It's just hard with 19-month-old twins AND it being my anniversary weekend!

Thanks for the support.

Smarti6, If you can't make the group ride tonight, make sure to come next Friday-6pm.

Last night I was riding the blood bike through Shadyside when I met a new black Lexus with chrome wheels and (very) tinted windows at an intersection--I have a blinking yellow, and they had a blinking red.

As I slowed to a stop the driver rolled down his window, and I braced for an insult or to be reprimanded for riding on the road. Instead, he excitingly said, "Man, that is a bad *ss bike! You make that?"

I proudly said, "yep!"

With a huge smile on his face, he said, "Keep doing what you do man. Be safe."

He waved me past and I slowly pedaled through the yellow glow of streetlights and all I could think was, "awesome."

I was riding home on the jail trail a couple months another and a fellow biker who is passing me shouts over, "Hey, nice sack!"

I assume he was commenting on my super cool saddle sack and NOT hitting on me, but either way I was flattered.

I really hope you don't have those truck balls, do you?

I got a good one this morning. Sitting at the light on Forbes at Morewood, just as the light changed, this guy in a dump truck beside me says "you really need to get one of them things with a motor".

In a rare moment of clarity, I had the perfect retort which was to say "no - I really don't" as I started sprinting down the hill for all I was worth, leaving him wayyyyyy behind.

At least I thought it was funny - even if I got to work a little sweatier than normal.

A dump truck? You should have said "you really need to get a Beemer"