Idiots

There is a bike lane on Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda, the portion that is one way with a gentle curve and a nice consistent 3-5% grade in the direction of travel. Before the bike lane was painted, it was a common sight to see cars swooping down into the lower Bethesda business district (also known as Snootytown or Caucasia) at speeds higher than warranted. Our office is perched above these lanes, perfectly positioned to watch the mayhem unfold. Other than a few fender benders, we've seen nothing worse.

That will change soon, especially if idiots use the bike lanes and roadway in ways that I am seeing with saddening regularity.

Typically people roll down this bonus lane in the direction that the arrows are pointing, something one learns early in life. Instead I see, on a daily basis, certain people "salmon" up the lanes opposing the established traffic route, which are determined by

a. the established vehicular traffic pattern on a one way street

b. the painted markings which do not require literacy skills to understand.

Clowns are putting their own lives in danger, and even worse, the lives of cyclists rolling down the lanes in keeping with the direction intended.

But what I saw today (though not the first time) were two cyclists salmoning up the bike lane, and where it ended (or began, if moving in the proper direction of travel), chose to continue riding against traffic IN THE VEHICULAR LANE WHILE THEY COULD HAVE USED THE SIDEWALK FOR A SHORT STRETCH (oh that's right--not cool to ride on sidewalk--and actually lot legal in some places, but certainly more legal than riding against traffic...). Stultifyingly and astoundingly stupid, as while their actions have a direct relationship to their proclivity to maim or kill themselves, by their actions they add another brick in the wall of hatred between vehicles and bikes, making it harder for the rest of us.

Not to say that I never do stupid stuff on the road, I'd like to think that I have about half or even one ounce of awareness. Not a lot, but something...