On 10/19/2019 12:27 AM, Joy Beeson wrote:

On topic story!

Once I was stopped at a light waiting to cross Railroad Avenue in
Albany, New York. I think I was in a car. The road slopes sharply
down from there -- I hated going the other way on a bike -- so I had a
good view. I saw a guy who was coming toward me on a bike negotiating
his way across the lanes, and thought "Yea rah! Somebody has been
told that you move left before turning left, instead of riding in the
gutter to the intersection, then making a mad diagonal dash across six
lanes and a railroad!" But when he reached the left-turn side of the
inner lane, he kept on negotiating across the oncoming lanes, went
around the corner in the left gutter, then had to cross two lanes and
a railroad to get back into the right-hand gutter.

Yow!

I once worked on a local committee with a rather brilliant woman, an
architect with a powerful knowledge of history, very sought-after for
her expertise in many areas. She lives in my neighborhood.

She became enchanted with my bicycling and resurrected her 3-speed
ladies bike with upright handlebars. Soon afterward, as we rode toward
out neighborhood together, she made her left turn just as you described.
Of course I was terrified for her, and (diplomatically) corrected her
immediately afterwards.

My main point is this: Mistakes like this are not due to stupidity, but
due to ignorance. Very intelligent people can simply not know how to
ride a bike properly. And our society needs to do a much better job
regarding bicycling education.

--
- Frank Krygowski