Central Park Rant:
doing a few very rainy laps in central park last Saturday evening.
Was descending south along the west side road right after the big hill at the north end. Doing maybe 20-25 mph (closer to 20 as it was wet out).
Because there are blind curves in that section I am always on the lookout for obstacles. I am used to seeing the occasional poor judgment of a parent riding with small children in tow, riding their teeny bikes fresh off of training wheels in a very shaky fashion (if you MUST ride with such small kids in Central Park, and you can't stick to the lower loop where the pace is slower, at least please ride behind your kids or along side them)
This one took the cake , though.
I come around a bend and see a very small boy, maybe 6 yrs old at the most, on a Razor scooter, with no helmet, weaving all over the entire road - that's a runner's lane, a bike lane and two very wide motor vehicle lanes, folks. I am of the firm belief that cyclists in the park should acknowledge that they are not Lance and the park is not a velodrome - you do need to slow down or maybe even stop occasionally in the interest of fairness to all users of the place, but this was ridiculous. The only way I could have been truly safe with this kid was to dismount and take a nap on the lawn until he went home.
Oh, and in case you;re wondering where Jr. got this brilliant idea that the entire road was his? Dad was doing the exact same thing on a scooter about a football field or so ahead. Occasionally he'd give a quick look over his shoulder. Nice job.
After passing his child very carefully I went alongside him and said (gently but firmly) that his kid was going to get run over doing that...His curt reply?
"Yeah?
Try It!"
That poor kid......
