General Cycling Discussion - What scares you more on a bike path

This is a toss up for me. Sometimes my routes take me through busy bike paths which happen to be full of families and squirrels. The squirrels freeze and at the last second dart IN FRONT of my bike to the side of the path. Children like to smile at you and at the last minute decide to make a 90 degree turn in front of me (the parents watch of course and do nothing).

Dogs off the leash.

I love dogs. But they keep ****ing with me on my bike.

Dogs by far (either unleashed or leashed but walked in the center of the path instead of the edge). For wild animals, rabbits are more of a problem to me than squirrels.

I am not fortunate to have access to bike path but i can picture the senario, try to find a different time of the day or another path,you can't change what's already there.ppl,animals,kids,etc.

Kids. I would feel awful if I hit one.

Dog on one side of the MUP, owner on the other, leash across the MUP.

It's not so much the kids as it is the unattentive parents of the kids.

Joggers/walkers w/ iPods.

I dislike people on the MUP, well, the ones that don't understand what "On your left!" means.

Squirrels do have a nasty tendency to run right out in front of me though.

Also @ DXRider - nice choice on bicycles. :D

Kids. I would feel awful if I hit one.

+1. I haven't (knowingly) eaten meat in almost 20 years, but I wouldn't shed a tear about squishing a squirrel accidentally. I worry about kids (whether on foot or on bikes) because they're unpredictable. All the more reason to ride under control and with caution and courtesy on the paths.

Dogs off the leash.

I love dogs. But they keep ****ing with me on my bike.

Yeah, what he said.

Dogs, leashed or othewise.

squirrels will squish unless you have low spoke count wheels where they could get in, otherwise dogs and kids are both somewhat unpredictable, but dogs typically can move faster and kids don't bite!

Humans.

I want the path free and clear in front of me.

the idiots with their ipods not paying attention and hogging the path. I need to install a bull horn on my bike for those jackasses.............that and deer. I've seen what a deer can do to a car, hate to see what one could do to me on a bicycle.

Kids - for their unpredictability.

Soccer Moms - for their need to walk four or five abreast.

Babes in tight fitting clothing - for their ability to distract.

Rule of the MUP - slow down and enjoy the scenery. The MUP is no place for hammering.

I dislike people on the MUP, well, the ones that don't understand what "On your left!" means.

I don't mind people, except when they don't share the MUP. I specifically dislike the people who can't or won't follow the rules posted on signs.

One of the local MUPs is setup so that walkers, runners, and roller bladers are supposed to be facing the bicycle traffic. There are two lanes and there are mulitiple signs that state that these people should stay in the left lane and bicycists in the right. Bicycles are only allowed in the left lane when passing. The idea being, the people on foot can see the bicyclist coming, since that's thought to be safer.

About 40% of the people on foot ignore those signs and it royally screws up the flow of the bike path. Especially at points when there is traffiic moving both ways and some of the people on foot are actually following the directions posted on the signs.

It winds up that there is slow moving traffic on both sides and no way to pass safely. Plus, the people walking on the wrong side can't see you behind them, so they don't know what's going on. I've gotten some nasty looks for ringing a bell at them or saying, "on your left".




Squirrels do have a nasty tendency to run right out in front of me though.

Also @ DXRider - nice choice on bicycles. :D

Thanks, you too!:thumb:

i almost got a chipmunk the other day...and a kid.

now what is it you might use to warn the less conscious/aware: your voice? a bell? foghorn?

I don't mind people, except when they don't share the MUP. I specifically dislike the people who can't or won't follow the rules posted on signs.

One of the local MUPs is setup so that walkers, runners, and roller bladers are supposed to be facing the bicycle traffic. There are two lanes and there are mulitiple signs that state that these people should stay in the left lane and bicycists in the right. Bicycles are only allowed in the left lane when passing. The idea being, the people on foot can see the bicyclist coming, since that's thought to be safer.

About 40% of the people on foot ignore those signs and it royally screws up the flow of the bike path. Especially at points when there is traffiic moving both ways and some of the people on foot are actually following the directions posted on the signs.

It winds up that there is slow moving traffic on both sides and no way to pass safely. Plus, the people walking on the wrong side can't see you behind them, so they don't know what's going on. I've gotten some nasty looks for ringing a bell at them or saying, "on your left".


This sounds confusing. Better if people just all went in the same direction.

i almost got a chipmunk the other day...and a kid.

now what is it you might use to warn the less conscious/aware: your voice? a bell? foghorn?

Some of the paths I ride on have a lot of casual riders who are cruising along at less than 10mph. I shout "on your left" at them, but they're either not paying attention or riding with headphones cause they don't move. So when I squeeze past them, they get surprised.

Soccer Moms - for their need to walk four or five abreast.



I agree wholeheartedly. And they are too engaged in their conversation to bother listening for a "On your left!"

rabbits and deer- deer especially. i've had them come out of nowhere to within a few feet of me
i've hit one with my car before and i do not want to see what it would do to me on a bike

The deer I broadsided in February and their friends that jump out in front of me in the same stretch about 2-3 times a week.

-R

Tryathletes on their aerobars.

Kids.

I mean if I run over a squirrel it's not as though anyone will really care. The same cannot be said for running over a kid.

Young women with cellphones either on bikes or walking. Number 2- People with dogs on LOOOOOONG leashes. They often just lift the leash up high - as if to say: "Try Limbo-Dancing at 20 miles an hour!"

I get scared the most when encountering Cthulhu or one of the other Elder Gods. They do not taking kindly to cyclists.

/On a serious note, I agree with you, DX Rider, unaware/inconsiderate MUP users are a pain

This sounds confusing. Better if people just all went in the same direction.

I have to agree. Anyway, I've had people approach head on from 50 feet or more who were within 10 feet before discovering they are not the only people in the world. They don't like for you to startle them like that, either.

It would be a really bad day for me if this shows up on my bike path during my evening commute.
http://technicallyageek.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/aliens-332.jpg

But apart from that... mostly off leash dogs.

Kids. I would feel awful if I hit one.

^ This

Not so much for their unpredictability, since I dare say squirrels are even more unpredictable, but because if I ever hit a kid I'd be devastated. Squirrels not so much.

I sometimes ride a relatively busy MUP with LOTS of two-way traffic (bikes, peds, roller-bladers, etc.) and no specific guidelines or regulations on how it can/should be used by different folks.

As generally the fastest thing on the MUP (not me specifically but bikes in general) I feel it's my responsibility to control the situation as much as possible and proceed with caution. I don't think it should be incumbent on other users of the MUP to "get out of my way" or "not block the path". I simply slow down and pass when safe, much as we expect motorists to do when we're on the road.

YMMV on MUPs with more clearly defined rules.

HA HA Big M /You will enjoy this Maine antidote I would rather meet a mother bear and her two cubs Thay went like hell in one direction and I rode like h in the other //Than a great big bull moose He took one look at me and began chaseing me down the stud mill road im glad I had the down hill run and he gave it up:twitchy::crash:/Kenneth

I have a couple of bike paths right near me, but I'm afraid to ride on them. A bike path seems to be more of an area for walkers, runners, and casual bike riders just putzing along...not a guy who is race training.

Rule of the MUP - slow down and enjoy the scenery. The MUP is no place for hammering.

Excellent advice here. I am probably my own worst enemy on the MUP. I tend to stay clear of it and only hit it on off days when it is empty.

All of the above which is why I now stay off of them.

Snakes!

Snakes!

http://www.rankopedia.com/CandidatePix/4319.gif


Is sick of these mother farkin' snakes on this mother farkin' bike path!

This sounds confusing. Better if people just all went in the same direction.

Your right about that. This is actually the Blackstone bikeway that I'm talking about.

Kids and people who walk in groups shoulder-to-shoulder taking up the entire path are my two biggest complaints. I've had more problems with animals (namely dogs) riding on regular streets than on bike paths.

On the bike path I ride most often, there are a couple of completely blind turns. One of them happens when the path goes underneath a bridge and also has a nice little steep drop, so not only can you not see what's around the corner, but you're usually going pretty fast around that corner.

One time I was riding and just as I was about to get around the corner and I see a girl lying in the middle of the bike path staring up at the bridge above. Fortunately she heard me coming and jumped up just in time. As I passed I gave her a look of death, refrained from cursing at her, but said "Don't do that again!" I was on my old Atala road bike with brakes that probably didn't even work that well thirty years ago when the bike was new.

This is why I now prefer a MTB on a bike path. In case I have to veer off into the grass, there's less chance of my crashing.

I use a couple of mups and I am afraid that they are not safe for cyclists. All users are potential hazards so all have to be treated as dangerous. Even bikes!!!

I have even used them at 2am on a winters night with rain and wind and not much visibility. I have a powerfull LED lamp and I have suddenly found bikes going in the other direction 10 ft in front of me. I may not have seen them as they have no lights- but I do wonder why they did not see me.

Best out of the lot are dogs off the leash. They chase me sometimes and the best I have managed was encouraging a dog a mile up the trail running alongside me- while the overweight owner that did not worry about her dog when I passed her-had to puff after me calling her dog all the way. Wonder if she thought about bikes after that episode.

HA HA Big M /You will enjoy this Maine antidote I would rather meet a mother bear and her two cubs Thay went like hell in one direction and I rode like h in the other //Than a great big bull moose He took one look at me and began chaseing me down the stud mill road im glad I had the down hill run and he gave it up:twitchy::crash:/Kenneth

Nice!
Bears are why I refuse to bring my bike up to Massachusetts to ride with my cousins. Up there, we see bears crossing the road in suburbia. I really do not want to run into one on a semi-secluded MUP. I know they're more afraid of me than I am of them. I don't care.

I think I'd break Merckx's hour record if a bull moose started chasing me. That much adrenaline would make cocaine seem like a watered down Red Bull.

Dogs on a leash, or clueless soccer moms.

#1 annoyance - 2 Women walking side by side, not paying attention to what they are doing or their surroundings and just yacking away.
#2 annoyance - Children on biking with parents, and the children are weaving all over the bike path and parents not callling them over or paying attention when other bikers are present or approaching.
#3 annoyance - Dogs with people not on leashes
#4 annoyance - Dogs with people on leashes but uncontrolled
#5 annoyance - Deer bounding out of the side bushes and scaring the bejesus outta you.,

Rule of the MUP - slow down and enjoy the scenery. The MUP is no place for hammering.

That's why I don't like riding on MUPs. Most have a 10-12 mph speed limit, and I have a real problem going that slow. Plus, if you hit anything, it's almost automatically your fault, since bikes are at the bottom of the right-of-way hierarchy.

Squirrels: What -- nobody has posted a pic of a squirrel in a wheel yet???

Meeting, and almost hitting, a skunk in heavy fog one night (at an ice-covered oblique level rail crossing, naturally) was about as scared as I've been recently on a bike.

Get one of these and cross squirrels off the list:

http://www.mirrycle.com/product%20images%20large/brass_duet_bells.jpg (http://www.mirrycle.com/brass_duet.php)

I haven't met the squirrel yet that doesn't turn tail and run AWAY from the sound of one of these.

To me, the biggest danger on the MUP is people who use it far less than people like me do. For instance, yesterday, a couple were riding along the path side by side, i.e, taking up the entire path, despite how noticeably busy it was. Once the cyclist in front of me passed them, the girl took back her place next to her boyfriend/husband/whatever, without even looking. I had to scream "on your left." Very nearly making contact.

I don't see what's so hard about staying single file. People who insist on riding side by side are just asking to get into a bad situation, especially when doing it on really busy paths.

Kids and teenagers.

Dogs don't bother me that much:
~They have more sense than most teenagers.
~They all understand a good, firm "NO!"
~If you end up hitting someone's dog, it's generally going to be the owner's fault; not necessarily so if you end up hitting the smart@$$ son of some lawyer who was playing chicken.

And sometimes roller-bladers--they take up a wide swath of the bike path when they kick out their skates; and they're always blasting their headphones.

Dog on one side of the MUP, owner on the other, leash across the MUP.

That's one scenario where I stop my bike, and politely let the owner know that he/she is lucky I didn't kill his/her dog, and explain that the rules of the trail would hold them legally responsible for any injuries I might receive due to their negligence in following the rules.

East Hill

Nice!
Bears are why I refuse to bring my bike up to Massachusetts to ride with my cousins.

What part of Mass is this that you're talking about? We recently had a black bear sighted in the town I live in, which is in the southeastern part of the state. That is such a rare occurence in this part of the state that it made the 11 o'clock news in Boston and the local police sent out a reverse-911 call alerting the residents.

I've crossed paths with black bears quite a few times while hiking in Vermont. I've only had a problem with them one time, when my friends dog decided to chase after a bear. I think the dog was more curious than vicious, she was just trying to meet the funny looking dog and exchange butt sniffs. The bear eventually left her in the dust, since they were running through thick underbrush and the dog couldn't muscle it's way through as well as the bear.

You don't need to worry about encountering black bears on MUPS though, since they are pretty skittish, they'd be scared off by all of the unleashed dogs and power walkers talking at the top of their lungs.

What part of Mass is this that you're talking about?

Florence. By Smith College.
x19 off of I-95.

Before they put up a fence around the property, they had bears in the back yard at night a few times. Bear sightings aren't exactly everyday occurrences, but often enough that they're accustomed to it.
I only saw a bear there once while visiting, but it was enough to convince me.

Like I said, I understand that they're skittish. But I also know which of us would win in a fight :(

Inline skaters (with headphones)