Road Cycling - Neither left, nor right........

But right down the middle. Of the bike trail, I mean.

Ok, I know I have to share the trail with non-cycling personnel. On a typical Tuesday, I can expect very, very few joggers/walkers on the W&OD Bike Trail midafternoons. Today was just gorgeous, so there was a commensurate increase in folks enjoying the day outside.

So what's the deal with walkers/joggers who not only do not keep to the right, they literally use the painted yellow centerline as their point of reference? What is UP with those folks?

Today's lowpoint was an inline skater, decked out in full 'street hockey' regalia (complete with 4' stick held laterally across his body) taking up the entire width of the trail as he skated along, blissfully ignorant of what a ****** he was being.

*roar*

Dave

You sound like a motorist complaining about cyclists slowing you down. :P

:p shaddap!

You sound like a motorist complaining about cyclists slowing you down. :P
and if said cyclist was in the middle of the road going much slower than the speed limit, then the motorist would have a right to complain, don'tcha think?

Today's lowpoint was an inline skater, decked out in full 'street hockey' regalia (complete with 4' stick held laterally across his body) taking up the entire width of the trail as he skated along, blissfully ignorant of what a ****** he was being.

The other day I had an inline skater in front of me with headphones on, blaring so loudly I could hear them a couple feet behind him. I yelled "on your left" a couple times and didn't get a response, so had to sneak by him. Oh, as he skated, he'd go from one side of the path to the other (all the way, no just within his own lane), so I had very little space to get by. I should've squirted him with my water bottle to get his attention.

and if said cyclist was in the middle of the road going much slower than the speed limit, then the motorist would have a right to complain, don'tcha think?Yeah, but that's why I stay off of multi-use trails - the road is governed (ostensibly) by law and the cyclist would be ticketed with a moving violation doing something that dumb. Not to mention pissing some idiot off who'd then run him/her over...

The multi-use trails are policed only by the common sense and courtesy of the people who use them, as well as the fact that the speed of said users vary pretty wildly (old/young/pet walkers, joggers, skaters, cyclists, families, etc.). All this makes for the inevitably bad situations that periodically seem to come up . Unless it's the only place to ride, I wouldn't ride 'em.

As a fellow frequent W&OD user, I often run into the same issues as bunyabahsi. Steelrider makes a great point, and one I have thought about numerous times, but the fact is, is that the W&OD (which used to be a railroad line) runs very straight and is actually very biker friendly. In addition, because it used to be a rail line, it often times represents the fastest point A to B route, with a number of overpasses and underpasses to weed out large highways. For my commute, it is the only logical course.

Yeah, but that's why I stay off of multi-use trails - the road...
I'm an agreeance with your entire post.

...For my commute, it is the only logical course.Please don't get me wrong, I was not being critical of anybody's choice of where they ride. One of the points I was trying to make is that it is hard to use a multi-use trail, knowing exactly what they are and how they're used and then be surprised or unhappy when the inevitable occurs. All you have to do is look around to see that there are idiots everywhere. With a little care, attention to your surroundings and an optimistic outlook, they'll generally fly under radar without notice - then, once in awhile, they'll endanger you/someone else and really piss you off.

I see your point about the friendliness of the trails if they are straight with good visibility. Many of the trails in my area are wooded, relatively narrow, with numerous blind corners/bends. If I go on them at all, it is knowing that I'm just "strolling" with family or on bike going really slow. I was on the other end occasionally as well - when my kids were small, I would never let them get too far ahead, because I knew that there would be an occasional idiot on a bike that would zip around a blind corner and hurt/kill someone if I wasn't looking out. If I had to commute on a trail such as you describe on a regular basis, I'd get one of those "IncrediBell" bells or horns and let folks know I was coming pretty far back and on the right so that, if they had any courtesy or common sense, they could get out of the way.

I try to avoid the Multi-Use trails in Southern California because most of the people here are so fat, even if they walked on the right side, they still would take up the entire path...

What's even worse is seeing 3 fat people, walking side by side... it's like having to ride around the Great Wall of China to get by them....

It seems like the more out of shape the person is, the more ignorant they are on the pathways. Most of the hard-core trainers I see using multi-use pathways are pretty good about where they run,ride, or skate.

They way I look at it... is that most of the multi-use trails are used by people, so what they do doesn't really bother me... Of course they should make the effort to walk on the right side but if they don't... I try to avoid them the best that I can. For every 3 or so people that you see doing annoying things, there is always someone who tries, and makes you think, "Hey thanks..."