Vicelord

It's not what you thought.

I was riding this morning, and it was really effing hot so I decided to take the MUP that parallels one of our canals to get home a little faster. There really wasn't that much traffic on it, as the joggers were on the other side in the dirt, and the paved path had a few cyclists (proably 5 per mile??) so I lowered my speed but not thaaaaaat much.

Doing about 25 (it's perfectly flat and underpasses under the roads) I was somewhat quickly approaching a group of older riders all wearing safety colors and what not. I yelled "on your left" and all of the group of about 10 went to the right side of the path, except one guy who stayed in the middle. So now I'm pretty close and yelled on your left again, and surely I thought one of the others would tell him to get over or he would figure it out. You can't be that dense can you?

He wasn't moving, and there was no one coming the other way for a long ways so I just went over to the far left side of the path, and sure enough THE MOMENT he caught my presence in his peripheral vision, he swerved left (probably startled him) and put his front wheel right into my back wheel. I was able to maintain a straight line, but he went down pretty hard and stood up all bloody. I went back and offered help but he declined and was apologizing to me and was a really nice guy.

We were kind of chatting about bikes and he was explaining his confusion about "on your left" that apparently his group never coached him about, and his wife pipes up and says (not an exact quote) "honey why would you have done that, you heard him say on your left and you didn't move over. you can't swerve into other bikes and not expect to fall down you kind of deserve it." I'd break up/divorce the wench on the spot if I were that guy.

Anyway, long story short, I've always told people to stay off of MUP's especially weekend mornings because they are so dangerous. I didn't heed my own warnings today and it almost went horribly wrong. Imagine if he had caught my pedal in his spoke or something ********.

Stay off of MUPs if you plan on actually riding your bike!!!

RT

She was right, as most women often are. We, as men, are dumb.

Glad you were ok.

Self-loathing quota filled for the day.

ilvwhtgrls

is this a joke? 25mph on a mup?

Vicelord

yeah... I know thats the first thing that crossed my mind while walking back to him. I actually started feeling a bit stupid.

DScott

That's exactly why I often don't say anything when passing.

halfspeed

It must be. The official 41 MUP cruising speed is 27mph.

Vicelord

I've always been an underachiever.

John_V 

Several people have been injured at the MUP I ride at because other riders refuse to lower their speeds when approaching crowded areas of the MUP. Early weekend mornings are the worst. Several months ago, I was pushed into a skater while passing him by a paceline that never announced themselves or bothered to slow down and passed me at the same time I was passing the skater. The only thing that kept me from crashing the bike is that the skater was large enough and strong enough to grab me when I bumped him. Neither one of us went down, but we did end up off the pavement and into the grass. No one in the paceline bothered to check to see if anyone was hurt and just kept right on ridding without a break in their stride. Don't get me wrong, I like to go fast, especially on my short rides, but I normally do that in the late afternoon when there is hardly anyone at the park.

merlinextraligh

I've found "good morning" works pretty. Doesn't startle them and doesn't require them to do anytihng.

Then pass in a fashion where you can avoid them even if they do something really stupid.

If you can't do that, wait until you can.

shadoman

I saw that coming as I see it nearly everytime I'm on a MUP.

If you're not willing to slow down and/or come to a complete stop, you have no place on a MUP.
Pacelines have no place on a MUP.
If you want to pass people @ 25mph, you need to be passing cars on the road.

Soloist Assassin

I use the MUP to warm up on a lot of my rides. It's a 12miles direct route to hill country for me. The idiots on the MUP, can be quite ********. I think they should have an educational course for people to be allowed to use MUPs, and also ban headphones. Either that or only allow those with common sense. The outcome would be the same either way.

Soloist Assassin

Apparently I have no place on a MUP.

shadoman

Agreed. I often wonder how many even bother to read the posted "rules of usage".

Vicelord

Well Mr. High And Mighty, I'll make sure to remember that.

When someone says they shouldn't have been going that fast, and mentions they feel a bit of guilt, it's unnecessary to tell them they were going too fast.

DScott

Since our bike path is really a bike path with "Bikes Only" painted in three-foot high letters about every 100 feet, I've started to take one of these on most rides:



Really works great to clear a path between the stroller moms who walk side by side.

RJM

You need a brass bell Vicelord...and probably should slow down when passing people. Going fast on a MUP is fine if you are willing to hit the brakes when you need to, and it seems to me this would be one of those times.

You can wish in one hand and **** in the other, see which one fills up first.


I took out, or she did I can't really remember, a rollerblader on the lakefront MUP in Chicago in May. I even used my bell, but somehow still crashed into her-or her into me. Wasn't even going fast. I swear, MUPs are sometimes more dangerous than roadways.

Vicelord

LMAO!

Seriously though, those bike paths in SoCal are amazing.

JaceK

Where I live it is illegal to exceed 15 mph on a MUP or bike path. Not that it is actually enforced, however...

JustinHorne

Same.

shadoman

I'm pretty sure that's the case in most municipalities.

Nothing overbearing or superior about what I posted.
Just saying that I've been in your shoes more times than I'd care to count (albeit, at lower speeds.)
WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES.
Your injudiciousness wasn't your speed: it was your lack of willingness to slow down or stop.
Frankly, when no one else is in the lane, high speed is only dangerous to the practitioner. It's only when a random act of movement from a second entity enters the equation that things become hinky. It could just as easily been someones dog or two year old child that entered your path unexpectedly. A grown man traveling at high speed on a bicycle is potentially deadly to a small child.
I think it's great that we all can learn lessons about how others react, and I'm glad no one was seriously injured in your case. But taking in to account your own "what if" scenario:
What if he had caught your pedal? You may likely be lying in a hospital bed , a quadriplegic for life, or worse, in the morgue. And even tho I don't know you... I don't want that to happen to you.

Commodus

Yeah, MUPs suck. I always just come to a stop behind people like that. I never used to, had a couple of close calls. Also had some doggies and kids and stuff wander out in front of me, so now I always just toodle along. You just have to get in the right head-space if you're going to ride in amongst the civvies.

Bioluminescence

Food for thought: Weekends are a terrible time to ride on a MUP.

mvnsnd

I ride a mup a lot. It's not really ever crowded and I usually call out "approaching from behind" as a warning. If they don't move over, I know I have to be cautious. Then as I get closer, I call out " on your left" to let them know I'm just about to pass. Usually, the first call get's their attention.

JoelS

Long ago I gave up with "on your left." Lots of folks just hear "left" and move that way. I've since switched to "passing" and that works much better.

tadawdy

15 on an MUP: I'll accept that.

15 on a bike path? Where the other traffic is strictly bikes? I'd take 20. Fast enough to be of use, slow enough to keep the Cat 6 pacelines off of them.

That's assuming the rule is actually enforced.