Bells, please

[Digital_Cowboy]

Why don't you just wait until it's safe to pass, then pass. It only delays you a few seconds, just like with cars waiting for cyclists on the road.

I generally do, but there are times when the aforementioned "braindead, iPod listening, zombies" have crossed from the pedestrian side of the trail over to the bicycle side of the trail. And they are blocking the entire trail, leaving nowhere to go but into the grass/trees. And then when we're finally are able to pass them they look at the cyclist as if they're the one who has done something wrong.

When in fact because they were the one's who were in the wrong by behaving like a path hog and are taking up the entire width of the MUP. Or they're allowing their dog(s) to either run free or have leashes that exceed 6'.

[Digital_Cowboy]

So, a week ago I'm coming home on the Mt Vernon Trail and spot three people blocking the entire path from about 300 feet away. My bell broke off that morning so I yelled "Hey, coming through" loud enough where they registered hearing me. As I got closer I noticed another rider coming up the other way yet these clowns still stood blocking the path.

Both me and the other ride had to bail to keep from crashing into these idiots and one of them just started laughing. After I gathered myself I told these three maroons to not block the path for their and other people's safety and one of the guy started shoving me and getting belligerent. Before he had a chance to take a swing I took him to the ground and told his friends to back off, it doesn't have to get out of control. Fortunately a police officer was there to defuse the situation but that kind of nonsense happens all the time.

As far as warning systems go - I try my bells first, and then my voice, and if they're still oblivious once I'm within 10 feet I breakout the whistle. I hate using the whistle but if it's between me crashing into innocent pedestrians or you getting blasted with a police whistle for being an absent minded maroon guess which one I'm choosing. What's really concerning is how distracted people are over their stupid cell phones. I saw at least two kids wander directly onto the MUP while the parents were obliviously staring at their phones in LaLa Land.

Agreed, those are the one's that I have a beef with. The ones who think that they and they alone "own" the MUP and that we cyclists are there at their leisure.

I've even been out riding on the local MUP, and have come across people actually SITTING in the middle of the MUP. How dumb is that? When/if they end up getting hit by someone on a bicycle I'll have little to no sympathy for them.

[billyymc]

If you wnat to ride fast, do not ride on the MUP when it's busy. It's that simple. If I ride the MUP on a warm sunny day, it's to slowly glide along and check out scene there. Approach ALL MUP users with caution, as if they are confused squirrels frozen in the middle of the road, trying to decide whether to proceed to turn back. And going both rapidly.

[4st7lbs]

Approach ALL MUP users with caution, as if they are confused squirrels frozen in the middle of the road, trying to decide whether to proceed to turn back. And going both rapidly.

This might be the best description of the MUP experience ever.

[LAmd]

I have given up on my bell. My route is from El Segundo to Malibu. It is actually a bike path, but the tourists have taken over Venice, what's new. As a surfer there has always been a mutual thing where we don't cross the bike path without checking or expect to be called out for it.

It is now safer for me to just sit back and enjoy the weirdness for about 15 minutes of my ride. The bell either causes people to turn right into your path or incite anger.

[genec]

I have given up on my bell. My route is from El Segundo to Malibu. It is actually a bike path, but the tourists have taken over Venice, what's new. As a surfer there has always been a mutual thing where we don't cross the bike path without checking or expect to be called out for it.

It is now safer for me to just sit back and enjoy the weirdness for about 15 minutes of my ride. The bell either causes people to turn right into your path or incite anger.

That is hardly a bike path... it is more like a beach boardwalk... enjoy the view... it gets better as it warms up.

[seeker333]

Evidently people can no longer walk in straight lines, without falling down stairs, falling off piers, or into fountain pools due to distraction from handheld electronic devices. Should bicyclists expect bells to help on MUPs in a significant way?

http://news.yahoo.com/texting-while-...041406079.html

same article, different site:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/...alls-off-pier/

[Six jours]

As a vehicular pedestrian, I'm offended by all the uneducated nonsense posted here. Proceeding slowly down the middle of the path is the only safe way to walk on a MUP, and it's not my fault that you JABs don't understand that. You're all in such a hurry to get wherever you're going that you ignore my safety for your own convenience. Your obligation is to stay behind me at a safe distance until I decide that it's safe for you to pass.

[CB HI]

As a vehicular pedestrian, I'm offended by all the uneducated nonsense posted here. Proceeding slowly down the middle of the path is the only safe way to walk on a MUP, and it's not my fault that you JABs don't understand that. You're all in such a hurry to get wherever you're going that you ignore my safety for your own convenience. Your obligation is to stay behind me at a safe distance until I decide that it's safe for you to pass.

You confuse vehicular pedestrianning of walking down the middle of the path with the correct middle of your lane. Don't forget your helmet, or your death will be your fault.

[Digital_Cowboy]

Evidently people can no longer walk in straight lines, without falling down stairs, falling off piers, or into fountain pools due to distraction from handheld electronic devices. Should bicyclists expect bells to help on MUPs in a significant way?

http://news.yahoo.com/texting-while-...041406079.html

same article, different site:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/...alls-off-pier/

Let's not forget the gal (in NY I think) who while texting didn't see an open manhole in front of her and walked into it, and falling into it. Had she not been texting while she was walking she would have been able to see that it was open.

[tonyjaja]

Waste of time,most people are off into an electronic wonderworld......Now a swift kick in the ass,brings their attention back to the real world.

+1 agree you,

[Glenn676]

I have to say between the streets and the east and west side bike paths in Manhattan I've seen it all. You get a feel real quick for who you need watch out for. Some get the bell, some get a wide birth as I pass and some I just know I better slow down because they're definitely going to do something stupid.

[ItsJustMe]

You guys should consider yourself lucky that you have bike paths that go anywhere. The only bike paths anywhere within 50 miles of me are ones that go nowhere within gated metroparks. You can ride a 3 mile loop then put your bike back on your car and drive home.

[009jim]

I tend to try to warn people by yelling "passing" very loudly(much louder than a dinky bell). I rarely get acknowledgement that I've been heard, because people either have music on or space out and don't watch what they are doing. I've had to yell at people walking the wrong way down the path facing me, and they still didn't see me until I was very close. I've given up on warning people, unless they are in my way.

in a busy city people ignore yelling, but a bike bell generally is distinctive

[009jim]

If you wnat to ride fast, do not ride on the MUP when it's busy. It's that simple. If I ride the MUP on a warm sunny day, it's to slowly glide along and check out scene there. Approach ALL MUP users with caution, as if they are confused squirrels frozen in the middle of the road, trying to decide whether to proceed to turn back. And going both rapidly.

+1

[buzzman]

I have to say between the streets and the east and west side bike paths in Manhattan I've seen it all. You get a feel real quick for who you need watch out for. Some get the bell, some get a wide birth as I pass and some I just know I better slow down because they're definitely going to do something stupid.

Yep. Sometimes I still get it wrong though. The other night I'm riding home on an unoccupied bike path and I see, in the darkness up ahead, a homeless guy stopped in the middle of the path. His cart containing his belongings is parked perpendicularly across the path and he is also perpendicular to the path standing stock still staring straight off to the right of the path.

I've seen this guy on the path before so I'm not surprised to see him and I slow way down, ready to go off the path, if need be, to get around him. From about 60' away I ring my bell to let him know I'm coming and don't startle him. As I approach, at roughly a slow jogger's speed, I see that he's seen me and he moves slightly back to give me a bit of room. As I pass I give him a little nod and "Thanks." and he booms at me, "You need to say, 'On your left or right!'"

I apologized profusely but only to mitigate his rage and off I rode. What's most interesting about his response is that it is not all that different from the kind of irrational response of many "ordinary" users of the bike path. Some people just respond to a bell ringing passing cyclist with something approaching pathological mental illness even if they may not display the same overt signs of dysfunction as this guy.

[corvuscorvax]

1. my voice
2. a marine horn
3. a whistle

http://www.hulu.com/watch/210889/por...#x-4,vclip,4,0

Watch it all the way to the end.

[Daves_Not_Here]

As a vehicular pedestrian, I'm offended by all the uneducated nonsense posted here. Proceeding slowly down the middle of the path is the only safe way to walk on a MUP, and it's not my fault that you JABs don't understand that. You're all in such a hurry to get wherever you're going that you ignore my safety for your own convenience. Your obligation is to stay behind me at a safe distance until I decide that it's safe for you to pass.

Please do not annoy the inmates.

[Six jours]

There goes my social life.

[aztimm]

I avoid cycling on the path next to the canal near home. Most of the roads here have bike lanes, and I'd rather just ride there.

The signs I've seen indicate that cyclists must yield to pedestrians.

[no motor?]

After reading this far I'm glad I just have to deal with the oblivious and the clueless. I'll take that over hostile any day.

[Frogbutt]

I just bought a bell for $3.20 at Target this spring and it does a great job of letting people know I'm coming...until today. Today some boneheaded jogger wearing ear buds moved right in front of me after I rang it several times. I bet I missed him by less than an inch.

[rando]

Better question, why are the Peds not staying in the right lane of the MUP so cyclist and runners can safely pass? Do you expect motorist in the other lane to honk every time they pass another vehicle?

Too often, peds become unpredictable when they are warned.

This. if they can hear the bell, they don't know what to do about it. some go left, some go right, some just stare or stand still. if you can, best to slide by them slowly.

[WPeabody]

Texting man nearly walks into a bear...

http://youtu.be/WmhvdtX72eQ

[CB HI]

If you wnat to ride fast, do not ride on the MUP when it's busy. It's that simple. If I ride the MUP on a warm sunny day, it's to slowly glide along and check out scene there. Approach ALL MUP users with caution, as if they are confused squirrels frozen in the middle of the road, trying to decide whether to proceed to turn back. And going both rapidly.

Stop using transportation federal funding for trails intended to be used by commuting cyclist and then tell the cyclist not to ride at a reasonable speed for getting to work on a daily basis. If you want slow MUPs, then spend recreational dollars on them.