Originally Posted by
HawkOwl
Interesting, I had almost exactly the same thing happen on one of Denver, CO's main MUPs. The difference was that I when I saw what she was trying I aggressively blocked the overtaking rider so she couldn't pass on either side. As she came abreast after the incident I explained what she was doing was unsafe. To her credit she apologized and told me she was just lost in the rhythm of her ride. Bet she keeps an eye out next time she ventures into her personal subspace.
Oh yes: Why did I block instead of getting out of the way? No place for me to safely go. If a collision occured I was in best position vs. the runner to have minimum injury. As it turned out the block was successful and we all went on our way.
I think there are two separate problems: one is overly fast reckless driving and the other is aggressiveness...
I live by a narrow, twisty residential road without a sidewalk that gets a lot of through traffic. The cars don't go fast, but neither do they stop, slow down or try to avoid pedestrians. I you walk on the extreme side of the road they will knock you off the road by passing with inches to spare. I find it works far better to walk about 3-4 feet into the oncoming lane and then move over as the car approaches -- because then they realize that they have to slow and go around you. It is the pedestrian version of "take the lane"... It commands respect from those who would prefer not to give it.
The same with approaching cyclists on the rail-to-trails that I ride: When 2 approach me without moving over, I used to slide way over to the edge of the trail. Then I realized that I was not only encouraging the behavior -- but endangering myself because being only inches from the edge of the trail gave me no room to maneuver around holes, stones, branches or squirrels...
So now I hold the lane and leave enough room to move over if needed.
As for the aggressive rider you describe saying "she was lost in the rhythm of her ride" -- that simply means she wasn't paying attention -- or maybe it was simply a convenient excuse. Sort of like the guy who gets in a bar fight and justifies it by saying "But, I was drunk".