This morning I was riding the Burke-Gilman trail, I witnessed some very, very bad manners. I need to rant about it.

A little ways in front of me (10-ish bike lengths) was an elderly man on a bicycle who was obviously not riding a straight line. Two guys passed me (very closely, no voice announcement, no bell) and then proceeded to pass by this elderly man, much too closely---inches, literally, not giving a warning (to me or the elderly man). The elderly man swerved just slightly, and, one of the passing riders ran into the handlebars of the elderly man, making him swerve.

No one crashed, thank goodness. The elderly man was able to catch his balance and keep riding. Whew.

But damn, that was just stupid, passing 2 abreast on the BG, especially past an obviously not-as-physically-able person. I don't know what's worse, bad manners or bad attitude: Even though the offending bicyclist stopped to make sure the elderly man was ok, the elderly man apologized, asked if he was too far over (to the left). The offending biker's answer was "no, it was only that we were 3 bikers across". The offending biker didn't apologize, didn't acknowledge that he should have voiced his presence, and didn't admit that they should have been riding single-file to pass. Not once did he say "It's my fault, I'm sorry"!!!

That elderly man could have been seriously hurt if he had crashed. He could have broken bones or hit his head (no helmet on, I believe), which can dramatically change the quality of life for anyone, especially the elderly.

People, be careful! Use common sense! Watch out for others and use a voice or a bell to announce your presence on the BG. It's not that hard of a thing to do!

Rant over, but, I'm still livid. That poor man, I sure hope he didn't get scared off riding his bike from the incident. This kind of exercise is soo good, for everyone, not just those who can ride fast.