How to pass obliviot walkers w/ i pods
 

Ok.. so i almost got killed thrice today because of stupid walkers/skaters w/ headphones or ipods. I usually click my brake lever when passing, but this obviously doesnt work. I tried yelling on your left but this is only efefctive if their music isnt up too loud and always risks the chance that they will move left. any usggestions short of a air horn???

Interestingly, I stopped twice for water today and was accosted by walkers i passed on two occassions. One yelled at me for yelling and scaring them...the other for not yelling "on your left" I tried to explain to the second one that yellign that usually results in people moving to their left and doesnt work with people with headphones. She responded that bikes shouldnt be on the trail because they are too dangerous and that people liek to walk and listen to music. I told her that i like to drink beer and rid ebut that doesnt make it safe. Long story short (too late i know) i flipped her off and then took off.

Just get a freakin' bell, ok? Everyone knows it's a bike coming when they hear a bell, and they'll move to the right faster than Jerry Falwell.

I was more venting from the experience than asking a serious question

But thanks for your timely and friendly response :)

i love obliviots. they freak out so easily...

my favorite one was a few months ago:

a friend of mine and i were riding on a local MUP, just kind of loafing along. ahead of us, we saw a moron lying down on the path, spreadeagle, with the top of his head toward us.

i was in front, and rang my bell. no response. called out "hello!" no response. slowed and rode off the edge of the path around him. at which point the moron freaked - he had been listening to headphones and soaking up rays. after i passed him (and saw he was o.k.), he lay back down in the path!

my buddy was about 1/8 mile back and saw all this. instead of riding off the path or stopping, he bunny hopped the moron's outstretched arm! not what i would have done (i wouldn't have trusted the idiot not to flail me off my bike - plus the liability would be mine if dumb*** got injured), but funny as hell...

at our water break, we decided that he must have been drunk or stoned. but when we went back the other way (the MUP being an out-and-back ride), at least he'd moved off the path...

tormenting stupid people is fun.

Get off the multi-use paths!
A bicycle is a vehicle and as such has all the rights to the road.

Any one else notice if they go out for a morning ride on the trails (say 5-6 am) everyone out there (runners, rollerbladers... etc) knows which side they belong on and how to behave. Just a few hours later you have people who are all over the place.

exactomundo!

If I'm on the sidewalk or bike path (that has clearly labeled pedestrian and bike lanes) and one or three people are taking up the entire pavement, I just swerve into the grass and pull back in when I get past them. Sometimes they are facing me, talking to each other, see me coming and still refuse to move. It's just the way some people are.

I remember once there was a girl walking down the small part of my route that required me to take the sidewalk (road isn't even an option here, don't even try it) and she was kind've moving between the right and left sides of the sidewalk. I creeped up on her left and tried to pass but she didn't hear my bike (she wasnt wearing headphones either) and when I quietly said "Excuse me" she screamed at the top of her lungs, which hurt MY ears (I was wearing headphones). It was a pretty memorable moment.

Get the air zounds horn. It could scare the bejesus out of any fool wearing headphones and blaring music.

Koffee

Soooooo, let's see. The drivers want us off the road and on the sidewalks and paths, and the walkers want us off the sidewalks and paths.

and we also have the right to use designated trails and paths. i like riding my local trails. it's scenic. they're nearby and easily accessed. i don't use them to get anywhere. i use them for recreation. plus, i wouldn't get to scare morons lying in road - they'd already be pancakes by the time i got there...

I get this on the MUP here too. Not so many people with headphones but allot of people walking 3 wide taking up the whole path or kids swearving around so much im afraid to pass them.

And they are the same people, just different times of the day.

Multi-use paths are gonna always have obliviots on 'em. They're not expecting traffic. Get a bell, or a horn, or ride on the roads. Or pull big noisy skids. :)

After trying a fellow folder-rider's AirZounds while chillin' in Bryant Park, I'm all set to pick one up. It should provide endless entertainment throughout most parts of my commute, and get me some harmelss satisfaction. :) I've pretty much given-up on headphoners hearing any other sorts of communication.

I like that story above where the poster's buddy bunny-hopped that nutjob's arm. Priceless! Oh, and I agree about the early morning users of MUPs and the like having a more of a clue than the later-day users. So true.

You sure of that? My crystal ball did not reveal this bromide.

You boys just don't know how to yell do ya? The problem is they usually just turn around, or move left...

Get off the path? I don't think so . . . my local bike path is thirty beautiful car-free miles winding along the American River, and it's a lovely break from the roads I'm on every day while commuting and otherwise leading my car-free life. Many days, I incorporate a six-mile chunk of the trail into the middle of my commute just because I love being out there; it improves my day.

It's also an MUP, but it's also clearly posted--painted right on the path itself, where no one can claim to not be able to see it--"Joggers and walkers use left shoulder."

And there IS a nice shoulder, plenty of room for walking. But most walkers still walk right in the middle of the trail, two and three abreast, facing the wrong direction, and many of them feel no compunction to get out of the way of oncoming bicycles.

However, I've stopped stressing over this or even being irritated by it a long time ago--it's not worth the energy, because there's a new crop of idiots and scofflaws and just plain selfish and inconsiderate people daily.

I just carefully make my way around them and go on my way.

A few comments:

I had a family respond to my "on your left" by promptly moving to the left last week. But, at least they moved. :)

Also, I have been considering an Air Zounds for when I am on the road (I use a bell for pedestrians)... when it is fully pumped up, how many toots can you get at the loudest volume? Has anyone rigged up anything to avoid using one of your water bottle cages? Has anyone seen good alternatives? I would think that someone could make a pretty nice horn that uses CO2 cartridges...

Finally, I do think it is a shame when cyclists tell us to get off multi-purpose trails... If we were all racers intent on always training, I might agree, as the higher speeds makes the presence of pedestrians especially dangerous. However, if riding at a leisurely pace a path wide enough for safe passing is ideal for both walking and hiking. Sure, its not perfect, but neither is the road.

I have ridden portions of the 26 mile Lehigh Gorge Trail several times, and I have discovered that the 2 mile either side of each trail head are the only places there are pedestrians (most are within 1 mile), which works well for me, as I have a little warm-up and cool-down zone (or for the central access point, just a chance to ride more casually, but it is pretty lightly used compared to the two ends) Even if the 2 miles either side of all three trail heads were jammed, that still leaves 18 miles of cycle friendly path.

Also, going in the morning (8:00 start) I see very few others on the trail until I am almost done with my ride. For the first 30 minutes on one ride I saw more deer than people. :)

I think I've posted tis before, but where this makes me most upset is on the west Street path here in NYC... there's a path running parallel to west street, marked w/a double yellow and white shoulder lines, just like... well, just like a miniature street, and it's intended for and clearly marked ads being for use by bikes and rollerbladers.. And then there's a beautiful, wide pedestrian path right by the river. So where do runners run and pedestrians ped? On the bike path! Which wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't wish I could ride on the path right next to the river, 10 yards further away from exhaust and 10 yards closer to the cool river.

The Brooklyn Bridge, well, that's a whole other story.

Q: How to pass obliviot walkers w/ i pods

How about clamping one of these on a front rack?

http://www.jbodenmann.com/american/cowcatcher.jpg

I've been using a whistle for the past several years. They're inexpensive and quite effective. Use it with plenty of "lead time". This is to say give them a quick blast or two from a distance of fifty feet. This gives them plenty of time to move. I gave up saying "on your left". It just seems to cause confusion, as others have already noted.

A bell probably won't be effective, as most people with music devices have the volume cranked up. Yelling may work on a trail, but in an urban setting, it's just background noise along with everything else.

You can get an inexpensive plastic whistle at sporting goods stores, and places like REI.

Cyclist's use of a whistle may not be legal in your state, so check it out.

:lol:

Hit them right on the nose. Look them in the eyes with a mean look and say

" Bad Pedestrian! Bad Pedestrian!"

It's amazing how much so many posters in this thread sound exactly like motorists talking about cyclists....