dlester

My morning commutes lately have been uneventful. The simple reality is that in the cold weather there aren't as many people out to precipitate events.

This morning, about halfway to work, I see a pair of cyclists ahead of me. They are probably only going around 12mph. I am a bit shocked, because I haven't seen another bicycle in the morning for a few weeks now, and suddenly there are two riding together.

My pace is quite a bit faster than 12mph, so I caught up to them and gave a little verbal warning I was about to pass. As I got closer I discovered what appeared to be an experienced rider who was slowed to ride with his buddy who was huffing some pretty serious air. Anyway, they moved over and I got a huge smile and some cheering from the rider who wasn't out of breath. I don't remember what he called me as I passed, but it cracked me up and had me smiling the rest of the way to work.

Then, on the way home, in the dark, I see a pedestrian ahead, walking on the right hand side of the path just like they are supposed to, so I gradually move left and start to pass when suddenly a dog darts out of the bushes on the left into the trail. I slammed on the brakes just in time only a short distance behind her, let out some expletive like "OH *****", then she noticed me and all the lights, and let out a huge scream. Avoiding the dog, I shrugged and muttered something under my breath like "Damn Dog" and started on my way only to have her yell to me, "You could have warned me or something!" I was not very amused by this since there is a leash law which she was clearly ignoring, and there really isn't any warning I could have given her that would have provided enough time for her to collect her dog and leash it before I reached her. So, I replied the only way I felt I could at the moment by saying, "You could have had your dog on a ******** leash!"

I think I made a new friend.

Allen

uke

A bell wouldn't have done anything in that situation; dogs don't magically return to their owners when you ring one. : D

InfiniteRegress

A bell's not going to help you. I have this happen about once a year. I have a dog. I love dogs. But my dog is always on his leash when we're outside, for the safety of him and others around him. It's just common sense when walking on a shared path. And just like people do with their kids, they often think that their dog is better behaved than he/she is. I've also found that bells don't even help when passing pedestrians. I have found it much more effective to yell, "Bike passing on your left." We have enough shared trails and paths in our area that this statement is becoming more clearly understood by people walking, so they almost always move over to the right without incident.

SlimAgainSoon

Are you sure it was her dog?

Perhaps your mistake was using the F-word in criticism of a woman.

There's no future in that -- it gets you nowhere.

mercator

On the contrary, most dog walkers will look for their dog when they hear the bell, giving you some warning that a canine might be in the woods. If you are going to ride on a mup, a bell should be standard equipment.

kwrides

I LOVE dogs, but I hate unleashed dogs. Sorry that happened to you.

In her defense though, I don't think her dog being unleashed and you not warning her are related. They're two separate problems. Did you call "on your left" or ring a bell or anything? I realize (assuming it was her dog) that she should have had her dog leashed, but you should also be making her aware of your presence. Her saying, "You could have warned me or something!" makes me think you didn't.

Again, that doesn't make it right that she had an unleashed dog...

dlester

Normally I give verbal warning. My 'normal' method was even referenced in the morning story when I came upon the other two cyclists. That didn't work here because the part where I would have normally been saying, "On your left" I was busily braking and avoiding. I don't use a bell, but even if I had one I would not have been dinging it as my hands were otherwise occupied.

The shared paths are amusing more often than they are trouble. On tonight's ride home I passed two joggers coming toward me. They both were safe, complete with very bright flashlights on their heads, but that looked very strange coming toward me. Two bright lights bouncing up and down in no real synchronized pattern, and I got to see them coming from quite a ways away. You get to think of a number of 'What in the world is that?' before it gets close enough you can tell for sure.

Jonahhobbes

God this reminds me of a demonic fluffball that would try and nip my ankles about twice a week depending on what time I left work after a nightshift. It was one of those dogs?/things that celebs carry around in their handbags.

I always slowed down, watched the creature, nipping and yapping knowing full well that if it got to close it would come off worse, (I reckon my Salsa could go over it without getting damaged )

Everytime the owner would be yelling at the thing to come to her, it never would.

I would look at her and just shake my head slowly, she would just look ashamed.

Never enough though to take Fluff/Satan to dog training classes.

tmoritz

I was reading through the Colorado State laws regarding bikes and biking the other day so I'd be familar with the laws I need to follow. One of the many tidbits I learned was in Colorado:

"A person riding a bicycle upon and along a sidewalk or pathway or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing such pedestrian. A person riding a bicycle in a crosswalk shall do so in a manner that is safe for pedestrians."

So if this had happened in Colorado both you and the dog owning pedestrian would have been breaking the law. What's wrong with using a bell or yelling, "Hello, coming up on your left!"?

kwrides

I think his response to my post was that he normal calls out, but was otherwise occupied being scared s***less because of the oncoming dog. I've definitely been there.

Roody

Sounds like a good plan, but I bet that the OP was riding so fast that this wouldn't work for him.

Bearing in mind that walkers usually can't hear us coming in time to react safely, my own policy is to slow down enough that I can avoid hitting them nmatter what they do. That's usually a speed of only 10 or 12 mph when peds are present. If I want to go faster, I'll move onto the road.

However, the lady was wrong to disobey the leash law. I would hasve told her about it too.

Roody

It sounds like you're a fast and skillful rider. Mind if I awk why you prefer the path to the road?

Do you ever think about slowing down a bit to make it safer and easier for pedestrians and otherr cyclists to share the path?

dlester

I don't know how fast/skillful I am, but I have a section of my commute where I have to cross a river. If I use the path I can go over an older bridge that is still maintained for the purposes of the path (ie, it is bike/pedestrian only), but if I take the road I have to go over a bridge that doesn't have a bike lane, but has a speed limit of 40mph that is routinely exceeded and has lots of traffic accidents every week. I don't even like to drive over it!

So, I use the path out of self-preservation. Most commutes, both morning and night, it is no big deal. Generally speaking I see the same people all the time. I refer to them as familiar strangers. I don't know who any of them are, but I see them almost every day, and we almost always exchange a brief pleasantry as we pass.

unterhausen

my experience is that pedestrians are always really surprised to see bikes on the bike path. And there is something about managing a dog that some people are not equipped to handle. For example, one might think that a spectator at a bike race would be prepared to control their dog. One would be wrong about that