Sawtooth

Teens crack me up. Like my 3 year old, it does not seem to matter how often I say something or how loudly I am saying it, they only hear what they want to hear.

I came within 3 inches or so of contact with a teenager on an mup this morning while passing a group of about 15 spread out across both lanes. I announced my presense about 30 feet back and at about 25 feet and louder at about 10 feet and then even louder at 5 feet and then very loudly about 6 times as I rolled past the leftmost kid. Incredibly, he was obviously clueless as to my presense since he jumped out of his skin as I almost touched him when I rolled by slowly. I knew this was not only a possibility but probable so I had slowed way down so if I had contacted him no harm would have been done other than a possible knock-down of both parties.

The crazy thing is that this is the norm for me when passing groups of teens. Must be the pre-mating-ritual thing.

Anyone have a different experience or a good way to get past these groups without slowing to a crawl (which could be hazardous to the rider if they have bad intentions).

seawind161

Fire a couple of warning shots from approximately 250 feet?

(I'm joking, people, JUST JOKING!)

Hydrated

Fixed that for ya!

sh00k

teens don't know the rules of the road - bike path or automobile... even walking on sidewalks.....

seawind161

Sawtooth

Agreed, but this does not have to be so. My 3 year old knows that if does not stick to the right on the path, he can get hit by other riders. He may be wobbly, but he sticks to the right.

noisebeam

I don't call out ahead for teens. Better to go slow and they will move a bit, just barely enough, right when you are there. They think its ridiculous some Fred getting all hyper about passing on a path when they knew you were there before you did.

lil brown bat

Tell them to get off your lawn.

Sawtooth

Roody

Try saying it softly. With most teens and children, the louder an adult talks, the less well they can hear you. It also wouldn't kill you to make a little pleasant conversation of the "nice day, isn't it" variety as you pass them. Then you might overhear some comment like "that old fart is pretty cool" as you ride away.

A different problem is when you see some teens ahead and they look menacing. Who wants to ride through a gang on a deserted path? At least on the streets you could ride around the block if you see a gang congregating ahead of you. On a trail, your only choices are to ride through them or turn around.

MNBikeguy

Be nice now...

They "heard" you calling out from behind, but because of cognitive limitations in their frontal cortex their synapses are simply unable to make the connection that your presence has anything to do with them.

(That..... plus little Johnny was concentrating on Suzies butt....)

Quel

I find it mostly to be due to lack of MUP experience. I bet next time that kid won't be so far over to the left. Same happens with joggers in the spring, where they freak out a bit when I pass because they had their headphones in and didn't hear the bell. By the end of the season it's not like that though.

wunderkind

Dude, like Twitter ahead of time! Geez.... like get with the program! Ur so like '90s.

TwoShort

Boulder is sufficiently bicycle saturated that away from the tourist zone pedestrians are generally cluefull. But every Fall when the students come back, there will be bunches completely blocking the path, with no awareness that some guy shouting "on the left" has any meaning. A couple years ago I discovered that "Yo, Freshman! Get out of the way!" penetrates better.

CliftonGK1

or

lil brown bat

In all seriousness...it's a momentary inconvenience, so don't let it become a big thing. If you will ride on a MUP, you will encounter oblivious peds. Attempts to blast them into awareness will probably get you labeled as "that bozo on the bike", which is probably not something you want if you're going to be using the path on a regular basis and they are too.

no motor?

Bright lights help. Once they do become aware of you they're usually close enough where a bright light causes an unpleasant reaction when they notice you. Combine that while looking like you've been waiting for them to notice you and they usually figure things out. Just don't expect them to more aware next time.

jeffpoulin

What exactly were you planning to do with these kids?

When I encounter kids, whether 3 or 13, I assume they're highly unpredictable and pass them with lots of room in case they decide to just, you know, dart right in front of me for no good reason. Kids are like that.

Sawtooth

Kind of like squirrels

HardyWeinberg

My 8 yr old is vocal, I have to tone him down when he's correcting everybody's driving/lane usage. But yeah it is definitely wrong-way teens that we have the most notable encounters with on the shared part of our commute.

HardyWeinberg

I was just announcing myself this morning to a strolling pair of octogenarians I was about to pass when the leftmost one darted to the left to kick a pile of leaves. I still had room to pass him farther yet to the left.

HardyWeinberg

Kind of a downer that there was a pile of leaves on the ground for him to kick. Maybe that is the flipside of summer starting in May this year.

alicestrong

Yeah, text them a warning!

n yr lft...

longbeachgary

The only thing worse than teens on the path are 3 year olds.

Skones MickLoud