BLIZZ

Nor did she curse you.
I'm sure she learned a lesson that day also, without you having to explain to her.
Glad it ended well for the both of you .

dguest

you are so right that you would have put her in the ditch, but that is what a lot of us here have to deal with. The walkers think they have the entire trail and all others have to yield to them, then you get the bikers that think they are driving on the race track and no one will get around them.

chipcom 

Bad assumption. I say "passing" myself, but I hold no illusion that everybody will expect me to pass on the left or that they will move to the right. Unilateral assumptions cause accidents, especially on MUPs, where unlike the road, everyone is not operating from the same playbook (ever notice how many peds treat MUPs as roads and walk facing traffic, rather than with it?). As Ronnie Reagan used to say "trust but verify", or as I like to say, plan for Murphy...always assume the other person is going to do the stupidest thing possible and plan your contingencies accordingly...so when/if they do, you are ready for it. When it comes to passing on a MUP, I assume everyone is deaf, stupid and spastic.

gcottay

On every MUP I know, we are obligated to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians. For me, that serves as a reminder to keep speeds down around walkers. I use both verbal announcement and my little Incredibell but consider them only a matter of courtesy.

Some riders suggest that our bells and announcements cause problems because they provoke otherwise predictable walkers into erratic behavior. That certainly seems true sometimes. Reducing speed is the only good way I've found to avoid problems.

Tom Bombadil

Went out at lunch today and bought a new brass Incredibell. It was 68 degrees and clear blue skies. Had my Fuji in my car and so I took a ride around one of our lakes. Really nice. All paved MUPs and some low traffic back streets. Will admit that I stretched the lunch "hour" to 90 minutes. Hard to come back in for afternoon meetings.

Ding - Ding ... I can now announce my presence.

FrederickH

Three things that I've learned from riding on Rail Trails ( C&O Canal, Shippensburg R-T-T, and The Grand Canyon Pine Creek Trail) is that: 1.) Ringing a bell will usually cause people to stop where they are at and look around, 2.) Young children will usually run out in front of you as you pass, and 3.) Groups of walkers will seldom clear the trail to the right. Don't even get me started on passing horses and riders on the trails.

cranky old dude

Yep, pedestrians usually respond kindly to bells and freindly hellos
from considerate, slowly passing cyclists.

Denny Koll

I've tried "passing" but the results are about the same as "passing on your left".

If there is enough space I just slow way down and pass without comment.

cranky old dude

It's nice to have all the latest bells and .....

RoMad

Isabelle who?

Tom Bombadil

Nor should she have.

At any time that I'm walking, riding a bike, or driving a motor vehicle, and I decide to suddenly turn into the other lane, without looking or signaling, and I cause or nearly cause another person to crash, I don't think I'm the person who should be cursing. Unless it is at myself.

But, yes, at least she didn't.

Tom Bombadil

Slowly passing cyclists. Anytime I pass someone it is slowly. That's the only way I ride!

In this case, I was doing 11 mph when she stepped in front of me. Slowing down from my approach speed which had been 12.5 mph.

I suspect she was walking at about 3-4 mph, so I was gaining on her at a rate of approximately 9 mph (I actually think of these things as I'm riding). She was a bit over a half-mile from me when I first spotted her, so it took me about 3.5 minutes to overtake her. Over that period she walked on the far right side of the right lane, never once even venturing out toward the middle. That is, until I was only a few feet behind her and in the left lane.

Next time I'm at least going to be dinging my little bell.

cranky old dude

Yep, I assumed if you were roaring down the path at warp speed that she
would have been upset with you instead of apologetic. That and I think you've often posted that you ride the trails at a relaxing pace rather that like a speed demon. (a throwback to that trip over the cliff?)

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were going too fast.

cyclinfool

I guess I am one of those who should not be allowed on teh MUP as I frequently pass at 22 to 25MPH I start yelling at them well ahead of when I will pass - gives them time to respond irradically before I get too close. If they don't respond I yell louder. If they still don't respond I figure they have ear plugs in and am force to make a slow pass.

Today - I also took a few hours and rode the MUP. The power went out around 3:00 at work, when it came back on the computer network was down so I left work at 3:30 for a 90 minute ride. I was coming around a blind corner and there was a guy walking his dog coming towards me in the right lane and two cyclists working thier way up the hill in the left lane behind him where they all should have been - I thought we were in for a crash but I got between all of them OK - it was teh first time I had a problem in that location.

Sometimes I don't know what is less safe, the MUP or the road during commuting hours. I'll still take my chances on the MUP - at least I can bail out on the soft grass rather than end up in the ditch.

SSP

That's a really good idea if you ride regularly on MUP's.

Bells can be heard from a long ways away, are instantly identifiable as an overtaking bicycle, and don't have the "startle factor" that can sometimes happen when trying to announce "Passing" or "On Your Left".

Unfortunately, they don't work with the ever growing legions of "Pod people" - for those just cruise by 'em with about 6" of clearance and a deep-voiced "Hi!!!", and watch 'em jump in your rearview mirror.

Condorita

I think I shocked a couple of guys on my ride Sunday last, when I called out "izquierda" instead of "on your left."

CHAS

ding ding?

People with bad hearing can't hear the ding ding. It is high pitched. That includes me.
I use a squeeze thingy that clamps on a handlebar. It looks like a macaw, other things are available.

Last year I moved from Summit County, Colorado. That includes Breckenridge.
The bike paths kept the ambulance busy on weekends. It could not keep up with the carnage.
Cyclist that ride over 10mph did not use it on on weekends once they learned how bad bikepaths are.

Tom Bombadil

As I wrote earlier, and in other threads, the bike paths around me are very lightly used. To the point of where earlier this year, I took two rides of over 25 miles and didn't pass another person (cyclist, walker, or even dog) on either ride.

On a typical ride of 20-25 miles, I see maybe 8-10 people. Rarely ever see a dog walker.

I have seen two crashes. Once when a bumblebee stung a rider in the face, and the other time when a derailleur went into the spokes.

But it is good to read about other busy bike paths. That means they are being used and perhaps more will be funded.

Terrierman

Well, rubbin' is racin'. You would have been well within your rights.

Recycle

People can detect sound direction pretty well. It doesn't seem that people jump the wrong way as often if I announce 'passing' when I am behind and to their left rather than behind and to their right. YMMV

BengeBoy 

...and so if a locomotive is leaving Town A going 50 miles hour, and you are on the rails-to-trail path going 13 mph (still closing on the pedestrian at 9 mph), but you left a half hour before the locomotive, how long will it be before the engineer driving the locomotive remembers that they removed the train tracks?

Yen

Isabelle who?

Yen

If someone is deep in concentration they're unlikely to hear the "on your" part, and hear only "left" which is also spoken more emphatically. As in, "on your LEFT!". So, they move to the left.

"ding! ding! ding!" or "Good morning!" or "Passing!" works for us.

Anyway, glad you didn't fall or have any other type of mishap on an otherwise nice day.

Cone Wrench

Isabelle necessary on a bicycle?


I slay me.

snavebob

Isabelle ringing. ^ Didn't see that coming.