THANK YOU!! Not only from me, but from every equestrian (and horse/pony) who meets a polite cyclist such as you. Your consideration is greatly and warmly appreciated.

Thank you to you, too, Bill, as well.

These idiots are not only going to hurt somebody (I don't much care if they hurt themselves) -- but they are also giving cyclists a bad name...

The walker or runner who almost got run over by a cyclist is probably not going to give one a break the next time he's in his car and he comes up behind one...

Some of these bikers are very very good riders. I don't like many of the things they do but I am impressed that they are good enough to pull it off. I used to travel to many of the big cities and that's where I saw some incredible riding skills. Not many can pull it off, but those who can are scary but also a joy to watch. For Example

I really hate to bring this up, because everyone, myself included, hates the idea, but I think one way to address this problem is to require some form of visible rider identification. Not so much a registration of the bike, but of the rider. Perhaps its something like a bib number. With this, the days of anonymous cyclists riding with no reguard for safety or the law, could be identified and reported. It would also lead to more self discipline since riders know they are no longer anonymous. Some years ago, cyclists were a rarity, and were relatively responsible. With more and more cyclists on the road, it may be time to reconsider this. Again, I'm not talking about some dorky plate wired to the back of your saddle, but a cloth or vinyl number that attaches to the back of your jersey using velcro or some such. I could not imagine letting cars run around with no means of identificaion, how is a bicycle any different?

Nobody, no matter how good they are can avoid a 2 year old darting in front them when they are doing 25mph... And it happens on a pretty regular basis and every cyclist should expect it and be prepared for it. To the 2 year old, that MUP is a playground, not a highway.

By what logic or information do you make this apparently gigantic leap?

Interesting, I had almost exactly the same thing happen on one of Denver, CO's main MUPs. The difference was that I when I saw what she was trying I aggressively blocked the overtaking rider so she couldn't pass on either side. As she came abreast after the incident I explained what she was doing was unsafe. To her credit she apologized and told me she was just lost in the rhythm of her ride. Bet she keeps an eye out next time she ventures into her personal subspace.

Oh yes: Why did I block instead of getting out of the way? No place for me to safely go. If a collision occured I was in best position vs. the runner to have minimum injury. As it turned out the block was successful and we all went on our way.

i have access to over 100 miles of paved 8' wide trail 5 miles from my home so thats where 90% of my riding is done. when i ride my 40 mile loop i usually average 15mph. on the long slightly downhill part i hit 25+ and have been passed by other bikers a LOT.
when i pass other bikers or joggers i always state pass on left and have at least 2' of cushion between us or i won't pass. 99% of the other bikers are the same way.
there are mostly bikers on the trail and a LOT of them go 25+ on the trails. it isn't a problem until the trail goes by some apartments and a high school. then things get scary. 3yo kids riding bikes with with no supervision turning in front of you, thankfully i haven't seen any collisions yet, dogs on a leash with the leash strung across the trail and the walker is clueless to anyone else, i have seen bikers and joggers get caught in the leash with bad results. the worse is in the fall when you ride by the school. the cross country team has practice and 3-5 joggers side by side seem to be racing and won't move for anyone, i have seen collisions with other joggers and bikers, i have seen 1 where the biker and jogger hit head on, there was a LOT of blood on the trail.
it isn't only bikers who are dangerous.

Looked more like reckless riding rather than skill. If people have to dodge out of your way to save their bacon, then something ain't right.

I think the pedestrian experience on mups sometimes is the same a cyclist experiences on roads.

That's the irony of roll reversal.

This +++

I think there are two separate problems: one is overly fast reckless driving and the other is aggressiveness...

I live by a narrow, twisty residential road without a sidewalk that gets a lot of through traffic. The cars don't go fast, but neither do they stop, slow down or try to avoid pedestrians. I you walk on the extreme side of the road they will knock you off the road by passing with inches to spare. I find it works far better to walk about 3-4 feet into the oncoming lane and then move over as the car approaches -- because then they realize that they have to slow and go around you. It is the pedestrian version of "take the lane"... It commands respect from those who would prefer not to give it.

The same with approaching cyclists on the rail-to-trails that I ride: When 2 approach me without moving over, I used to slide way over to the edge of the trail. Then I realized that I was not only encouraging the behavior -- but endangering myself because being only inches from the edge of the trail gave me no room to maneuver around holes, stones, branches or squirrels...

So now I hold the lane and leave enough room to move over if needed.

As for the aggressive rider you describe saying "she was lost in the rhythm of her ride" -- that simply means she wasn't paying attention -- or maybe it was simply a convenient excuse. Sort of like the guy who gets in a bar fight and justifies it by saying "But, I was drunk".

I live close to a 40 mile long rail-to-trail of which 4 miles is paved and the rest is crushed limestone.

The paved section is far more dangerous as the road riders (who for some reason don't want to ride on the road) use it for speed -- even though it is crowded with kids, dogs, and strollers. You see them weaving & squeezing through that unpredictable traffic at high speed.

As I said in a prior post: it gives cyclists a bad name and a bad reputation. And, it encourages pedestrians to be equally as aggressive towards cyclists once they get back behind the wheel of their car.

In such a mixed-use enviornment, I think there needs to be a speed limit -- 15 mph or so. It's not a matter of "if" it's a matter of time before a serious accident occurs.

As I recall, within the last couple of years a jogger was killed as she did a u-turn in front of a cyclist on a trail in Dallas (Katy Trail, a place well known for robberies and other criminal activity). She was wearing ear-buds connected to an iPod and may not have heard the bicyclist approaching. A few weeks later the city of Dallas put up speed limit signs, I believe it was 15 mph, which really had no effect as there was no ordinance authorizing them so no enforcement action could be taken.

It's not a trivial issue.

We had one death on the Cedar River Trail summer before last due to a fast cyclist hitting an older woman who was apparently confused by his callouts. She was walking and he was overtaking her. We also have a friend who was jogging and was hit by a mountain biker going too fast out of control on the Lake Youngs Trail that same year. She survived, but was in the hospital a long time and had to have multiple surgeries for facial and shoulder reconstruction. Both accidents were very avoidable had the cyclist been riding at an appropriate speed for the situation.

I'm a road cyclist and cycle commuter, and I wish I could ride fast on the trails because they are nice and smooth with no cars, but it just isn't safe enough to be passing people at high speed. Yeah, you could argue that they create much of the risk through I-pods in their ears, dog leashes, uncontrolled kids, panicky elderlyness, and obliviousness, but everyone else on the trail can pretty safely co-exist. It's really our high relative speed that creates the problem. I accept that if I want to ride on a trail when it's not deserted I have to limit it to about 15 mph and slow way down to pass kids, older people, dogs, chatty groups of walkers, the I-pod deaf, and horses. I ride on roads if I want to go fast, or go on the trails very early.

A scorcher killed a lady-ped here in Rochester, NY on the MUP some years ago. He was tooling along and overtook a couple of walkers from behind (without calling out), and one of them coincidentally turned aside just as he came up behind her and WHAMMO! Most folks out there have been more careful since then, but I've noticed that the guys with the most expensive kits never call out when overtaking someone....too busy making time to speak to us Proles. I doubt that speed limits will do much to diminish that kind of stupidity. Biking-Folks have to attend to the fact that the trails are often populated by kids, older people, dogs, chatty groups of walkers, the I-pod deaf, horses, etc and should ride accordingly. It's not as though such hazards are invisible.

Most of the idiots here are playing chicken at night with cars, but we have them on the trail too, you have the option to go faster on the trail, it's a previous railbed turned into a trail, with raised edges, but it's straight line of sight, you can see someone jogging, kids, etc, a long way off, and slow down accordingly, but even then I've been nearly run over by idiots, one time by a motorcyle, who had somehow gotten on the trail past the barriers and was doing at least 60

Today I was doing my daily ride on a MUP trail when I approached a (slow) jogger from behind. He was dead center on the trail leaving insufficient room (for me) on either side. Everyone who has read anything I've written knows that I am no speed demon. At this time I was doing about 13 mph and I started slowing. I noticed he had ear-buds in his ears. I said, loudly, "On your left" and got no reaction. On the second "On your left" he didn't react immediately then it was like a started looking around and dancing (I swear it looked like a dance step, but I'm Baptist, what do I know) to the left just as I said "On your left" and he danced to his right so I could pass safely. I thanked him as I went by and he apologized but it was no big deal. My last lap I did reverse my direction (I do that to avoid boredom) so I approached him in plain sight.

I'm with you on that. Here in Tucson, Az we have a lot of MUP and building more. One section of a favorite path is really to dangerous for fast roadys like me any more. After a frustrating ride one day avoiding, stopping and slowing down for walkers, runners, skaters, strollers, dogs and other critters all going different speeds all over the path, I decided the bike lane on River Road was safer. I was right and now enjoy fast rides past that busy section of the Path riding next to car traffic which, for the most part, is more consistent and predictable.

An added note of frustration when riding a MUP is the many walkers, runners and skaters wearing headphones and unable to hear you when you announce your approach. But I am glad to see the many people out enjoying healthy activity. And indead we can all get along if I stay off the Multi Use Path

I think there's a whole different set of skills and judgments for riding on MUPS. It's not as obvious as riding in traffic or road races, but just as real nonetheless. I have to say that the roadies, the roadies with enough time in the saddle to be pretty fast, are generally the most skilled and safest on the MUPS from what I've seen. Until they get in groups but that's a different story ... I've seen OP's situation a lot of times and I agree that those guys are accidents waiting to happen but just as often from the slower guys. The roadies mainly just misjudge my speed coming at them but I usually feel pretty safe with the close maneuvers with them unless someone panics. The real skill, in my opinion, is seeing in advance where that sort of thing is possible and avoiding it before it starts.

I apply the same skills on the trail as in the car, and I havent had a car accident in 23 years, I always figure someone is going to do something stupid and try to plan accordingly, more often then not I'm right

All in all the runners do seem to have the highest percentage of idiots of any of the trail users...

To often they are zoned out in their own world and, too often they think they are above common rules of the road (such as stay right except to pass). Too often I see them coming the wrong way on the wrong side... They know what they are doing -- but seem to believe it is their right to run wherever, and however they choose.

Using a mirror so that way you can make sure no one is behind you when you pull out is also helpful.

it also lets you see the idiot who is flying up behind you and about to run you over