Strange collision
 

I was freewheeling down a hill that just started while another cyclist is going up slowly. There is an opening between concrete barriers in the middle of the hill wide enough for only one cyclist. The opening is in the middle of a 6 foot wide MUP. I get through with him about 15 feet away from the opening while he is in the center of the path. I vere to my right, and he turns simultaneously into my lane, to which I respond by vering more to my right, and he goes in same direction too untill we collide. I fortunately landed in grass. I guess I could have braked sooner, and he left thinking it was my fault. My bike seems ok, other than a brake hood is a bit crooked, and the handlebars point off to the left, and I have just a small scratch.

Is this a common occurence?

If you were heading towards an opposing cyclist, and were both in the middle of a path, would you slow down and vere to the right, or just vere off into the right lane assuming he will go into his lane?

Seems there is no need to slow down. If a car is coming at you in the opposite direction, it's their job to stay in their lane...going to the right would be the most logical thing. I'm just not sure why he would go into your path.

You're not in Britain, Australia or Japan, by chance, are you? ;)

People who refuse to travel on the right on MUPs drive me nuts, even peds. Do they not think that the little yellow line down the middle applies to them?

Heh... I don't care which side peds are on, so long as they are to the side. The ones I hate are the ones that walk in a group of 4-5 toodling along, having a loud conversation and don't even notice you're yelling untill you're RIGHT behind them. And then they split, leaving about 12" in the middle for you to go through. *sighs*

If they're on the left, it's because they want to see who's coming at them on the path, and there's usually plenty of room to pass them on the right... if they're over to the right, a simple 'Good morning' or 'passing' is fine... it's the fools in the middle like they're the only people in the world that get annoying.

Thats exactly what happened to me when I met another bike on a sidewalk. He left with a bloody nose, I broke my shoulder and am still recovering!
I veered to the right and he turned right into me, said it was my fault, at least he called the EMTs for me.

I live on a nice MUP on Coronado. I can't even use the damn thing on the weekends because of all the "traffic" on the wrong parts of the path. It's a death trap.

Canada... Do they drive in wrong lane in Hong Kong too.. he may of been from there.

I'm ok with people who take a lane even if its the wrong one, as long as they take it decisively giving me time to adjust.

I guess this is common enough :( Would be really bad at high speed.
Yelling "turn right!" is the only thing I can think of to help prevent these situations. Would be annoying to other cyclists.

What's an MUP?

My guess is that he tried to turn to the right by turning his handlebars to the right, and the result that he got wasn't the one that he expected...

MUP = Mountain Unicycle Path**********?

Multi User Path ... though this one has few walkers. several joggers though.

I think the MUPs in and around DC are more dangerous on the weekends than most roads...

Cars may be big and fast, but are far more predictable than children/pets/clueless people.

DrPete

+1

It does not even take 4 or 5. Just 2 or even 1. It seems that no matter how much space they have, they want to occupy all of it.:mad:

Moldy UnderPants

This would have been a good situation to call "on your left" for...

I'm pretty liberal about that when it comes to biking and skating. Although, some people are hopeless. I was biking on a MUP the other day, and ahead of me was a lady who was walking as far right as could be. I didn't want to scare her by rushing by unexpectedly, so I called out "on your left to her." She immediately side stepped (jumped) to the left in front of me and i had to slam on my only working brake and went off the path fishtailing like a moron to avoid collision. Then she had the gall to try and yell at me. Cussing works good in such situations.

I bet she left you with the same parting words this guy left me with ... "be careful next time"

Tonight I had the pleasure of trying to get around 3 kids on bmx bikes doing erratic circles and figure-eights at the bottom of a hill. They finally figured out they could get hurt when about 4 cyclists doing 25-30 mph went zipping past them, each cyclist taking a different track around the kids. I had to wonder where their parents/guardian was to let them do something this stupid.

I avoid MUPs unless I'm out for a casual recovery ride. Too much traffic and cluelessness. Come to think of it, the one in Encino is still marked as a bike path, but there's everything from dog walkers to rolerbladers. I feel like I'm going to crash if I do more than 12 mph on the thing. Oh yeah, then there's the blind corners of the buildings nearby. A friend reacted too late to a van coming out of a parking lot and went over the hood. I'll take my chances on the street now.