Now that it's gotten warm and muggy - we get to watch for ....
Alligators!
Nothing quite like seeing an alligator sunning itself on the path. Now there's a road hazard to avoid at all costs :eek:
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Now that it's gotten warm and muggy - we get to watch for ....
Alligators!
Nothing quite like seeing an alligator sunning itself on the path. Now there's a road hazard to avoid at all costs :eek:
I had a pack of dogs (five) on Saturday and then two snakes - both dead - on a 50 mile ride!!!! Love the photo Zen - one was black and the other for me was a copperhead!!!! Off topic - but as a kid I used to torment my mom and trick her into looking at pictures of snakes - she hates them!!!
Debi
just goes to show that just cause people are riding bikes or even fully decked out (posers) on a bike doesn't mean that they understand the etiquette of riding.
Watch the riding form and you can tell a lot about a rider. We have beach cruisers, dudes on a bike looking for a babe and do really stupid things to get girls' attention and girls with very few sq inches of fabric riding on bike looking for a dude :rolleyes: ... to you name it. So best to figure them out before you get too close. And the best way is by looking at their riding style. inexperienced riders don't have a very good form and tend to weave so I give myself extra room when I get close.
And fact of life, some guys just absolutely hate it when a girl passes by them and will just about do anything to pass you and including being hazard to you.
sorry to hear about running an obstacle course.
Thank you for responding to the main POINT in my post. We were by no means hot doggin' or flying around people or going fast near ANYONE. When it was open yea, we'd GO...but slow down coming up on traffic. I was talking about that guy that almost ran ME off the path, which by the way, smelled of alcohol when we passed, so I'm sure that had alot to do with it!!;)Quote:
Originally Posted by smilingcat
We have a beautiful MUT called the Lakefront Path here in town. The north branch of it is so congested that it's miserable to ride on the weekends or weekday evenings.
BF and I rode part of it Sat. Coming around a curve, a bunch of teens were hanging out, meandering, and taking up the entire path. I rang my little bell several times, I slowed down to a crawl, I called out "Watch out! Watch out!" No movement from any of them. Went around them on the grass, muttering, "Sheesh!" Then they acknowledged my presence by yelling at me, "You could at least say 'excuse me'!" Large sigh. Actually, I wanted to go back and....well. Ahem. I didn't. BF said, "honey, they didn't know you were there." Really? OK. Maybe. But I think I just need to stay off that part of the path. It makes me too mad.
And don't even let me get started about rollerbladers talking on the phone! :mad::eek::rolleyes:
I am happy to say that the south branch of the path is lovely, and wide, and seldom congested. That's a place to really fly. If I'm doing a long ride, I'll usually take city streets for 7 miles to get to the south branch, and then get in the aerobars and go fast. :)
Well, if it makes you feel any better... or at least makes you sound better... I go up to 24 mph on my bike path. It's very common for me to have a 18-19 mph average at the end of a ride.
Mind you, I go slower on the parts where there isn't a lot of room... but otherwise I'm flying.
With that said... it blows my mind how OBLIVIOUS people on the path can be. Anyone who has been on this path knows that cyclists are out there hauling butt... and trust me, I'm not one of the fast ones.
If you (a walker/runnger) SEE and have cyclists fly by you at 20-25 mph, wouldn't you think to stay on the SIDE of the path and not walking down the middle... or walking in a group 3 across?
I have also had cyclists run up my rear tire or get really close when they pass.
If someone is close behind me, I will turn my head and tell them, "If I'm holding you up, feel free to go around." I do it nicely, but I let them know that I don't want to slow them down.
With all of that said, I have learned that I can only ride this path once a week. Anymore more than that, and I get really frustrated with the people out there on the path.
Sorry you had so many obstacles to dodge. Isn't it nuts how people think a path is so safe because there aren't any cars, and sometimes it's more dangerous. I am amazed at how they don't put on helmets when they should riding on a path!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmccasland
:eek: You're not kidding, are you. :eek:
And might I add: :eek: :eek: :eek:
No offense intended or implied.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenn
We're all friends here, right? :)
I honestly don't know the bike path scene near you and I have a lot of respect (from your posts) for you and your DH as cyclists. I would never in a million years say you or your husband are ignorant or rude.
I agree completely that the biggest hazard on bike paths are clueless people. That is why I'm just surprised that anyone - you or (especially) folks going faster than you - would go so fast on a MUT (perhaps the MUTs near me are too frequently broken up by major street crossings to get up that much steam! :rolleyes: ). Anyway, yeah...people are unpredictable and MUTs can be....um...a "challenge", as you discovered.
Peace??
bmccasland, I've seen those sights before, especially the big boys that take up most of the path. Those gators can get pretty nasty this time of year, so please be careful. There's 2 that hang out on the econ (big stream) that runs next to the path and in the afternoon they just sit there sunbathing. The boy is just huge, probably 8ft and the lady is a tad smaller. I leave them be and they leave me alone to, but I've seen some dumb guys try to walk up to them and mess with them. Yeah, culling of the herd if I've ever seen it.
I also get to see rabits, raccoons, tons of snakes, soft shells turtles going to the water and my favorites, the gopher tortoises. They may be tortoises, but they can move when they need to:D . Sometimes, I just stop to look at these creatures, just too cool.
I'm guessing MUTs are what are called "bike and pedestrian paths" in Norway, which means cyclists are expected to use them instead of the road, and are also expected to share them with Grandma in a wheelchair, your neighbour walking 5 dogs, and gaggles of oblivious teenage girls... *sigh*
Now kids, dogs and elderly people - I give them lots of slack. They either don't know any better, or grew up in a time when things just went slower.
And no, I don't use these trails for any serious training. (Well, I don't actually DO any serious training :p )
But I really really wish sometimes that we could have a set of "smart pedestrian"-rules, to go with the "friendly cyclist rules", like: Remember there are people out here trying to get from A to B. Try to stay somewhat to one side. Glance behind you before you cross the path. And please don't walk your dog on one side of the path, if you're going to be on the other side... It seems some people feel that paths like these are like strolling around inside a mall and seem shocked at somebody passing them at anything over stroll speed. Since I started biking regularly I'm never startled by other cyclists when I'm on foot. It just depends on what you expect.
But of course what we REALLY want are dedicated bike paths, right? :)
One memorable ride I was just about home at dusk and ran over a rattlesnake. I was about over it before I saw it on the dirt-gravel road. The snake was still there in the road curled and hissing when my FIL came to kill it with a hoe.:eek:
Of course peace!:o I guess my post was just a little confusing, I apologize, I should have talked more about the drunken moron that was trying to run into me, or pass me, which I might add would have NEVER happened!;)
Plus, I'm sure it pissed off his half naked girlfriend that he was trying to chase me down!
I was just as shocked watching those "decked" out guys out there, they were REALLY flying and it was scary because when they are coming at you, you can't jude their speed if you are trying to pass someone, you know, the people you get stuck behind and when you look down at your computer you are doing like.....5, it's hard for me to balance going that slow.
Yes, Yes, YES! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by lph
Why?Quote:
Originally Posted by cosc
I wasn't a threat to anyone :(
I ride quite a lot at the Sepulveda Basin bike path in Los Angeles, where I've had several encounters with squirrels that I swear were playing chicken with me. They leap onto the trail, visibly ponder darting through my cranks—which for them must seem a challenge akin to those windmill holes at miniature golf courses, except they're the ball—then instead veer parallel with my front wheel and pace me. I slow down, they slow down. I speed up, they speed up. I really have to come to a complete stop to avoid a squirrel wreck, and I just know they scamper off talking trash about me. You gotta watch those city squirrels; they won't hesitate to throw down with you over whose trail it really is!
As for MUT annoyances, my vote goes to the folks who rent those surrey-like pedicabs—which are explicitly restricted to the interior of the park, where there's plenty of trail to pedal whilst enjoying lovely views of the park's lake and its resident wild fowl—and take 'em on out to the exterior loop, which really is intended for more fitness-minded pursuits (though when I see how underinflated those pedicab tires are, I have to admit those folks are apt to get the better workout), to noodle to and fro. Those rigs are impossible to turn with any kind of acumen, so avoiding collisions is up to anyone but the pedicab drivers.