Tailgated by other cyclist!!

[Gowest]

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

[smilingcat]

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 ... 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.

[Jenn]

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 ... 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!!

[KSH]

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!

[Lise]

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!

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.