Tailgated by other cyclist!!

[rapid cycler]

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.

[lph]

Hee-hee. Those squirrels sound just like our cat. She has led a sheltered and pampered life, and the idea that any human could harm her has never crossed her mind. She'll routinely lie down smack-dab in the middle of the kitchen floor right when you're making dinner, and stretch out languidly and bat at your ankles as you step over her. Yesterday I saw her join some kids playing football. She wandered out into the field, tail waving high, looked around and lay down so they had to run around her...

A little later she went over to sit and meditate in the middle of the sandbox. The fact that four 8 yr olds were practicing riding their bikes right across it didn't faze her at all.

[Jenn]

What is MUT, and what is a pedicab?

Oh, and squirrels, we have prarie dogs here, by the THOUSANDS that love to nest by the path here on base, right along with these little owls. As you ride by you can hear them....eeeekkk...eeeekkkk, as you approach as they all stand at attention by their holes, I know they are saying...(OMG...guys, here she comes again,duck! )
Then there is always one that will wait, I SWEAR it's like the Geico commercial with the squirrels, and at the last second dart right in front of you! YES, I hate to say it, I'm an animal lover, so I'll take a HIT before I hurt a little furry.

[rapid cycler]

What is MUT, and what is a pedicab?

Oh, and squirrels, we have prarie dogs here, by the THOUSANDS that love to nest by the path here on base, right along with these little owls. As you ride by you can hear them....eeeekkk...eeeekkkk, as you approach as they all stand at attention by their holes, I know they are saying...(OMG...guys, here she comes again,duck! )
Then there is always one that will wait, I SWEAR it's like the Geico commercial with the squirrels, and at the last second dart right in front of you! YES, I hate to say it, I'm an animal lover, so I'll take a HIT before I hurt a little furry.

I know there are folks who think of them as pests, but prairie dogs are adorable, like meerkats!

A MUT is shorthand for a multi-use trail (or path) where peds, cyclists, rollerbladers and the like mix it up.

As for pedicab, I'm certain that's not the correct term for what I'm referring to. My local rec area has these things they rent where there's a sort of cab built around a bike frame, like a surrey with pedals instead of horses. It seats two to four, with the front occupants pedaling their little hearts out to make the thing move forward at all. Seriously, I think I might go to the rental place sometime and offer to pump up all their tires and service all those creaky drive trains. Maybe I could earn community service points in advance of some potential future misdemeanor, which is bound to be the result of cycling road rage.

[Jenn]

Oh,ok PinBike, thank you for the descriptions, I haven't seen those pedicabs, they sound neat though, except when you get stuck behind one...haha
MUT's hmm...Now, I know I'm probably going to get in ALOT of heat for this comment. However, I know when DH and I were riding like I stated earlier, 90% of people are walking on the dirt path NEXT to the paved path, then you have those few that walk on the path, wearing headphones, and they are NOT speed walking, oblivious to the fact that there are cyclist, rollerbladers (with dangerous skiing poles flying out....we almost got hit) etc..... I just think if it says "bike path"....hmmm maybe I'm wrong, but I would think that means,....bike path.
I don't care how fast or slow you go, if it was just bikes on them and people were courteous and used caution,....ahhh...life would be grand wouldn't it?
Oh, and I forgot to mention beside the snake, we also had to dodge the horse...poo....which happend to be under a dark bridge and coming out of the sunlight and you can't see....mmmmm DH was cleaning off his back and bike last night...

[rapid cycler]

I'm often tempted to tell walkers and joggers, helpfully, not angrily, that the dirt path will be much kinder to their feet, but I suspect I'd get more hostility than thoughtful consideration in return.

[Jenn]

I'm often tempted to tell walkers and joggers, helpfully, not angrily, that the dirt path will be much kinder to their feet, but I suspect I'd get more hostility than thoughtful consideration in return.

If they only knew what they were missing out on by riding!

[KSH]

I'm often tempted to tell walkers and joggers, helpfully, not angrily, that the dirt path will be much kinder to their feet, but I suspect I'd get more hostility than thoughtful consideration in return.

Well, I am a runner... who runs on a path with bikes... the very paths I also bike.

I can tell you that I have tried running in the grass/dirt... but the ground is so uneven, I am constantly in fear of twisting an ankle.

So, I wouldn't want to be in the dirt/grass. But I also make sure that I run on the edge of the pavement, and I constantly look behind me. If I see a situation with a tight squeeze for a cyclists, I do get on the grass for a short while.

The key here is that the walkers/runners pay attention to what is going on around them and try to be courteous to everyone using the path. Unfortunately, most are off in la-la land and don't really pay attention.

[northstar]

These types of obstacle-courses have led me to ride paths less and less. Just Saturday, I was riding a path and came upon two women riding side by side, both with headphones on. So I called out "On your left," ... no response. So I yelled it. And woman on the left side yells, "YOU DON'T HAVE TO FREAK OUT!"

I'm sorry, but seriously! How was I supposed to know if she could hear me? Do many people really ride with a friend, then BOTH wear headphones? What's the point?

And the dogs on long leashes? Geez.

Ok, rant over. But sometimes those paths that seem like they'd be so lovely are absolutely maddening because people are senseless.

[PinkBike]

jenn, MUT's are multi-use paths, pedicabs are those bicycle-taxi things. always thought that would be good training.
anyway, our MUT is about 10 miles winding through the greenbelt. it passes thru parks and golf courses and housing. like regina, there's no way you would take a road bike on a ride on this path. it's too ,well, used. by rollerbladers, walkers, bikers, dog people, kids, strollers, geese feeders, picnickers, joggers, etc etc. i ride it occasionally running errands because the one thing this patch doesnt have is cars! and it goes under streets instead of across them. but you would never think to race through there full out on a road bike. so maybe the paths regina and i have access to are totally different than the ones you and others have access to.

[Velobambina]

I echo all the sentiments here. Hazards abound, usually the result of ignorance and/or discourteousness.

Doublewide baby carriages? The bane of my existence, especially when mom/nanny refuses to move to the right. Or when there's a dog on a long/flexileash and/or a cell phone involved. There are a few double-doublewides--two ladies walking next to each other, each w/a two kids on board---who also refuse to go single file. Or people with little kids who let them wander all over the trail and then give you the evil eye when you politely ask the child to stay put so you can pass.

Where I ride, I encounter the most hostility from other females. In addition to the baby carriage crowd, chicks running/walking two or three abreast who refuse to move to the right, even when there's oncoming traffic in the opposite lane. They are usually chitterchattering away.