Sunday, August 26 Rides

[RolliePollie]

Err... yes! Technically, on multi-use paths, bicycles yield for pedestrians and pedestrians have the right of way.

You need to call out and let pedestrians know you are passing them, and give them an opportunity to move to give you room. And if they don't move, well, tough luck for you. You'll just have to slow down and negociate around them in a safe manner. And no, it is not reasonable for you to expect that they get off the path for you. Sorry.



If you're driving a car on the road and you come up behind a slower-moving vehicle, and there is another vehicle approaching you in the other direction, what do you do?

Do you expect the slower vehicle to pull off the road so that you can pass as the oncoming vehicle is approaching you? Or do you pull out expecting that the approaching vehicle and the vehicle you're passing will somehow get out of your way?

Of course you don't !!! You slow down, you wait for the approaching vehicle to pass by, and then you pass the slower vehicle.

And you do the same on a multi-use path.

You have to use common sense, have a lot of patience, and show a lot of courtesy to other users when you're on a multi-use path. Yes, walkers and joggers and people wheeling strollers and especially oblivious people with dogs can be a pain in the butt, but it's their path too, whether you like it or not. And if you don't like it, stick with the roads.



That would be an excellent idea.

Uh oh, I think maybe I should've clarified...the joggers & pedestrians who were not moving over were oncoming towards us...we were not coming up behind them. They were facing us. So they were in the lane I need to be riding in, walking towards me, looking right at me. If I come up behind someone, I definitely call out that I'm passing, hang back, thank them when/if they do move over, etc. But when there are 4 people walking abreast on the path coming towards me, they can clearly see me, they are taking up the entire lane, and I literally have no place to go because there is oncoming bike traffic, then I think they should move over. I thought that was how the who-yeilds-to-who thing worked. But if I'm off base here, then I definitely should just stay on the roads! It was just a very frustrating ride. And I'm sure the joggers were very frustrated as well. I am perfectly happy to share the trail with pedestrians, joggers, dogs, rollerbladers, etc. And I do dumb and oblivious things all the time. But I just wish people would pay a little more attention. It's a bummer because I know everyone out there was trying to enjoy a really nice day.