Crazy PEDESTRIAN!

[Hillandale]

I live on a Rail Trail, and when I want to take a mindless and relaxing ride, I hit the trail and avoid the traffic on the road.

I have learned to take my patience and my sense of humor with me, especially on gorgeous Sunday afternoons such as today. We get entire church outing groups on the trail, often walking in gaggles of 4-8 people, or biking rather randomly along with the walkers.

I sometimes use my bike bell, because the crisp "ting!!" it emits seems to get people to pay attention better than my voice does.

Either way I get a kick out of the people who seem to forget to read the trail etiquette signs, and have no concept of keeping right. When I ring my bell or say "on your left" these folks all startle, look around behind them, and whoever is on the right moves left while whoever is on the left moves right!

And of course as you mention, adding in a preschooler on or off of a bike, and a dog, on or off the leash can really make it interesting.

But all of that said, as a Rail Trail neighbor and Rail Trail Board member, it makes me very happy to see all the people who come out to enjoy the trail that I have helped to develop! I feel better about the state and federal tax dollars spent to develop the trail when I see it very busy!

[HipGnosis6]

Rollerbladers. Dogs on long leashes. Children tooling around on little bikes with training wheels (cute, but unpredictable!). IPod wearin' stroller pushin' jogger mommies. Elite jerks riding too fast. Little old ladies who don't know that there really is an actual separate path for bikes. These are a few of the hazards we must all endure on mixed use trails.

Elitist roadies laugh at the bell on my bike. But I like it - it's cheery, and I can usually get people's attention much sooner than I could by calling out as I'm right on their ***. Every so often I get someone who acts like they've never heard such a thing before, but they also usually act like they've never seen a bicycle before too. I ring my bell before riding into blind spots, and use it copiously in those few places where I'm forced to ride on the sidewalk.

I've come to really despise people who have headphones on and aren't aware of the world around them.