Stinking bike trails...

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I'm riding home from work last week, and as usual, there is a group of three kids, one walking, one on a bike and one on a skateboard.

I come up behind them and yell our "excuse me". The skate boarder moves off the trail and the guy riding the bike does not look back at all and moves left right in my path.

I ask him if he heard me, he says yes, but did not know which way I was coming.. I told him, if your riding a bike, you ride it on the RIGHT side of the path. I find out he took out a huge chunk of my bar tape, so I'm going to have to get new tape and have them wrapped...

I talked to my LBS and they said they have the same problem. If you say your on their left, they move to the left. If you say anything, the chances are they will somehow end up moving into your path.

I'm just frustrated....:mad:

I'm riding home from work last week, and as usual, there is a group of three kids, one walking, one on a bike and one on a skateboard.

I come up behind them and yell our "excuse me". The skate boarder moves off the trail and the guy riding the bike does not look back at all and moves left right in my path.

I ask him if he heard me, he says yes, but did not know which way I was coming.. I told him, if your riding a bike, you ride it on the RIGHT side of the path. I find out he took out a huge chunk of my bar tape, so I'm going to have to get new tape and have them wrapped...

I talked to my LBS and they said they have the same problem. If you say your on their left, they move to the left. If you say anything, the chances are they will somehow end up moving into your path.

I'm just frustrated....:mad:right when your rear tire is about at their BB shell, lock up your REAR brake (works best with v-brakes and disc) forcing your tire under theirs. only the tire tho, no spokes. if you do it right it will throw them off their bike and you pedal your butt off to get away.

all kidding aside, get a bell or better yet, air horn. or one of those orange "loudest on earth" whistles...maybe a billy club wouldnt be a bad idea either.

I've tried bells, horns, coming up slowly from behind and asking politely. The most efficient I've found is to shout "Oy, gimp!", and then pass as close and as fast as possible. They will swerve, but because you're aiming to be close to where they were, they're now out of the way, whichever side of the path they head for, and when they swerve back in, if you're going fast enough, you're already past. :D

When folks won't move out of the way (e.g., pod people or maybe just oblivious) I find that the noise of skidding makes people jump. Hard on the tires (I used to do this on MUPS when I had knobbies), but kinda fun. And maybe it makes a few people pay attention more (at least for five minutes).

Normally sofly ride up behind them, then yell "HEY!" usually they jump into the bush at the side of the road and I can continue on my way. :)

There's an easy off road rail-trail to ride in NJ called the Paulinskill (http://www.williammaloney.com/Biking/2004/PaulinskillRailTrail/)... neilfein, maybe you've ridden it. Very nice... 'cept for the horses.

I remember coming behind one group of horse riders (10 or so), slowed down, and spoke out the usual "passing on left". I ended up w/ a lecture from one of them on how to whistle when I come behind a horse so I don't scare them.

Next group... I sped up a little and just yelled out the usual "passing on left" cause I can't whistle all that well and I didn't want another lecture. (I know... not nice)

Yeah, my wife is an equestrian. Those horses can kick pretty awesome when spooked...

I'm riding home from work last week, and as usual, there is a group of three kids, one walking, one on a bike and one on a skateboard.

I come up behind them and yell our "excuse me". The skate boarder moves off the trail and the guy riding the bike does not look back at all and moves left right in my path.

I ask him if he heard me, he says yes, but did not know which way I was coming.. I told him, if your riding a bike, you ride it on the RIGHT side of the path. I find out he took out a huge chunk of my bar tape, so I'm going to have to get new tape and have them wrapped...

I talked to my LBS and they said they have the same problem. If you say your on their left, they move to the left. If you say anything, the chances are they will somehow end up moving into your path.

I'm just frustrated....:mad:
I'm pretty much tired of Bike trails as well. You're in danger on the road and it seems even more in danger on the trails. Seems most people are pretty much oblivious and I don't think can really appreciate how fast we can get going. As far as other cylcists (actually I'll call them novelists) it seems we can not get it into their heads that they are a vehicle even though we're bio-fueled and that applies on the trail as well as the road. As far as pedestrians...can't we make a deal that they stay on the sidewalk if we stay on the streets and trails? Aren't they called BIKE trails?

There's an easy off road rail-trail to ride in NJ called the Paulinskill (http://www.williammaloney.com/Biking/2004/PaulinskillRailTrail/)... neilfein, maybe you've ridden it. Very nice... 'cept for the horses.
No, I havent ridden it. But I'm planning to be touring up in that area next month. Does it connect to the Delaware & Raritan trail in Frenchtown or Milford? I can't find a trail map.

No, I havent ridden it. But I'm planning to be touring up in that area next month. Does it connect to the Delaware & Raritan trail in Frenchtown or Milford? I can't find a trail map.
Sorry for the delayed reply... was on vacation.

No, it doesn't connect up with the D & R. It does intersect with the Sussex Branch line... yeah, it goes through Sussex and Warren Counties. You may be able to get more info from the NJ Skylands website right here: http://www.njskylands.com/pkkitt.htm

I was hoping to hit up the D & R trail at some point in time... that looks like a nice ride.

I'm pretty much tired of Bike trails as well. You're in danger on the road and it seems even more in danger on the trails. Seems most people are pretty much oblivious and I don't think can really appreciate how fast we can get going. As far as other cylcists (actually I'll call them novelists) it seems we can not get it into their heads that they are a vehicle even though we're bio-fueled and that applies on the trail as well as the road. As far as pedestrians...can't we make a deal that they stay on the sidewalk if we stay on the streets and trails? Aren't they called BIKE trails?I decided to reply to this post only because I noticed the word "oblivious". Unfortunately, oblivious is what too many cyclists are. This is the first time that I can remember that I'll be criticizing the cyclist as opposed to the automobile operator. I was reminded yesterday of a situation I run into often on bike trails. I was heading home from the market, in my car by the way, and I came up on two cyclist wearing team jerseys on very expensive bikes. The reason I point out that these bikes were expensive is because I assume that if anyone can afford that much for a bike they can certainly afford a rear view mirror or two. These guys were COMPLETELY and UTTERLY OBLIVIOUS to the fact that they were riding on a public road with a fair amount of traffic on it. To make matters much worse (this is the part I have the biggest problem with) they were riding two abreast. Now I completely understand the desire to ride next to as opposed to in back of your riding partner. The drag is that when you ride two or more abreast like that you take up much more space then you do when you ride in single file. At one point these guys were one in the bike lane and the other hanging out pretty far into the street. If you've ever read any of my other posts I mention that I don't have a problem with cyclists being out in the road. I just think it's a very bad idea to be there if you don't have to be there. To top it off because they were riding two abreast they were having a conversation instead of paying attention to their surroundings. I ended up following close behind them for quite a ways so that I wouldn't startle them and I needed to turn right very soon so I didn't have a many choices other than to slowly follow. I don't mind going slow for a while. That is not a problem. My problem is this. I keep knocking the rare driver that has no respect for cyclists but how can we take the high ground if we're riding around with our heads in the clouds?

For the life of me I don't understand why anyone would ever consider riding without a means to see what's going on behind them when riding on a public street or highway. Actually I think you ought to have a rear view mirror when on the bike trails as well. When you're out riding and giving everything you have to keeping up a maximum average speed, and there's two guys in the bike lane in front of you riding abreast and taking up the entire lane it sucks. There's been many times I even yelled, "Coming up on your left", and these characters completely ignored me. I even yelled louder and more than once. They simply didn't give a rat's ass. They were too busy talking to pay attention or care about anyone else but themselves.

Come on guys, I know you hate being passed up routinely by a guy on a recumbent bike but please, pay attention will you? (I had to throw that one in there. Yes I do leave road bikes in the dust virtually every time on my Velokraft lowrider.) Don't ride two or more abreast anywhere that you might encounter another rider or car. It's just plain rude. To make matters worse, this type of behavior gives all of us a bad name and gives the occasional road rager more reasons for doing something really stupid.

So please, don't ride without some method for seeing what's going on behind you, and don't ride two or more abreast unless there is no other choice. (I can not think of any reason at this point why there wouldn't be a choice though.) Pay attention people! You don't own the road any more than the psycho in the car that's experiencing road rage.

Ride Smart everyone.

P.S. By the way. To comment briefly on the above post. At least here in California, it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk. So I agree strongly with the author's suggestion for pedestrians to stay on the sidewalk so bikes have a relatively safe place to ride. It sucks when you're doing 40 mph and a jogger decides to step out into the bike lane right in front of you without looking. The last time that happened I jerked out into the street and just about got creamed by a car. Yikes!

P.S. P.S. I don't see why Diamond Frame riders often get so P.Od. when I mention passing them often on my recumbent. (It's worse when I actually do it out on the bike paths. You'd think I told them bad things about their mother.) It's a completely different animal. It's not even fair to compare them for God's sake. For one thing I have only about one quarter the wind resistence they do. Oh one last thing. I pass them even more often on the hills, so the idea that recums are slow on hills is just a myth.

I decided to reply to this post only because I noticed the word "oblivious". Unfortunately, oblivious is what too many cyclists are. This is the first time that I can remember that I'll be criticizing the cyclist as opposed to the automobile operator. I was reminded yesterday of a situation I run into often on bike trails. I was heading home from the market, in my car by the way, and I came up on two cyclist wearing team jerseys on very expensive bikes. The reason I point out that these bikes were expensive is because I assume that if anyone can afford that much for a bike they can certainly afford a rear view mirror or two. These guys were COMPLETELY and UTTERLY OBLIVIOUS to the fact that they were riding on a public road with a fair amount of traffic on it. To make matters much worse (this is the part I have the biggest problem with) they were riding two abreast. Now I completely understand the desire to ride next to as opposed to in back of your riding partner. The drag is that when you ride two or more abreast like that you take up much more space then you do when you ride in single file. At one point these guys were one in the bike lane and the other hanging out pretty far into the street. If you've ever read any of my other posts I mention that I don't have a problem with cyclists being out in the road. I just think it's a very bad idea to be there if you don't have to be there. To top it off because they were riding two abreast they were having a conversation instead of paying attention to their surroundings. I ended up following close behind them for quite a ways so that I wouldn't startle them and I needed to turn right very soon so I didn't have a many choices other than to slowly follow. I don't mind going slow for a while. That is not a problem. My problem is this. I keep knocking the rare driver that has no respect for cyclists but how can we take the high ground if we're riding around with our heads in the clouds?

For the life of me I don't understand why anyone would ever consider riding without a means to see what's going on behind them when riding on a public street or highway. Actually I think you ought to have a rear view mirror when on the bike trails as well. When you're out riding and giving everything you have to keeping up a maximum average speed, and there's two guys in the bike lane in front of you riding abreast and taking up the entire lane it sucks. There's been many times I even yelled, "Coming up on your left", and these characters completely ignored me. I even yelled louder and more than once. They simply didn't give a rat's ass. They were too busy talking to pay attention or care about anyone else but themselves.

Come on guys, I know you hate being passed up routinely by a guy on a recumbent bike but please, pay attention will you? (I had to throw that one in there. Yes I do leave road bikes in the dust virtually every time on my Velokraft lowrider.) Don't ride two or more abreast anywhere that you might encounter another rider or car. It's just plain rude. To make matters worse, this type of behavior gives all of us a bad name and gives the occasional road rager more reasons for doing something really stupid.

So please, don't ride without some method for seeing what's going on behind you, and don't ride two or more abreast unless there is no other choice. (I can not think of any reason at this point why there wouldn't be a choice though.) Pay attention people! You don't own the road any more than the psycho in the car that's experiencing road rage.

Ride Smart everyone.

P.S. By the way. To comment briefly on the above post. At least here in California, it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk. So I agree strongly with the author's suggestion for pedestrians to stay on the sidewalk so bikes have a relatively safe place to ride. It sucks when you're doing 40 mph and a jogger decides to step out into the bike lane right in front of you without looking. The last time that happened I jerked out into the street and just about got creamed by a car. Yikes!

P.S. P.S. I don't see why Diamond Frame riders often get so P.Od. when I mention passing them often on my recumbent. (It's worse when I actually do it out on the bike paths. You'd think I told them bad things about their mother.) It's a completely different animal. It's not even fair to compare them for God's sake. For one thing I have only about one quarter the wind resistence they do. Oh one last thing. I pass them even more often on the hills, so the idea that recums are slow on hills is just a myth.

But can you ride a wheelie,do a track stand or endo.What about drop ins. Don't get mad I'm just playing. By the way I cannot ride on the road with out a mirror. Heard of a helmet with mirrors made in it. You simply look up into visor to see what is behind you. But I've never been able to find any real info on them. Also heard they were built for rollerbladers. Happy pedaling.

Agree totally with having a mirror except when off road on off road bike trails, single tracks etc.. as I found that you don't really have to worry whats behind you its whats coming up that you focus on.

Agree totally with having a mirror except when off road on off road bike trails, single tracks etc.. as I found that you don't really have to worry whats behind you its whats coming up that you focus on.
In my neck of the woods the bike trails are nice but on weekends are filled with families giving their pre-K kids a cycling experience in a safe environment. Fortunately, they tend to cluster at the trail entrances -- they typically don't ride very far, but frankly, the sidewalks here are far safer and have virtually no pedestrians on them.