Bike trails safer than roads? Not always . .

[decisivemoment]

Bike trails instill a false sense of security, especially among bad riders. People who are fearful of traffic on roads, even when those roads have bike lanes and other features that slow cars down, have problems and cause problems because they don't pay enough attention to traffic or traffic regulations. They then migrate to trails where they pay even less attention because they think now they're "safe". Everyone knows to wear a helmet, but you'd think traffic regulations were an optional extra the way people ride.

Which brings me to my first big crash in almost 20 years yesterday (i.e. first time since 9th grade). I was on the lakefront trail in Chicago, slowing down a little as I came up on Foster, when I spotted a slow moving cyclist towards the right. I yelled out to her "on your left", at which point, without warning, without looking and without signalling, she turned to her left right in front of me to make the Foster exit. My evasive action was too successful; I avoided even touching her but caught the front brake a little hard and threw myself over the handlebars at 15mph. At first I thought I didn't need the ER; two very friendly cops who were right there took me and my bike home, mentioning every now and then that they really thought I should go to the hospital. And when the bleeding inevitably started up again, I did. Even wearing the helmet, which was also unscathed except for the visor, my face took the impact and I needed 11 stitches in my face and my chin is the size of a golfball. They shot nine or ten X-rays and found no fractures. The ER couldn't believe I had been wearing a helmet but I suspect without it the impact would not have been to my face but towards the top of the skull which would have been more serious.

That lakefront trail is hazardous until you get south of Navy Pier, where traffic is lighter and a very high proportion of the riders are serious cyclists. I have had two or three close calls this summer and now this wreck, all due to other riders (all inattentive casual bike riders in their 20s, I'd say) not looking or signalling before stopping in the middle of the trail or turning, so I suppose it was just a matter of time. From here on out, I fancy my chances better on city streets, where we have started to achieve safety in numbers here in Chicago thanks to all the bike lanes and so on. It does seem to me from the press lately that we've had more trouble on the trail than on city streets, including fatalities on the trail.

Incidentally, the bike (Spec. Rockhopper Comp MTB, built like a brick outhouse and weighs about the same too) appears to be unscathed other than all the blood I got all over the saddle when I picked it up. The pedals (M540 SPD) did their job admirably, holding me in when necessary and releasing me when necessary, in contrast to my high school wreck where the accident was caused by my right foot slipping off the platform pedal into the front spokes.

 

[SWEETRIDE4ME]

Hope you get better soon.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Sorry about your crash, bud. Hope you're still pretty once the healing's done. Leave the blood on the saddle (there's a country song in there...)

Bike paths are indeed hotbeds of slack attitudes and weak skills - not just the "Sunday riders" who don't know the rules and have zero situational awareness, but also the teen hotdogs who tear along the trail with little regard for those of us out with our kids.

World's fulla arseholes, it seems.

What about the feeb that ran you off the road? Did he/she offer any explanation re: how they can ride a bike with their head up their hoop?

 

[CommuterSteve]

This may not be what any-one wants to hear, but the reality of "bike paths" and "shared routes" is that the designers of said routes have a model of the typical user that says the average user travels less than 5km and is a recreational rider. The bike paths I know are certainly designed that way, definitely not the most direct or fastest route.
If you use a bike path, you should be riding expecting that the other users of the path will fit that model and adjust your speed and behaviour accordingly.
If you want to go fast, use the road.

 

[decisivemoment]

I would respond to commuter steve that I am very cautious, very observant of other traffic, I leave a lot of space between me and those in front (which is what saved me on the close calls I had earlier this summer), and I am by no means the fastest person on the trail. In one sense his point as it applies to the Lake Front Trail is very relevant -- having everyone move slowly and at the same speed is optimal, and there is a three or four mile section of this trail (I crashed at the far north end of this danger section) that is anything but optimal in this regard; in-line skaters doing 15, cyclists doing anywhere from five to 25 (I often get sandwiched between those slower than me and those faster than me), pedestrians in the middle of the trail rather than on the verge, very few people looking before turning or passing, people chasing stray balls from the adjacent soccer fields, you name it, this part of the trail has it.

But the rules of the Chicago trails are very clear -- they are to be treated as highways, with cyclists and roller bladers using the main lanes in opposite directions, passing allowed to the left, and pedestrians off to the side, outside the white lines. Many casual users of the trail are either ignorant of these rules or cut corners on them due to a false sense of security, kind of like the many cyclists who illegally use sidewalks. It's the cycling or walking equivalent of motorists who don't look for bike riders when making a right turn. It's something you can't plan for even if you ride at a modest pace and leave plenty of room in front. And it is what caused my accident. If you can't ride at 10 to 12 mph on a bike trail when you have the right of way without ending up in the ER with all that entails, there's something badly wrong.

At least on the roads the law is enforced more or less (though I still see too many cyclists riding against traffic and running stop signs and traffic lights). Even if it's difficult to keep up with the flow of traffic on a MTB, which is all I have had the last few years.

The safest people on this trail? In my experience, runners. In contrast, half the bikers don't have a clue and the skaters aren't much better.

Time for a bike safety campaign . . .

 

[moonfroggy]

i ride on a bike path almost daily because it is better than riding through a big shopping center or really busy street that is not bike safe, a few weeks ago a group of girls was walking in front of me taking up almost the whole bike path, one of them was on a cell phone the otehrs where busy talking, i rang my bell no one moved out of the way, i yelled bike coming on the right, i said on the right cuz they where taking up the whole left lane and only half the right lane, no one moved out of my way i was very slowing moving towards the space left on the trail to get around them, when iw as about 2 feet away the girl on the cell phone stepped right in front of me, i managed to yell at her, i had been yelling at them for a few minutes anyway and she finally heard me and got out of my way one of the other girls then started yelling at me that i was crazy, this is a bike only path with a seperate pedestrian path going next to it with bushes and grass seperating them, unfortunatly the bike path goes past a middle school, and at night people jog on the bike path wearing all black!
i try and ride my bike on the streets as much as i can and when on the bike path i tend to ride very carfully and kinda slow

 

[cydewaze]

I read an article a while back that gave stats on bicycling accidents. An overwhelming majority of them occured on "bike paths" and involved things like pedestrians, joggers, other bikes, animals, kids playing, and debris in the path (fallen branches, gravel, poor trail condition, etc). The general consensus was that it's safer on the road, as long as the traffic isn't heavy.

 

[koremitsu]

last week i hit a child on a path. i ussually ride street, but my riding friend suggested trying it since there are some many nice people who have honked and tried to run us off the road recently. i try to be as safe as possible, and have read the local ordinances concerning cyclists. now this path was completely empty the first time i did it, so i rode at a speed slightly slower than my usual average. i was doing about 17 and midday the path was again deserted. on the way back i decided to step it up a little bit just before the end of my ride. a random four year old darted across the path just in front of me as i came up a small hill. i saw his mom standing on the right side of the path in the gravel pedestrian lane. and as soon as i came in sight this random child darted in front of me. i tried to avoid him, but couldnt and i bashed into him. fortunately he appeared to be alright. i skidded on the frickin path into the gravel. i acknowledge that i probably shouldnt have been moving at such a speed, but regardless, i'm finished with stinkin paths man. random stuff happens too often, and ive only ridden there like 3 times. at least on the road theres less obstacles once i know my route and plan around rush hours.

 

[JSWin]

Yeah this is true. People can be really ridiculous on trails. Sorry but it's always the fat people. I'm just kidding but there is always some huge person walking or riding that has no concept of the same rules apply on the trail. They figure they are on a trail and they can do whatever they want. I can't help it but I kind of laugh every time cause I just invasion them with junk food spewing out of their mouth everywhere as I see them. Maybe it is because I'm having a flash of what they really do.

 

[sunshiney]

We have a problem with the bike paths in our town being taken over by people going on leisurely walks. I get it, the trails cut through the forest and they're beautiful, but the people on foot tend to get angry that we've got bikes on the path at all. We've had people get quite aggressive when we've attempted to pass them, even though they were walking 4 abreast on the trail and making it impossible for anyone to get by. Another common scene is parents letting their toddlers play around jumps and drops. It seems like this should be common sense stuff!

The worst made the paper in my town about a year ago. Someone was going out to well known mountain biking trails and setting up things like logs and boulders in areas of the trail where it's very hard to avoid obstacles. At the bottom of a steep grade, over the crest of a hill, or around a hairpin turn are the kinds of places these things were being placed. Someone was obviously out to hurt some cyclists, for whatever reason.

Due to all this I try to stay super aware, even if I'm on a bike path. I know I'm a safe rider, but I can't speak for anyone else so I'm always careful.