Too bad about the crash. All the bike trails I've ever been on seem to be like the wild west -- no law enforcement whatsoever. It's everyone for themselves, so the only way to survive is to have maximum situational awareness, know where everyone is around you both ahead and behind, and ride as though everyone around you will do something stupid. Clearly the pedestrians were wrong to be three abreast because it causes a hazard. Clearly the bike that passed without warning was wrong to do so, though they may not have been aware of the pedestrians ahead of you.
But if you were wearing a mirror and took a glance in it the instant you saw the pedestrians (to check on whether anyone is coming up behind), then another glance just before you're going to move over (to check that the coast is still clear), and a final look over your shoulder to double-check the instant before you move over, then it is almost impossible to have had this develop into an accident. You might have had to brake hard when you glanced in the mirror and saw someone coming up fast. But at that stage you still would have had time to brake safely. I had almost the opposite incident happen to me the other day. A woman passed me (safely) but then slowed down somewhat so we were going the same speed. I was about fifteen or twenty feet behind her because I don't like to ride close to people who I don't know. This continued for about half a mile. As we were coming up on a pedestrian, I moved to the left well before she did, still fifteen or twenty feet back. At the last moment, she glanced over her shoulder, saw me, and slammed on her brakes and cursed me, presumably thinking I was trying to pass her. All of this drama would have been totally unnecessary if she had been wearing a mirror. Had she been wearing a mirror, then after she passed me, she would have seen that she wasn't dropping me, but that I was behind her at a safe distance and she had plenty of clearance to move left. Nick On Monday, August 6, 2012 1:58:16 PM UTC-4, SteveD wrote: > > As a commuter, I'd like to think I'm pretty good about being safe, riding > defensively, especially when it comes to using MUPs (multi-use paths), > which brings me to an incident my wife and I had yesterday on the > Burke-Gilman Trail just north of 70th Ave NE (or is it NE 70th?) in > Seattle. The last days here have been pretty nice, although very hot, the > trail tends to get very busy with cyclists, pedestrians, pedestrians with > dogs, pedestrians with perambulators, and so forth. All good stuff; there's > no denying that because one way or another, as individuals, we all use the > trail system in a variety of those roles. But not everyone understands that > this is a MUP, and that common sense dictates that everyone needs to look > out for one another, especially when the trail gets congested along the way. > > Imagine taking a leisurely ride on your local MUP on a very nice weekend > morning. The trail has its busy sections here and there. Cyclists and > pedestrians are moving along pleasantly enough; lots of "on your left" and > passing around people two, three abreast, cooperating with the riders. > You're going along at a casual 9 to 10 mph. No biggy; safe enough. > > Everyone's enjoying their day on the tree-lined trail with a nice little > breeze. You notice that there's a threesome of pedestrians abreast of each > other, chatting, about 50 feet or so ahead of you. There are other cyclists > "on your lefting" as they pass. The trail is getting a little congested, > and your preparing to slow down as you approach the pedestrians to pass. > "On your left," the pedestrian don't heed your warning and at the same time > some rider goes zipping by you without any warning as you're making your > move, oblivious of the situation, causing you to slam on your brakes in > order to not run into the people in front of you, and causes you to jar > your shoulder, and hit you pubic bone against the bike stem and cut your > leg on the chain ring as you try to stabilize your bike without taking a > full-on fall. And, your spouse who is riding behind you, swerves to the > left across the trail and into the ditch that runs alongside it so that > he/she doesn't rear-end you. Not a pretty scene. > > So here's the rant. These MUPs aren't high-speed highways for cyclists. > I'm pretty sure there's a 15 mph speed limit on the BGT. Although, I really > believe that most of the cyclist that use these trails are pretty sensitive > to how they're used, they're a number of people who ride that have no clue, > and do not know how to anticipate a situation before it happens, especially > when the trail gets congested as traffic moves along. Riding a bicycle > really isn't much different than driving a car when it comes to riding > defensively. Yes, pedestrians, on and off the trail, have the right-of-way! > And if we could all predict the future before it happens, wouldn't life be > box of chocolates. It's not that way, especially in a traffic situation. > We're not perfect, that's a given. But what happened to common sense, > courtesy, and respect. > > Anyway, I landed safely in the ditch, nothing serious happened to me or my > Atlantis, except for a little gouge I took in the calf from a pedal spike. > The rider would've kept on riding if it weren't for my wife yelling at the > rider to come back. Thankfully the rider did come back to listen to my > wife's lecture, and then mine, as a few other riders sped by without a "on > your left." It's too bad that the rider who caused this mess is most like > not going to find this post. It would be good for her to see the > grapefruit-sized hematoma on her upper inner thigh, and the cuts and > bruises on her leg. > > Steve DeMont > Seattle > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/wuWQ-Le4j70J. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
