Bikers passing pedestrians on paved trails

[dkel]

Cyclists not calling passes around pedestrians is not cool. Neither is threatening people with a pit bull, though.

[Emm]

You need to be seriously careful threatening people with a dog. That’s dangerous, not cool, and a great way to get that poor dog taken away and put down if not worse. Most localities around here give people alot of latitude to protect themselves from threatening dogs, including by shooting them. This year more than one dog in the DC region has been shot and killed for threatening other trail users. You really need to seriously think twice before putting that poor dog at risk just because you felt someone was rude to you.

Calling your passes is also not cool, and giving someone the finger is rude, but not nearly as uncool as physically threatening another human being with a potentially dangerous animal. If you feel offended, instead of reacting poorly and putting yourself and an animal at risk, just shout out “hey call your pass!”. Sure, it may not work, but honestly, I think calling your pass in most areas is a manners issue, not a legal issue, so not something much can be done about.

[AT_Hiker59]

I did not threaten I just stood next to him with my very friendly pit bull sniffing him.

Why would you ASSUME I threatened him!!!

I want to hear from Sligo bikers about the problems with bikers not calling out.

[baiskeli]

@AT_Hiker59 161143 wrote:

I don’t live in the area but visit family who do frequently. Many times this spring I have been on the Sligo Trail. I have noticed only 7 bikers calling out their passes. Bikers who do not call out their passes whizzing close by me are too numerous. I am not used to bikers not calling out. Is this a DC area norm? Sligo Trail is too narrow to be speeding by. Is there any educating bikers to sensible courteous trail usage?

One biker gave me the finger when I called out “hey”. Boy did he change his tune when I and my daughter’s pit bull caught up to him at Colesville Rd. red light.

Having ridden a bike in this area for nearly 30 years, it’s my observation that cyclists used to call their passes about 70-80% of the time and now it’s only about 40-50%. I think it’s the explosion in the popularity of cycling and noobs who either don’t know or don’t care about calling passes, along with some who are just too cool to do it (including more than a few kitted-out roadies flying by).

I don’t mind if the call wasn’t really necessary, but when someone passes me and I really could have used the warning, my response is often “on my left!”

(I didn’t read your comment as you threatening someone with the dog, but I see how others could.)

[dkel]

@AT_Hiker59 161146 wrote:

Why would you ASSUME I threatened him!!!

Because that’s what this…

@AT_Hiker59 161143 wrote:

Boy did he change his tune when I and my daughter’s pit bull caught up to him

…sounds like.

[gibby]

@AT_Hiker59 161146 wrote:

Why would you ASSUME I threatened him!!!

Thanks for highlighting that.
Before I read the little-too-quick-to-judge responses, I had a funny picture of said cyclist with an embarrassed, wimpy thought bubble as he saw you standing next to him at the intersection.

[dasgeh]

The discussions of to-call-or-not-to-call are frequent in DC cycling circles. To sum up, most on this forum call most of the time on trails. Outside of this forum, lots of people don’t call passes, or only call when passing kids, or only call when passing pedestrians (not other bikes). Some just never learned to call passes. Some have very legitimate reasons that they’ve decided not to call. Things that pop to mind:

• Some pedestrians actually turn to see what the noise was, increasing the risk of collision.
• Some pedestrians will yell at cyclists who do call passes.
• The trails are so popular, if you call every pass, you end up calling for the whole ride (true story – this is my ride in Rosslyn – I just sing good morning songs from my kids’ preschool as I ride).

Until and unless there are clear signs indicating what people should do, I doubt you’re going to see much improvement in this area, from pedestrians or cyclists.

[gibby]

@dasgeh 161154 wrote:

I just sing good morning songs from my kids’ preschool as I ride

I’m going to have to start taking a Rosslyn detour to experience this!
Sure beats the tinkerbell symphony, that half the time I have no idea where it’s coming from on a crowded trail– Is that in front of me? behind me? Are you cueing behind me and warning the jogger than I’m also just about to pass? Are you a strava&*^&^% who is going to try to pass me and the jogger at the same time with oncoming traffic?

I lived in Portland in the mid-2000s and I rarely experienced anyone calling passes. Seemed a bit odd, coming from the alert-obsessed DC, but you get used to it and it was no big deal. But then Portland doesn’t have the commuter trails like DC (so much for biking mecca).

[MFC]

@dasgeh 161154 wrote:

The discussions of to-call-or-not-to-call are frequent in DC cycling circles. To sum up, most on this forum call most of the time on trails. Outside of this forum, lots of people don’t call passes, or only call when passing kids, or only call when passing pedestrians (not other bikes). Some just never learned to call passes. Some have very legitimate reasons that they’ve decided not to call. Things that pop to mind:

• Some pedestrians actually turn to see what the noise was, increasing the risk of collision.
• Some pedestrians will yell at cyclists who do call passes.
• The trails are so popular, if you call every pass, you end up calling for the whole ride (true story – this is my ride in Rosslyn – I just sing good morning songs from my kids’ preschool as I ride).

Until and unless there are clear signs indicating what people should do, I doubt you’re going to see much improvement in this area, from pedestrians or cyclists.

You are still better off calling out your passes most of the time.

First bullet point – that is why the cyclist needs to slow down. I called out “on your left” once to a jogger, and she jumped to her left and in front of me.
Second bullet point – response should be “F.U. too.”
Third bullet point – that’s why I got a bell.

[baiskeli]

As noted, calling passes for pedestrians is a different issue. I can definitely see a situation where I might not call a pass to a pedestrian, especially one with a dog, so that I avoid the pedestrian suddenly jumping or turning and causing the dog’s leash to get in the way. In DC, where there are many tourists walking, we often see them overreact when you call a pass and make things even worse. Some even move to your left to get out of way.

A smart cyclist (me) calls a pass in that situation well in advance and/or uses a bell. But sometimes it’s better to just get past while you can and not risk them freaking out.

[dasgeh]

@MFC 161161 wrote:

You are still better off calling out your passes most of the time.

First bullet point – that is why the cyclist needs to slow down. I called out “on your left” once to a jogger, and she jumped to her left and in front of me.
Second bullet point – response should be “F.U. too.”
Third bullet point – that’s why I got a bell.

Like I said, these are all very reasonable rationales that I hear from others. I call most of my passes.

But to your responses to the 2nd bullet — c’mon, don’t make a bad situation worse — and 3rd bullet — dinging for the whole ride sucks too.

[EasyRider]

@AT_Hiker59 161143 wrote:

Is there any educating bikers to sensible courteous trail usage?

Sure. Arlington County, WABA, the League of American Bicyclists, and other organizations, all sponsor cyclist education programs that encourage safe and courteous use of multi-use paths. Shouting at a fellow trail user, and allowing your pit bull to get close enough to sniff them without asking their permission doesn’t, in my opinion, fall under the category of “education.”

Perhaps the bicycle education programs I mentioned earlier can teach pedestrians to walk their dogs on the right shoulder of the trails, rather than down the middle of the path, as so many seem to do.

[VA2DC]

@EasyRider 161166 wrote:

Perhaps the bicycle education programs I mentioned earlier can teach pedestrians to walk their dogs on the right shoulder of the trails, rather than down the middle of the path, as so many seem to do.

^^^This. Why is it that dogs normally are trained to heel on the handler’s left side? In most cases in the U.S. at least, dogs, the people walking them, and the others they may encounter along the way would be better served with the dog to the handler’s right side. On the MUPs, this lets the dog walk in the cooler grass and obviously helps to keep them out of harm’s way in the middle of the path.

[huskerdont]

Regarding dogs, I believe people should be fine walking their dogs on MUPs, but I would actually never do it myself. Occasionally we’ll do the W&OD but stick well to the horse path portion. I just can’t even bear to think of what a collision would be like.

Passed a woman with a seeing eye dog while going up the Custis last week. The dog was on the left and over the center line. I slowed to a crawl, ready to unclip, and gently announced that I was on her left and going to pass slowly, and even then she started a bit but seemed grateful when I let her know her that she was fine. I shudder to think of what the situation could be like with some riders I’ve observed.

The audible warning thing is a convention that is not practiced everywhere, and there will always be those who misunderstand it and those who don’t practice it or practice it selectively (my approach).

[rcannon100]

@AT_Hiker59 161143 wrote:

Boy did he change his tune when I and my daughter’s pit bull caught up to him at Colesville Rd. red light.

As someone who does dog rescue and has worked with pit bulls, I would ask that you knock this off. You are putting yourself and your dog at risk. Pit bulls have a bad enough reputation. Do not use them to assault cyclists. In this area, that is a good way of having your dog put down.

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