Custis Trail Users Have My Sympathy
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@SpokeGrenadeSR 16975 wrote:
In my experience, calling ‘on your left’ when there’s ample room to pass has actually made the situation a bit more dangerous because the person I’m passing often twitches to “correct” their line, or check who’s coming from behind them and swerve a bit. So I only call out if they’re hugging the center line or are just generally a twitchy looking rider, but if they’re just doin their thing on the proper side of the trail I just carry on by.
It’s like if you were in a car, would you like someone honking at you every time you were about to be passed? Just check over your shoulder if you’re going to be turning off or you move over, and you won’t have to worry about being hit or surprised.
But that’s just how I operate.I know this doesn’t help the discussion, but I have to disagree that warning causes more problems – this from someone who splits her time pretty evenly between being a rider and a ped. Perhaps other people are less twitchy that I am, but being passed by a rider without warning scares the crap out of me. It induces a shot of adrenaline I just don’t need. If you’re going 10mph or can pass with a good 5 feet of clearance, then, alright – ride on. But the vast majority of passes don’t occur under these conditions. Personally, I never run with earphones, and, since I find myself often running at dawn/dusk times of day, I’m swaddled in headlight, blinkie and reflective belts and straps. I do all of that – I sacrifice any semblance of looking cool
– to keep both YOU and me safe. A collision is bad for both of us. I figure that if I’m doing my part to run predictably, follow the rules of the trail, be visible and keep us all safe, then taking a second to say “on your left” or ring a bell really isn’t asking too much. And I’m willing to wager that failure to warn when passing is much more often not a deliberate choice on the part of the rider but rather ignorance (especially this time of year) or plain old being inconsiderate and lazy. And, like I said, I’m on a bike half the time and have not had more problems brought on by calling my passes (and have been yelled at when I have my own moment of laziness and not warning).On my run this morning, I was super stoked to see the number of people out riding but pretty bummed by the percentage who called their passes. To be fair – there were very few runners decked out in what I thought was an appropriate amount of safety/lighting gear.
@SpokeGrenadeSR 17014 wrote:
ah yes, i do this too, anytime there’s a child involved i slow down drastically because they are some of the most unpredictable things in existence.
Yep, pets and kids == slow the frak down. Sometimes tourist areas require treating everyone as pets and kids and perhaps should be avoided when their density reaches a certain level.
I find what has worked the best for me is both ringing a bell early (perhaps multiple times if you’re in a place where pedestrians seem surprised there are bikes, or are drunk, like the Key bridge walkways) and calling the pass in the middle distance as I close. The bell gets their attention, hopefully, and let’s them know what (a bike) is coming. Ringing early also allows parents and pet owners a chance to make their move, if they are going to, to increase the safety of their wards. I’ll usually just exclaim “passing on the left!” in the mid-distance, unless the party being passed is multiple people or acted odd at the bell. If it gets complex, I keep slowing and communicating until it is safe to pass in terms of their behavior, the terrain and the oncoming traffic.
Often people will move to the left at the bell or the pass call for whatever reason…or, even worse, a multi-person party will split down the middle. That’s the most fun when it’s a couple with two dogs, one on each side. So, I really slow down and call the pass “passing on the right!” or “uh…passing down the center?”
If there’s a horse and rider, no bells: I just stop and ask if it is safe to pass. If it’s a mounted park police officer or similar, I ask if I should walk the bike by. They usually tell me I can ride by, so I assume their mounts are very well trained. But always give the widest possible pass.
Speaking of…a large poodle breed jump across its owner’s path and up at my head last week on the W&OD in Falls Church. I have the image of his snarling face about six inches in front and six inches to the right of mine burned into my mind pretty deeply. I had belled, the owner moved right and nudged her dog, which was leashed and on her right, slightly off the trail. I called the pass. I passed as wide as I could, but clearly the dog felt I was a threat and just went nuts. Apparently surprised the hell out of its owner as well, from the yelling at the dog. I wasn’t going super fast but I didn’t slow down very much either…maybe 12-14mph. Not sure if going too fast spooked it or if going fast saved me from a face bite.
Brendan
PS – and yet, I often wear headphones…
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