[Occasional rider]

@jnva 66936 wrote:

Dear occasional rider,

I spend a lot of time on the W&OD every day, so I would consider myself a pretty regular rider. I also walk side by side on the path with my wife and kids. We stay to the right. Occasionally there will be a biker that makes a remark about moving over. I hate hate hate this. Bikes are the larger, more dangerous vehicle on the path and therefore have a greater responsibility to make everyone safer. Ride every day, not just occasionally and I’m pretty sure you’ll understand why I say this.

Occasional rider/OP responding: I hear you. I really do. But from what everyone else is saying, based on these “rules” – you shouldn’t be walking more than two-abreast, so if you have spouse + kids, and are more than two abreast, some of you should be moving over. No?

No one wants an accident. Everyone wants to have a pleasant day. Now will following some mythical rules get you there, even if everyone knows them and obeys them to the T 100% of the time, or will being considerate and using common sense be more likely to get the job done?

Example: The rules say to keep to the right lane. I’m riding down the right lane and it is icy. Should I continue riding on the ice, putting myself in danger, or should I move to the oncoming lane, assuming it is safe to do so? I’ve broken a rule but I’m safe and haven’t hurt anyone else.

Example: The rules say obey all traffic signs. The sign says “dismount to cross.” Say – where the Clara Barton on-off ramp meets MacArthur. Say I’ve got a clear view and there are no vehicles present or approaching and no pedestrians. Remember – I’m living in a fantasy world. So I ride across. I broke a rule, but safely.

Contrast – crossing MacArthur at the intersection with Sangamore. Traffic coming onto Sangamore never has to stop. It has to yield to cars turning left from MacArthur, but we all know they would never see a bicycle crossing that lane. It is perfectly legal for me to just ride across that intersection but it would not be safe.

I vote for being considerate and using common sense.

[Occasional rider]

@mstone 66828 wrote:

I think that it’s pretty darn rare that you don’t get an opportunity to pass out-of-lane. And if it is so busy that you can’t, then it’s unlikely that you’re going even 8MPH. (The last time it happened to me I got stuck in the middle of a fun run.) Again, I think it’s unreasonable to demand that everyone else on the trail voluntarily give up their right to use it the way they want, just so someone else doesn’t have to slow down for a few seconds here and there. his really isn’t a big deal, if you go in with a generous attitude and don’t get bent out of shape about slowing down.

OP back again: I didn’t demand it. I expressly said that I thought it would be considerate. And in my little fantasy world, far from DC, in fact maybe far from this planet, people are considerate. Sheesh. You’d think I was from the Midwest instead of NY/NJ.

[Occasional rider]

@mstone 66772 wrote:

you should be leaving your lane to pass them, so it doesn’t matter if they’re taking the whole lane. if there isn’t enough room to take the other lane (due to oncoming traffic) you should just slow down and wait.

So I continue to hunt for these “rules” – official or otherwise. So far, nothing in Maryland law.

What people are describing as “rules” seem to be an amalgamation of safety, common sense, courtesy, and customary. However, they seem to be mostly “understood” and what I have been able to find varies as to any given situation.

For instance, here’s what I found on the bikearlington.com website:

http://www.bikearlington.com/pages/biking-in-arlington/bicycle-facilities/security-sharing/

It says nothing about moving into the oncoming lane in order to pass. And it says (emphasis added):

However, groups of pedestrians should form a single-file to allow bicyclists and others to pass.

The brochure (Two Wheels or Two Feet: sharing the way) says (emphasis added):

If walking side by side, be prepared to walk single file.

There is nothing about going into the oncoming lane in order to pass someone on your side of the trail. Just give them an “arms-length” distance. Whose arm? If the lane is wide enough to give that much distance, then it is ok to stay in your own lane?

So it sounds like my inquiry about the rules was destined to fail and even more, it revealed that many people actually don’t even know the “rules” that are customary, as detailed in the “rules” given by the organization that runs this very forum.

Not that it was my goal, but it turns out that the nasty pedestrian was actually wrong, at least in terms of the “rules.” And again, I do think it is perfectly reasonable to walk two-abreast. And again, my point was about being considerate of others – be they others who are walking, biking, dog-walking, skating, dancing, doing jumping-jacks, whatever.

[Occasional rider]

@consularrider 66823 wrote:

He said he was riding about 8 mph. Don’t know if that was his impression or if he had a bike computer.

OP responding (I am a she, not a he): I have a bike computer. I was going slowly in part because the trail was somewhat crowded but also because I wanted to enjoy the day.

[Occasional rider]

@lordofthemark 66817 wrote:

OP is 58, is a newbie, and seems to indicate a lack of skills and confidence on the bike. I am assuming, based on my own experience, that OP is NOT riding at 15MPH (though granted OP says they are riding a road bike and not a department store MTB with 24″ wheels ) I think my assumption about the speed of this kind of cyclist, on a MUT, is different from yours.

OP here! I definitely do NOT go 15 mph, even downhill! I was going 8 mph at the time of the incident and when there are no pedestrians, I tend to go 9-10 mph, depending on terrain and substrate. I am riding for enjoyment and I like to go slowly enough to enjoy the scenery.

Look, I want to make sure everyone understood that I didn’t say that the pedestrians had an obligation to move over. I was saying that I thought it would be great if everyone was considerate. Which is, I know, about as likely as winning the lottery.

The fact is that there is enough room for two people to walk side-by-side without being all the way to the far left-side of the lane; I didn’t realize that I was obligated to pass in the oncoming lane so I appreciate learning that. It is also a fact that taking a step to the right indicates that they heard my bell. Just a good thing for everyone, even if I’m passing by moving into the oncoming lane, because this way I know they aren’t going to move LEFT or cross the trail – which has also happened to me – people decide to head back and make a U-turn without looking, or cross the trail to look at something and don’t bother to look over their shoulder to see if anyone is coming.

I have been checking MD law (statute and regs) and can’t find anything that says that pedestrians have the right of way over bikes except on a sidewalk. I’ll continue to look and if I find anything, will post it here.

[Occasional rider]

Thanks all for the feedback. Greatly appreciated. That confident riding class sounds like something I need to do. That…and move away from this area. But that’s another topic that has little to do with cycling, except that what I encountered was just another symptom.

I did try riding on Beach Drive on a weekend, staying to the right to stay out of the way of the faster bikers (pretty much everyone!) and still got yelled at by a few people. I wish they’d close Canal Road on weekends or maybe just Sundays but I suspect the same thing would happen there, though perhaps far fewer walkers given that access is somewhat more limited than is the case with Beach Drive.

Has WABA ever tried to get Canal Rd closed on weekends?

[Occasional rider]

@baiskeli 3463 wrote:

This is my version of a “missed connection” post…

You: headphones, no helmet passing me on the right in the bike lane on Clarendon Blvd. the morning of May 9 about 8 am.

Me: riding safely as usual

You should call your damn passes – especially when passing on the right. I could have swerved right into you.

Dumbass.

I know this is an old post, but I’m new here.

I was riding on the towpath up near Great Falls (on the MD side) on Sunday. Up there, the path narrows a little bit and the drop-off on the river side is nearly vertical and probably 200 feet up. Knowing how other cyclists and hikers tend to weave back and forth across the trail, I stayed on the canal edge even though I was on the wrong side of the trail by doing so. I just waited until everyone cleared out and then quickly cycled past that point.

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