If you don't know whether or not you should get off your bike and
walk, get off your bike and walk.

When meeting a pedestrian on a walkway, if it's a wide walkway, simply
keeping steady on your side will do the trick; when it's not that
wide, putting a foot down and draisining until you are past is usually
enough, but if there is the slightest doubt in your mind that there
might be some slight doubt in his mind, get off and walk until you are
behind him.

I get off most often when crossing a busy street on an alley. Being
on foot makes me more agile to take advantage of small holes in the
traffic, and it makes it possible to get out to where I can see the
traffic without looking as though I might suddenly roll into the
street -- not to mention that, just as it's much easier to see from a
bike than from a car, it's much easier to look back and forth and all
around while standing than while balancing on a bike.

Patch of gravel on the pavement? If you aren't certain that you can
roll through it without crashing, get off and walk. But such things
usually occur at corners where I've slowed way down to turn; if the
patch is only a yard wide, I'll put one foot down and draisine across
it.

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.