What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...

"catzz66" wrote in message
...
brink wrote:

Wondering about your "respecting an open lane for faster traffic"
there....
the MUP I rode on yesterday wasn't terribly wide; it's the kind of path
where you could pretty much comfortably have 2 bikes riding side-by-side
one
way pass ONE bike riding the other way - that about maxes the "bandwidth"
of
the trail which was probably no more than 6-7 feet wide most of its
length.

Do you feel that there should always be an "open lane" for you to pass
peds,
joggers, slower bikers?

The signage I saw (and common sense agrees) said "yield to slower traffic
on
path" - makes sense to me. On roads, cars are required to yield to us on
bikes when we're properly riding and have ROW.

I'd think that the idea that people "not respecting an open lane for
faster
traffic" is a repetition of the idea frustrated drivers have about us
when
we take the lane or "force" them into having to go around us to pass.
Since
we're probably in agreement that this is something cars should and need
to
deal with, why wouldn't we hold the same courtesy toward slower users on
MUPs?

Maybe I've got your take on this wrong, help me out here. I'm not
excusing
people who block the entire width of a MUP of course, though that seems
pretty infrequent. Usually it's more that one has to slow a bit to wait
for a break to pass the slower traffic, just like cars do with us on
roads.

brink




There's a yellow stripe down the middle of the main path and in several
places a separate lane on which is painted "peds only." There is plenty
of room for people to walk. Still, people sometimes walk in clumps and
wander over into the opposing lane. I am used to looking for oncoming
traffic and timing my passes so that I don't come close to them whatever
they are doing. That's all I meant. It is usually the walkers who wander
over the dividing line and carelessly take up the whole path.

I do feel that if the path is so narrow that two walkers could take up the
lane, and ours isn't, that they ought to not block the entire path. I
don't block up vehicle traffic on my bike when I am on the road unless it
can't be avoided. Then, I try not to do it for any longer than I have to.

Got it, makes sense. I agree, walkers do tend to "gang up" and sometimes
the herd/gang mentality emboldens people while simultaneously lessening
their awareness and common sense, end result being a sharp drop in courtesy.
Didn't see much of that yesterday but it may not have been a typical day on
the path.

I agree WRT giving a *wide* berth to any peds, there can be plenty of
unanticipated blind moves left and right and often they don't seem to hear
the call of "on your left" as one approaches.

brink