bike path festiveness

[myselftheliar.livejournal.com]

Dear Cyclists on the Bike Path,

Please do not listen to your ipods at such a volume so that you cannot hear me ringing my bell at you nor my shouts of "watch out" or "coming through." Please do not swerve from one side to another so that I cannot safely pass you, especially in conjunction with aforementioned ipod use.

Also, if your dog likes to chase bicycles, don't take it to the bike path. It was nice that a woman whose dog knocked me off my bike asked if I was ok. but what if I wasn't? If you have an excitable puppy, the bike path is not for it.

Yours Truly,
a Somerville cyclist

Comments

[guxx.livejournal.com]

People listen to ipods while riding a bike? That's just as dangerous as listening to it while driving a car. Maybe more dangerous as cars have airbags.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that I used to listen to my CD player all of the time while riding on the bike trail. Granted, I never used it on the road to get on onto the bike trail and I usually went very early in the morning when the only people on it were commuters.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I've encountered it, though I see a lot more headphones on joggers and rollerbladers (drives me nuts, especially as the people with headphones and the people who aren't paying any attention to the world around them and have a totally bogus lane position? same people).

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

I think that headphones can be used with relative safety on the bikepath. However... "to whom much is given, much is required" and what is required is that the volume is low enough that you can hear even the most delicate "on your left" and that you keep rigourously to your own side of the path.

My other path peeve is parents who haven't taught their children the rules of the path. Or who don't pay attention as they wander hither and yon. I know children are difficult to watch; I have known children! But bikes can go 20 MPH (I've seen some that I think might be faster) And can't swerve with the agility of toddlers.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I could not agree more with both of these paragraphs.

(And as for bike speed: yes, a competent spandex-y cyclist can sustain 20mph, and a Tour de France cyclist can sustain 30, though that's far from wise on the bike path.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/deviant_/]

It was nice that a woman whose dog knocked me off my bike asked if I was ok. but what if I wasn't?

Aren't animals that choose to get far too close the reason bicycle cleats are made of metal?

[myselftheliar.livejournal.com]

this was a big dog

[glowroper.livejournal.com]

Technically, dogs are supposed to be on leashes. Remember those cute "bow wow roof roof" signs?

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

Oh, ack. And don't even get me started about how dangerous dogs on leashes on the bike path are. The dog wanders to the other side of the path from the owner (we've already pointed out that this happens). But when they do so, there's suddenly this rope stretched out across the path that you're riding into. Dogs and small children, both completely unpredictable, are the absolute worst things about biking on paths.

bow wow, indeed

[ursamajor]

yeah, i'd thought dogs and other leashed animals were specifically forbidden from being on the bike paths due to this danger. i took this picture in june '03; has policy changed since then or is this just one of the lesser-enforced rules?

Re: bow wow, indeed

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

*Lesser*-enforced? I've never seen any rules enforced on the bike path.

[http://users.livejournal.com/deviant_/]

I'm pretty sure kicking even big dogs in the nose with steel cleats has the intended effect.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

A dog that heels (stays very close to it's owner) on a 4 ft *non-extendable* leash with an attentive owner should be fine. Unfortunately I've just described about 1% of the dog-as-pet population. I was really tempted to listen to my ipod while riding but in the end, safety won out -- then again I bike on actual streets with cars and "big" dangers.