Twice in a row now I’ve had to pull my dog in another direction due to people walking their dogs without a leash. Why tf do you feel so confident in your damn dog to not react? In fact I don’t fucking care. It’s a fucking law and it’s inconsiderate of other individuals and their pets. Seriously fuck you. Nobody cares how well trained your dog is or whatever the fuck you’re doing to stroke your damn ego.
On a bike trail in the USA, right of way is to maintain ‘as far to the right as practicable’. In practice, a dog on the left side while walking in a right of way is an irresponsible hazard where the passing lane is endangered by the random behavior of a domestic animal. In my 170k miles on a bike, I’ve encountered countless times when a dog crosses the line when passing, even in instances when multiple traffic is passing in both directions and full attention is required. Your first responsibility on a bike path is always the right of way. Nearly all injuries on a bike path are due to right of way failures. I have had crashes, I have seen many crashes, and I watched a 36 year old mother die in front of her two kids from such a crash. Right of way is absolutely essential on every roadway and bike path.
It is hard to see the scale of the issue if you do not ride a road bike. Even with disability, I’m riding a 26 mile route. When walking, your scale of time and traffic are very different. What seems like the few people you encounter and the seriousness of the issue are different. You may see a dozen people in an hour. On a bike, the person may be riding 100 miles and encountering several hundred people just like you. People on the wrong side or creating hazards are somewhere around 1 in 20 to 1 in 100. Many such hazards act entitled or oblivious. On a bike, at speed, it is nearly impossible to predict them all. Healthy riders generally just ignore or become totally indifferent and just buzz you for it.
The thing is, from a distance and at speed, it is impossible to gauge how long a leash is, dog temperaments, training, size, or the cognitive state of the person on foot. None of that is the problem or responsibility of the passing rider. The only responsibility is to pass safely when it is clear in the designated passing lane. No one has a right to endanger or potentially endanger anyone that may use that designated passing lane. Lines are not lanes, and you do not have a right to occupy a lane width either. The obligation is to be as far to the right as practicable. Even multiple people occupying a lane is not legal and is subject to legal recourse. A bike path with a designated right of way is not a sidewalk. That right of way can mean life or death and the laws in California back that up well. Elsewhere your results may vary.
Oh, well a pedestrian and a dog have no business on a bike path anyways. That’s the source of your problem, not the fact that dogs are typically trained to walk on the left.
No need to get personal. I don’t take my dog on bike paths. Like I said above, we have no business there. I do ride bikes, and thankfully I’ve never seen any other dogs on those paths either. It’s not an issue where I live. I can see why you’re frustrated though.
Not intended as personal. I almost never take on a direct adversarial perspective, but I tend to use the indefinite personal pronoun form of you poorly, and apologize for such. Thanks for your understanding.
S’all good man.
Have you considered installing those spinning blades on your wheels like they used in old James Bond movies?
^Disclaimer: this is not legal advice^
No but I have learned to call out “broke neck disabled guy” constantly at anyone that is acting unpredictably or hazardous. Funny thing is since I started doing that ~2019, all traffic on the trails I ride seems to have improved drastically. I’m MUCH more regular than most. I still get random new people problems, but there are not poorly behaving neighborhood cultures like there were in the past.
I usually ride in the evening or at night anyways because after riding I’m physically and mentally totally useless. I am only on the road with traffic for the first three quarters of a mile from home. I can’t see over my left shoulder due to neck issues. I must sit up and rotate my lumbar spine to see behind me. After years of commuting and observing how hard it is to judge distances with bike lights at night, and noticing how automotive lighting has shifted to more and more modern cars casting a lot of light onto the ground directly around the vehicle – I started riding with a second taillight on my non-drive-side chainstay pointed at the ground. It lights up my left leg some as I pedal which, even at a distance clearly indicates I’m a cyclist. The light also shows exactly where I am when a vehicle is closing distance and it shows my true width along with what 3 feet looks like in practice. I also run another taillight under my saddle pointed straight behind me.
I'd call that my non lethal spinning blade. It is a little corny IMO, but I'm a cat that has fully spent 8 of 9 lives with no buffer left to give.
That black bar shadow is the foot rail/ski/skid/thingy of a raised lifeguard shack my bike was proped up against.
An older friend carries a can of pepper spray for camping/bears. Others I know often replace missing water bottles, while others prefer a longer steel frame pump.
Have you considered installing rear view mirrors so that you have easier visibility behind you and over your shoulder? I put some on my recumbent and they’re awesome. Are you riding a recumbent? If not, I highly suggest one. I have back and neck issues too from a motorcycle accident decades ago, and it turned my bike rides from annoying and painful, to enjoyable and easy. I still ride a regular mountain bike, but my days of regular road bikes are over.
I have PTSD from basically being in the middle of a beautiful morning ride to work, then the blackest back out, then waking up in the hospital 3 hours later with no memory in between. Like I recall seeing an idiot double parked, merging behind an SUV, then nothing until removal of some glass severed a nerve in my face.
I have really good general awareness of what is around me and like I said, I avoid riding on the road. I can only barely ride. I was folded backwards badly in the crash.
Most of my pain is around my lower thoracic (ribs) spine. The motion of mid back muscles in my riding position are the therapeutic aspect that helps where nothing else has. The position that neutralizes my back only barely allows me to raise my head enough to see straight ahead. Even then I need frameless glasses because any top frame obscures my through-eyebrows view. I still look further downwards most of the time.
I commuted so much at night in the past that I learned to watch for occultations of lights that I know are on the trail ahead of me in a position that anyone on the path ahead of me will cross. I know when to watch certain spots that will indicate anyone in front of me that I may need to watch out for specifically. Then I can just focus on what is more immediately in front of me. Holding my head up anywhere near my limit is painful. However, the more I can keep my head down, the more I can focus on relaxing my back muscles. It is this specific condition of my riding position and a fully relaxed back with the repetitive and continuous pedaling that makes all the difference. I have even tried some stationary trainers and they hurt me like everything else. The hard part is getting my back to relax. I can’t even climb without major back pain. Just the balance shift from the incline makes climbing feel like a sword is sheathed down the center of my spine.
I’m experimenting with a back brace now that appears to be helping me a lot, but I haven’t tried much more than staying upright for extended periods of time and cleaning up around the house. That may change things while riding in the future.
Knowing what is behind me makes me tense and obligates me to hold my head too far back. I’m better off clearly taking the lane as is my legal right, and checking every single legal box as I have learned from my court experience. If I survive another insane driver I have taken every measure to hit them back with every possible legal means.
I also tried a recumbent, but I think that is more helpful with people that have lumbar and cervical spinal issues. Even my neck problems are related to my thoracic. If I take off the brace I’m wearing now, which is just a corset-like belly strap belt thing from below my chest to my waist, I lose around 30 degrees of left rotation. Keeping this thing pretty tight, I get nearly all of my rotation back. It is like a weird switch, but thoracic damage like mine is super rare as this region has the most surrounding support structure in the back.
That sounds awful. I’m sorry that happened to you. It’s awesome that you’re still alive and able to get some exercise in though. So many people in your situation just give up and become couch potatoes. Keep on keeping on!