Some people have no sense of direction

I ride my trail bike on a 6-8 foot wide path near the river behind my house.

It's a shared use path, with a white stripe down the center.

Most people keep to the right, just as when they drive.

But some seem to have no sense of direction. When they see someone coming towards them at 5-10 mph, their idea of passing by is to jump in front of you in a panic state, or start screaming, or just stand there in the middle of the path and freeze.

Some people walking dogs on a leash don't know how to join their dog and let people ride by. Instead they stand on the opposite side of the path and try to reel in their dog like a fish. Unfortunately this causes the dog leash to rise up and go taut, threatening to clothesline a bike rider.

Then the dog pulls back and they either fall down or drag the dog across the ground on his back.

But the funniest people are the ones who like to do the 'bike's coming dance'.

Guy A and B walking together. Bike is 50-60 feet way going slowly. Sound bell.

Guy A goes to the right, Guy B goes to the left.
Guy B sees guy A and goes to the right, but A seeing B, now goes to the left.

They bump into each other in the middle and either do a do-se-do spinning around, or bump into each other and fall down.

I kid you not.

How do these people cross the street without hurting themselves?

I've seen all those people on my local trails. I especially like the ones who believe their dogs will stay clear of you even without a leash.

I make a game out of it.

Takes the place of a mountain bike obstacle course.

I ride in the grass, jump curbs, thread the needle, do trackstands. It's a hoot.

Only real danger is if one of the little dogs gets under your front tire. Even if you're not going fast, that can topple the bike and cause a broken collarbone.

Couple places where drunken staggering pedestrians could send me off the side of the cliff and into the river.

When you see someone, and they see you, sound your bell, ride with NO HANDS and cover your eyes.

Bit like playing "chicken" and they KNOW you aren't going to change course! ha, ha.

reply to post by nerbot


Well that would be good, but I usually have to pass them again on the way back (it's a large oval).

One time I did something like that.

Bunch of kids hanging out in the center and I came down hill. Since they saw me and didn't react, I hollared:

"LOOK OUT, NO BRAKES!!!" and they scattered.