Biking incident on Seattle BGT...

[SteveD]

As a commuter, I'd like to think I'm pretty good about being safe, riding defensively, especially when it comes to using MUPs (multi-use paths), which brings me to an incident my wife and I had yesterday on the Burke-Gilman Trail just north of 70th Ave NE (or is it NE 70th?) in Seattle. The last days here have been pretty nice, although very hot, the trail tends to get very busy with cyclists, pedestrians, pedestrians with dogs, pedestrians with perambulators, and so forth. All good stuff; there's no denying that because one way or another, as individuals, we all use the trail system in a variety of those roles. But not everyone understands that this is a MUP, and that common sense dictates that everyone needs to look out for one another, especially when the trail gets congested along the way.

Imagine taking a leisurely ride on your local MUP on a very nice weekend morning. The trail has its busy sections here and there. Cyclists and pedestrians are moving along pleasantly enough; lots of "on your left" and passing around people two, three abreast, cooperating with the riders. You're going along at a casual 9 to 10 mph. No biggy; safe enough.

Everyone's enjoying their day on the tree-lined trail with a nice little breeze. You notice that there's a threesome of pedestrians abreast of each other, chatting, about 50 feet or so ahead of you. There are other cyclists "on your lefting" as they pass. The trail is getting a little congested, and your preparing to slow down as you approach the pedestrians to pass. "On your left," the pedestrian don't heed your warning and at the same time some rider goes zipping by you without any warning as you're making your move, oblivious of the situation, causing you to slam on your brakes in order to not run into the people in front of you, and causes you to jar your shoulder, and hit you pubic bone against the bike stem and cut your leg on the chain ring as you try to stabilize your bike without taking a full-on fall. And, your spouse who is riding behind you, swerves to the left across the trail and into the ditch that runs alongside it so that he/she doesn't rear-end you. Not a pretty scene.

So here's the rant. These MUPs aren't high-speed highways for cyclists. I'm pretty sure there's a 15 mph speed limit on the BGT. Although, I really believe that most of the cyclist that use these trails are pretty sensitive to how they're used, they're a number of people who ride that have no clue, and do not know how to anticipate a situation before it happens, especially when the trail gets congested as traffic moves along. Riding a bicycle really isn't much different than driving a car when it comes to riding defensively. Yes, pedestrians, on and off the trail, have the right-of-way! And if we could all predict the future before it happens, wouldn't life be box of chocolates. It's not that way, especially in a traffic situation. We're not perfect, that's a given. But what happened to common sense, courtesy, and respect.

Anyway, I landed safely in the ditch, nothing serious happened to me or my Atlantis, except for a little gouge I took in the calf from a pedal spike. The rider would've kept on riding if it weren't for my wife yelling at the rider to come back. Thankfully the rider did come back to listen to my wife's lecture, and then mine, as a few other riders sped by without a "on your left." It's too bad that the rider who caused this mess is most like not going to find this post. It would be good for her to see the grapefruit-sized hematoma on her upper inner thigh, and the cuts and bruises on her leg.

Steve DeMont
Seattle

[Ryan Ray]

Sorry to hear about your BGT incident!

I like how nice you are about it but I yell at three abreast every time. If your crowd of peds take over half the trail you are going to hear it from me.

Unrelated sort of:
The one time I was hit was when I stopped to investigate a fender rub and a MTBer with those evil ergo things slammed right into the back of me, scraped up my new Brooks, then poked me in then kidney. I have never looked at those dang things the same since.

Bike traffic does get serious in Seattle though Just today there was over 30 bikes in front of me on the Fremont bridge. It felt like a critical mass rally minus the beer. Don't worry there will be plenty of room in a month or so!

-Ryan

[Marc Schwartz]

I found that a bell gets more attention than "on your left!" every time ( perhaps because of the novelty?). They are mo politel
________________________________________
From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com [rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Ryan Ray [ryan...@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 12:50 AM
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [RBW] Biking incident on Seattle BGT...

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[Kenneth Stagg]

On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 12:58 PM, SteveD <stephe...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Everyone's enjoying their day on the tree-lined trail with a nice little
> breeze. You notice that there's a threesome of pedestrians abreast of each
> other, chatting, about 50 feet or so ahead of you. There are other cyclists
> "on your lefting" as they pass. The trail is getting a little congested, and
> your preparing to slow down as you approach the pedestrians to pass. "On
> your left," the pedestrian don't heed your warning and at the same time some
> rider goes zipping by you without any warning as you're making your move,
> oblivious of the situation, causing you to slam on your brakes in order to
> not run into the people in front of you, and causes you to jar your
> shoulder, and hit you pubic bone against the bike stem and cut your leg on
> the chain ring as you try to stabilize your bike without taking a full-on
> fall. And, your spouse who is riding behind you, swerves to the left across
> the trail and into the ditch that runs alongside it so that he/she doesn't
> rear-end you. Not a pretty scene.
>

Uh, yeah. The times I've ridden the BGT it was a zoo, pretty much
from Seattle to the top of the lake. Yes there's a 15mph speed limit
but a) that's too fast for when it's crowded and b) there are too many
utter morons who completely ignore it, stop signs, signals and all of
the other conventions that are place to make the use of MUPS safe (not
to mention roads!)

Last week I road SAGBRAW here in Wisconsin. On the first day there
was an option to take a MUP for the last stretch along the Lake
Michigan into Manitowoc. I took the road instead because it was a hot
day, I knew the path would be crowded and I wanted to get in to the
finish so I could take a shower. Not a good time to be slowing to
15mph and doing the slalom with oblivious pedestrians.

Riv content - I wondered around a couple of the overnight stops
checking out the bikes but the closest I saw to a Rivendell was my
Mariposa (modified 1st generation Rivendell lugs.) It was a bit
shocking after seeing so many Rams, Atlantises and Riv's back in the
Seattle area. Out of 400+ riders you could probably count the number
of lugged bikes on two hands. OTOH, they were out there riding
because they enjoy it so I won't gripe about their rides of choice :)

-Ken

[RoadieRyan]

Steve,

Sorry to hear about this incident, living in West Seattle I see the same thing, oblivious users of all types, on the Alki trail when the weather heats up.  Its gotten to the point that I just automatically ride on the road on nice days and avoid the trail all together.  Hope you and your spouse heal quickly and can enjoy this Seattle Summer.

[NickBull]

Too bad about the crash.  All the bike trails I've ever been on seem to be like the wild west -- no law enforcement whatsoever.  It's everyone for themselves, so the only way to survive is to have maximum situational awareness, know where everyone is around you both ahead and behind, and ride as though everyone around you will do something stupid.  Clearly the pedestrians were wrong to be three abreast because it causes a hazard.  Clearly the bike that passed without warning was wrong to do so, though they may not have been aware of the pedestrians ahead of you. 

But if you were wearing a mirror and took a glance in it the instant you saw the pedestrians (to check on whether anyone is coming up behind), then another glance just before you're going to move over (to check that the coast is still clear), and a final look over your shoulder to double-check the instant before you move over, then it is almost impossible to have had this develop into an accident.  You might have had to brake hard when you glanced in the mirror and saw someone coming up fast.  But at that stage you still would have had time to brake safely.

I had almost the opposite incident happen to me the other day.  A woman passed me (safely) but then slowed down somewhat so we were going the same speed.  I was about fifteen or twenty feet behind her because I don't like to ride close to people who I don't know.  This continued for about half a mile.  As we were coming up on a pedestrian, I moved to the left well before she did, still fifteen or twenty feet back.  At the last moment, she glanced over her shoulder, saw me, and slammed on her brakes and cursed me, presumably thinking I was trying to pass her.  All of this drama would have been totally unnecessary if she had been wearing a mirror.  Had she been wearing a mirror, then after she passed me, she would have seen that she wasn't dropping me, but that I was behind her at a safe distance and she had plenty of clearance to move left.

Nick

[SteveD]

Agreed, Nick. MIrrors are great. http://pathlesspedaled.com/2012/03/gear-reflecting-about-cycling-mirrors/

I typically ride with a mirror attached to my shades to point that having used it for so many years that on the very rare occasions, like the other day, when I don't use it I still ride like I'm wearing, if you know what I mean. And actually, I had loaned my wife my shades that day. She wasn't using the mirror, but I did see her do a quick look over her shoulder. I think the person on the other bike was coming up so fast that it didn't register with my wife. It certainly didn't with me, and I'm pretty tuned into traffic noise.

Yep, MUPs can be like the wild west; it's safer to ride on city streets, that's if you're obeying the traffic laws, riding with the flow of traffic, being predictable. Riding on a MUP that are congested are highly unpredictable where riding slow and being mindful of all the various situations that might occur really is sensible. As for the other rider not seeing and estimating what was ahead of her, all I can say is that she was totally oblivious of her environment or completely blind.

Sometimes my wife calls me the bike Nazi because I get a little uptight about people who ride their bikes without an iota of common sense, like riding in the opposite direction against traffic or bombing down a crowded trail in their racing costumes. And I know I'm no saint, but I at least try to use some common sense when riding in mixed traffic situations, i.e., cars and pedestrians.

Anyway, mirrors make life on a bike more comfortable in my opinion. They may look funny when worn on a helmet or shades. But their worth it.

[SteveD]

I know what you mean. When the trails are crowded, I feel safer on the road but ride accordingly. Commute mornings and afternoons are great; not a lot of pedestrian traffic, and the peds that use the trail at those times are pretty cognizant of what's going on around them; they typically stay close to the shoulder.

Bike to Work days are the worst in my opinion. Suddenly, everyone's a commuter, even though they stop dead-center in the trail to chat with the their fellow "commuters." Having said that, I think it's great that more people in Seattle (and elsewhere, too) are seeing how convenient it is to get to work by bike--you're well ahead of car traffic and don't have to deal with parking issues. It would be great if more people were better educated about using bicycles as a mode of transportation as well as recreational.

-Steve

[SteveD]

On Tuesday, August 7, 2012 7:14:59 AM UTC-7, kennet...@gmail.com wrote:

On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 12:58 PM, SteveD wrote:
>
> Everyone's enjoying their day on the tree-lined trail with a nice little
> breeze. You notice that there's a threesome of pedestrians abreast of each
> other, chatting, about 50 feet or so ahead of you. There are other cyclists
> "on your lefting" as they pass. The trail is getting a little congested, and
> your preparing to slow down as you approach the pedestrians to pass. "On
> your left," the pedestrian don't heed your warning and at the same time some
> rider goes zipping by you without any warning as you're making your move,
> oblivious of the situation, causing you to slam on your brakes in order to
> not run into the people in front of you, and causes you to jar your
> shoulder, and hit you pubic bone against the bike stem and cut your leg on
> the chain ring as you try to stabilize your bike without taking a full-on
> fall. And, your spouse who is riding behind you, swerves to the left across
> the trail and into the ditch that runs alongside it so that he/she doesn't
> rear-end you. Not a pretty scene.
>

Yep, 15 mph on a busy trail is way too fast. And it always gets me as too how utterly stupid some people are when they don't look both ways before crossing the road. Maybe they're thinking that because they're on a bike or on foot that the imaginary crosswalk-guard-godmother is watching over them.

-Steve

[SteveD]

I like bells, too. Just changed out my old red one for a new single-hammer brass bell.

On Tuesday, August 7, 2012 6:56:26 AM UTC-7, Mayfly wrote:

I found that a bell gets more attention than "on your left!" every time ( perhaps because of the novelty?). They are mo politel
________________________________________

From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com [rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Ryan Ray [ryan...@gmail.com]

Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 12:50 AM

To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com

Subject: [RBW] Biking incident on Seattle BGT...

Sorry to hear about your BGT incident!

I like how nice you are about it but I yell at three abreast every time. If your crowd of peds take over half the trail you are going to hear it from me.

Unrelated sort of:
The one time I was hit was when I stopped to investigate a fender rub and a MTBer with those evil ergo things slammed right into the back of me, scraped up my new Brooks, then poked me in then kidney. I have never looked at those dang things the same since.

Bike traffic does get serious in Seattle though  Just today there was over 30 bikes in front of me on the Fremont bridge. It felt like a critical mass rally minus the beer. Don't worry there will be plenty of room in a month or so!

-Ryan

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[SteveD]

Yeah, me, too. I actually surprised myself when I lectured the other rider. Normally I use a lot of expletives. But she looked remorseful enough, and figured I'd just be really stern and drive home a few points about congested areas and speed on the trail. My wife wasn't so kind, which was surprising to me. She's an RN and is usually pretty calm in stressful situations; but I think this incident pushed her limits a bit, understandably so from my point of view.

What really gets me about pedestrians, are the ones who where their f'ing headphones and tell you that you're an f'ing when you pass them after you politely give them the "on your left" or ring your bell. That really takes the cake for me. Deaf people have an excuse, the others are just plain unaware and moronic.

[John Blish]

Steve,

Sorry to hear of one of these incident that turned into more than just a close call (of which there are also too many) and I hope you and your wife recover fully and soon.  In my observation it is often the innocent, careful party who ends up with the injury.  It seems too that distraction and a lack of concern for the safety of others are commonplace everywhere these days.

I have completely stopped using MUPs on weekends and also avoid them whenever else I can, for just this reason.  Too many folks with too many different speeds, capabilities, levels of inattention, etc.  Even before MUPs, basic safety dictated that combining users with widely differing speeds on highways, sidewalks, etc. was a dangerous mix.

And, if that is not bad enough, Minnesota has recently enacted legislation that adds "electric assist vehicles" (supposedly capable of no more than 20 mph, which is plenty) to the permitted users on these MUPs which have historically been characterized by signs indicating "Motor Vehicles Prohibited."  In other words, motorized electric scooters, which some users like to run full throttle. 

I consider MUPs many times more dangerous than using the road.  My hope is that bikes are not going to be "required" to use them instead of roads.   

Also I never ride anywhere day or night without my mirror that attaches to my glasses.  I have become so used to it that I really marvel at other users who just have no idea at all about what is going on behind them and possibly coming up fast without warning.

-jb
 

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John Blish
Minneapolis MN USA

[Larry Powers]

I hate MUP's and avoid them at all costs.  At lest around here (central Connecticut) I can always find a route on the roads that I feel comfortable on.  I am much more comfortable riding in traffic that is all moving in the same direction then I am on a trail with oblivious walkers pushing strollers and  walking dogs on long long leashes.  Then add in the kids on bikes, skates or anything else and bicyclists who don't give a darn about the conditions and ride flat out no matter what and you have an accident waiting to happen.  Maybe there are no other good options in other parts of the country but it does not sound like enjoyable riding to me. 

I am glad you and your Atlantis came through in relatively good shape.

Larry Powers
 
Get a bicycle.  You will not regret it if you live. - Mark Twain

---

Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2012 10:58:16 -0700
From: stephe...@gmail.com
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com

Subject: [RBW] Biking incident on Seattle BGT...

[Robert Zeidler]

Larry, 

Where in CT?

Sent from my iPad

[NickBull]

Enjoyed your blog entry.  Last time I was in the market for a new mirror I looked for the Hubub but they were out of stock.  It looks like a good mirror.  But the TakeALook does a fine job.

Sometimes I'll be walking down the street at night and hear footsteps coming up behind me and wish I were wearing my mirror.

Hope you're both recovered by now.

Nick

[Rob]

Bummer Steve. Glad you or your wife weren't hurt worse than you were, and sounds like you handled the situation with a good deal more aplomb than I might have. I don't have much patience for yaboes on the Burke. More likely to find them on MUPs, I speculate, because the more experienced fast cyclists use the roads. You're left with inexperienced and/or inconsiderate hot dogs who think anyone who rides slower than 18 mph is a loser. Ugh. I run across the same type on Bicycle Sundays on Lake Washington Boulevard. Really pisses me off. The real riders (teams who ride the races at Seward Park for example) just ride elsewhere on Bicycle Sundays. 

I share my office downtown with the advocacy arm of Cascade Bicycle Club. (Satellite to the main office in Magnuson Park.) I'll mention this to them, see if they have any advice. 

Rob in Seattle

[Jim Cloud]

I ride quite frequently on the MUP bike paths here in Tucson (Rillito
River Path, Santa Cruz River Path), and find them to be a very
enjoyable way to ride. Quiet, with no motorized traffic and just
walkers, joggers, cyclists and a few in-line skaters. I've only on
occasion been in situations where an incipient accident could have
occurred and I've been able to avoid most problems.

The only exception was riding on a curve in the path, approaching a
bridge, when another cyclist came around the path at speed in my
lane. I attempted to avoid him, but we both swerved into the same
path and a collision resulted.
I came out of the accident the worst, the other cyclist remounted and
took off. My front wheel was "potato-chipped" and I had a rather
nasty abrasion on my arm. Almost immediately, an elderly couple
rendered assistance and drove me back to my car which was parked at
one of the access points for the bike path. They were very kind and I
certainly had reason to appreciate their actions.

All in all, I still enjoy riding on the paths, although most of my
riding is during the week. The other cyclists whom I encounter are
generally observant and may frequently wave if they pass in an
opposing direction. I rarely ride on the weekends, when I'm sure the
traffic increases on the path. The only time it tends to get hectic
is around the October and November time frame, when many more cyclists
are out "training" for the El Tour de Tucson (our major bike perimeter
race/ride which takes place the Saturday before Thanksgiving every
year). At that time I really make an effort to avoid the path during
the weekends.

I certainly do ride on the normal streets in Tucson, but just for a
regular ride of short duration (1-2 hours) I prefer our bike paths.
Especially during the summers, they aren't really very heavily used
and they offer the opportunity to ride in a pleasant environment.

Jim Cloud
Tucson, AZ

On Aug 7, 11:27 am, Larry Powers <lapower...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I hate MUP's and avoid them at all costs.  At lest around here (central Connecticut) I can always find a route on the roads that I feel comfortable on.  I am much more comfortable riding in traffic that is all moving in the same direction then I am on a trail with oblivious walkers pushing strollers and  walking dogs on long long leashes.  Then add in the kids on bikes, skates or anything else and bicyclists who don't give a darn about the conditions and ride flat out no matter what and you have an accident waiting to happen.  Maybe there are no other good options in other parts of the country but it does not sound like enjoyable riding to me.
>
> I am glad you and your Atlantis came through in relatively good shape.
>
> Larry Powers
>
> Get a bicycle.  You will not regret it if you live. - Mark Twain
>

> Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2012 10:58:16 -0700

> From: stephendem...@gmail.com

> To view this discussion on the web visithttps://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/ajEfWz1grbMJ.

[PATRICK MOORE]

Sorry to hear about that. Said other rider would *not* have ridden
away from me! ('Specially if I was riding the Fargo 29er with 65 mm
Big Apples and said rider was on carbon fiber.)

[Jim Cloud]

Yeah, Patrick... the other rider was just riding a clunker from the
quick view I obtained at the time. The worst part was that the rim of
the wheel on my Riv (which was what I was riding) was a 700c Mavic
MA-2. Not a good wheel to have ruined. It took me some time to
locate another rim on eBay, but I fortunately picked up three MA-2's
for a very good price. So, it worked out OK eventually

Jim

[SteveD]

Thanks Rob. Yeah, please mention it to the folks at Cascade. I'm in the process of adding it to their forum sometime today. We were thinking about doing the Bike Sunday think on LW Blvd. But we're going to nix it; it'll be more of a hassle working with the crowds than just plain enjoying a ride.

I think Seattle has come to a point where bicyclists and motorists (probably pedestrians, too) need more education about riding, i.e., rules of the road, rights of way, etc. How the city goes about it will be the trick. Although I really hate the thought of having to pay for bicycle plates, licenses, and all that--kinda takes away from the pleasure of cycling. But something needs to happen, I'm afraid.

-Steve
Seattle

[Jim Cloud]

Steve,
I'm sorry you had occasion to encounter an accident situation on the
MUP in Seattle, and that you ended up with personal injuries. That
said, before there should be a consideration for bicycle licensing and
other controls (many of which are going to be hard to enforce), I
wonder if you'd consider that a simple rear view mirror would have
given you the opportunity to avoid the situation?

I started fairly recently, using the "Take A Look" mirror which
attaches to my glasses' frame. It's been really very useful for me
while riding, and I find myself glancing in the mirror very frequently
(just as I might while driving a car).

In one instance recently I feel fairly certain that the mirror helped
me to avoid what might have been a painful accident with possible
injury. I was riding on the Rillito River Path in Tucson, preparing
to make the transition for the Santa Cruz River Path which has been
added to the trail system in the last year. I was going downhill in
an area where the Rillito Trail passes under the Union Pacific
railroad track and the I-10 Freeway. The road curves somewhat and I
saw a rider in my rear view mirror who was overtaking me at a high
speed. Coming down the path in the opposite direction I saw another
rider and I yelled out to the rider behind me to watch out for the
other oncoming cyclist. I also slowed down a bit.

In the next split seconds, the rider behind me whipped around barely
avoiding the approaching cyclist. As he transited the curve, he then
put his left foot down as though he intended to perform some kind of
sliding turn at the bottom of the curve. He went down quickly in
front of me sliding right into the concrete abutment and was down
completely in my path.

Fortunately, having anticipated a possible situation, with the aid of
my mirror, I was able to get past the fallen cyclist and continue. I
glanced behind me to ascertain that he wasn't seriously injured and
continued on my way.
Later, on the return leg of my ride I observed the same cyclist at one
of the rest areas calling a friend to pick him up. He wasn't injured,
but his bike (which was just an older mountain type clunker) was
apparently un-ridable.

Without the use of my mirror, I'm quite sure I would have continued
down the inclining bike path completely unaware of the cyclist coming
up from behind me. Whether that would have resulted in an accident is
not possible for me to ascertain, but I do believe the mirror assisted
me in avoiding a greater possibility of an accident.

Again, please don't consider this post to be a "Monday Morning
Quarterbacking" response to your accident situation. My intent is
basically to propose that a bicycle mirror may be a very useful
accessory for safety while riding, perhaps especially on a MUP with
many other people using the path in disparate fashions.

Jim Cloud
Tucson, AZ