Bikepath etiquette (Read 1002 times)

if it would just snow the pesky bugs and bikers would all go away... ;-) ----the crazy bikers that bike in the snow do it on the street ----

The paths near me have a "walk on left, facing bikers" rule. I actually like the rule. We don't have rules about who yields for who, and walkers tend to walk several abreast. When I am biking, it is much easier if they can see me coming and give up a little space so I can get by. If they are walking on the right, they often have no idea I'm coming up behind them. I guess this really doesn't speak to the original question, but seems to fit anyway.

Ha, speaking of dog-related rants. It makes it harder to watch for errant cyclists and/or enjoy the outdoor scenery when one has to keep their eyes on the ground to avoid stepping squarely in a steaming pile of dog shit.

To answer an earlier question, the bikepath I was on has very explicit signs, both at intersections and painted on the pavement to indicate that pedestrians should go against bike traffic. There are only two lanes...not separate lanes for pedestrians and cyclists (but that would be nice!) The signs also note that this is a recreational bikepath, which is supposed to discourage Tour de France wanna bes.

Point taken that your community has rules that are pretty non-standard (at least judging from other responses). I suspect you probably have more traffic on larger paths than we do. For clarification, our "separated paths" are separated from highway traffic, maybe by 6 inches, at least for the older ones. Any non-motorized traffic can use them, so we have a mix of everything although usually dog walker, bikers, runners, baby joggers but not roller skiers and skate boarders, so far - all staying to the right, mostly. Definitely no separation within traffic modes and not wide enough to warrant a center line. It's also well within reach of snowplows clearing the highway (read: path gets normal snow PLUS the snow from the plows clearing the hwy) and people whose businesses front on the hwy have no concerns about putting snow berms across the bike path. This is improving over time though. Most paths where I am don't have any shoulder where a runner could avoid the asphalt, but we're providing input on new roads. Newer road projects are being designed to allow for bike paths that are out of reach of hwy snow plows so we don't get their snow. Enough runners have complained about lack of dirt or gravel beside asphalt paths, that some of the newer separated paths will have runner-suitable shoulders (maybe 6-12 in) - or at least they're still there in planning stages. IOW, we'd love to have a dirt shoulder where a biker could point for us to get there. (Anchorage does in some places, but we don't where I am.) But there's far more bikers and runners on trails rather than asphalt.