Tuesday, July 21, 2009

If We Break Their Collarbones...

A 5-year-old boy got smacked down on the MUP Sunday afternoon. Collarbone broken - which is relatively good. 5-year-olds heal fast. The news report even shows the kid riding the same day.



Mom: "No sense having anybody bark at you to move or get going. We're just down there to enjoy ourselves, not to have it as a racetrack."

The Spoke-n-Sport Criterium's are the second Thursday of the month. If that's not frequent enough to satisfy your hankering for pedaling in anger then you get into planning meetings, volunteer or arrange your own, so that they're more frequent.

My The Family was out there too. Our bad experience with the 20mph set ended much cleaner. Seems to me if a guy finds himself saying "there's plenty of room" it actually means he's sensing that there's not. Especially when the lead dude (FAB Jersey - when can we meet?) is forcing an oncoming bicycle off the trail because he can't look beyond the end of his nose to see his way through the curvy parts of the trail.

It's like driving a car. You look ahead. If nobody's coming you pass. If somebody's coming you take your place in line and wait for clearance. If there's a five year old you pass with extra care because those dudes are very unpredictable - this is still fun for them - and you compliment his Huffy and his helmet on the way by.

Or is it like driving a car...if you have to move your foot from the accelerator to the brake you cry and whine and say something out your cage hole about finding some other place to ride.

23 comments:

Snakebite said...

I agree with the Mom and the news story. Posting speed limit signs would be VERY helpful. Painting a dashed center line would be, too. Patrolling is an excellent idea. Lately there have been quite a few bikers hammering in their arrow, air-oh?, bars. Being the instigator, when I see them ccming, I get in the center of the trail and start weaving while pretending not to be watching where I'm going.

Eric A. said...

Roadies are stupid. All they think about is speed and tempo and passing the next kid on a Huffy. They dont care where they are riding , it's always a race. I see them on them on the MUP all the time training.
They should know better than to be training on the MUP.

I was thinking that there was already a 15mph speed limit on the bike path. I swear I read that on a bike route map.

jg_38 said...

I just don't know about this story.

How do they know the other biker was going about 20 mph? Till I got my little bike computer, I would never had a clue.

Someone barking to get over? Well, you should try and stay to the right and if someone ask you to move over do it.

What about parenting? Why is the kid riding on the outside instead of the inside?

Did the kid maybe jaunt out at the other rider?

The bike trail is for families? Some people don't have a "family". So they shouldn't use it?

I don't think I have ever seen anyone going over 20 mph on the trail, though some do go fast.

I do agree people shouldn't go that fast. I also agree the other rider should look out for people, even more so with kids.

I don't know. I'm just rambling. I use the trail. I have a kid. We both get hurt (mostly our faults). I guess I'm just looking for some personal responsibility, instead of calling for more rules and more cops. (I did see one on the bike trail yesterday at around 4:30)

jg_38 said...

I agree, Roadies are stupid.

I thought there were signs too.

There are lines painted, but really worn.

It could be I haven't seen many is because I'm just starting to ride after about 3 weeks off due to crash of my own fault and no one else to blame. (but I'm trying to find someone)

mytzpyk said...

I can't agree with "roadies are stupid." I know some very nice smart roadies.

I agree there a lots of questions the news article begs. I am however, quite clear on my own experience.

Spoke-N-Sport said...

One word....SPEEDBUMPS!!!

noelnjen said...

MUP? Please decode.

mytzpyk said...

MUP is Multi-Use Path

The Woulfes said...

2 comments-
1. I usually ride pretty fast when i commute and for that reason i ride on the road. I usually average 22-25, so the bike path is no place for me, nor is it the place for any other rider moving at such speeds. A rider going 25 really can't navigate a busy path full of walkers, slower riders, and oblivious weekend users.

2. There's probably some truth to the fact that the kid was all over the place. Sure, the person who hit him probably should have been a bit more aware, but there's definitly some onus put on the parent to control your child and teach them trail etiquette, like riding in a straight line and staying to the right.

Looks like there's likely plenty of blame to go around.

mytzpyk said...

So far I'm sticking with my expectation that an adult cyclist ought to be able to negotiate non-injurious passage on the MUP even with a five-year-old. Here's hint 1 - when mom calls out to stay right there's a bike coming the child will look back and veer left.

I don't favor more MUP restrictions. The last thing it needs is more signs to run into or officers on motorcycles.

db said...

I, too, disagree with "roadies are stupid". I see just as many dual-suspension MTBs hurtling down our river MUP as road bikes. Stupidity is not limited to a frame type.

Try "pathletes suck" -- they ride road, cross, BMX, recumbent (yes), and mountain bikes, and they treat the path as a raceway. C'est le Tour de Farce.

If you're training, racing, or even just intent on going 15 mph or faster, take your act on the road.

Regardless of the bikes we ride, a lot of us know better than to be in a hurry on a MUP.

jg_38 said...

Really, how many accidents are there on the trail?

Easy news story and making a big deal out of not much.

Eric A. said...

I dont hear of many accidents on the MUP at all.


With my first comment. I should have stated that Roadies are stupid for training on the MUP. You have to expect joggers , walkers, rollerbladers , bible thumpers,kids on bikes , mothers with babies and army worms on the MUP.

Bald-n-Surly said...

I ride the path a lot. I was out there Sunday and it was quite busy and yes, there were people going too fast for the traffic. But that doesn't mean more rules would help. Most days it's not nearly that busy and there are stretches where you can cook along pretty good and stretches where you can't. Some people are just stupid, whether they're going fast, slow or walking the dog. The story was just dumb, but you all know I have a bias on these sorts of things.

SD_pedalpower said...

I saw the story and was disappointed on the lack of details. It was reported that there are signs posted about watch your speed. Anyone seen these? I have not. Some people think 15 mph is the speed limit on the MUC. Can someone show me this info?

Common sense will get us farther than more regulation that will never be enforced.


The tri-guys on the MUCl do piss me off. Especially the shirtless and helmetless ones, but that's just me.

bikingbrady said...

I at least see both sides of the argument on all these comments, but I'm going to have to agree more with the lower speeds on the MUP. If you are that serious of a rider that you want to average 20mph+, get on the road.

When CDV (ridevermillion) was on the trail and a guy told his wife to get their f'in kids off the trail, that is amazing to me. Isn't that what the trail is for more than anything...a place to teach your kids to ride and to enjoy (safely) as a family?

I don't think that any restriction is the answer, but common sense is. The best lesson my Dad ever gave me was to expect the driver in the other car to do the stupidest thing imaginable and be ready for it. Same goes for the MUP. Ride defensive, not aggressive. Want a real workout...get off the trail, out of city limits and battle those South Dakota winds....

Oh yeah and even I have seen the aero bar guy on the bike path with his time trial helmet. I have a word for him, but this is a family show....

怪物 괴물 said...

One issue is:
Are there rules ? I.e staying right or left.
Did the kid know them?

But I agree with jg_38 to a certain extent.

This news article reporting is so brief and full of negativity for the bike path. Why don't they ask the council about putting in some lanes for each direction or widening the path? Here in Korea we have a few little bike parks for kids to learn about road rules...

And yes jg for the media it's always like this. Easy story. Another angle the reporter could take is why isn't the bike path big enough?

DIRK said...

Holy Crap! I just posted my rant, then clicked over and read yours! So many ways to look at this. I'm sure it's not the first time this has happened and probably won't be the last crash.

All comes down to COMMON SENSE and not being a jerk toward your fellow trail users even if they are going slower than you. Also falls on the slower riders to know that they also need to know where and how to ride around others.

mytzpyk said...

Hey Korea guy - please e-mail me. I have a comments question for you.

Thanks.

Road Legs said...

Guy on roller blades almost took my kid out. He was a no shirt no helmet thinking he is Mr. Cool I do not know who he was out to impress. If you want to go fast there are lots of country roads with little traffic. If you want to go fast on the bike trail 5:00pm when families are out is not a good time.

Anonymous said...

did you see the biker's side on KELO? He said the kid came from one of the side dirt trails.

jg

mytzpyk said...

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=87621

I did now. Thanks for posting. I see he has some suggestions for other trail users. Some of the same lessons I'm suggesting.

DIRK said...

I saw the follow up today also. Too bad it took a hurt child to get this guys attention.

Convenient that the mother of the child or the TV reporter didn't mention up front that the child was coming off one of the dirt paths on to the mail trail.