Trail Peeves

[legalmoose]

There are three consistent pet peeves I have with the bicyclists I see while out running in Rock Creek Park. In order of frequency of appearance (and in descending order of annoyance):

1. Cyclists who don't wear a helmet.

2. Cyclists who "sneak up on you" (i.e., they don't ring a bell or yell out or otherwise indicate that they are coming up behind you).

3. Cyclists who don't know how to shift gears and therefore who are peddling way too hard and way to slow on easy hills.

4. Cyclists who need to lubricate their chain.

As to #1, yes, Lance does it, but you know, Lance is on a closed course on nicely paved roads. You're not. Act accordingly.

As to #2, it's just plain rude. Especially when you appear suddenly and very close to another runner or cyclist.

As to #3, it's more pity/embarassment for them than anything else. I mean, you've invested this much money in the thing, read a little and learn how to use it properly.

As to #4, well, I guess City Bikes is getting a lot of business out of people like that. :-/

Anyway, had to get those off my chest this morning. Otherwise it was a very nice run this morning, and I'm glad I did it since I skipped the planned run yesterday.

Comments

[ironmanjt.livejournal.com]

Actually, many of the roads in France are crap. Yes, they are closed to traffic, but it's more an ego thing and a belief that helmets are "too hot" and "weigh too much"

[legalmoose]

Feh. Safety uber alles. ;-p So I was 3 seconds faster - no help if I'm dead because I refused to wear a brain bucket.

[ironmanjt.livejournal.com]

If your career and livelihood depended on it you would probably think differently.

Just pointing out how the Lance comparison doesn't really work for recreational cyclists. :)

[legalmoose]

Ve have vays of training people like you. Wanna learn about gears? :-)

[gregmce.livejournal.com]

Oh god, the "clueless bicyclist" stories I could tell about the W&OD trail... Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of very courteous cyclists who do ride on it, and we appreciate them ringing their bell or calling out "on your left" or such. But the others. Oh dear lord. With of course the ultimate being the time Madelyn came back in with tread marks on her calf because a cyclist ran into her because he was looking behind him talking to another cyclist while riding.

[legalmoose]

I have clueless runner jogger stories from being on my bicycle, too (chief among them my ever so lovely August wipe-out from last year), but I find more of the cyclists to be clueless than the runners (and I refuse to call clueless people "runners" - those folks will perpetually be "joggers" to me). Perhaps it's the speed - the wind blowing through their empty ears must distract the few brain cells they have left. ;-p

[gregmce.livejournal.com]

Oh we've got our fair share of those too. :) I still smile every time I think of Yolanda running up to the group in front of her and shoving someone back onto their side of the trail, screaming "get some trail ettiquite!" (The idiot was running on the left-hand side of the trail, way over the dividing line. Personally, I'd have rather seen someone mow him down but I hated that jerk and the cyclist might have also gottetn hurt!)

There are some days when stationary bikes and treadmills are more and more appealing...

[legalmoose]

Ah, see, no dividing lines in Rock Creek Park. That'd be too easy. :-) I love the people who look startled when I ring my bell. And my personal favorite, the group of two (or more) who decide to split to either side of the trail rather than both moving to their right. Ugh.

[gregmce.livejournal.com]

In cases where they scatter instead of moving to the right, I fully endorse hitting them. :) Idiots like them give runners a bad name.

[eyow.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that if you pay attention, Lance and the others are only not wearing helmets at the ends of climbing stages. Per the UCI rules:

During competitions on the road, a rigid safety headgear shall be worn.

Except where there are legal provisions to the contrary, riders taking part in international events for elite men of class 4 and above may, at their own risk, remove their headgear during the final climb when the finish of the event or stage is on or at the summit of that climb, subject to the following conditions:
1) the climb in question is at least 5 km in length,
2) the headgear may not be removed at the start of the climb."

I keep hoping, though, that people who don't wear helmets (or wear them improperly, which may be worse *grrr*) will kill themselves as a result. A girl can dream, right? ;)