The hazards of riding on popular trails

We're fortunate to have a number of well maintained trails with beautiful scenery to enjoy close to our home and we've been using them for ages. Over the years I have observed a number of issues that are even more pronounced now that we use the electric scooters more than our bikes. You might even say they're sort of pet peeves.

Now I know that pedestrians, roller bladers, bike riders and scooter riders need to share the space but there are the road hogs. They don't keep to one side or the other, they just walk down the middle of the road. If you ring a bell to let them know you're there, they just ignore you. They don't move to one side or the other, they just keep on going at the same pace wandering down the middle of the road, forcing you off the trail into the brush to safely get around them. It's not too bad going around these folks when you're on a bike, but when you try it on a scooter with 3 inches road clearance, it's a different matter. 

I do realize that the issue might be that the pedestrian is a little bit deaf, but in that case, for their safety's sake, you'd think they'd have the sense to keep to the side of the trail just in case. Since they don't keep to the side and don't move even when they see you, you can only assume that they are just plain ignorant.

Since bikes and electric scooters are silent I always ring my bell or say "beep beep" so that I'm not startling folks. I have no objection sharing the road, but one of the things that I find frustrating is the family groups or other clusters of pedestrians that sprawl across the trail, blocking progress, particularly when some of the group are small children. Most of the time none of the adults are really paying attention except to make sure that the little ones don't wander too far away. 

Invariably when you come up to the group whether you approach from in front or behind, which ever direction the adults go, the little ones go the opposite direction. Having successfully blocked your progress, the rascal will suddenly realize everyone else is on the other side of the trail and they'll turn around and toddle back across the trail in front of you. If you're travelling at any speed, making an abrupt stop is likely to send you "ass over tea kettle". I find the scooters go faster than I generally pedal, so it's even more problematic on the scooter.

Repeatedly ringing the bell to let people know I'm there often leaves me feeling that people are thinking I'm trying to push them out of the way. I kind of am being a bit pushy, but I have a right to use the trails too and people walking 5 abreast on a trail wide enough for 3 gets kind of crowded. I always smile and say thank you when they move over, and most people smile back and say no problem, but there are always those few who give you dirty looks. (Need I say, they're generally the ones who don't pay attention to their kids?)

Then there are the dog walkers. People walking their dogs is perfectly fine, but there are those few who don't have the sense God gave little green apples. The parks aren't dog parks or off leash parks. Off leash would probably be better. There are quite a few people who use extensible leashes which are great to let the dog run over to the edge of the road and lift it's leg in the grass while the owner stands on the pavement. What creates difficulty is when the owner is on one side of the trail and the dog is on the other side of the trail with the leash stretched between them. Can anyone say garrote? 

These are just a few of the issues I've had when we've been riding our bikes on the popular trails. What I've noticed with the scooters is that they're really quiet and they can be really fast which just compounds the problems. The posted speed on the trails used to be 10 KMH which is impossible to maintain going up and down little hills even on a bike. With the electric scooter you need to accelerate to get up even little hills and going down little hills you pick up speed. Go too slow and you stop all forward motion and fall off. That's just physics, which is why I think they've removed all of the posted speed signs. 

The result is that even while we don't ride fast, some of the folks we share the trails with can be really, really irritating. 

I'm getting off my soapbox now.