othompson

Hey, thanks for the post.

Kabuki12

I saw this article on Yahoo a few days ago and my wife and I had a good laugh. Then we realized that it is not funny. A guy like this could be dangerous. In public where people are with their children , this is not good . What else has he done? Just glad the authorities caught him. This is not a streaking event, it goes a few dangerous steps beyond.

TheLizard

DAMMIT, Dad!! Not again??!?!?!

livedarklions

Well, that and he hit someone in the face.

one4smoke

SMH... Damn Trek riders...

Kabuki12

That is not good !! I had wondered if he had become violent, it stands to reason. I will not engage people that are acting out anymore. The only time I would is if I could help someone in need. In Southern California we have a large # of homeless folks and many of them are mentally ill or tweaking on meth. Either way it is best not to engage. I have been yelled at several times when I pass on the road , I don't even slow down, I just keep pedaling. This is another reason I stopped using MUP's.Around here sometimes there are folks camped along the bike paths and I don't trust them. I will take my chances with traffic. Joe

MattTheHat 

No, just confused by your posts. In one you mention riding 18 MPH on a MUP and in another you complain about people riding 16 MPH on a MUP.

Jan Feetz

RULE 7:
Tan lines should be cultivated and kept razor sharp. Under no circumstances should one be rolling up their sleeves or shorts in an effort to somehow diminish one’s tan lines. Sleeveless jerseys are under no circumstances to be employed.

jpescatore

Another suspicious sign: his chain looks really clean, too clean.

Milton Keynes

What is the favored chain lube for drug-dealing maniacs who expose themselves and assault other people on MUP's?

TheLizard

KY Jelly

jpescatore

Danhedonia

MattTheHat Oh, I get you. Well, I should have done a better job, I guess. What I really mind are the following:

1. Lack of respect for rules. If a rule says "keep right except to pass," then I expect riders to stay to the right when passing oncoming traffic. Our MUP does not have room for two-abreast passing in most places, and traffic is light enough in those same places that moving over isn't difficult for almost everyone.

2. Lack of respect for others' safety. Rules are rules, but if a family is breaking them, and stretching out across the path, Mom showing cousin her new tattoo while dad distributes snacks to the kids and grandma ... well, is grandma-ing ... then I don't think you ride through that group at speed. I think you maybe say "folks, maybe it would be best to move off the path (as there's a huge, wide, shoulder)" or whatever, but i don't think one should make a point when doing so may risk an injury to any party.

3. I don't really care what speed one is going - if one follows posted rules and does considerate things like call out your passing when you're unsure if the party ahead has seen/not seen you. And I call out "passing" or "coming around' or "on your left" then you should move to the right of the yellow line.

Finally, I assume that we agree that all rules are meant to be generally understood and applied not for their own sake, but so that we all go home healthy and intact. The person who grabbed my bars is part of a group that rides in a formation that I'd describe as "semi-paceline" (about 7-8 rides, 2-3 riders across) and they literally ride so that others are forced off the path or to the very edge. (I will add that these tools can't even steer well, but you get my drift).

They forced some slow-moving cyclists on beach cruisers onto the shoulder, and I used a noun that in hindsight was absolutely perfectly fitting. One of them took umbrage, sprinted after me, pulled alongside and grabbed my handlebars. That's not OK, at all, at any speed, but doing so when I'm nearer 20 than 5 mph was meant to illustrate the disregard for safety by this person.

It's a shared path, and sharing means respecting rules (even if one doesn't like them), and operating by the Golden Rule as well: do unto others as ... etc.

The vast majority of users do fine with all of this - those of us who 'see' each other every week for years wave, etc. People are nice. You'll never want for help if you get a flat in ABQ. But the few iceholes that muck it up are, sad to say, rather similar to the gentleman in the story (meaning: expensive gear, presumption of experience). Which means: they're not ignorant, they're choosing to be iceholes.

I do not care for such people.

unterhausen

I think it's the people that get overly obsessed about people following the rules (in their interpretation) that cause most of the problems. Just like with road rage.

I once rode a ride that featured another rider who would close pass pedestrians if they were doing something "wrong" like walking on the right hand side of the road. No hope for such people.

livedarklions

I'd just slightly rewrite your first sentence--"people that get overly obsessed about other people following their version of the rules..."
I haven't noticed such people actually obeying the real rules themselves much. Close passing is definitely a violation of rules on any road or path, and really very close to an assault in itself.

strangdang

You beat me to it. I was just thinking, of course, it's because he's on a Trek.

jadocs

Same type of person who buzzes a cyclist in a vehicle.

unterhausen

Exactly, except this person didn't drive. Maybe he told the cab driver to buzz bicyclists that he didn't think were riding properly.

MattTheHat 

I should have prefaced my first response by saying the guy who grabbed your bars was a jerk. Sorry about that. I focused on the speeds you mentioned because I’ve seen the results of people riding faster than they should on a multi- use path.

1. It would be nice if people followed the rules.
2. It would be nice if people respected others’ safety.
3. I do care what speed people ride. I’ve seen the result of people riding faster than they should. Calling out works in some cases and makes things worse in others...and it seems impossible to guess which way it’s going to go.

The person who grabbed your bars was a indeed a jerk. And it illustrates why I try not to engage others who are acting stupid. In my experience there’s a good chance it doesn’t end well.

With COVID, in this area, the MUPs are impossibly packed. There aren’t many rules on the MUPs around here but I’ve lost track of the number of people who do stuff that just doesn’t make any sense (like laying on a beach towel in the middle of the trail). I’ve basically just given up on them except for family rides. I’ve come to the conclusion that multi-use means some of the users just have no clue and are going to do crazy unsafe stuff. I don’t like it but I can’t fix it.

indyfabz

I was trying to figure out who he reminds me of, then it hit me: Droopy Dog.

cb400bill

livedarklions

Danhedonia

MattTheHat Thanks for being civil. Maybe we could argue the speed thing; I have a feeling that people posting in different places have profoundly different experiences of MUPs. In Albuquerque, there are hundreds of miles of MUPs, and our city is the least-dense in the US (for populations >500,000). In fact, one reason I like it here so much is that there simply aren't that many people.

This is important to my POV. No lift lines on bluebird powder days at Taos; public parking spaces easily obtained within 2 blocks of concerts at downtown venues ... this is the opposite of Cambridge/Boston, the most-frequently lived-in city of my first 40 years.

So, I know the Minuteman MUP. And the Esplanade (holy schnikeys, shivers just from remembering). And I ask that you take my word when I tell you that the southern portion of Albuquerque's Levee trail is ... nothing like those, at all. I have a 33 mile loop I do on MUPs only, and on 29 of those miles, I will maybe pass one party for every 2 miles. The other 4 miles? More people (although still nothing, ever, like in more dense cities).

I've also ridden the MUP in Santa Cruz, and Napa, and there was one in Austin on which I performed a decent imitation of an epileptic penguin (I mean: I attempted to use inline roller skates, which will never, ever, happen again).

For the 'empty' parts of the ABQ path, I cannot see why 20 mph is a poor choice. But for the stretch near Tingley Beach (an urban park with families, and lots of casual users as well as pedestrian traffic crossing the path to use other adjacent resources), I'm on super-high alert. If a family is near, I slow to about 12-13 or slower. That's just how it is - I figure if I feel the need for speed that badly, I can always use the access road.

I'm going to point out something else: much as I love my adopted home state, NM has the worst rate of DUI/capita, as well as cycling fatalities. Albuquerque is a strange town (amen), and one of many strange things is that it manages to be both super-bike-friendly as well as a forest of ghost bikes.

And to your point, we've had two fatalities and two other life-altering collisions on the MUP in the last decade. I wish I could say "going too fast" was the issue, but in at least one case that wasn't it at all.

In other words, I guess I feel like "it always depends." The danger there is that it makes speed my personal choice, livedarklions notes above, there's a great big difference between following rules, and one's own personal version of the rules.

Hell, I ride an empty stretch (and yeah, it really, really is empty, I've seen maybe 5-6 other parties there the past 40 rides, total) with a mask, just because I want be on the side of quarantine caution. ABQ gets hot, and riding in the middle of nowhere in 100F heat with mask may be wrong to some, but I have some deep personal reasons why I do it, and hey: I'm following a public health rule.

TBH, I doubt I could ever enjoy riding the Minuteman again; the last time I did was in the early 00's, and I found the crowds tough then. Can't imagine it hasn't gotten more crowded. But I don't want to become yet another ABQ Ghost Bike, so I do what I do.

Interested in any decent thoughts on the topic.

livedarklions

Totally agree. Even the Minuteman isn't low speed the entire way. It's perfectly reasonable to go 25 mph at the relatively unpopulated northern end. Straight and through basically a swamp, you have at least a quarter mile notice of any other traffic. Also, at 6:30 a.m. on a weekend, the entire path is basically empty.

The right maximum speed is always contextual.

Danhedonia

Yeah, so, I grew up in Lincoln, MA in the 60's/70s/80s, riding a bike. Didn't realize how good I had it for road riding until later (when I could not afford to live in the town in which I grew up and thus had to move).

I miss riding that part of the world, but last time I was there (2018 for my mother's funeral) those 'old country roads' were now thick with angry, impatient drivers behind the wheel of $85k SUVs.

Must be getting old - I now use MUPs primarily as a matter of safety.

Have to say, I deeply appreciate how much of Albuquerque (a massive city, in terms of geographical footprint) can be toured by bike. This is a great place to ride if you avoid main roads and intersections.