totheDude

Wow, amazing. I honestly thought that could not happen, as squirrels would outrun me.

Reflector Guy

I think it would have to be totally random bad luck for the squirrel. I doubt anyone could actually aim for one and hit it on purpose because they dart around too quick.

I have seen a lot of deer this summer while on my bike. Like REALLY close up, less than ten feet away when I pass. The danger there is if they get startled and knock me over and trample me.

rsbob 

Have had multiple deer encounters. The scariest was one was on a long curved downhill at 40 when one ran out in front of me about 10 yards ahead. It I was a second faster...

The other was a couple of weeks ago in another heavily wooded going downhill at 25. This one didn’t run out in front of me but was less than 5’ away on the side of the road. We looked each other in the eye as I went by. Fortunately it didn’t startle.

I did not call out, “On your left”.

ofajen

I doubt that you can deliberately hit them. It’s the case where the squirrel darts back in front of the wheel at the last instant.

Worst case scenario, it dives into the front wheel spokes and causes the wheel to lock up when it gets to the front fork. Hasn’t yet happened to me, thankfully.

Otto

Reflector Guy

That's how my encounters usually go too. They're just standing there at the edge of the brush as I pass and I don't even see it until we are side-by-side. I'd almost be tempted to stop and pet it if it weren't for the likelihood it might scamper away and hit me with its hooves as it ran.

SurferRosa

How rude!

GlennR

Years ago my son was on a club ride, they were on a long straight downhill reaching 40mph when a deer jumped out. The rider in front hit the second one and went down. His carbon bike was broken in two and he suffered a broken collar bone and wrist. The deer stumbled off the side of the road. The state troopers arrived and one went into the woods and quickly came back. He returned with his shotgun and a few seconds later you heard 2 shots.

Deer are just as dangerous to cyclists as they are to cars.

jay4usc

but a pedestrian or another cyclist won’t be able to hear your voice if your passing them. I encountered this when I was walking and didn’t know where the music was coming from. I moved to my left towards grass (away from the parking lot) and cyclist went right and crashed into a parked car. Just be cautious as others may not hear your voice or know which direction the music is coming from.

wolfchild

Be careful what you wish for, if one of those pests jumps into your front wheel you will end up getting smashed. The best thing to do is to slow down and pay attention and try to avoid them.

u235

How about a cow. Came up on one on my normal route on a back road. Usually not an issue but this one was kind of boxed in because of the tree lines. She didn't know how to get back through the narrow line of trees and through the barbed wire to get back with the others and was panicked. I waited about 100 feet away for a few minutes and eventually a dude in a pickup truck came by. I road along the other side of the truck as he slowly passed. At the last minute the cow freaked out, ran towards the truck and eventually cut back, jumped up the hill into the trees and right through the barbed wire fence back into the field. I didnt try to ring my bell, figured it wouldn't help
Lesson learned, use extreme caution when approaching a seeming stuck cow. Unrelated but passing a field of cows on a bike is interesting. A biker is not common enough to ignore like cars and people. A whole field of 50+ cows within a hundred or so feet of the road will stop mid chew, pick up their head with grass still hanging out of their mouth and stare at you as you ride by turning their heads in sequence as you pass them all. If even one gets uneasy and runs away, the whole herd goes.

GlennR

You know why cows have bells around their neck.............











... because their horns don't work.

Milton Keynes

But did you wave?

Troul 

Utterly dangerous!

Skulking

Two shots? One for the deer and the other for the cyclist?

rsbob 

Funny. But I do wave at all cyclists approaching from the opposite direction. The young hot shots are too cool to wave or nod which is fine. They will hopefully get there some day.

ofajen

We have a lot of regular riders on our trails. Some ride pretty fast, some not quite so fast, but we mostly recognize one another and wave.

Otto

LSUFANDAN

I always follow rules 1 and 2 for sure. I say on your left before passing. I actually seem to scare people sometimes. Not intentionally but I have noticed people jump off the bike/walk path.

Part 3 depends on the person I pass. Im riding at my cadence. Ive noticed you get these people that let me pass. I also get people that I don't know that will pick up their pace and draft me. Sometimes people notice me and try to stay ahead of me lol. Its weird really. Maybe me chugging along at my 17 or 18 mph pace motivates people to try to match my pace? It could just be random and I actually pull up to someone that rides my same pace with same physical fitness level? I know one thing for sure. When the guys that are faster than me are coming up the trail I get out of their way. I may try to pace with them from a distance to see if I can keep up but not try to jump in with them uninvited.

Troul 

Had a gal confront me as I didn't reciprocate ones acknowledgement. Turns out,she used a verbal instead of a waive. I didn't know as I can't hear with cars zooming by. We laughed it off, and then I said "oh hey, hi!!" Again, she lol'd.
< starts a new thread about people laughing too much.

GlennR

Maybe you're too fast for a MUP.

The ones in my area have a 15mph speed limit so I generally avoid them when I know there will be any crowds. In my area there are mostly casual riders and pedestrians so any sort of speed over 10mph can be a problem.

I rather deal with the cars.

LSUFANDAN

I actually went out today and had 2 close calls on the same spot.

I had a kid fall off his bike. I felt really bad about it but I did everything I could to avoid it. I said on your left before I pulled up to a father/son duo riding slow. I slowed way down. Father heard me and moved to the right. He yelled at his son to move over but he didn't. When the kid saw me he over corrected and fell down. It was awkward for sure. I asked if he was ok and kept going. Im not really sure what etiquette to do with that also. I am a father. Part of me wanted to get off my bike and pick him up. I let his father take care of it.I felt bad about it the rest of my ride and decided if I saw them on the way back I was going to stop and apologize. Didn't see them on my way back.

I had a group of ladies with dogs on the path. About 4 or 5 people with multiple dogs. I passed them from behind and everything went smoothly. I yelled on your left. They moved over and kept the dogs in check. On my way back they see me and move over. One of the ladies didn't have good control of her dog and I almost wreck/run over the dog. The lady apologized to me but it scared me for sure.

I'll admit I am a biking newbie. I bought my first bike April 2020. Before this I just jogged. I enjoy using the bike path but as I get faster I will probably have to move out to the road unfortunately. Im already averaging over 17mph. Im a speed junkie and my personal best is 18.3 mph on that same bike path. Ive seen people on this path faster than me for sure. Not many though and they seem like much better riders than me. Last thing I want to do is hit someone, cause a wreck, or hurt someone's dog.

GlennR

It will be a really bad day for me if I hit a kid or a dog. You have to assume full responsibility knowing they will be unpredictable. I always slow down... like to barely moving. I call out "I see them" so the parent/owner knows I see them. Again, MUPs are not for fast riding. Dogs should be on a 6' lease but many have those long retractable ones or none at all.

Once I came around a turn and there was a dog on the left and the owner on the right... so I went for the owner. The dog doesn't know any better but the owner/parent should and have control.

Again, if the paths are crowded... and I don't mean shoulder to shoulder, you need to SLOW down of get off. Weekend afternoons are the worse. Just today I took streets that run sort of parallel to the MUP to get to a point past where the crowds are. But on a early morning when they are empty... it's nice not to have to deal with cars... other than the street crossings. But that another topic.

Cyclist0100

There's no irony here. Whether I have an external speaker or not has nothing to do with passing protocol / etiquette. If you call out your intention to pass at a normal volume and I don't hear you, that's on me. If you decide to not announce because I have music playing at a moderate volume or you just can't announce because you have an issue with your voice, that's on you. Perhaps you should get a bell or a horn so you can properly announce. Via your own acknowledgement, my ability to hear you (or not) has more to do with you than my music. Don't blame me for your problem.

I'm not really sure why some cyclists dislike external speakers (even when played at volumes that do not compromise safety). Perhaps Reflector Guy can shed some light on this "Puritanical" opinion. My working hypothesis is that some cyclists are just stuck in their ways and are pretty closed-minded to anything that does not conform to their rigid expectations of what other people are supposed to be doing (or not doing) on their bikes.

wolfchild

It's all about personal preference...I personally dislike any form of music when riding a bike, it doesn't matter if it's ear buds or an external speaker or what not...I find music to be annoying and distracting when riding a bike. It takes all the fun out of a ride.

wphamilton

The whole disturbance of serenity thing, which I have some sympathy for. We'd all prefer to hear our own music, which we'd be playing ourselves if we wanted to hear any. It's only a momentary annoyance though, so no big deal. Go ahead and play it, but understand that you're always going to be annoying people with your perceived rudeness.

Cyclists playing political broadcasts are more irritating. Although objectively I realize that they're only thinking of themselves (especially given the typical nature of the broadcasts), there is always an emotional response presuming that they think other people (me) "need to hear it" and it's insulting.

10 Wheels

How would You pass this?