Why is there so much tension between bikers and runners? As a member of both communities I understand a little of both sides. \u00a0Yesterday was a great example of why we often don’t get along.<\/p>\n
A friend and I were going for a ride – I was towing the kids in the trailer and decided to do the lakes, Minnehaha Parkway to River Road, and Greenway loop. \u00a0It is a 20 mile loop that I’ve ridden quite a bit. As we crossed Lake Street at Dean Parkway we decided to stay on the Bike Trail (which goes clock-wise around Calhoun) instead of the road (which goes counter-clock-wise). \u00a0There was quite a bit of vehicle traffic and the bike path seemed safer.<\/p>\n
BAD DECISION!<\/p>\n
The road would have been a lot easier and ultimately safer. \u00a0We quickly ran into a ton of runners and walkers who were blocking the entire path. It took us 30 minutes to go the 4 miles from the top of Calhoun to the Minnehaha Parkway exit of Lake Harriet. \u00a0I can run that fast – in fact a runner was being a jerk and kept trying to pass us as we weaved through people.<\/p>\n
I will say it isn’t 100% the runners\/walkers fault as the “pedestrian” trail hasn’t been snow plowed. \u00a0But walking 3-4 abreast and not moving for oncoming cyclists is their fault. \u00a0 The Park Board wisely only plows the bike paths in the winter. \u00a0I think this is an efficient use of resources and data probably supports that the number of pedestrians and riders during the winter month justifies only having the 4-6 foot wide path plowed. \u00a0Unfortunately, the pedestrian trail still has significant snow covering and has large sections that are impassable. \u00a0The Park Board could easily spend 2 hours and knock out all the snow covered areas by plowing it early on morning or overnight.<\/p>\n
USE YOUR HEAD!<\/p>\n
People walking and running with headphones couldn’t hear me<\/strong> calling “on your left” and were often walking in the center of the trail. \u00a0One guy with a hoodie on still never heard or acknowledged my presence until I was in front of him. \u00a0A few times a runner moved to pass a group of people without looking to make sure no one was coming on the left and we almost hit them.<\/p>\n I get that you want to chat with your friend, partner, etc. But bikes, especially ones with trailers take up quite a bit of space and should be given room to pass. \u00a0Zigging and Zagging between huge groups<\/strong> of people is tedious work and I’m sorry if you have to step into a puddle, but I don’t have a lot of choices. \u00a0I am pretty sure that I hit 3 people with the trailer. \u00a0I didn’t do it intentionally nor am I proud of it, but I can only do so much.<\/p>\n We caught up to a group of unicyclists who were doing an amazing job of navigating through the congestion without falling off. \u00a0We also caught up to a small family with a young girl (elementary age) who was skillfully navigating her bike through the people with the mom right behind her with a trail-behind attached. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for any of us.<\/p>\n We were trying to be careful, but for the most part the runners and walkers didn’t react to our presence<\/strong> until we forced them to move. We all need to compromise – maybe you can walk single file<\/strong> instead of 2-4 people wide in a group. \u00a0Also runners as you pass people in either direction make sure that you can see what is happening around you and look behind you<\/strong>.<\/p>\n We all need to work together until the snow melts off the pedestrian trail. \u00a0Or until the Park Board takes 2 hours and clears the remaining snow!<\/p>\n Sadly, this is currently exaggerated due to the snow, but it is a year round problem with runners using the bike path to avoid the congestion walkers create. \u00a0As a runner I appreciate the fact that you get a better workout on the bike path but as a biker it is quite annoying to have to dodge runners ( and sadly walkers) who are running on the bike path. \u00a0Many of these people are wearing headphones and are clueless to their surroundings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I appreciate the people who walk\/run against the flow of traffic so they can at least move out of the way. \u00a0I personally avoid running around the lakes and will now avoid biking them except for early in the morning!!<\/p>\n What are your thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why is there so much tension between bikers and runners? As a member of both communities I understand a little of both sides. \u00a0Yesterday was a great example of why we often don’t get along. A friend and I were going for a ride – I was towing the kids in the trailer and decided […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,644,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-running","category-random-thoughts","category-safety"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-1pE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7376,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2019\/07302019-bike\/","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":0},"title":"07302019 – Bike","author":"crossn81","date":"July 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today was the last day of the kids taking summer programming where I could do whatever I wanted. So of course, I went for a long bike ride. I was hoping the school they were at this week would get me close enough to try for a ride to Stillwater,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bike"","block_context":{"text":"Bike","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/bike\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1398,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/slow-build-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":1},"title":"Slow Build Up","author":"crossn81","date":"June 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This week was a good rebuilding start.\u00a0 I'm trying to be careful.\u00a0 I also feel like it was a good \"break\" and feel ready to go again.\u00a0 Just wish my foot would stop hurting.\u00a0 Almost continuous pain isn't fun. Hard to believe that June is here already! Now that I've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Running"","block_context":{"text":"My Running","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/my-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1094,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/week-in-review-17\/","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":2},"title":"Week in Review","author":"crossn81","date":"February 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my last week before I begin an official training schedule.\u00a0 It was an up and down week temperature-wise and with how I felt.\u00a0 Overall a good week with a nice bump pack to where my mileage should have been! Monday was my day off! It is a little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Running"","block_context":{"text":"My Running","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/my-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7450,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2019\/08282019-bike\/","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":3},"title":"08282019 – Bike","author":"crossn81","date":"August 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I had some time in the afternoon after my chiropractor appointment before the family would be home so I went out for a little ride. When I started out I completely forgot about the LRT construction and detours on the trail. So I headed west on the Cedar Lake Trail\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bike"","block_context":{"text":"Bike","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/bike\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6286,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2018\/04052018-run\/","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":4},"title":"04052018 – Run","author":"crossn81","date":"April 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A chilly morning, but the sun is out and will continue to melt away the April snow! I'm getting a little bored of having to run the same routes to get decent footing. Overall today most of the sidewalks were cleared, the only place I almost fell was actually on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Running"","block_context":{"text":"My Running","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/my-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/20180405_073042-2-e1522938590112.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/20180405_073042-2-e1522938590112.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/20180405_073042-2-e1522938590112.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/20180405_073042-2-e1522938590112.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7160,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2019\/05262019-bike-and-kayak\/","url_meta":{"origin":5434,"position":5},"title":"05262019 – Bike and Kayak","author":"crossn81","date":"May 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mountain Bike trails opened up yesterday afternoon and I wanted to get some dirt action before the rain on Monday. I also didn't want to tear up my legs for Murph either so I did the North Loop twice at an easy-ish pace.\u00a0 The Luce Line is still flooded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bike"","block_context":{"text":"Bike","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/bike\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190526_073942.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190526_073942.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190526_073942.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190526_073942.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190526_073942.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5434"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5437,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5434\/revisions\/5437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}