I see this a bunch when riding in SF Bay Area. Basically what happens is you call out to the hiker that you are passing (“on your left!”) and they immediately start waiving their arms around. Usually we just go around but once a buddy crashed when a hiker did this and took up the entire trail, sending us into a hillside. Luckily we were fine and didn’t hit the hiker but it could have easily been worse. My first thought is they are just being jerks like they don’t want us here and trying to ruin our day. But tbh they don’t really seem to be doing it out of any malice so I wonder if it’s just a safety thing? Curious if anyone else encounters this in other areas.
Here is a video with an example. Skip to 30:30 you see a woman start flailing her arms around when she hears the biker coming.
https://youtu.be/Y_E59OSIDKU?feature=shared
by Excellent_Object2028
11 Comments
Glitch in the matrix
Too many bikers ride way too fast and too close when going past, I’m guessing they’re just telling you to keep your distance.
East Bay here… never seen that move. It looks like she’s either flailing her arms around as part of her exercise, or perhaps making sure she’s visible? I’ve seen plenty of derpy behavior from hikers but not this one.
Do some recon this weekend by going for a hike and ask one of them. Throw in some airpods, grab some Starbucks, let your dog offleash and drop random brightly colored bags of shit around while you’re out there bumbling around to better blend into their community.
That’s wild. I’m also a Bay Area rider and have never seen someone do that before. Granted I’m new and have only been riding a few months now. Looks like you’re at Arastradero — hope to see you out there sometime!
YTA.
Yelling commands at strangers is never a good look. I really hate “on your left” both because of that and because the signal word is actually the opposite of what you want them to do.
Slow down to walking speed and say “hi.” People are usually quite happy to yield the trail when you’re cool about it.
Agree with the comment she’s telling you to give more space when passing.
It is common courtesy to not buzz pedestrians. Many of my friends are guilty of this. They’ll wait until the last second to move over while riding on the left side of the trail straight at someone. Also, they’ll pass with just a foot between the bar and the walker/hiker. If hikers in an area are hugging the side of the trail really closely, chances are they’ve had to deal with a lot of rude or clueless riders.
The woman likely has experienced this quite a bit if riders in the area aren’t policing their own. And she was right to be cautious. The front rider in your video passed too closely. The woman was almost entirely off the trail and the rider rode straight down the middle. The polite and safe thing to do would have been to give her more room. You guys are in armor and moving quickly. It wouldn’t be hard to remove that fear and danger by passing her on the side of the trail rather than barreling right down the middle.
I’m super conscientious and considerate on the trails – but the combination of this and hikers with noise cancelling headphones is definitely chapping my hide lately.
Someone does this to me I’m giving them the most aggressive low five they’ve ever received in their life lol…wtf
I ring my bell like I’m selling ice cream around hikers.
Bro why are you yelling like that? Maybe take it down a notch and let the lady enjoy her walk in peace. It’s moments like this that give MTBers bad cred
You’re on a bike. Use a bell (or however you call it in English).
I install one immediately when I buy a new bike and I never get angry hikers or other trail users. People don’t like being yelled at. Even if it is to warn them.
You might think it’s stupid but it really isn’t. Doesn’t stand in the way of anything else and weight really isn’t an issue.