For the uninitiated out there, there are 2 types of biker — road bikers and off-road bikers (what non Texans would call mountain bikers, but we don’t have hardly any mountains, so…). I am an off-road biker and get fairly sick of the holier than thou attitude of most road bikers (which will be detailed below). Most of my problem with them comes from their inability to warn you that they’re going to pass you, which can turn a relaxing ride into a terrifying very quickly.
True, I’m sure there are off-road bikers who don’t do this, but the vast majority of the times this has happened to me, it has been a road biker.
Biking in Dallas is tough, but it’s getting better. But it’s getting better. Most trails are just wide sidewalks, so you’re sharing that trail not just with other bikers, but families, pets, strollers, and children running wildly and not looking where they’re going. We’ve had joggers killed by cyclists in Dallas, and granted, from how I’m reading it, it wasn’t the cyclists fault (the jogger made an abrupt U-turn on the trail straight into a cyclist who was riding up behind her). But it highlights one of the problems with modern cycling. Cyclists have to share the road, and from my perspective, most cyclists are not very good stewards of this.
Road bikes are built for speed. They are lightweight and fast, some of the higher-end ones weighing in at mere ounces. Their riders are often putting in hundreds of miles a week on their saddles. They often wear tight, lightweight clothing to reduce wind resistance and increase their speed. And most of them are solid walls of muscle.
Conversely, off-road bikers ride a bike with chunky tires made for, you guessed it, off-roading. Mountain bikes are heavier and built tougher so they can withstand what the trail gives you. Bunny hops, jumps, etc. Professional mountain bikers might wear suits of kevlar armor since flying off of your bike and slamming into the ground can hurt. Dirt trail riding can be exhilarating, but, if you want to get anywhere in a large metropolitan area like Dallas, you’ve got to ride the pre-built trails (usually cement) along with all of the other cyclists and pedestrians out there. And that can lead to issues and some messy situations.
Granted, I like to think of myself as a careful cyclist. If I’m approaching joggers, walkers or parents with strollers I slow down, because much like a shark in the water preying upon beachgoers, bikers are silent to the people that they’re approaching. Pedestrians don’t hear you when you’re on a bike, unless you’re purposefully making noise, either with a bell, your voice, or with a speaker. Given all that you may try to do to have them hear you, they more than likely will not, since most people going out nowadays have earbuds in their ears. This is the rule rather than an exception these days. And all of that making noise will be for nothing if their volume is turned up enough that they can’t hear you.
I wish I could say it’s only happened once, but I can not tell you how many times I’ve been riding up behind a group of (usually) walkers, slowed to pass them, and a road biker has darted by on my left mere millimeters from my left shoulder. It’s a jarring feeling that quickly gets your adrenaline flowing, knowing that someone was basically in your personal space and you didn’t even know it. To top it off, they didn’t warn you that they were there. And it seemingly doesn’t matter to them, as they fly past elderly people, young families or people walking dogs. Therein lies the source of my frustration.
Dallas does have signs, randomly ¹, that remind cyclists to warn people that they are approaching from behind pedestrians. As I mentioned previously, people flee from situations like this, and no one appears to be wanting to make a change. If anything, it’s only getting worse. An unofficial study by yours truly says that 90-10 that a cyclist will not warn you when they’re approaching/passing you. The rare good Samaritan that does announce will receive a very loud THANK YOU from me, since I’m trying to reward good behavior.
For those that do not announce though, I’ve turned into a cranky person. “You’ve got to announce, dude!” is an oft-repeated phrase from me, and these encounters often leave me grouchy. Of course, it reminds me of a scene from Edgar Wright’s The World’s End, where two friends are talking about one of them being bullied in high school, and then seeing that person again. The bully doesn’t remember the man he bullied but the man does. It’s like now I will remember this jerk riding past me, and I will mean nothing to them later.
All of this grouchiness could be solved by that biker announcing himself (or herself) as they pass. “On your left.” is easy enough to say. Hell, if you’re feeling frisky say “Passing on your left.” It gets the point across in a brief fashion and the person you’re passing knows that you’re there and to watch out for you.
So why doesn’t this happen as frequently as it should? I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the way the world is now. Maybe it’s self-centered existence or inflated superiority? All I want to say to road bikers is please, for the love of all that is holy, before you hurt or kill someone accidentally, just let people know you’re there. It takes so little from your day and it could save a life.