To avoid collisions and fights and preserve the happy feelings instilled by the path, here are a few rules of the road:
1.Remember that traffic goes both ways, just like on the streets.
2.Stay in the right lane. In most stretches there's a sand path to the right of the paved section. That's for runners and walkers and other slower traffic.
3.If you're in a large group of people, do not stretch across the entire path. It's dangerous, and frankly, rude! Go 2 x 2.
4.If you hear "on your left," MOVE. The person saying it is most likely on wheels and moving faster than you. If you don't move, that person will plow into you, fall to avoid plowing into you, or plow into someone coming the opposite direction.
5.If you're on wheels, slow down when approaching a large group of pedestrians and be aware of congested areas. Especially crowded is the entrance from Lakeshore Drive to the Fullerton Promontory. Everything south of there until Oak Street Beach is an obstacle course of sunbathers and volleyball players (when the season opens).
6.Finally: please don't smoke on the path! You could burn someone, and many people passing you are inhaling deeply. If you need to smoke, please step off the path and do it in one of the grassy areas.
If you have any other suggestions, please leave a comment!
18 comments:
7. Rollerbladers: please go somewhere else. Youre a nuisance, you take up too much space, especially those of you who insist on using cross-country ski poles and are pretending youre in the Olympics.
I have three...
First one, it's a park. You are allowed to walk in the grass, so if there are a lot of you, you're not required to be on the asphalt, then you can spread out as much as you like. In contrast, it's really hard for a bike, especially a road bike to go off the path.
Second, this is most often targeted at people with strollers (this includes me), but can apply to anyone please don't stop right where you were walking to tend to your child, pet, or other thing, move off the path if possible or at the least over as far as you can.
I watched a cyclist hit a child in a stroller because when the child dropped a toy/binky/whatever and mom stopped to pick it up, she stopped in the middle of that side of the path then, when bending over to pick it up, pushed the stroller further into the path (over the line). Even though the cyclist tried to go around them, because the stroller got pushed out further, he hit the stroller. Child was fine, cyclist went away in an ambulance.
Third, the thing to remember is the trail is like a street, if you wouldn't do something in the street, don't do it on the trail. You wouldn't run across without looking both ways, you wouldn't stop and talk or tie your shoes in the middle of it. Think of the trail the same way and it'll be much safer for all.
If you are training for a bike race please remember this is for casual use as well so please keep your speed at an appropriate level. A friend saw someone killed because a cyclist going very fast ran head on onto her.
Im glad this got posted. I ride year round on the path both for exercise and to and from downtown. If a person got killed head on then someone was over the line. Most people who train do it during off hours, it is too hard to get a good ride in when thier are lots of people.
The stroller this is getting out of hand. It is not just on the bike path but everywhere, I see many people using them as a battering ram, or they push it out between parked cars in from of cars and cyclists. No one on a bike ever want to hit anyone or thing.
We (cyclists) think of ourselves as traffic and feel lucky that we get to use the path. We just for the same respect that walkers/ runners, cars and even rollerbladers seem to get.
I would like to see bike cops on the path and not a police car or giant SUV.
The dips with the retractable dog leashes stretched across both lanes (in the DARK) are a hoot too! Let's see, the dogs over THERE and you're over.....well where are YOU?
As a long time rollerblader on the path, I take Berzerker's comment with a grain of salt and a smile. I pass most bikers, so getting out of their way isn't such a big deal :)
Even though we're preaching to the choir here, pets and small kids can provide some scary moments. Each should be walking on the grass side of the path, with a grown up between then and the pavement.
I wish people would just follow these rules. Make sense, but no one ever does.
Really, for a city with this many people the path is GROSSLY inadequate. Should be twice as wide with lanes for all. In other cities, there are also large stretches of road that get closed to cars on the weekends for recreation - I don't understand why that doesn't happen in Chicago, especially with the completely insane taxes.
i don't think we really want or need a wider path on the lakefront, lets keep as much green space as we can, please.
nor is it fair to blame the mom attending to her baby, or the beach-going teenagers on their cellular apparats. or the rubbernecking tourists.
it is EVERYBODY's lakefront and no fault to any of them that is so dang beautiful, or so much fun.
really, everyone just needs to SLOW DOWN a bit when it gets crowded (just like the cars do on the LSD).
For the most part, these are good rules and more people need to be aware of them. But "On Your Left" does not mean "Get out of my way". "On your left" means "I'm safely passing you, I don't want to surprise you and don't move suddenly to your left while I pass." Too many cyclist think "On your left" means "all liability for what happens next is on you". What some "on your left" screamers don't get is that even though you're on the bike path sometimes you can get your road work in at top speed... you might just have to use your brakes. I'm a cyclist too. When I'm safely passing the three abreast joggers, and you come up behind me, you may just have to brake. I'm on your right!!
I've seen way too many jackass bicyclist think they own the damn lakefront zooming down the path without regard for any people who may happen to be in the way. Slow down, people. Other people exist in life, just because you have a bike doesn't mean you're entitled to the use lakefront as you damn well wish.
between lakefront traffic, not stopping at lights/signs, cutting off cars it seems that people on bikes have a sense of entitlement.
I think we can all appreciate it is hard to get a good ride in, but as the Bicycling Barrister said, it is everyone's lakefront, so I don't really get the complaints. Is there a sign somewhere that says "for serious bike training only?".
I disagree with point #4. From my experience "On your left" means "I'm on your left and I'm about to pass you."
Instead of automatically moving to your right, where you might run off the path, or (obviously) moving left and causing a collision, most of the time you should just maintain your current speed and direction and let the person pass you.
Is this the reason behind extending the beach and making it larger ?
I hate it when bikers scream "AT YOUR LEFT" and zoom by...... especially as i walk with my best buddy next to me and I nearly have to move him to the left too in a matter of seconds... it does feel similar to a situation where a motorist is blaring a car horn at someone on a bike and run them off the road.
I agree that bike training during "rush hour" is a dangerous and stupid idea, but I do think that moms with babies and tourists and everyone else on the path needs to follow the same rules. Bikers definitely need to get onto the actual street if they want to be flying by when the path is crowded, but as Anditron said, if you are strolling along with 3 of your best buds, why not walk in the grass?
as to Steffi's comment- If you are moving TO the left when bikers/runners/rollerbladers say "On your left", then there's a huge problem there.
As JohnK43 said, we don't mean "we're going to hit you" when we say "on your left". Most often we mean "You look like you may move suddenly to your left and we would like to avoid a crash so please stay where you are", but that's just a bit too long to yell out while passing ;)
And to people with retractable leashes...gosh what a pet peeve- why are those even legal? Your poor dog doesn't know the rules- you as his/her owner are in charge of his/her safety. Again if you want your dog to romp around- do it on the grass! Probably better for the pads on their feet, anyway.
With a great path comes great responsibility- and no one is exempt!
To be clear, when a biker says "to your left" no action is needed on your part. It is simply to inform you that they will be passing on your left. They are trying to prevent a scenario where they are passing you and you turn left without looking over your shoulder first (which many bikers and runners do). Why most bikers shout it, I do not know, as it seems to only startle the recipient.
Great conversation, folks! Its interesting to see everyones perspective as the path is not exclusive to bikers, bladers, runners or walkers. We need to work together to make it as safe as possible.
I have one...driving while wearing headphones or talking on your cell is a stupid idea, so why would you do it while on a bicycle?
SLOW letters need to be painted on the path near the LSD / Bryn Mawr off-ramp. The path has a downhill slope when heading south, and many bikers pick up speed. It then curves to the right at the same spot where four walking paths intersect it. To make matters worse: the dirt jogging lane switches sides in this same area.
I’ve seen several bad collisions in here over the years, mostly bikers hitting runners. It really needs the same treatment seen down near Fullerton Ave. and Oak Street Beach.
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