In the world of bicycling, there are road cyclists and there are bike path cyclists. Serious cyclists prefer roads, because you can ride forever and never encounter a path-blocking flotilla of moms pushing strollers, or tots on trikes, or a Rollerblader towing a panting dog on a 20-foot leash. All of these obstacles are at worst accidents waiting to happen and at best unpleasant interruptions to a good ride.Rhode Island's bike paths were built for bicyclists, but like it or not, they've become everybody's favorite for many different types of recreation. The "Can't we all get along?" plea applies well here, because if the rules of the bike paths were spelled out more clearly on the posted signs, more people might understand that walkers should treat the path as they would a road: Stay far left, close to the grass edge, and step out of the way when you see a bicycle coming toward you. Or, in sign-ese: "Walkers Keep Left and YIELD to Bicyclists."
Rules-of-the-path signboards at every parking area should state the rule that dogs must be on a 6-foot or shorter leash and kept close, both for the dog's safety and for bicyclists who could be tripped up by a long leash. And of course: Pick up after your dog!
Why the Department of Environmental Management, which manages the bike paths, doesn't post clearer rules signs is a mystery to me. The signs just say "Walk on the Left," which leads some walkers to believe they have a right to the whole lane. The shrieks of outrage these walkers hurl at bicyclists are in themselves enough to ruin a good ride on a bike path. Which is why bicyclists — for whom the paths were built with federal and state dollars — are hitting the roads instead.
(Projo photo above by Sandor Bodo.)
For more on Rhode Island's bike paths, click to read A Great Ride (Providence Journal, May 8).
