@anomnomnomaly
As an American, I tend to use a term more referencing the backside than the front side of a person for such people LOL, but yes... we have those here, too.

There are no legal speed limits on #BikeTrails, and I think that's part of the problem. Before #ebikes, that was unnecessary. And simply banning non-manual #bikes (usually just via trail rules, not legislated through laws) was enough.

But a lot of people have bought #ebikes for the purpose of long rides, and those trail rules have just been repeatedly ignored.

Most #ebikers ride safe, as a lot of them are older folks who want to slow down and enjoy the ride, anyway. But enough are...jerks...that it tends to make things unsafe.

This time of year near me, you also get more people who don't tend to ride trails often. #Chicago has only a few weeks in Spring and a few weeks in Autumn (about now) where the weather is encouraging enough for everyone to come outside.

@anomnomnomaly
Near me, the experienced #cyclists tend to yell things like "Passing on you left!" when coming up behind each other and behind pedestrians. But with the proliferation of inexperienced #bicyclists due to #ebikes, and with their tendency to go so darn fast, I've been getting a lot more surprises from behind me.

It's especially dangerous for pedestrians with a #dog on a leash, some of whom have been (correctly, for roads) trained to stay to their human's LEFT on walks, or who were never trained to stay on one side of their human in the first place. With slower #bikes and fair warning yelled out, that didn't tend to be a problem before.

Squirrels can suddenly inspire attempts at chasing them, even by dogs on a leash, on either side of the trail. #Dogs do unexpected things.

PLEASE yell out "Passing!" folks (or ring that bell). Don't just zip up from behind.

@anomnomnomaly
In America, pedestrians and #bicyclists both tend to (or at least should) keep to the right on the #BikePath, just like when they drive cars on the road.

I think it's confusing for some pedestrians, because they are supposed to be on the left on actual streets. (On roads with traffic and no cement sidewalks, pedestrians are supposed to walk against traffic on the side of the road, but there again... they don't always do that, either.)

With (faster) #ebikes becoming popular and folks riding them on #BikeTrails (often against trail rules and invariably far faster than anyone else on the trail is going), it feels like potential collisions & near-misses are getting to be more common.

(I ride on the #BikePaths in the far Chicago suburbs. Most of these were initially converted from old suburban railcar track lines. Much of it is long stretches with trees along both sides of the paths, or along the #FoxRiver.)

#Biking #Bicycling #Bicycles #Ebikes

https://ipp.org/about-the-trail/