Hiker vs. Mt.Biker... bad

[art23rockpile]

This morning Lorabee and I were riding in LCWP. We were on Bommer Ridge where Old Emerald S/T branches off. There were a few MTBers and two hikers standing in a group. This was at about 10:15am.

One of the hikers was all dirty, and holding her neck. Apparently, she was struck -hard- by a MTBer... there was some confusion when he yelled "passing on the left", and he was evidently going too fast to avoid a collision. Up to this point, this could simply be called an accident, although i'd say the biker should have been able to control his speed if he was a truly "responsible" MTBer.

Unfortunately, the MTBer didn't even stop. When the group of riders came upon the scene, the female hiker was sprawled-out on the fire road. Her friend tried calling the Rangers, but couln't get through. After seeing the injured hiker was able to walk, I gave her and her friend directions on how to get back down to the bottom and assured her that i'd notify the Ranger of the situation. Once I got to the trailhead at Laguna Cyn., I found the Ranger and explained what had happened. She was on her way up when we left.

It's hard for me to imagine that a rider could be so inconsiderate, irresponsible, and downright rude as to run down a hiker and not even stop. The odds of the rider being an STR member are minute. Whoever he is (and I believe I passed him on Bommer before coming upon the hikers), he is a disgrace to the mountainbiking community. One incident like this can nullify a hundred good deeds we do.

If there's any moral to my story, I guess it's simply this: ride responsibly.

[bvader]

arrrrggggghhhhh!

Especially on Bommer, lots of hikers, plenty of room, no need for out-of-control speed

[station]

yeah, some people suck. I hate when I'm climbing and some guy is going 25 mph and doesn't even slow down, just says "on the left" and doesn't yield. lame.

[richie_rich]

Originally Posted by art23rockpile

a disgrace to the mountainbiking community. ride responsibly.

+1

Some people are just disrespectful morons

[dwrads]

It's never a good idea to inform anybody if your going to pass them when going faster then is polite. Even another rider.

Of course almost stopping and saying hi is a good idea.

To bad it wasn't the hiker that strung wire 24" off the ground at the bottom of a obscure single track that only mountain bikers use. That kind of thing is even worse then running someone down accidently. At least one rider took a huge flyer when he hit that wire.

Maybe we can ban hikers.

DW

[L8 APEKS]

Originally Posted by dwrads

To bad it wasn't the hiker that strung wire 24" off the ground at the bottom of a obscure single track that only mountain bikers use. That kind of thing is even worse then running someone down accidently. At least one rider took a huge flyer when he hit that wire.

Maybe we can ban hikers.

DW

Unless you saw the person who strung the wire, you don't know it was a hiker. Could have been a mountain biker or some random punk-a$$ kid.

[OMR]

There are always going to be idiot hikers and bikers... neither have a corner on the market. As Art correctly pointed out, all it takes is one to ruin it for the many.

[1080P]

While up at Mammoth Mtn last Friday the 4th on Pape rRoute, I came up on some hikers using the bike trail in the Bike Park. Despite calling out twice, quickly, "On your left, on your left" she still pulled over to the left not the right, as if I was giving orders? I was riding in control, and stopped and explained to her mountain rules protocol on overtaking another skier, snow boarder or biker. I also suggested to her that hiking in a mountain bike park during open operating hours on specific biking, not hiking only trails, is a recipe for disaster and injury. There was the distinct faint smell of skunk, and her eyes were blazing red and glazed over. Moral of the story is: You can't protect stupid people from themselves. Especially those that fail to even read and obey the rules, more so those hiking around with their head in the clouds.

Edit: I should add that I was on a really nice demo Bionicon SuperShuttle,without a bell, courtesy of PostHole, and not my own personal Bionicon Edison, which does have a bell /ringer on it, which I use frequently on blind corners. It does work well and hikers do appreciate it. What they appreciate the most is slowing waaaaay down, to a crawl, a polite "hello" and a safe pass before you ride on your way.

[JoeTruth]

Good of you guys to stop and making sure she's all together and all right.
It's always discouraging to hear of such encounters. Sadly, the "stupid" gene doesn't discriminate and hits all walks of life.

[kentonn]

Originally Posted by 1080P

There was the distinct faint smell of skunk, and her eyes were blazing red and glazed over.

What are you people? On dope?

[Elisheva]

Art, I consider this to be very serious. Makes you wonder if that same rider would leave the scene of an auto accident as well (hit and run).

Times have changed, but when I was a young girl if you pulled a stunt like this and split, sooner or later, somebody's brother or daddy would come looking for you and ultimately, you'd get beaten to a pulp. You'd learn to never do that again.

[EJ_92606]

wow, this is terrible. Does anyone know of the condition of the hiker that was hit? How inhumane to leave an injured person that was just hit.

I agree that the 'on your left' thing seems to be very confusing to hikers/joggers...I'm not sure why that's the case, but I've stopped saying it for that reason. And as we all know some hikers/joggers will jump right out in front of us, so it may not have been the fault of the rider, but certainly no excuse to leave the scene. An accident is bad enough reputation for us riders, but leaving the scene is over the top. I hope the woman is recovering well.

[art23rockpile]

Originally Posted by Elisheva

Art, I consider this to be very serious. Makes you wonder if that same rider would leave the scene of an auto accident as well (hit and run).

I don't wonder at all... he probably would.

The hiker was well enough to walk, but pretty shaky and obviously had a sore/injured neck.

What I try to do -even after saying "on your left"- is keep slowing down until the hiker moves or in some way acknowledges my presence behind them. If they don't, i'll assume they HAVEN'T heard me, and proceed slowly enough so that I can pass them safely. Many of the hikers I pass really seem to appreciate 'trail bells' too.
I'm no angel, and oft times i'm riding faster than I should on fire roads, but I like to think that I ride responsibly by being able to control my speed. When I come across other trail users, I try to be a good example of our sport.

[mtnkitty]

I've said "On your left, on your left," before and hikers interpret it in one of two ways.. Either you're coming down on their left side, or they assume that you're asking them to move to the left. So now I just slow down and call out something, throw them a hello, and slowly pass by (not that I'm going fast anyway! ).

[dstepper]

I have found using a bell works much better than a verbal warning. Everyone seems to know that a bike is coming when they hear a bike bell. Cow/bear bells don't seem to work as well, the sound of a bike bell seems to disarm people. I guess it brings them back to their childhoods when they used to have a bike and a bell.

Dean