Trail Etiquette

[powpowpowderwheels]

Alright, I'm a bike jong. I started biking a few times a week last summer, and would like to get into it even more this summer. I took a job at the local bike shop so i could get some knowledge.

Every day riding last summer (chicago area), i was the only one on the trails. It just happened that i wasn't there on crowded days. The question is, how do i avoid smashing headlong into a rider going the opposite direction on blind turns?

What other trail etiquette is there that i don't know about? I know nothing.

thanks y'all

[powderhound]

don't lock your brakes

[fez]

usually uphill has the right of way. but use your judgement, if you see someone raging down and you could use a breather anyway, step off. Lots of people don't realize they have the right of way and will give it up and get out of the way of you bombing downhill.

Some trails have a 'usual' direction. If its a loop ride there is probably a direction most people go. If you are riding against this direction, watch out.

When i took my brother in law out snowmobiling for his first time ever in west yellowstone, he was bombing around corners on the left side of the trail. I pointed out to him that he needs to realize that whatever he is doing, some idiot going the other direction could be doing the same thing. same goes for mt bikes.

Watch out for hikers. They also technically have the right of way but polite ones will step aside. Rude ones will block the trail and not let you pass. Haven't seen that since i left massachusetts though.

If you encounter horses, stop and ask the rider what they want you to do. Some horses are easily spooked by movement so you should pull off and let the horse pass. Other horses do better standing still while you ride (slowly) by.

Oh yeah, (pow)^3derwheels, you should pick up one of these before you get out here.

[ak_powder_monkey]

all our singletracks are one way and uncrowded, but I'd say don't run into other people, and use a little bell or yell or something

[Mountainman]

Ya, since you're coming out here i would second the watch out for horses thing. There are two ladies that ride the west bridgers and hyalite trials quite a bit. The good was that at the end of the year the horses knew me and my bike so i could pass with no harm.

Most people around here know what to do or are really polite. Even if i don't need a break i usually find myself going off the trail for someone or saying sorry when i ride by.

Skrew fez and his fancy books , ill show ya the stuff around here. but really, get used to those falcon press books of doing stuff around MT. They are probably some of the best guide books to finding areas that you can find in MT.

[powderhound]

The horse rider should be in control of their animal, just as you with your bike. That said, horses are big dumb animals and are very unpredictable.

[el_jefe]

"Mountain bikers should yield the right-of-way to both foot and equestrian traffic. All foot traffic (hikers, runners and hunters) should yield the right-of-way to equestrian traffic.

Hikers who bring a dog onto the trail must keep the dog on a short leash and should be especially careful when encountering an equestrian. Rather than simply stepping off the trail (perhaps into brush which might hide the dog), it is better to ask the rider what’s best to do.

In fact, the tone of a friendly conversation between a hiker (or biker) and the rider of the horse does more to calm the horse (and rider) than silently stepping off the trail. Often it is best if bikers or hikers move to the lower side of the trail, so that they do not seem to loom above the horse as it passes. Lowering hiking sticks to the ground is helpful. It is best if a group of bikers or hikers all move to the same side of the trail to let the equestrians pass. This way, the horses are not being asked to "run a gauntlet." Each situation requires some thought, some friendly words, and an unhurried response."

that being said, just be polite and most of the time hikers will let you pass. (not if you live in marin CA, though...) horses are different and you should always give them the right of way for safety reasons unless the rider gives you the ok to pass.

[Il Eagle]

Punch hikers.

Shoot horses. (if you don't believe in firearms, fling the horse poo at the jockeys who allow there stupid animals to stink up the trail)

[watersnowdirt]

Bells are key. I actually use my bell quite a bit on places like Skeggs around here, since it's great single track with a lot of blind turns. I actually think it's helped avoid some run-ins (literally). You'll feel silly the first time, but that will pass quickly when you realize how useful it is.

m

[InspectorGadget]

Originally posted by watersnowdirt
Bells are key. You'll feel silly the first time, but that will pass quickly when you realize how useful it is.

When you ring your bell, say "Ice Cream"



Yeah, it's goofy, but it never fails to get a smile from parched hikers.

[Grange]

There are some good single track/multi-use trails that have signs that say bikers yield to pedistrians, which yield to horse back riders, which yield to bikers. That way no one has ownership of the trails.

I am always wary biking around horses. They are unpredictable and may turn into you or line your path with excrement. Either way you may end up in deep shit.

[phUnk]

Originally posted by watersnowdirt
Bells are key. I actually use my bell quite a bit on places like Skeggs around here, since it's great single track with a lot of blind turns. I actually think it's helped avoid some run-ins (literally). You'll feel silly the first time, but that will pass quickly when you realize how useful it is.

m

I just go with "PAIN TRAIN'S COMING!"

Seems to work.

[Spats]

I hate sharing trails with horses.

Nothing like hiking up to a beautiful high alpine basin at 10,000 feet under painfully blue skies...

while slogging through eight inches of churned up shit-saturated sand, or descending through a switchback worn down to slippery, irregular shit-coated rocks and roots. Smell that crisp, piney mountain air overwhelmed by piles of dung every fifty feet! Hear the quiet susurration of aspens in the wind drowned out by buzzing flies!

Now get off the trail, because a bunch of fat assholes are coming through with not only full saddlebags, but extra horses to shit on the trail while carrying all the espresso machines and pasta makers they couldn't do without for TWO FUCKING DAYS.

Now make sure to leave no trace, by packing out the Coke cans and cigarette butts they left in and around the fire pit.

And don't forget to bury your poop at least eight inches deep and 100 feet from any source of running water...because horse shit is OK to drink. Really!

[Grange]

Originally posted by Spats
while slogging through eight inches of churned up shit-saturated sand, or descending through a switchback worn down to slippery, irregular shit-coated rocks and roots. Smell that crisp, piney mountain air overwhelmed by piles of dung every fifty feet! Hear the quiet susurration of aspens in the wind drowned out by buzzing flies!

a while back I got into an arguement with the land manager of a state forest I used to ride quite a bit about erosion problems from horses versus mtb bikes. State law says biking on state trails is illegal in this part of the state unless there is a sign allowing it. Since there was not sign on these trails I was poaching. The reason he gave me for this law was erosion.

I told him that horses cause a hell of a lot more erosion than bikes as evident from these trails. I told him I would try to get the local bike club to volunteer to maintain the nicer bike trails. No dice despite my almost daily requests (my office was on the other side of the wall). I have since tranferred to another area but I do miss those trails. There were some great views of the valley below.

[Mountainman]

Originally posted by Spats
I hate sharing trails with horses.

Nothing like hiking up to a beautiful high alpine basin at 10,000 feet under painfully blue skies...

while slogging through eight inches of churned up shit-saturated sand, or descending through a switchback worn down to slippery, irregular shit-coated rocks and roots. Smell that crisp, piney mountain air overwhelmed by piles of dung every fifty feet! Hear the quiet susurration of aspens in the wind drowned out by buzzing flies!

Now get off the trail, because a bunch of fat assholes are coming through with not only full saddlebags, but extra horses to shit on the trail while carrying all the espresso machines and pasta makers they couldn't do without for TWO FUCKING DAYS.

Now make sure to leave no trace, by packing out the Coke cans and cigarette butts they left in and around the fire pit.

And don't forget to bury your poop at least eight inches deep and 100 feet from any source of running water...because horse shit is OK to drink. Really!

Just like in skiing, a few idiots can ruin it all. Lots of people take horses when they don't need them but i think i've seen more on the trail that i've talked to that are spending 3-4 weeks out at a time and need the horses.

Don't forget that many of the longer trails were built by using horses to haul in materials.

horses are soooooo last year, llamas are the IN thing now

[fez]

its also a little different around here MM, with millions of acres that are wide open to horses but closed to bikes, most people who are interested in anything more than a day ride are often in places a bike cant go.

[Mountainman]

Originally posted by fez
its also a little different around here MM, with millions of acres that are wide open to horses but closed to bikes, most people who are interested in anything more than a day ride are often in places a bike cant go.

Ya. I actually started thinking about that after i posted.