Out on a mountain bike trail in the middle of the woods, the peaceful calming elements of nature draw me into another world, where my senses appear to be on overdrive soaking in the environment.
On the vast majority of my rides, I’m alone. Just me, my thoughts and the forest.
Because of that, it appears I’m able to spot riders coming in my direction much, much quicker than they do — especially when they’re coming down hill.
In a lot of instances, I hear them first since most mountain bikers love to carry on conversations when they are not alone and must shout above the roar of the wind in their ears and the crunch of their tires on the trail to be heard.
Since I’m not the quickest mountain biker out there and I don’t have great bike handling skills, I typically pull to the side first.
Oh, I’m well aware of mountain bike (and hiking) etiquette, that downhill yields to uphill. Wait, let me rephrase that, is ANYONE ELSE aware of mountain bike (and hiking) etiquette, that downhill yields to uphill?
I ask because the vast majority of instances I appear to surprise the bejesus out of downhill bikers, who usually are hammering down a technical section with their eyes laser focused on the trail.
Wait, Raz, are you sure they didn’t already see you?
Since their overwhelming response is “Whoa!” with eyes popped wide, I venture to say the answer is usually no. I could be wrong.
Even if I don’t see them first, especially when I’m climbing and they’re descending, I’m always forced to lose the game of chicken, as I ask, “Any more coming?”
This catches far too many riders off guard. But there are occasions when the first one through announces how many more, and those instances feel like being stuck at the railroad tracks in town as you count cars, or riders, seemingly forever.
Or, as happened last week, the first rider bouncing down replied to my question, “One more, but he’s slow so you don’t have to worry about him.”
Which, of course, made me wonder on those rare occasions that I’m sharing my tortoise style with others what warnings my co-riders share at my expense: “One more, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, who knows? But don’t worry, he’ll pull to the side first!”
But I digress.
Today’s question: Do you follow trail etiquette of right of way? If not, tell me why.
I have long thought the custom and tradition was downhill yields to uphill, especially when getting started from a dead stop on an uphill requires more balance and talent skills than I have. Apparently, USA Cycling also thinks D yields to U.
https://usacycling.org/article/trail-etiquette-for-mountain-bikers
So thanks, because given the number of times I’ve had to dodge kamakazi downhill riders (undoubtedly egged on by today’s downhill-oriented bike geometries) I’m glad you brought it up.
That said, my own observations are closer to yours. Few pay attention to etiquette any more.
I follow this rule as best I can. I understand that people coming down hill are usually in the flow and they don’t want to stop. I stop, unless the person coming up shepherds me through. The challenge I have is that often the person coming up will insist on my coming by, even though they have the right of way, so neither of us ends up getting what we want.
About right. Often, it is a case of after you, no after you, after you, no after you……
I feel fortunate because I seem to spot other trail users well before they see me. I always pull over and tell the DH riders to “let it roll”! Crawling up a hill is less important to me than rolling down one.
Mostly I just extend my middle finger and go. That barely humorous quip aside, I do believe it comes down to that rule from the Bible, “Don’t be a dick.” Now, a point of contention that has come up b/t myself and other riders at on public park trails is passing. It seems to have become a thing for riders to not only pull over when someone behind them comes up to pass, but to stop. I am completely against this. If it is not a race, then your ride is no more important than my ride. Pass when it is safe to do so. I do not give AF about your KOM and conversely if I am behind someone other than saying howdy they should not give a rat’s tuchus about stopping to let me by. In that situation, I always tell the forward rider to keep going, I’ll come around at some point, or thank them for the draft and tell them they smell nice. Lastly, to dovetail on that sort of passing etiquette, it has always been my experience that top notch riders never need to say anything. If they wish to pass, they do so without being a shitbird or saying a bunch of stuff.