Sail before steam please.

[Poly Hive]

The wife a week past Sunday was in the local woods iwth our two whippets on their leads. It was quite muddy so she was being careful and picking her best route.

She saw a MTB ridden by a guy in his 30''s escorted by a dog called Toby free running.

Thinking she should get out the way which I argue with as it should have been the other way she stepped back and as he passed her she slipped.

Torn cartilage in knee and ankle. In a thigh to foot splint and to be kept elevated for the foreseeable future. As in after Xmas. Yes she's in agony.

Hell of a price for being polite.

So I would politely ask if you are on your bike and you see someone on foot that some sense is exercised and the machine gives way to the pedestrian.

Just a thought.

PH

[Kim]

To be fair, if I were cycling on a shared path and a pedestrian (particularly one with dogs, which I appreciate are easier to control when stationary) moved out of the way so I could pass, I'd make an effort to do so promptly and thankfully.

The problem often comes with non-cyclists (pedestrians and car drivers alike) not appreciating the hazard a dodgy surface can pose to a two-wheeled vehicle.  It's a judgement call whether you risk riding over the mud/chutney/gravel/edge of tarmac that they've vacated for you, pass too close, or stop somewhere else and persuade them to move first.

But in general, yes.  It also sounds like he passed way too close to cause her to slip.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Momentum wins. Downhill gives way to uphill.

[Lightning Phil]

Did he ask her to move off the path or is it just something she decided to do? Also close pass at speed or something else?

[citoyen]

The problem often comes with non-cyclists (pedestrians and car drivers alike) not appreciating the hazard a dodgy surface can pose to a two-wheeled vehicle.  It's a judgement call whether you risk riding over the mud/chutney/gravel/edge of tarmac that they've vacated for you, pass too close, or stop somewhere else and persuade them to move first.

It's infuriating when you're being followed by a car on a narrow country lane and the driver beeps at you because you won't ride on the potholed edge of the road to get out of their way. But fuck them, I'm not risking damaging my wheels or falling off just for their convenience. If they want to drive fast, they can fuck off to the motorway.

On shared paths, it's a different matter. If I want to avoid riding on the dodgy bit, I stop and wait for the bit I want to ride on to become clear. It's really incredibly simple. It's my problem, not the pedestrian's.

However, if the pedestrian has unilaterally decided to jump out of the way unbidden, that's their lookout.

With all due respect to the OP and genuine sympathy for the injured party, let's not make any assumptions about how and why this happened when we weren't there to witness it.

[Kim]

Momentum wins. Downhill gives way to uphill.

Something motorists appear to have forgotten around the time that even fairly bad cars stopped being shit at hills.

[Lightning Phil]

It's infuriating when you're being followed by a car on a narrow country lane and the driver beeps at you because you won't ride on the potholed edge of the road to get out of their way. But fuck them, I'm not risking damaging my wheels or falling off just for their convenience. If they want to drive fast, they can fuck off to the motorway.

Had a large 4x4 behind me up a narrow lane this afternoon. There’s a corner with a pull out at top of hill. Just beyond was a pedestrian. So I pull in here, being nice to let 4x4 past as there is nowhere to pass on the next section. What does the 4x4 driver do? Pulls past me then immediately slams on brakes to talk to pedestrian she knows. FFS. Anyway overtook the two of them and vowed the 4x4 driver would not be passing me if she caught me up again.

[Kim]

We could also add that since dogs are involved, the more intelligent and predictable species should be the one to give way.  Unfortunately, if my shared path experience is anything to go by, that's often the dog.

This all adds up to why I prefer not to cycle around pedestrians (or have cyclists on footpaths in lieu of infrastructure).  Unless there's a huge amount of surface-hazard-free space, it's just stressful, even when everyone behaves politely and reasonably.

[citoyen]

Had a large 4x4 behind me up a narrow lane this afternoon. There’s a corner with a pull out at top of hill. Just beyond was a pedestrian. So I pull in here, being nice to let 4x4 past as there is nowhere to pass on the next section. What does the 4x4 driver do? Pulls past me then immediately slams on brakes to talk to pedestrian she knows. FFS. Anyway overtook the two of them and vowed the 4x4 driver would not be passing me if she caught me up again.

I'm boiling over just reading that. Bastards!

[Cudzoziemiec]

It's infuriating when you're being followed by a car on a narrow country lane and the driver beeps at you because you won't ride on the potholed edge of the road to get out of their way. But fuck them, I'm not risking damaging my wheels or falling off just for their convenience. If they want to drive fast, they can fuck off to the motorway.

Had a large 4x4 behind me up a narrow lane this afternoon. There’s a corner with a pull out at top of hill. Just beyond was a pedestrian. So I pull in here, being nice to let 4x4 past as there is nowhere to pass on the next section. What does the 4x4 driver do? Pulls past me then immediately slams on brakes to talk to pedestrian she knows. FFS. Anyway overtook the two of them and vowed the 4x4 driver would not be passing me if she caught me up again.

Momentum wins. Downhill gives way to uphill.

Something motorists appear to have forgotten around the time that even fairly bad cars stopped being shit at hills.

Including buses and lorries. I live on, or just off, a hill (about 10%) with cars parked on the uphill side. It's fairly busy and also a bus route. There are one or two spots where there are also cars parked on the downhill side, which makes the road too narrow for two cars to pass. Downhill traffic never gives way to uphill, because there are more cars parked on the uphill side. That wouldn't matter on a bike – there's plenty of room for car and bike – but sometimes I've been overtaken by a bus, which then stops to give way to a car coming downhill, leaving me blocked by bus on one side and parked cars in front. Grrr.

[Cudzoziemiec]

But in the context of this thread, people on foot walking down a path ought to give way to those coming up whether they're on foot or bike. Possibly even more to those on bike than those on foot, as starting walking up a hill isn't a problem, starting riding can be. Sail before steam...

[Poly Hive]

Its a level path so that don't hold water.

TBH the responses are about as selfish as I expected. I wonder if your wife whilst cycling got run over by a car would elicit the same responses. Oh but that's different aint' it not?

Shame you you, and be aware karma exists. What goes around comes around.

[L CC]

As he passed her she slipped.

So, she wasn't hit? How is this equivalent to being run over?

[citoyen]

Its a level path so that don't hold water.

Well, that's a useful piece of information that you omitted from your original description of the incident - in which you gave the cyclist's age and the name of his dog but left out any detail about what actually happened beyond "as he passed her she slipped". Most pertinently, you haven't answered Lightning Phil's questions, viz:
"Did he ask her to move off the path or is it just something she decided to do? Also close pass at speed or something else?"

It's hard to conclude definitively from what little information you have provided that the cyclist was at fault. Instead it comes across that you are aggrieved at your wife's injury and are responding to this by lashing out at all cyclists.

I wonder if your wife whilst cycling got run over by a car would elicit the same responses. Oh but that's different aint' it not?

Again, to quote your description of the incident: "as he passed her she slipped"

Yes, that is very different to being run over by a car.

Shame you you, and be aware karma exists. What goes around comes around.

Wevs.

Hope your wife heals quickly and without too much pain. 

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

The wife a week past Sunday was in the local woods iwth our two whippets on their leads. It was quite muddy so she was being careful and picking her best route.

She saw a MTB ridden by a guy in his 30''s escorted by a dog called Toby free running.

Thinking she should get out the way which I argue with as it should have been the other way she stepped back and as he passed her she slipped.

Torn cartilage in knee and ankle. In a thigh to foot splint and to be kept elevated for the foreseeable future. As in after Xmas. Yes she's in agony.

Hell of a price for being polite.

So I would politely ask if you are on your bike and you see someone on foot that some sense is exercised and the machine gives way to the pedestrian.

Just a thought.

PH

I'd have stood where I was and let the MTB go around.  I certainly would not have stepped backwards.

A relative was doing a fitness programme in the gym c.18 months ago. It involved 'backward lunges' during which she twisted her knee and split the knee cap.  Incredibly painful to start with and despite an operation it has never healed properly.  I feel sorry for your wife and hope she has a good recovery.  Nevertheless, I can't see that it was necessarily the cyclist's fault.

Since covid I have stopped using the very useful cycle paths into town and returned to using the road because it is too difficult to negotiate the pedestrians whose numbers have increased whilst road traffic has reduced.

[Kim]

Since covid I have stopped using the very useful cycle paths into town and returned to using the road because it is too difficult to negotiate the pedestrians whose numbers have increased whilst road traffic has reduced.

+1.  I'm happy to ride in traffic, so have mostly been avoiding the shared paths (especially the canal towpaths, which are popular, hazardous and woefully inadequate as cycle infrastructure) for the other users who aren't.

They're probably less busy now the weather's turned, but I'd be avoiding them anyway for chutney reasons.

[tonycollinet]

I am currently (and for the last 12 months) cycling 20 miles a day, probably 80% on shared paths.

Pedestrians get priority 100%, no exception. If I have to go off track, that is what my tractor tyres are for. If I have to slow to walking pace, or stop, that is what my big f-off disc brakes are for.

My bell is a warning of approach, and a polite request for space if available. It is not intended as a "get out of the fucking way" regardless of what some pedestrians seem to think.