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Get the ----- off my Bike Path!

Here's more proof that boorish behavior isn't limited to those who drive motor vehicles:

A 20-mile ride Friday evening (I've been on vacation this week, so I had a rare Friday evening off work!) included the MetroLink Trail in Bellevile. I was finishing off climbing the hill leading from North End Park when I saw three children talking to each other while walking in the correct direction in the left lane.

Suddenly, I heard an older middle-aged guy on his bicycle bellow out at the children: "You're in my way. Get the f--- off my bike path!"

Gee, how many times have we heard some bozo in a car yell, "Get the f--- off my road?"

I truly was dismayed to hear such an idiotic remark from a cyclist.

First of all, the MetroLink Trail and the Richland Creek Greenway Trail in Belleville are multiuse trails. That means bicyclists, runners, rollerbladers, skateboarders and walkers -- including children -- are intended users of the trail.

Second, the guy had plenty to room to pass. The children were staying in their lane, and he could have easily passed them and got back in his lane before I approached.

Instead of yelling at the kids, he could had said something like "passing on your left" when he approached them. Bicyclists are urged to say "on your left" when passing someone, but I usually say "passing on your left" when on a trail because most trail users don't know what "on your left" means.

And, of course, it's just plain stupid to yell profanities at children.

Our friends at the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation and Trailnet love to preach the "Share the Road" mantra, and I don't disagree that motorists need to learn cyclists have the right to be on most roads.

However, sharing the road means cyclists have to take responsibility for their actions. You have to follow traffic laws. You have to treat people the way you want to be treated.

When cyclists fail to stop at stop signs in busy urban intersections, ride three or more abreast on the open road, ride on the wrong side of the road or yell profanities at children, they make it more difficult for fellow cyclists who are trying to do the right thing.

On the other hand, each motorist or cyclist needs to remember that it is not my road or my bike path. Even though a road or trail may come under a city's, township's or county's jurisdiction, that doesn't make it your road or trail. Anyone who buys gasoline in Illinois can claim partial ownership of all Illinois roads because the motor fuel tax you pay on each gallon on gas is used to fund road projects throughout the state. And even if you don't pay motor fuel tax, there's a good chance your federal and state income taxes are being used to help fund road or trail projects throughout Illinois.

So the lesson here is to share our roads and bicycle trails and do so responsibly.

Roger 0 comments 11:30 AM