Pedestrians!

The more I ride my bike, the more pedestrians really annoy me.

I don't begrudge them the use of the roads and footpaths, but do they really have to walk right up the middle of the path and weave from side to side so you can't safely pass them either way?

And, when they walk in packs, why must they take up every available inch of path even if they don't have to? It never ceases to amaze me how humans will completely take up whatever space is available for them. So you have a path that's wide enough for four people to walk abreast? Those two people walking side-by-side will walk in such a way that they take up all of that space. Then they'll look at you funny for trying to pass them.

I "passed" (with some difficulty) two people the other day - one of whom was carrying an inflatable dolphin. They walked up either side of the path carrying the dolphin in the space between them. Why? There is no reason to take up so much space, just because it's there.

The worst pedestrians are small children and old people. A two-year-old child will veer to your side of the road and walk straight towards you - and it won't even occur to them that the bike heading towards them might be a problem. As for old people? They have every right to go up the middle of the path and take their time. But they don't hear you when you ring your bell or call out "bike!", and then they give you dirty looks when you try to overtake them while they're tottering about in the middle of nowhere.

The thing that really gets me about pedestrians, though, is that they seem to have no concept that they are actually the most flexible people in any given situation. If a pedestrian and a bike both have to negotiate a tricky bit of path at the same time, the pedestrian is better able to (literally) side-step the situation. The cyclist has a few issues, involving speed, size and some certain laws of physics that make it harder for them to move out of the way. Does this occur to people on foot? No. They just keep walking their own track and expect you to move around them.

Strangely, I haven't noticed people wearing mp3 players as being worse behaved. Largely, they seem quite happy to stick to one side of the path and move in a fairly straight line. I would have thought they'd be much more oblivious to the people around them. Maybe they just know they might be and make a point of staying out of everyone's way rather than worry about it?

More people should do that.