As a bike commuter, I pretty much daily see a lot of rude and otherwise idiotic bike riders. Just like car drivers, every form of transit has its share of assholes.

Cyclists should have the courtesy to steer wide around startled, slow moving pedestrians.

If they don't, and there are too many complaints like this, then a basic right- the pure thrill of riding fast down Tabor after a long pedal up it- could be banned by the park, and who wants that?

That said, the author of the complaint letter sounds like he's a bit tender and paranoid due to his injury, not to mention curmudgeonly, (he "counted" 30 cyclists? "politely yelled"? Did he shake his fist too?)

It's been a while since I've been to Tabor, but isn't there a main road with a lot of bike traffic going up and down the hill and then side paths for pedestrians only or something?

Maybe this neighbor should avoid walking where all the bikes are...

As rude as it is to blow by 8 inches away from someone walking, it's just as rude for pedestrians to amble their way up the middle of a busy bike path. At least stay to the right!

Where I come from it's pretty standard to give someone a polite ding on your bell to let them know you're coming up behind them - it seems to solve the problem.

My experience with the Weds. Mt. Tabor thing is from running up there on an intermittent basis over the past 15 years or so. (very intermittent over the past 5 years) I think what's going on here is that every Weds. they close off a big chunk of the park to vehicular traffic, open up the gates, etc. to allow the bicycle racers to do their thing around the park. These aren't bike paths per se, but full on paved roadways big enough for cars. There are plenty of pedestrian pathways in the park other than these roadways so it's not like the bicyclists are hogging the entire park. They used to put out warning tape, cones, signs, spotters etc. to warn walkers to watch out for the bicylists, but I'm not sure what the layout was like the day this happened. It's my impression that some of the rides are more heavily attended and organized than others. It's seems as though it's a regular organized event that the park dept. actively plays a role in somehow. I think people can also go up there with their skate boards and bomb around as well in certain parts of the park on Wednesdays as well, but I have no idea if the park dept. sanctions it. The bicyclist probably blew by the dude to get him to pull his head out of his ass and watch where he was going. I'm sure it wouldn't feel very good to hit by a bike going 30 mph. If it was one of the organized events and the guy just stumbled into the path of a bike race he's a stupid jerk, if it was a loose knit ride around with no warning tape, cones, signs, etc. then the bicylists need to cool it and watch out for people who rightfully don't know any better. Either way almost hitting a pedestrian at a high speed is way out of line and if he did get hit it could be a fatal injury or severely disabling.

And 'reach out and touch them' arm length isn't necessarily too close. When a cyclist sets up a line to ride through a turn, he can hit it to within a matter of inches.

Just because the man is suprised by the cyclists doesn't mean he's in danger of being hit.

With his injury the man can't get out of the way. He sounds unnerved by the lack of control he has in this situation. The cyclist are in control of whether he gets hit since he can't move very fast. Therefore, he thinks, the cyclists must be doing something wrong.

Wednesday nights are designated for racing on tabor, but I'm not sure if the season has officially commenced. Don't they have a motorbike clear the racing route ahead of the cyclists? I frequent Mt. Tabor, occasionally on wednesdays as well, and I haven't noticed any widespread problems.

FYI - Racing season on Tabor runs every Wednesday from May 30-July 20. You will also encounter an all day event on Sunday, July 17 as well.

Look, I don't want to hit a pedestrian while riding as that could prove fatal to me as well. Almost without exception, these close calls happen when the walker / jogger is lost in the latest Yanni or Modest Mouse tune blaring from their freakin' iPod and starts to veer into the roadway. Nothing frustrates a cyclist more than screaming out a warning that goes unheard by the oblivious ambulating audiophile. Everyone needs to pay attention!

I ride my bike up and down Mt. Tabor most spring/summer/fall evenings, and not just Wednesdays. Some nights there are a lot of us doing it, some nights just me. I have never had a problem with pedestrians and I am always respectful of their space, but I have had many close calls with unleashed dogs running across the road in front of me . . . .

A lot of us cyclists like to go up to Mt. Tabor Park on Wednesday evenings because it's a great place to get in a good hill workout without having to deal with car traffic. (A paved loop in the park is closed to cars on Wednesday nights.) Sure, we may be "fast," but we are not "out of control." Have you seen any crashes up there? Have any pedestrians or dogs been hit by speeding cyclists? We're NOT out of control.

Believe me, when a speeding cyclist hits a dog or a pedestrian, everybody loses. We don't want to crash into you anymore than you want to be hit.

Don't get me started on dog owners who let their dogs off leash in areas of Mt. Tabor Park where dogs are supposed to be kept on leash. Unleashed dogs are perceived as a genuine safety hazard by cyclists, because we don't know what the dogs are going to do, where they are going to go, and that situtation could definitely cause a crash.

And what is with the Mercury's constant anti-bike crap? I thought this was the alternative weekly, and yet all you do is complain about ZooBombers, bike commuters, bike racers, and every other segment of two-wheeled culture. Assholes are assholes, but, c'mon, Wednesday is bike day on the Tabor! Would you prefer cars every day of the week? Of course, because that's what the Mercury fat-asses drive to work every day!
Thanks for nothing as we build Bike City in Portland without your help.

Hey Mercury, thanks for your quality journalism. You're really making Portland safer for everyone. We'll see you up on Tabor riding your bikes sometime soon.

There's no such thing as a "polite yell". Also, if he had time to count 30 cyclists, they weren't going that fast.

A point to consider: many sidewalks in Portland are right against the street. Cars go by "close enough to touch" at 35-40 miles per hour in some locations. What are we going to do about all these "out of control motorists"? Here's a hint - pay attention to your surroundings.

Yawn.

The Mercury yet again substitutes shit-disturbing for actual journalism.

The only favorites in the eyes of the Merc. staffers are its fellow alcoholics, hipsters, and coke fiends.

Go back to LA, you are BORING.

Oh boy here we go again. Why is it that everyone thinks the world needs to revolve aroud them. Walkers bitching about bikers, bikers bitching about dogs, dogs bitching about squirrels blah blah blah. The more people bitch the more rules end up being put in place that end up screwing us all.

I live blocks from Mt Tabor park and ride there almost daily. I have never seen any situations where bikers almost hit walkers or dogs. There are countless trails up there for walkers and many roads for bikers and no reason why everyone can't share them trouble free.

I am curious what there original writter would suggest be done to prevent this so called "out of control" "near miss"? I have one suggestion for him, stay off the road and use one of the miles of hiking trails up there.

FYI Mt. Tabor Park is closed to vehicular traffic on Wednesdays for park maintence and NOT for the benefit of bicyclists. This is per the Park Department.

I’ve been coming to this site for several months now. I’ve been intrigue with all the recent harsh and rude comments being made to the author of this e-mail.
This is my take after reading his e-mail. The park has basically 2 roads that run through the park. One is permanently blocked off from vehicular traffic and the other is open to vehicles. The road that is blocked off from traffic is used by people walking (i.e. with their dogs, children etc) joggers, skateboarder and bicyclists. When the park is closed to vehicular traffic everyone gets use of the roadways in the park.
What I think the author was trying to convey is everyone shares this roadway and it is up to each of us to be courteous to each other. Mt. Tabor was NOT built for any one group to manipulate. If you are walking/jogging it is common courtesy to give an on coming cyclists or skateboarders passing room. On the other hand walkers/joggers also would appreciate it if our fellow cyclists and skateboarders would use caution and slow down when approaching this group when passing.
Everyone enjoys this park. We just need to be respectful and kind to each other.

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