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While a few folks can use more common sense and be better aware of their suroundings, I think the great majority pay attention and stay to the right.

Walkers and even those with dogs have the same trail rights as us cyclists. As cyclists we have to realize dogs and kids have minds of their own. Because we are going faster we need to be more cautious. Assume everyone is listening to music. It is not a time trail course. It is a recreation trail for all. If you need to go around folks in the grass or even come to a full stop it is not that big a deal.

As a regular walker on the path - I appreciate your comments EarlJ. We all have the same rights on the path and somehow I always feel like I'm infringing on a "bikers'" path - and that shouldn't be. I follow the posted rules & still get yelled at by bikers as they pass me. I have seen 'crashes' between pedestrians & bikers & it's not pretty which makes me even more aware of my surroundings. Let's share this fantastic path & be cognizant of others (kind of how we should be with everything in life... but that's a whole other thread).

I try avoid the Kelly Drive side of the river during peak times. MLK drive doesn't get nearly as many people on it.

__Jason

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I can appreciate your frustration, too. I use the drive for both running and biking, and my biggest peeve are the people who either walk 3-4 abreast, or who are just stationary, milling about blocking the entire sidewalk. *Some* of them are rowers, and as a former rower (on Boathouse Row), I know we generally tried not to block the whole sidewalk, but not everyone is that courteous.

It would be nice if the organizers of the regattas would teach the rowers that people actually live here and use the path regularly. Every weekend in the summer you can count on groups of crew kids just standing in the middle of the path.

You don't think the rowers know that already? They're kids. Some of them just don't think.

I think complaining about the flow of traffic on Kelly Drive is a bit nitpicky, wouldn't you say?

Clearly all misanthropes should use the West River Drive trail; it will still get you to the Falls Bridge, and unpredictable people won't mess up your day. As a person who finds walking along Boathouse Row unnerving because of the bikers in a rush to run me over, may I suggest that you either drastically slow down in front of the Boathouses or ride in the street along that stretch. I personally feel that the road should be one lane in each direction (Lemon Hill side), with a bike lane in each direction about where the parking lane presently is, and then the sidewalk for pedestrians. The present situation is too congested, with too much real estate apportioned to cars and not enough to other modes.

Not really.

It's an activity path. People who stand in the middle of the path and prevent the rest of us from using it should be criticized. Whether they're too stupid to realize people are trying to get by or too inconsiderate to care, it is still wrong. And the adults who organize these events should take responsibility to corral the kids and teach them to respect others and be aware of their surroundings.

Or is consideration for others too nitpicky?

You're right. My statement clearly indicated that I think being considerate of others in unimportant.