Walkers, bicyclists should be friends

Maybe it's payback for the rude treatment bicyclists endure from so many drivers on the streets.

Some bike riders turn into road hogs themselves when they go for a spin on Raleigh's bucolic greenways.

They ride too fast -- sometimes two abreast -- jarring joggers and forcing walkers to step off the narrow trails.

"They will come up behind you and won't let you know they are coming," says Tom Campbell, 62, a TV broadcasting executive. "When they're about five feet away, you start hearing noises -- and it just scares the bejesus out of you."

Campbell and his wife take pleasure in side-by-side strolls with their dog on one of the trails that follow Crabtree Creek through the city. But when a cyclist bears down on them, they have to scramble to pull back the dog's leash in time.

"They want us to be fair to them on the road, and we should be," he says. "But they need to be fair to pedestrians, because pedestrians have the right of way. We all ought to be able to enjoy the greenway."

Warn the walkers

A courteous warning can make a big difference. Sometimes Campbell tells bikers they ought to ring a bell or call out to alert people on the trail ahead.

"When I do so," he said, "the response is dismissive and you get almost a 'make me' attitude."

Kate Clarkson, a Wake Forest cyclist, understands his complaint. When she rides with her two children, she tries to give walkers and joggers plenty of warning.

"My daughter has a bell on her bike, and I insist that she use it," says Clarkson, 47. "I usually say, 'Excuse me,' and I call it out loud. You've got to give them enough time.

"It always startles them. They jump to the side like you're about to run them over. You've got to be far enough back to give them a chance, but they're still going to be startled."

Clarkson lives just a half-mile from a Raleigh greenway near Falls of Neuse Road, but she and her children can't get there by bike. They don't feel safe on the skinny streets nearby.

"The drivers are usually going pretty fast, and they're not too tolerant about having to slow down for cyclists until it's safe to pass. Nobody will wait five seconds. They'll just pass you, even if it means running a cyclist off the road."

More bike lanes

The Triangle needs more bike lanes -- streets widened with outer lanes paved and striped for cyclists -- Clarkson says.

"The more people you can get in bike lanes, the more you don't have to slow down for them when you drive your car."

Meanwhile, like Campbell, she'd like to see more patience for cyclists on the street and more consideration for walkers on the greenway.

"It does require a courteous attitude on both parts," Clarkson says.