Joggers....

[John the Monkey]

i've yet to meet a polite jogger... no matter how many times i've moved over as one sweats and huffs along have i had a thanks or a nod.

I can only speak for myself, but I find jogging bloody hard work - I'd probably try and huff a thank you in that situation, but I suspect the cyclist would be out of earshot before I'd finished it.

 

[gbb]

I'm disappointed at the attitudes in this thread.

Firstly, as far as I know it's not illegal to jog in the carriageway - nor in a cycle lane. Certainly for competitive road races this is normal practice, so why not for a jogger on a training run? Has he not the right to use the road, same as you have?

Secondly, we all know these painted cycle lanes. OK they are useful at times, but you have to be aware they're not there for you all the time. You will come across breaks in the lane at junctions, at bus stops. There will be cars parked in them. And pedestrians - whether jogging or not. Road works. Other cyclists who happen to be slower than you. If you choose to use the lane, you have to be prepared to move out into the main carriageway to round an obstruction, at any time. If you can't do that because you can't manage cycling in the traffic, because you haven't mastered finding the gap and moving out, well you shouldn't be in the cycle lane.
Show a bit of consideration to other road users. There is no such thing as an exclusive cycle lane, in this country.

How much nicer it would have been, if you'd carefully overtaken the jogger with a cheery 'good morning' and he'd returned the compliment?[/QUOTE]

Firstly, i realised i headed the post 'joggers'..i should have said 'jogger'
I dont have a problem with joggers in general whatsoever. Just this one.

Not illegal to walk'walk or run in tne road / cyclelane..perhaps not, but what about obstruction, what about common sense and consideration of others safety and wellbeing. Putting someone at risk is unnacceptable and i dont doubt illegal. Try walking or jogging in the middle of the road and see how long it takes a copper to do you for it. Try riding a bike in the same manner....same result.

Pete, thats outrageous. You werent there. The jogger, drivers and myself ended in a close encounter. Had the been no cars, no problem. had he been another cyclist, no problem, its a cycle lane. It doesnt have a jogger symbol in it...just the cycle. Yes, i could have slowed to a near stop.....for how long ???? 1/2 a mile, what if the traffic had been heavy and i couldnt safely egt past...perhaps i should have got off and started jogging instead.
No....the jogger, perhaps not behaving outright illegally, was acting dangerously, selfishly and unneccessarily.
What is particually galling is that theres a footpath less than 6 feet from the road, running its entire length. Absolutely NO REASON for him being on the cyclelane WHATSOEVER.

Again, you werent there. 'Cycle lanes for cycles mate' i called. MATE being the operative word....infers a friendly'ish tone to my words to him. I didnt feel the need to go into one with him from the off.
He shouted back, i think something like wayhayyy....which infers he didnt give a toss about my needs or wellbeing.

I should state i am an ex jogger. Personally, i wouldnt run in the road with my back to the traffic. Its suicidal.

I wouldnt run on the road when theres a perfectly good path less than 6 feet away....and as an ex jogger i realise what you want is a good surface to run on. The path is equally good...i used to run on it.

I wouldnt behave in a way that would cause problems to others, peds, cyclists or traffic. Thats just being selfish and dangerous, even if its technically not against the law.

 

[Arch]

I should state i am an ex jogger. Personally, i wouldnt run in the road with my back to the traffic. Its suicidal.

There's the point perhaps, he was running on the wrong side of the road for a pedestrian, as suggested (I think it's a 'should', not a 'must') by the highway code. If he's going to make a habit of running in the road (seems odd if there's a perfectly good path), he needs to learn to run facing the traffic. Perhaps he just needs to be told that. When I commuted into the country, I came across a family (man, woman, kid in buggy), walking on the 'wrong' side (IE backs to the traffic), two or three times. One time a car had stopped to tell them it was safer on the other side, another time I stopped to do so. It took a few times, but eventually they got the message.

 

[Fnaar]

Despite my "push them out of the way" joke on p1, I'm a frequent jogger as well as cyclist. My rule #1 is give way to whoever. Politeness and civility is usually met with the same, and if it isn't, then you have the self-satisfaction of knowing that you are right.
I used to jog, years ago, with a friend, who seemed to use it as an opportunity to get rid of his anger. i stopped jogging with him when he shouted at a mother with pram/child to get out of the way. I felt the need to apologise to her on his behalf, told him he was being an an @rse and jogged off the opposite way! Personally I go out jogging or cycling for relaxation, not to get angry with anyone, which has the opposite of the desired effect.

 

[domtyler]

Saddening to see the attitudes on this thread, I would have though that cyclists would know better than to stoop to these levels. I suppose your cycle ride is far more important than their run. Hmm, I'm sure that sounds familiar!

 

[User482]

It's the use of ipods by joggers on shared paths that gets on my nerves - they can't hear my bell or voice and then they panic when I'm right behind them, as if it's my fault.

 

[gbb]

Saddening to see the attitudes on this thread, I would have though that cyclists would know better than to stoop to these levels. I suppose your cycle ride is far more important than their run. Hmm, I'm sure that sounds familiar!

LOL, who's that aimed at Dom.

Their run.....no, it was an individual jogger. That may be my fault, i said earlier the post was headed joggers, not jogger. It was an individual jogger that caused the problem.
Had their been a load of them....would my reaction been any different? No...not if the path was still useable. If it were full of peds and other joggers, of course i would never had a problem.

But this is an individual jogger, who despite having a perfectly good EMPTY path to use less than 6 feet away..decided to act in a selfish manner, jeopardising himself, me and other road users.

No excuses....if it were a cyclist on a busy path, he would quite rightly deserve the same critisism.

 

[domtyler]

LOL, who's that aimed at Dom.

Their run.....no, it was an individual jogger. That may be my fault, i said earlier the post was headed joggers, not jogger. It was an individual jogger that caused the problem.
Had their been a load of them....would my reaction been any different? No...not if the path was still useable. If it were full of peds and other joggers, of course i would never had a problem.

But this is an individual jogger, who despite having a perfectly good EMPTY path to use less than 6 feet away..decided to act in a selfish manner, jeopardising himself, me and other road users.

No excuses....if it were a cyclist on a busy path, he would quite rightly deserve the same critisism.

I don't think they pay road tax either!

 

[red_tom]

What I don't understand about joggers is their seeminlgly pathalogical desire to run in the middle of whatever path they are on, thus making it as hard as possible to pass them.

It's probably the camber. The middle of the road is the flattest place which is where you want to run if you value your knees.

 

[andy_wrx]

Not aimed at GBB or the particular incident described, but there are some awful attitudes on here.

I cycle, I run, I do tri's.


'Jogger' is a name which implies someone who runs slowly, for fitness/weight-control reasons, usually wearing a thick towelling track suit.
Call someone who would class themselves as a 'runner' a 'jogger' and you'll really insult them !
There doesn't seem to be an equivalent term for someone on a bike, implying that they're a total numpty and not a 'proper cyclist'


I personally wouldn't run with my back to traffic - in fact our running club are very keen on the importance of not doing this, and on wearing high-viz/reflectives at night, after one member was killed by a hit-and-run on a country lane a couple of years ago.

But some people do, just as some pillocks on bikes ride in dark clothes, no lights, on pavement or wrong side of road, wearing headphones and totally oblivious...

And sometimes as a runner you come-up behind some slower runner or pedestrian who seems intent on getting in your way, or someone with an out-of-control child or dog, or a dog who's got the lead stretched across the path, or one of these unlit pillock cyclists coming the other way straight at you...
...just as you would if you were cycling down that path.

There's all sorts of idiots out there, mostly just oblivious or too thick to realise that what they're doing is wrong or unsafe or just plain inconsiderate.
Some drive cars/trucks/buses/etc, some are on foot, some ride bikes

 

[gbb]

Ok lets try this again LOL

Riding on an urban road with a cycle lane. Theres a good footpath 5 ft away.
There is a moderate amount of traffic on the road. Its dark.

I'm riding along...i see a jogger in the cycle lane with his back to me and the traffic.

(Remember there is an EMPTY path 5 feet away. Its a good path, i used to jog on it myself).

I start to ease off, look for the gap in the traffic. Thankyou to the Audi driver who saw the three of us were going to meet, held back and allowed me to use the road itself to pass the jogger.
I know it was an Audi, because i was concentrating on the traffic to find the gap.
A previous poster thinks maybe i dont have the skills to deal with traffic, perhaps i shouldnt be on the road/cyclepath !!! Laughable.


As i pass the jogger, i said 'cycle lanes for cyclists mate'
Remember that word 'mate'...kinda friendly aint it. Kinda infers a friendly opening response.

Jogger replys in an apparently comical fashion 'wahayyyy'..or similar.

He's endangered himself.
He's endangered me.
He's caused a car driver to slow and all the other cars behind to do the same.
That in itself could cause an accident for any one of the car drivers.

Perhaps he thinks its funny ??? Perhaps he thinks i should be on the path ???
Perhaps hes a (expletive deleted) who just likes to be awkward.


I was polite up to the point he thought it was apparently comical. My patience and sympathy ends at that point.
Remember, i was polite at first...he chose not to be in return. He then deserves no better.
A w@nker sign was my weapon of choice IN RESPONSE to a idiotic gesture from the jogger.


Compare it to a similar situation....
you are walking up an empty narrow path...There is a perfectly good wide cycle path 5 feet away.
A cyclist rides up your path...and forces you into the road. Cyclist rides off into the dark...laughing 'wahayyyyyyy'

Tell me thats all right !!!!!

Its EXACTLY the same scenario reversed.





Sounds like a rant...its not. I'm perfectly happy with my response to the joggers response to me.
Hopefully aforementioned jogger has had time to reflect.....
perhaps its best not to uneccessarily endanger all and sundry.....when theres a perfectly good, empty path 5 feet away.
Perhaps when someone enters in into a dialogue with you..in a friendly manner..perhaps its not wise or polite to answer in a 'comical' or frivolous fashion.
It does tend to irk some people....cant understand why !!!!

 

[Andy in Sig]

There doesn't seem to be an equivalent term for someone on a bike, implying that they're a total numpty and not a 'proper cyclist'

.

BMX-er?

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

It's probably the camber. The middle of the road is the flattest place which is where you want to run if you value your knees.

Thats not a problem for me at all, if joggers ran in the middle of the road life would be easy, and it would be totally understandable them seeking the most stable ground for their knees (especially so as I am the owner of a pair of very sensitive knees).

The trouble is not that they run in the middle of the path 2 abrest, because in general they don't, its that they will spread themselves as far apart as possible and not just in the middle. It just makes passing them very difficult.

I must say though that the boot camp training people who use Battersea Park are excellent at sharing the park with cyclists on the road. They marshall their "troops" into a nice 2 abrest paceline and have themselves acting as outriders (outrunners?). No need to slow down as there is plenty of room to make a safe pass, everyone is happy.

 

[Pete]

I think jogging came before us. Didn't it all start with Phaedippides, doing his 26-miler to tell the Athenians their army had just beaten the cr@p out of Persia? And maybe before then, even.

You need to chill out, GBB, mate! And you know exactly what I mean by that word! It doesn't mean I've just beaten you at chess. It doesn't mean a proposition for sex ! No, used in the context and tone of voice that you almost certainly adopted, it's accusatory and slightly confrontational. No need to waffle! If I'd been the jogger, and I'd been 'mate'd in that way, I'd have responded in like manner, pertinently, too. Mate.

And I don't need to be reminded that 'I wasn't there'. In some situations, true, being present at the scene might help. I wasn't in Dallas on 22 November 1963. I wasn't in Paris on 31 August 1997. So I can't be certain, at first hand, what happened on those occasions. But - in my (considerable) lifetime I've cycled up and down the country, urban and rural likewise. I know what these painted cycle lanes are like, and what the're all about. I don't need to have witnessed your particular instance. These lanes are not a safe haven for cyclists, we all know that. As much as anything they're a convenience for motorists - drivers will tend to pass you closer if you're on a lane, than when overtaking you on an unmarked carriageway. OK, I use them sometimes, mainly because if I stay outside the lane I get aggro from following drivers who think I ought to be in it. Happens to all of us. But how many times, on such a lane, have you been almost brushed by a passing bus within inches of your elbow? Too many times, I'll bet on it! And I expect there to be obstructions: I don't get hot and bothered about them.

These lanes are not for novice cyclists: I'm not calling you a novice of course, I'm sure you're experienced enough to take them on. But would you put a kid on stabilisers on the cycle lane, alongside a busy road? Of course not! Might as well order a coffin for him!

So, give this jogger a chance, please, even if you consider him in the wrong. He chooses the cycle lane because he doesn't want to be obstructed by pedestrians. Even if the pavement was clear, he stuck to his habits. He didn't cause you any more danger than any other obstruction would have. You were prepared for him and managed accordingly. Let him jog in peace.

 

[Blue]

Some of the attitudes in this thread are beyond belief.

Joggers castigated for using i-pods - and cyclists don't!!

Joggers castigated for being in the 'wrong' place - as if cyclists never are!!

Joggers castigated for not talking - some cyclists seem to have their heads so far up their own arses that I doubt that they would speak to their own mothers when 'training'!!

Running races labelled as boring - and cycling races aren't (apart from the last 500m)!!

Maybe my area is unique (I doubt it), but I see far more inappropriate behaviour exhibited by cyclists than joggers as I go about my daily life.

As I said on Pg1 of this thread - "live and let live".