It's been a while since I rode the W&OD trail, but even in the mid-90s when I rode it regularly, there was a mix of users that could only lead to disasters. one one end were the Lance Armstrong wannabes going well above the posted speed limits. At the other end were the small children on training wheels with their escorting adults. The first group went far too fast and the other far too slow and could be somewhat erratic about holding a line. Then there were the walkers, often strung out three or four abreast, and perhaps worst of all, the roller-bladers, who sometimes, without warning, turned their forward momentum into a 360-degree spin--sometimes right in front of a cyclist.
I'm not sure what can be done about Armstrong wannabes. A heavily traveled trail is not a good place for anyone who still needs training wheels and can't stay fairly close to the posted speed. Maybe we need separate trails or at least separate lanes for walkers and bladers. This would leave the recreational/fitness cyclists to sort it out with the speeders.

Thanks to the post for this article

There are a number of underlying problems:

- a shortage of standalone bike trails - both cross country and paved

- a shortage of bike lanes as part of or alongside highways

- the intolerance of local drivers to cyclists on roads - in most developed countries, drivers learn to indicate and pass safely around cyclists e.g. leaving as much space as you would a car. That doesn't happen often here, I've seen a number of inexcusable near misses along roads such as the relatively quiet 4 lane sections of lawyers road even when the second lane is clear - drivers just couldn't be bothered to behave safely (banning cellphones in cars might help that)

I and my 7 year old daughter (no training wheels) are W&OD bike and foot users and yes it is an issue. A particular problem is fast cyclists overtaking children in the face of oncoming groups without leaving adequate time.

Its also an issue on the cross-county trail where speeding mountain bikers can pose a significant danger to families on walks through the woods and adult runners

Three thoughts:

Users of mixed use resources such as bike trails, where small kids and need to put safety of others first, even if they have a good pace going

There is a desperate need for more bike and foot trails (and parks) especially as we infill every space in the county

Road crossing points need particular attention on the W&OD

I agree with what was already said.

Speed is a factor in many accidents. It is not always the case, but when you couple crowding with speed, you have the potential for more crashes. I would like to see a max speed posted on the trail. That provides a guideline for expected behavior. And if you happen to be walking along and get mowed down and injured by a pace line, then at least, it is that much easier for your plaintiff's lawyer to show that they were behaving in a negligent and unacceptable fashion.

As an almost daily trail user, I've noticed the proliferation of training groups and of gaggles of trail users moving together who don't observe basic safety precautions. These folks are often bicyclists - but not always - who tend to be going too fast and yes, they tend not to ring bells or call out their position or behave according to common trail etiquette.

One of my friends had her foot broken when she was surprised by a group like the one mentioned in the Post article - they didn't even notice they had run her off the trail - it was a group of guys talking, riding two abreast and crowding, not caring about others. She knew they were a group because they had on the same jerseys. They were oblivious that they hurt someone. Another bicycling friend was also overtaken and clipped by another of these groups passing. Again, it was a group in the same jersey (different from the group who hit the first friend), indicating a training group or club. He was injured. At least a guy from the group who hit him stopped. I frequently notice near collisions by community centers, like the one in Vienna. Despite all the signage about pedestrians and children crossing, some people just feel they have to gun their speed where they should not.

The trail is not the best place for group training or large group rides during high volume times. If you want to train in a large group, then you should be notifying the park manager as to when you are out there. You are supposed to do that anyway, whether you are sponsoring a large running workout or a bicycling workout or whatever. They don't charge you. It's for your own safety. They know where to focus their efforts to ensure safety.

There is a Trail Patrol who are all volunteers and include bicyclists, roller bladers, hikers and runners out there to help. But they can't be everywhere and they can't deal with every situation. If you are a frequent trail user, then consider joining the Trail Patrol.

Please wear a helmet, use a bell, observe safe speed for the conditions you are riding in, look out before you pass, and do all the things that keep you and your fellow humans (and their pets!) safe. Accidents happen, but we'd have fewer of them if people just used a little common sense. Also, if you walk or run with your pet, please keep your pet on a leash and close to you. It is horrible to be on a bike and startled by an animal changing direction in front of you or galloping toward your wheel. We have all experienced that at one time or other.

Since other area trails post a 15 mph speed limit, I favor posting something similar for the W&OD Trail, at least in the highly trafficked areas and near towns. I'd like to see a lower speed posted in the area of features like the Vienna and Herndon community centers and where side trails suddenly rejoin. As the previous post indicates, telling people an acceptable speed may well set up a standard of care and acceptable behavior for trail users.

I could go for a speed limit in high-traffic areas, especially on weekends, but not trail-wide. For me, breaking any speed limit is beyond my current physical capabilities, but I don't begrudge the speedier folks their right to train by doing the length of the trail in a reasonable timeframe.

Around the community centers, yes -- a speed limit is a good idea.

But the bottom line is that basic courtesy would go a long way toward solving any recurring trail problems.

And get out and explore the Cross County Trail, which is a lot of fun for cyclists.

I know that weekend traffic on the W&OD can be heavy, but I regularly commute on a portion of the W&OD inside the beltway and do not understand how Ms. Rondeaux refers to to the rush hour commute as "stop and go" or to the trail as a "clogged commuter alley". Perhaps her description refers to a different section of the trail. I have a very pleasant bike commute and do not encounter such great numbers of other trail users that my ride is in anyway impeded. Furthermore, if she is shocked by the narrowness of the trail, I would invite her to take a ride on the Rock Creek Park trail which is only half the width of the W&OD at its widest points!

As for safety on the trail, I do not appreciate the fact that the article and many of the comments that I have read seem to suggest that the onus of trail safety rests soley upon the biker, when in fact every person on the trail has an equal responsibility to protect their own and other users' safety. Cyclists are being harangued for their speediness and lack of caution and there are certainly many bikers out there who fail to warn before passing or slow down around a wobbly young biker. However, I have come across a fair share of pedestrians, joggers, etc., who walk on the wrong side of the trail, walk three or four abreast or allow their pets to get so close that they jump up and lick me as I ride by (yes, that has actually happened to me). Lack of adherence to trail rules and etiquette by pedestrians is just as dangerous (and rude) as when perpetrated by a cyclist.

A true story which illustrates my point: I was once riding along the W&OD on a portion of the trail that goes downhill and around a curve next to a creek. It had recently rained, so a section of the trail was covered in sand. As I reached the bottom of the hill and turned around the curve I was horrified to find a three-year-old boy sitting in the middle of the trail playing in the sand while his mother stood on the side of the trail and watched!!! I told the woman that her child was going to get run over if she let him sit there. She did nothing but shrug her shoulders in response.

Creating a separate path for cyclists sound ideal - if the funds are available to lay down 45 miles of new trail and if there is enough land on the side of the existing trail to make room for it. In the meantime, it may be useful to better educate ALL trail users as to proper etiquette on the trail. It seems that signs posted along the trail to make users aware of the rules are all too infrequent. (Hotels located near the various trails in the area as well as bike rental facilities need to pay special attention to educating tourists. I come across many tourists who stand in the middle of the trail taking pictures or looking at maps, when I warn them that I am passing on their left they stop and look around to see where that voice is coming from and when they finally see me they move to the left!)

Perhaps we could have some police officers or park rangers regularly patrol the trails and actually enforce the rules to let users know that safety is taken seriously on the trails.

Auto drivers also need to be educated about safe driving around cyclists. I can't tell you how many times a car has come within inches of my bike when trying to get in front of me (I've even have police cruisers do this). There is no reason for a driver to pull into a biker's lane BEFORE passing!

What you say about pedestrians needing to pay attention is fair, Commuter. I've bike commuted for years, as well as run. I've seen the folks who insist on walking on the wrong side of the trail (especially startling if you come around a bend or down a hill). The occasional unattended child is a shock and I've seen a couple of them over my many years wheeling to work.

As a bicyclist, I've always tried to be extremely polite. I also run and I try very hard not to be the oblivious sort and to make sure I'm going in a predictable, straight path.

Okay, we ALL need to do better. We all need to look out for each other.

Nevertheless, under the norms of trail etiquette, the wheeled must give way to those on foot and we who are on bikes are in the position to do the most harm with our ability to generated much higher speeds. We need to watch that when we encounter trail traffic, especially peds.

I have definitely noticed that when I cross roads as a runner, most cars stop and give way. They see us in our running role as pedestrians, I guess. Repeating that same attempt as a bicyclist is not always met with the same response. I suddenly feel as if I'm viewed as a competitor or something. My least favorite crossings are Cedar Lane, Hunter Mill, and that mess over by the motel in Arlington (blanking on the road, but it's near EFC).

When I drive where a trail crosses the road, I slow down when I see trail crossing signs and I look up and down for people. I see many people who do the same, but not enough. It only takes a few seconds to make a mistake you'll regret for the rest of your life. Look for people crossing the road, please.

Btw, I've also not noticed the trail to be as crowded at rush hour as the story indicates. That sounded more like a weekend condition. It's not lonely, but it's not anything like the Beltway, as the article seemed to imply.

Anyway, no matter what you do to get around on the trail, you have to watch out for yourself and out of a decent sense of humanity you have to watch out for other people. I don't think any of us want to be involved in an accident where someone is injured.

I am still shaken by the time I ran by a bicyclist with a severe head injury along the Mt Vernon Trail near Washington Sailing Marina. I was shocked. There were already a couple guys working on him. I couldn't tell the cause, couldn't tell if he had a helmet on (I didn't see one), and never saw much coverage of it. I read a brief mention of a fatality and suppose it was him. It was horrible, it was shocking, to think the guy was just happily riding along and then, boom, he was out cold and bleeding. Accidents are terrible things.

I agree with previous comments that the serious crowding is mostly a weekend phenomenon. I can typically commute from Vienna to the Custis trail in Arlington and only see a handful of people on the trails.

I also agree with prior comments that at peak times it's more than just an issue of speeding cyclists, and everyone needs to take responsibility for trail safety. I would, however, note that for every person I see that creates a hazard I see 10 more that are behaving entirely appropriately, so there's no need to go out there expecting everyone to be a dangerous jerk.

Finally, with respect to road crossings I think that really a lot of drivers are perfectly happy to stop for bikes, but at some intersections they just don't see the cyclists. For instance, at the crossing by the rec center in Vienna I almost always have someone stop for me, and I know from driving there that there's plenty of visibility. On the other hand just up the trail at Cedar, you usually get passed by several cars before one stops. It seems like they're just people who don't want to stop at first, but since I drive on Cedar fairly frequently I know that you really just can't see the cyclists unless they stick their nose out into the intersection. I expect it's the same way at Hunter Mill and the other locations that were mentioned.

As a once/week commuter user of the W&OD from Loudoun County to Gallows Rd and a recreational user (both running and cycling) out to Leesburg, I concur with the point that safety is a shared responsibility of all users. Common courtesy by all is a good starting point.

We should all try the Golden Rule. If you as a walker or runner don't like herds of cyclists riding two abreast crowding the lane, then you should likewise be walking single file and not be taking up a full lane or more. When the trail is crowded, all users (runners, cyclists, walkers, and bladers) should go single file and be more mindful of those around us.

Speaking of being mindful, how about those iPods. How can someone wearing an iPod be mindful of those around them? Too many times, I have shouted out "on your left" (both running and riding) only to get no response and to find the person plugged in and tuned out. Is one allowed to drive a car with headphones on? No. Why not? Because it is harder to know what is going on around you and to react in a safe manner. If a speed limit is needed, so is a ban on headphones.

As to the tone of the Post's article, it had the feel of a Fox 5 news clip - lots of hype. But how else to sell the product? Would it get your interest to hear that there are a few more people on the trail and there are a few spots where it can get a bit crowded once in a while? Better to sell it like there is a Beltway backup.

-Jim

Jim, you'd be surprised at folks who will defend listening to music with headphones and claim that they can hear you just fine. I have absolutely bellowed from my bike to alert runners and walkers listening to music and have not been heard, nor has my very loud bell been heard. I don't run with music when I run because I like to hear every sound around me. You have to be aware of your surroundings. One suggestion I had seen was that if you have to have music to exercise, run with one ear bud out.

Clay makes a good point about Cedar versus Park Street (near the Vienna Community Center). Visibility plays a big role. Drivers are more courteous on Park because they can see you coming and are not startled. Cars cannot see you well at some crossings. Cedar is one of them. Hunter Mill is another. I slow down and look up and down the trail when I'm in my car, but I know that not everyone does that. Those of us who use the trail are more likely to think about it. The yellow signs don't seem to affect some drivers as much as they should.

Another dangerous condition is folks who are stuck at work and commuting home in failing light along the trail. Be especially careful of them at crossings, when you are driving as we get into the fall. Not everyone has the most visiblelights and gear. A lot of day laborers commute along the trail between jobs and they tend not to have the high end light sets and the high tech reflective clothes on. You have to look harder for cyclists, especially at this time of year as the days get shorter.