Wednesday, October 11, 2006

My first collision on Provo River Parkway

It's the 11th of the month, must be time for a blog post...

I was riding the Provo River Parkway in Provo Canyon this afternoon on my sweet road bike (my next road bike will be a sweet, sweet road bike I hope) when I hit a pedestrian for the first time. There was a group of small boys playing in the woods off the trail and their parents were on the other side of the trail walking away while calling to their sons/friends. Being moderately observant, I quickly surmised that young boys were about to run across the trail in front of me without looking. Which they did. No problem, I was going way slow we didn't even come close.

The problem was that a third boy, deeper in the trees whom I did not see, also came out onto the trail. And that would have been ok if he had been facing forward while he was walking down the trail. Which he wasn't. I weaved a couple times trying to guess where he was going to go. I guessed wrong and hit him at a very slow speed. Well, actually, it was more like he walked into me just as I came to a stop. Fortunately, I de-clipped my pedal just in time to avoid a turtle. Nobody got hurt, he barely came to a stop and all was well.

What does the careful cyclist learn from this experience? Well, I learned three things. First, be very careful when small children are present on the trail. Very very careful. Excessively careful. Second, teach my small children to be careful when walking on the Provo River Parkway Trail. Third, ride somewhere else. The parkway trail is a pedestrian path. It's sad but true. I was talking to one of my neighbors about it tonight and he said he doesn't even ride the parkway trail anymore and suggested a nice 18 mile loop near our houses. Now that's a good neighbor and he's even in my LDS Stake Presidency. That's enough for me, Church leaders must be inspired after all ;).

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Dear Mike,

Thanks for the story. I have recently begun to ride the Provo River Parkway trail from Utah Lake to Vivian Park and back. I throughly enjoy the ride. It is peaceful and no motorized traffic. I hate riding around cars, they never see you. I've already been hit by a car and run off the road by another. On the Provo River trail I haven't had any problem with children, My only problem is coming up on 4 women walking abrest taking up the whole trail. I avoid the trail on Saturdays and usually ride it in the morning on weekdays when kids are at school. However school is going to be out soon and my plan to avoid running over little kids will soon reach an end. You said a friend of yours showed you an 18 mile loop. Would you mind sharing that with me? Or is it like a coveted fishing hole but for cycling, you're not allowed to share ;).

Jason said...

I am a scout leader working on the cycling merit badge. I was considering taking the guys to the Provo River Parkway. However, if you could share where the 18 mile loop is, that would be awesome.