Claire’s face shows a mix of confusion and disaffection. “What’s up kid?” Her incredulity starts to boil over. “Did you hear what that lady said to me?” I did not. “She said ‘Rider Up!’ and then she rolled straight through me!” Okay, I did hear that. “I was climbing, so I had the right of way! Right?! I had to pull over or she would have hit me!”
She said “rider up” in a friendly way, so most likely she doesn’t know the convention that descending riders are supposed to yield to a rider who is climbing. It’s not something you boldly see noted on signs and a lot of folks have just never been taught. “But I couldn’t restart in that section and I had push my bike.” Yep, that’s why the uphill rider technically has the right of way on multi-directional trails.
“Why technically?” Because it’s actually courtesy that dictates right of way. When two courteous riders meet the convention is to let the person fighting gravity ride through. On any trail we can power ourselves up it’s going to be much easier for the downhill rider to restart.
{Title Photo: Steve & Meg @Hardtail.Life}
Regardless of the standard convention, in any life situation, right of way has to be given or taken. Life is chock-a-block full of all-way stops and sometimes we arrive at exactly the same time as someone else. And maybe we wave them through, or maybe they wave us through, or sometimes they just step on the gas and go. And sometimes when they go the car behind jumps right on their bumper and goes as well.
Yes, the person double-tapping the stop sign is an asshole, but they’re getting what they want and they can be all but certain they aren’t going to see any repercussions. No accident as everyone else is stopped, watching; waiting their turn. No ticket because enforcement is all but non-existent. And as traffic is ever increasing more and more people, most of them probably nice folks to meet in person, are going to be aggressively trying to fight for as many seconds of their time as they can claw back.
Individually, and nationally, I’m sad to say that much of the world is in a phase right now where folks are taking what they want because they’re dispossessed of grace and have realized there is no real will to stop them. Power, territory, and lives. We talk about defensive driving and a general wariness in being pedestrians and cyclists in an aggressively car-centric society. We talk about Russia in Ukraine, China in the Philippines, Israel in the Palestinian territories, the United States government in women’s reproductive health. It’s all related.
Individually, and nationally, true or false, folks feel they are paying more, time and treasure, and falling further behind. Less wealth, less opportunity, less respect, less dominion. On a human level they have to fight to take what they need and to keep what they have. On a country level it’s why the next Prime Minister of Canada will be whomever promises the deepest cuts to immigration and the boldest increases in military spending.
And, since the folks who take the most from our society in terms of the workforce we educate and the infrastructure we build have the power to avoid paying their share of the costs, those increases in military spending will require budget cuts that affect the things that make our society strong, interesting, and compassionate.
I would still guess that your generation’s biggest fight will be against environmental catastrophe. But now I also think we’ll have to fight just to ensure you can enjoy the quality and access of healthcare and education that previous decades of Canadians have taken for granted. Sadly, when it comes to spending priorities, the powers that be are not going to just yield those privileges to you.
“But I still had the right of way.” Yes, yes, right. And if next time you feel that strongly about it. If you really want to stop in the middle of the trail and have an argument with a stranger about how they should have yielded to you. I’ll back you up one hundred percent. And I’ll say it again, if anyone ever hits you going uphill or downhill they’re going to have an experience.
But, I do think there are more than enough worthy battles that we could probably choose to not let her lack of courtesy ruin our mountain bike ride? “Sort of like how you ‘totally’* didn’t get mad when that Tesla ran the stop sign on Keith Road, and almost hit us as the driver forced her way into traffic and then you talked about it all the way to school?“
Oh. Um. Yeah. Touché.
*{‘totally‘ in air quotes.}
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