Bikes? Okay! People? Can someone explain this to me?

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Hello Mr. Bicyclist, thank you for staying as far to the right as you can while I carefully make my way around you to keep you and me safe

Hello Jackass Jogger, there is a sidewalk that is specifically paved FOR YOU. Mr. Bicyclist is NOT ALLOWED on that sidewalk, why the hell are you jogging in the middle of the street?

Does anyone jog/run/walk on a daily or consistent basis? Can anyone explain this mentality of joggers jogging IN the street rather than on the nice sidewalk that is there FOR THEM? (Especially when they're making their way around a blind turn in the MIDDLE OF THE STREET.)

I swear if they don't want it let the bicyclists on it, pretty sure they'd appreciate not having to fear dimwitted drivers nearly smashing into them. Joggers apparently think because they jog they're made of adamantium. (This goes quadruple annoyance when the jogger has one of those jogging strollers and they're in the street with it. AHG!)

[bhskittykatt]

I know some of the sidewalks around here are pretty crappy with tree roots poking up through the sidewalk, blackberry vines sticking out, low-hanging branches also sticking out, so joggers will prefer the street.

Though early this morning, when it was still dark, I saw a jogger decked all out in navy blue (the worst color to wear when it's dark out, unless you are a ninja), with only tiny reflectors, in the middle of a moderately busy street, where the sidewalk I happen to know is perfectly fine. I think she may have just had a death wish.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I know some of the sidewalks around here are pretty crappy with tree roots poking up through the sidewalk, blackberry vines sticking out, low-hanging branches also sticking out, so joggers will prefer the street.

Okay so let me be more clear because that is a fairly legitimate reason -

In my neck of the woods all the sidewalks are very nicely paved and smooth, with maybe the occasional root breaking through that is easily jogged over and only a few stray bushes tickling the edge, but both of these are very rare.

So, in the case of these very nice sidewalks... why are these joggers in the middle of the street?

[Andara Bledin]

Asphalt is less hard than concrete and slightly easier on the body to jog on. Supposedly, concrete is about 10 times harder than asphalt, so you definitely don't want to run on it for any length of time if you have a choice.

That's still no excuse to be in the street blocking traffic.

^-.-^

[Silvercat]

If it's a stretch that has a lot of driveways, it's really hard on the knees and hips to have one side going up and down all the time. You still should be as far over as you can.

[BlaqueKatt]

Though early this morning, when it was still dark, I saw a jogger decked all out in navy blue (the worst color to wear when it's dark out, unless you are a ninja), with only tiny reflectors, in the middle of a moderately busy street, where the sidewalk I happen to know is perfectly fine. I think she may have just had a death wish.

while cycling in the fog(I have many reflective items, and enough flashing lights that adding techno music would classify me as a moving rave), wearing grey, nothing reflective, headphones in and blaring, jogging in the middle of the lane...with traffic. I bike normally around 15-20 mph, was going around 6mph(limit is 35 on that street), I didn't see her until I was less than 3 feet from her. Had I been a motor vehicle, she'd be an ex-jogger. yes I stopped, yes I yelled, got a deer in headlights look when I asked if she had a death wish because I almost hit her and she couldn't see or hear me coming.

[Aethian]

Wait...you were cycling with grey? Or was the runner in grey?

[Andara Bledin]

The runner with the death wish was wearing grey... in the fog... in the middle of the lane...

^-.-^

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I think our sidewalks are paved with the same exact stuff as the street because they redo the sidewalks when they redo the street.
If that's the case though, wouldn't jogging on the grass/soil be easier on the joints than jogging on either the pavement or street? (My area is also known for nice lawns as the people who tend to their law actually tend to the little strip of grass between the sidewalk and the road.)

[Andara Bledin]

Yes, jogging on grass would be easier on the body than cement or asphalt. However, the grass of people's lawns is private property while the sidewalk and street are not, and there can be hidden danger in lawns, such as sprinkler heads.

^-.-^

[Jetfire]

We've got a flock of joggers that do a loop through a suburb next to my work. They usually do the loop just after the end of business (~ 5:30). The problem? That loop is the same loop that the buses run through. While service is only half hourly, the buses going each way tend to cross there, so pretty much every evening when I take the bus home, the driver has to dodge the running flock that's going in the middle of the road. *sigh*

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Yes, jogging on grass would be easier on the body than cement or asphalt. However, the grass of people's lawns is private property while the sidewalk and street are not, and there can be hidden danger in lawns, such as sprinkler heads.

^-.-^

Actually, IIRC, the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street is public property, just like the sidewalk.

Another thing that bothers me, (though this really only applies to my specific area) is that we have a highschool track that is MADE for running and jogging on -it has that weird rubber material - and it's open to the public except during a track meet. I wish they would go there to do their jogging, it would be safer for them and, as I have learned from this thread, better for their joints!

[Andara Bledin]

But that would make too much sense! We can't have that, now, can we?

I suspect the biggest problem is that it requires special planning and actually going somewhere. Taking a run through your own neighborhood can be much more spontaneous, even when it's scheduled.

^-.-^

[AmbrosiaWriter]

But that would make too much sense! We can't have that, now, can we?

I suspect the biggest problem is that it requires special planning and actually going somewhere. Taking a run through your own neighborhood can be much more spontaneous, even when it's scheduled.

^-.-^

So is getting run over by a landscaping truck going around a double blind S curve. (Yes, there is a double blind S curve in my neighborhood and joggers love to be in the middle of the street going around it.)

Okay, I'll be less angry at the joggers, but I will retain my rage at people who are walking on the road with their kids, strollers with babies, or their pets. If you want to get hit by a car fine, but put your kids and pets on the sidewalk! Oh, or the people who have the jog in groups that form up a horizontal line.

[Andara Bledin]

Oh, anything I have to say about people with kids under, say, 6 jaywalking is better suited for Fratching.

^-.-^