Skating around people

[reaver]

Question for the SFers that commute.

When you guys hit a sidewalk or area with people walking, do you attempt to make your way around them on the board or do you step off and walk through until it clears out? Do you ask them to move?

Something funny i noticed with my friend (Sancho) is that when we skate on the sidewalk sometimes, he'll be in front and pass somebody walking. They see his huge ass Ed Economy and stop in the middle of the sidewalk making me have to get off my board and walk around them. I don't want to be like "Excuse me" or "watch out!".

[bucksaw87]

usually i try to skate through gaps in people...but it's a huge pain in the ass when they hear you coming and walk RIGHT INTO YOUR PATH! *cough*dumbass*cough*
then again, my board's a foot smaller than Ed E (well, 9 inches, but whatevs) so it's a smidgen more maneuverable

[criminy]

I usualy shout "outa the way grom!" or replace grom with noob and if thiers plural people, i call them groms.

[satori]

lay down the foot break behind them to slow down. usually they hear it and move. it's not people's responsibility to move for skaters who can't control their boards.

another option is the airhorn.

[LawlessPat]

Clapping sometimes works (especially with gloves on)... So does "Hey! Comin' through!"

You're always going to find the inevitable moron who dodges directly into your line though...some people are just evolutionary dead ends I suppose...

[pavedwave]

lay down the foot break behind them to slow down. usually they hear it and move. it's not people's responsibility to move for skaters who can't control their boards.

another option is the airhorn.

or shred some hard turns and burn a little urethane to make noise if you don't want to footbrake. but the footbrakes loudest and very effective at short range, when all else fails.

singing to your mp3-- the worse your singing voice the more effective it is.

[Irie]

I say what side I'm passing on or they hear me coming and move out of the way.

[BetterSense]

it's not people's responsibility to move for skaters who can't control their boards.

I agree; I just wish they wouldn't move, rather than trying to get out of the way.

[karrot]

i just hit them. i dont know how to foot brake

[stanthenewguy]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I'm with Karrot, take the militant view on it. We share sidewalks with these people, the least they could do is keep their eyes open and watch out.

I was skating the other day in the "downtown" area of my town, it was'nt that crowed so I figured I would be safe. Then , wham, some stupid chick my age on her cellphone stops right in front of me, I had maybe a foot to stop. She was so embarressed when she figured out I ws behind her.

I just wish people would get off of their phones and iPods and enjoy the sounds of nature.

Baxter

[PuppY_K1ck3R]

I say what side I'm passing on or they hear me coming and move out of the way.

yup same here especially when going through market. but powell is much worse with everyone gawking at everything.

[jkaps]

I try to stay on the streets if its not to busy.

[satori]

i figure we should be able to stop almost* as quick as bikes while commuting. if someone jumps out in front of you, they'd get hit no matter what you're riding. but clipping walkers from behind is lame.

[pavedwave]

not only is clipping walkers lame, its illegal on public paths. not to mention the permanent damage it does to the reputation of skateboarders. learn to footbrake!

[mojomuskrat]

I usually try to give the bike trail standard "on your left" when I pass a pedestrian, but that usually causes them to look behind them, then sidestep to their left right into my path. So usually after a few instances of this in one day, I'll switch to a "what they don't know is less won't hurt them" strategy and just blow past. By the time they realized what happened, its too late for them to jump in my way, they're too busy wringing out their shorts.

What I don't understand is how the roar of my bearings and the thunderous "blap blap blap" of 'thane over pavement cracks doesn't tip them off that something is coming their way? All my boards are noisy as hell...

[3toes]

Most riders stick to the streets around here if possible. The peds don't put up with it, they'll throw a clothesline in a second. Oh, and then you have our cops who like to push people off of their boards

And I'm all for it (not the cop part). I certainly hate it when some jacka## is wrecklessly weaving through pedestrian traffic on our narrow sidewalks, so I avoid it myself. Just like with my bike, it just doesn't belong on a busy sidewalk.

[hagendolch]

Do unto others is my philosophy. I stop and walk. By the same token, when a pedestrian, I do not yield to bikers on the sidewalk. Bikes belong in the street.

It is a shame the US does not have wide sidewalks with multiple lanes (pedestrian, bike, moped) like some areas of Germany. That would be great.

[revelation2]

They don't call it an axe for nothing...

[caligo]

Sometimes the 'tween-class rush is so thick it's somewhat redundant for me to be on the board, when it clears up a bit I'll shift my weight back and forth a bit on the board when I'm about to overtake someone. I seem to have the squeakiest bushings/pivot caps known to man. If that grating squeege sound dosen't drill right to the center of your brain I don't know what will, I could probably take my board to a construction site and they'd still be audible.

[ocian]

most people will move but for the few who have no effing clue about anything going on around them, I dont care if I hit them and I have.

What's even worse is passing someone and after you pass, they jump out of the way and scream "OMG!" like you rudely startled them and jumping wildly after the fact helps anything

though I must admit, I will throw a nice carve wheel grunt in to scare girls. One girl screamed so loud and her boyfriend started laughing his ass off