Bicycle/Jogging Trail Etiquette

My past posts concerning cycling have all had to do with bikes on the road, but many cyclists spend most of their time on trails. There is a certain etiquette that is expected of all users of a bike trail, whether on two wheels, more wheels, or no wheels. (By bike trail, I mean a paved trail intended for use by the public for walking, biking, jogging, roller skating, etc. Rails-to-trails projects are good examples of what I mean. I do not mean mountain bike trails--I have no knowledge of the etiquette on those trails.)

A long time ago, trail users were few and everyone just "knew" the etiquette or picked it up by watching others. These days, trails are much more popular (this is a good thing), but no one ever teaches people trail etiquette. The following are just a few of the rules. If you think of some that I've left out, please feel free to add them in the comments section.

1. Keep right. This is the most fundamental rule of trail etiquette. It doesn't matter if you're riding a bike, jogging, or out for a Sunday stroll. You should keep to the right half of the trail. Trails (usually) have no center line, but neither do some roads and on those roads, cars are also expected to keep right. It's the same thing. It is, in fact, mildly rude to be jogging up the left side of the trail and forcing those going the other direction to go around you, yet I encounter many people doing just that every time I ride a trail. I used to run regularly on trails--that's how I learned trail etiquette, so I know it's the same for everyone. Keep right!
   
2. Pass left. If everyone is keeping to the right then obviously you need to pass on the left, correct? Apparently not; I have been within a foot of the right-hand side of a trail and had another cyclist actually leave the trail to pass me on the right. He gave no warning that he was passing (see below) and blew by at high speed. There was plenty of room on the left for him to pass since we were the only two on that section of the trail.
   
   A corollary to this one is that you need to look behind you before moving left to pass. For all you know, someone else is about to pass you on the left and if you move out in front of them there could be a nasty crash.
   
3. Give warning before passing. You need to warn others before you pass them, whether it's a shouted warning (I usually yell, "Bike on the left!"), a bell, a horn, or some other audible warning, you need to make some sound. Not doing so is not only extremely rude, it's downright dangerous. People on trails have a tendency to suddenly change direction without warning--you never know when something on the left side of the trail will get a pedestrian's attention; they could turn right in front of you without warning.
   
   You need to give your warning early enough that those you are overtaking can react by (hopefully) acknowledging the warning and/or moving out of the way. Scaring the daylights out of some poor old woman out walking her dog by yelling from a foot behind her and blowing by before she has a chance to let the words sink in is not cool.
   
   Since you're giving warning early, the sound has to be loud enough to be heard more than a foot away from you. I've heard people mutter "bike passing" before passing someone, but I could barely hear them and I was only a couple of feet away; the people they were passing never had a chance.
   
4. Turn the volume down on headphones. This rule used to be "don't wear headphones", but headphones while working out (or even just walking somewhere) are so prevalent now that the rule has to be modified. If you are wearing headphones, turn the volume down to a level that allows you to hear what's going on around you. This isn't a matter of me not wanting to hear your music; I'm only going to be next to you for a moment, so I don't care about that. This is a matter of you wanting to hear my warning that I'm going to pass. It does no good for me to give a warning if you can't hear it. I don't know how many times I've called out a warning and then scared the daylights out of someone as I passed them because they had headphones on, so had no idea I was there. I try to give people with headphones a wide berth, both to avoid scaring them and because I don't know if they heard me, so might just turn right in front of me.
   
5. Don't block the trail. If you stop to talk to someone, both of you step off the side of the trail if possible. If it's not possible to step off the trail, then stand as close to the side of the trail as possible so as to leave enough room on the trail for people to comfortably pass both ways. When you do stop (for whatever reason) look back first and make sure that you're not going to get rear ended by someone who wasn't ready for you to stop.
   
   Last fall, I came across a person who was changing a flat tire right in the middle of the trail. It was late evening, the sun was going down, and the light was failing under the trees. This person was not only being rude by blocking the entire trail, but was putting themselves and others in danger by being in the way in a poor visibility situation. Luckily, it was a chilly evening, so there weren't a lot of other trail users, but please think before squatting down in the middle of a trail. Change a tire at the side of the trail--off the side, if possible.
   
   One more form of trail-blockage is the person with a dog on a long leash. The person is politely walking along the right-hand edge of the trail, but their dog is exploring the bushes off the left side of the trail. In between is a nearly invisible leash. I've never done it or seen it, but I know someone who ran into a leash while passing someone because they never saw it. This resulted in damage to the bike; injury to the rider; injury to the person holding the leash (sprained wrist); and a dog that was frightened by the jerk on his leash, ran off while everyone was focused on the injured people, and wasn't found for close to an hour. Again, please think, folks. Keep your dog on a leash and keep that leash short enough that he/she isn't blocking the trail.
   
6. Dogs must be on a leash. Dogs are even more unpredictable than humans. A normally well-behaved dog may be startled by a jogger or bicyclist and chase them and/or bite them. Even a dog that's behaving itself might suddenly be distracted by a movement and dart across the trail in front of somebody. I see people walking dogs without leashes on trails all the time. I've even seen one man walk his dog to the trail with a leash, then take the leash off and let the dog run all over the trail. This is illegal, dangerous, and rude.

That's what I came up with off the top of my head. As I said above, feel free to add more trail etiquette rules in the comments.