A is a labradoodle and A’s dog F is a little Maltese-poodle mix.
Couple of things you can do, my dear Serena:
Know where you are, relative to the blind spots. Before you get to a blind spot, check behind you. Give yourself and dog a little time before you duck away from sight. So, bends or drops in the trail.
Get your hearing checked.
Get some signs erected noting the proper etiquette in your backwoods area.
So, 15 mph, which is a sort of moderate bicycle speed, is 6.7 meters per second, or about 22 feet. They can probably make a noise you can hear before they get that close.
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That’s only 1 second, right?
So 2-3 seconds would be 44 - 66 feet, assuming 15 mph. More distance if the cyclist is going faster, which an experienced rider going downhill could easily be doing.
A human is certainly capable of being heard from that distance, although a bell or horn would probably be a lot more effective, particularly if the human is winded or weak-voiced.
Disclaimer: IANA expert on how much volume a human makes and how well it carries in the woods. On a football field or baseball diamond with no obstructions and no background noise you can hear at that distance. Not sure how much sound the trees would absorb on a hiking trail, or how much background noise there is from animals, other hikers, wind, etc.
Also need to consider line of sight so that they know whether or not they need to make a sound.
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Yeah, true, at 66+ ft a hiker may not be visible, if there’s a hill or bend in the trail, and even less likely that dogs would be. Especially small dogs.
YANTA
YMBTA
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Oh, thanks. I thought those numbers looked off.
So it’s not really reasonable for a cyclist to have to give you three seconds notice. And if you were just walking, you wouldn’t need that much time.
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bikers rage is real when you have to slow down and cut your inertia, because it also cuts out the breeze.
so I understand both sides