But, of course, bad stuff can happen anywhere/anytime folks go out to enjoy the outdoors, even in what are considered benign settings.
Have fun, live life, while trying to be a bit aware of what you are doing/getting into.
sing
I am mostly disturbed that the dog was lost. Not like he had any choice in this one. His owner did.
“…when they got caught in wind and choppy seas. As they tried to head back, their kayak took on water and sank…”
Funny, this has never happened to me under conditions likely to be similar.
Sigh… :neutral:
It is unfair to the season to label it this way.
“… providing a refuge for cyclists, families pushing strollers, scooter riders, walkers, runners, roller bladers, and dogs on leashes.”
Such varied traffic on a 12-foot wide pathway? On a nice day in such a high population density area, it’s a disaster waiting to happen. And it did.
As to the kayak incident, I wish there was a description of the kayak, since it allegedly sank, and if PFDs were worn.
@Overstreet said:
It is unfair to the season to label it this way.
Maybe we should call it the “culling” season instead. It does tend to thin the herd, taking out those less fit for survival.
They’ll be more to come; there is every Spring; when the doofus, river dorks, wanna bes, buffoons, and drunks go out on the water to play.
Google 2019 canoe and kayak deaths; the list is already growing.
BOB
@Rookie
We have a path along the Hudson that I used to skip riding on a Sunday before late afternoon. It is maybe 8 feet. Between the suicide rabbits, baby carriages and kids learning to ride a bike it was downright dangerous to go faster than a walk.
But it is a great resource and I would rather have it there than not. For a lot of the kids from more urban neighborhoods, that is the only safe place for them to learn how to ride a bike. They don’t have the safe little dead end that I grew up on, where the kids pretty much owned the street except when parents were coming back home from work. It also functioned as a way for me to bike to work and lose about 5 miles of urban traffic.
@Celia said:
I am mostly disturbed that the dog was lost. Not like he had any choice in this one. His owner did.
Same here.
@Sparky961 said:
@Overstreet said:
It is unfair to the season to label it this way.Maybe we should call it the “culling” season instead. It does tend to thin the herd, taking out those less fit for survival.
“Culling Season” works. Here we call it “Natural Selection Season” … and I know I’ll get my turn.
I feel the same way about the loss of the dog. It was an innocent victim of its owner’s stupidity. Judging from the incident description and the fact that a dog was aboard, it sounds like they were was probably in an open-cockpit tandem, like the Twin Otter or Pamlico, which also have little or no floatation built in. Those should be labeled “death boats” IMO and have no place on open water coastal crossings.
I gave up caring about all the unprepared fools who hit the water in the spring; they’re all in the running for Darwin Awards. Attempting to explain the dangers of what they’re doing is futile as they don’t want to hear it. They end up dying and then politicians go nuts trying to pass stupid restrictions on the rest of us who are paddling responsibly. It happens nearly every year because they’re too stupid to understand that you can’t legislate stupidity out of existence.
Overall, I don’t find bike paths to be any safer than the surrounding roads in most places I’ve ridden them. Anytime you’re within a mile of an intersection with a road, they tend to be packed with people who are oblivious to others around them. Unsupervised kids and pets are the norm, as are runners and skaters with earbuds who block most of the path and can’t hear warnings from people overtaking them. In addition to the typical dog leashes and “double wide” baby strollers blocking the way, I’ve even seen people flying kites with the string running across the path at chest-head height! Bike paths also tend to be pretty boring, so between that and the dangers above, I don’t spend much time on them.
Additional media info on the “kayakers” :
sing
@bnystrom
Back to the bike path safety issue, there are people who should simply not be allowed to ride in traffic because their awareness of how to handle traffic lanes is poor or non-existent. Bike paths are a much safer option for them than the road.
For a fast and more aggressive rider, it seems to come easier to deal with car lanes.
That said, in our local bike club there were something like 4 deaths in the course of three years, all riders with good experience on a regular road. Nothing on the bike paths except a dinged up wheel or two and embarrassed riders.
Here we are in the land of crumbling road shoulders. Either non existent or six inches wide. We do have a state law that says vehicles must give 3 feet of clearance going by any bike rider. It often does not happen. Sometimes due to inattention on the drivers part and now due to potholes and frost heaves. I do love wide bike shoulders on roads but they are very rare,
I prefer bike paths. Sometimes you have to be careful that who you are going by knows you are there. I hate to be passed without announcement… People do not have eyes in the back of their heads and a “Passing on the Left” or a bell is always welcome…
Also we have to be mindful of the hard of hearing… My husband is nearly deaf and he has moved the wrong way simply because he did not know… I ride in back of him so I can yell that someone is coming… People sometimes judge that he should not be out there.
@Celia said:
@bnystrom
Back to the bike path safety issue, there are people who should simply not be allowed to ride in traffic because their awareness of how to handle traffic lanes is poor or non-existent. Bike paths are a much safer option for them than the road.
For a fast and more aggressive rider, it seems to come easier to deal with car lanes.
That said, in our local bike club there were something like 4 deaths in the course of three years, all riders with good experience on a regular road. Nothing on the bike paths except a dinged up wheel or two and embarrassed riders.
We have more folks dying of bike accidents in Boston than “kayak” incidents. I can control/account for more variables while kayaking than what I can while bike commuting on the streets e.g. distracted and/or aggressive drivers, riders and pedestrians, potholes, trolley tracks, bridge gaps, unleashed dogs.
This time of the year, with the nicer weather, everybody is out enjoying (and spacing out). Did I mention pot consumption is legal now in MA… LOL.
sing
Agree that bike paths are great for bikers. We have some great trails and I’d love to see more added just to get the bikes off the roads. Michigan passed the three-foot clearance law last fall, which is downright dangerous on some roads (in particular, M-119 a/k/a “Tunnel of Trees”) if there’s traffic coming in the opposite direction.
Recreational pot also now legal in MI. There goes situational awareness for some…if they had any in the first place.
Bike trails Monday thru Thursday, 9 - 5 are kind of nice.
@Rookie said:
(in particular, M-119 a/k/a “Tunnel of Trees”)
yeah, lots of memories driving up & back 119, the switchback over the creek, etc.
used to be able to climb down the ‘hill’ at 7-mile (long since blocked) to the beach.
Actually, though, I prefer the paddle on the outside (Wilderness to Harbor). They’re some pretty fancy ‘cottages’ (mansions) along the way.
@raisins said:
@Rookie said:
(in particular, M-119 a/k/a “Tunnel of Trees”)yeah, lots of memories driving up & back 119, the switchback over the creek, etc.
used to be able to climb down the ‘hill’ at 7-mile (long since blocked) to the beach.
Actually, though, I prefer the paddle on the outside (Wilderness to Harbor). They’re some pretty fancy ‘cottages’ (mansions) along the way.
Fun drive (with a manual) when there’s no traffic (the off season). My favorite launch spot is 45.703084, -84.953589
I like to explore the bays of Sturgeon Bay. No McMansions up there.
You’ll know exactly where this photo was taken. The route sure is a sight to behold in the spring.
Hey Rookie,
You wrote:
“Such varied traffic on a 12-foot wide pathway? On a nice day in such a high population density area, it’s a disaster waiting to happen. And it did.”
I could not agree more. In the next town over there’s a nice park with a wide path for varied traffic. A coworker once complained to me that a cyclist gave him a hard time because his grandchild was walking in the lane marked for bikes. How dare he?! My coworker was totally clueless about how dangerous it is to have racing bicycles and toddlers in the same place at the same time.