It’s the last Monday of 2025 and I will actually be at work when you read this. I thought it would be a good day for a quick Coffee Chat to share some random things that have been floating around in my head in the past week or so. Let’s grab a hot drink (mine will be tea today, because I forgot my coffee thermos at home this morning – darn it!) and let’s chat.
If we had a coffee chat today… I’d want to ask the opinion of my fellow runners (and cyclists). I went for a 10k run yesterday in my neighborhood. I don’t usually run on terribly busy streets, and I always try to be aware of cars, cyclists, and other runners. I usually run on the sidewalk, but occasionally opt to run on the street to avoid curbs, sidewalk trip hazards (of which there are many), and (dog) walkers. I was running on a fairly wide street this morning, which included a parking lane, a bike lane, and a buffer lane between the bike lane and the main road. There was very little traffic this morning, actually, NO cars around, and I was running on the right edge of the bike lane when a woman on a bike zipped by me really closely and yelled in my ear, “bike lane”!
Besides the fact that she totally startled me (she could have just used her bike bell to alert me to her presence – but she was on a race bike, so probably didn’t have a bell), I was NOT taking up the bike lane, and there was plenty of space to go around me. Again, there was even a ‘buffer’ lane between the bike lane and the main road. I was a bit flummoxed by her hostility. (I sometimes get hostility when I run on the sidewalk, too, by the way. Plenty of people don’t like to be inconvenienced to let me pass. But where else do people want me to run? There is no “runner’s lane”. I see runners on the side of the road all the time.)
Fellow runners: what’s the etiquette here? Do you run in the street/bike lane, or do you stick to sidewalks? If you’re a road cyclist, do runners in the bike lane bother you (especially when there are no cars around), and when there is plenty of space to share the road?
If we had a coffee chat today… I probably shouldn’t tell you that Costco has a giant container of abso-freakin-lutely delicious Everything Bagel Chips and that you need to get your hands on it. Salty snacks have my heart, even if I am usually not much of a snacker.
If we had a coffee chat today… I’d excitedly share that the owl is back. I have mentioned that in previous years, we had a Great Horned Owl nesting outside my office window. Well, it’s back this year! Our IT team set up a webcam last week, so we can watch it via live stream and observe the owl up close, but when I am in the office, I can also just look out the window and watch it from there, because it’s on eye-level with my 4th-floor office! Neat, isn’t it? No babies yet, but this will be fun to watch.
If we had a coffee chat today… I’d share with you that I’ve been (quietly) reading Linda’s blog for a while. I don’t know how I found it or if I ever left a comment (I don’t think so), but she writes beautifully, and I want to share a post that she recently posted about a man in a memory care unit that she visits.
If we had a coffee chat today… I’d tell you that I finally determined the winner of the gift card for the end-of-NaBloPoMo giveaway. I apologize for the delay! To be transparent, I included 15 comments by individual participants in the drawing, and the random number generator spit out the number 15. The 15th comment was from Stephany. She’ll receive a gift card of her choice (Starbucks or Amazon)*. Congratulations to you, Stephany! Thank you for always being such an enthusiastic participant in NaBloPoMo these last few years, and I am so happy you won! Keep an eye out for an email!
If we had a coffee chat today… I’d be proud to say that I worked very hard over the weekend to get caught up with blog reading (there are currently less than 15 blog posts in my Feedly), and also planning a bit ahead for my own blogging schedule. I have no idea how long it’s going to last but I am having lofty goals to put a little more structure back in to my blog in 2026.
*This giveaway is not sponsored or paid for. The gift card was purchased with my own money.
Kim
December 29, 2025 at 11:19 amGosh, I am sorry she yelled in your ear. WTF. It would have been fine to yell (something different) from far away to alert you she was coming. She was aggressive. All that said… I am a rule follower and don’t run in lines that are solely for bikes (we have that in Chicago— it’s split for cyclists and walkers downtown and joins back up in a few spots). I do run in shared lanes and stay over on the right. If there is a clear sidewalk I run on that because I don’t trust cars at all.
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:23 amThanks for understanding. I want to reiterate that I run on sidewalks MOST of the time, I just occasionally take advantage when there is more space and I always stay on the right. I also do run against traffic on narrower or shared roads.
Lisa's Yarns
December 29, 2025 at 11:25 amI run on the sidewalk and never in the street, even when it’s a quiet residential street. I do get annoyed when I see runners in our street because that is what the sidewalk is for. But these are residential streets so they are fairly narrow and there is no bike lane. And the state of our side walks is not so terrible that it’s dangerous to run on them. Plus we have a lot of dedicated running paths around lakes and along the creek so if they want the smoothest experience, they should run on those paths, not on the street… If there happens to be a dedicated running path next to a bike path, I will run on that. But that is very rare unless it’s a road w/out a sidewalk. All that said, yelling aggressively is not polite!
How cool to see a horned owl!! My boys are obsessed with owls but we’ve never seen one in the wild!
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:25 amI live in an older neighborhood and we definitely have a lot of trip hazard sidewalks (cracked concrete because of tree roots, and the like), so it’s not always the safest to run there… but I genereally agree that runners do NOT belong on the road. We don’t have a lot of delikates running path where I live (and the trail on the river is also a shared bike path, so the same issue).
The owl is so cool and I am so lucky to be able to observe it up close!
Coco
December 29, 2025 at 11:32 amTotally ignore the lady who’s just mean. I run on bike lanes often for the same reasons and it’s not her biz to “police” what others do on bike lane.
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:26 amThanks for commiserating! ;) I try to not hinder bikes or cars but if there is enough space, I will take advantage.
Birchie
December 29, 2025 at 12:23 pmThe etiquette is to ignore people who are behaving inappropriately, but to blog about it so that we can tell you that we’ve all had similar experiences. Seriously, what is with people?
Yay for Office Owl. I hope that she sticks around and has babies.
Here is to 2026 blogging and lofty goals! I can wait.
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:26 amHaha, thank you, I knew you guys would at least listen to my rant! ;)
Our office owl is so cool and I feel so lucky to have front row seats to her nesting endeavors!
SHU
December 29, 2025 at 1:22 pmI was always taught to run on the left side of the street (by my husband who has run competitively and since the 1990s). That way if you’re in the bike lane you can hop up on the sidewalk
If you see a biker coming.
Elisabeth
December 29, 2025 at 1:30 pmYes! I think this is standard. Bikes are to be treated the same as vehicles, and running against traffic is the safest option, especially if you’re running on the road. That way you can see vehicles/bikes coming.
All that said, HOW RUDE for her to yell in your ear. Ugh.
I like Birchie’s point too: ignore the complaint but make sure to blog about it!!
SHU
December 29, 2025 at 2:06 pmand yes agree, she should not have been rude to you! NO reason for that!!
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:28 amYes, that is true.. and I do run against traffic on narrower/shared roads.
But I am thankful you all listen to my rant :)
Judith
December 29, 2025 at 3:53 pmThis!
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:27 amYes! Your husband is right and I do often run against traffic on narrower or shared roads. This particular road just is so WIDE with so much space for everybody. I generally also stick to the sidewalk so as to not be in people’s way.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
December 29, 2025 at 2:57 pmSorry you got yelled at. No input here.
I am so excited about the owl. I wouldn’t get any work done when it’s right outside my window. What a treat.
Congrats to Stephany for the gift card.
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:29 amI am so excited about the owl and I love having front row seats :)
Michelle G.
December 29, 2025 at 5:17 pmUgh! People need to calm down! I’m guessing that person went on to irritate a bunch of people on her bike journey!
The office owl sounds like a wonderful thing to watch.
Yay! Congrats to Stephany!
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:29 amYes, the most annoying thing was that she was so rude about it and that she startled me. No need for that! I was not blocking her lane.
Our office owl is so cool and I am so lucky to be able to observe her up close :)
Daria
December 30, 2025 at 7:53 amWow that post about a man in the memory care unit… beautiful writing. Will be following her blog for sure.
I am very much behind my blog reading and commenting. I think I needed to step away for a few days some it was getting a little out of control. So many Christmas recaps, so many end of year reflections, so many goals 2026 episodes! All of that is great but it overwhelmed me. I may just press “read all” and start fresh. In 2026. Oh, that could be my goal for 2026 lol
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:31 amI am glad you enjoyed Linda’s post as well. She writes so eloquently!
Don’t beat yourself up about the blog reading. I was very much where you are multiple times this year! It’s a little frustrating but also a good exercise in “letting go” :) Here’s to 2026.
NGS
December 30, 2025 at 8:53 amThe Everything Bagel Chips are fabulous. I bought them once and took them to work and they were gone in days. Delicious!
The constant stress of cars/bikes/pedestrians. I am all three at different times and I just don’t think many people are, so they don’t understand the difficulties each faces. It’s tough out there for everybody to be safe, but my take is that the person with the least protection has the most rights. So the pedestrian > cyclist > motorist. But I guess it doesn’t matter if you have the most rights if you get injured or killed. (This just got dark.) If I’m on a bicycle and someone’s ahead of me, I yell “on your left” or whatever ahead of time. *sigh* It’s just basic courtesy.
San
December 30, 2025 at 11:33 amOh, I am so glad to hear you also had the bagel chips. They are so good!!
You hit the nail on the head, Engie. I am also all three —- car driver, cyclist and runner — at different times and understand the difficulties of each. So I *think* I am already more aware than most? I also always yell ahead (when I run AND when I cycle) to alert people to my approach… and if there is enough space for everyone, I don’t think anybody needs to be rude about it. I would have understood if the lady felt like she couldn’t squeeze by me because of cars and other bikes, or something, but that was NOT the case.
Lindsay
December 30, 2025 at 2:11 pmI love a salty snack, too! Oof, what a rough bike lane experience. I’m so sorry that happened to you. It’s part of why I get so nervous on the street (but I also live in a college town with some wild drivers, so…). Here’s to having both safety and kindness out there – and to how amazing that owl is!!
Melissa
December 30, 2025 at 7:32 pmI almost always run on the footpath. I had a similar experience to you at Albert Park. Someone has actually marked out the 10K circuit on the road, so people do run that circuit reasonably often. One morning, we were doing it with a running group, but spread out along the circuit, not in a bunch, and I got yelled at by a few of the riders because it is a bike lane on the outside of the road. There is no footpath, but there is an inner gravel track next to the lake. The idea was to get a road 10K though. I do hate walkers on the bike track near the beach, but that is because there is a separate walking track that they can use. Some walkers wander around with their dogs, or spread out across the bike path, which is very annoying. I don’t mind faster runners getting on there (as long as they are single-file), but there are a lot of slow runners or runners not running single-file who are annoying as well. In your case, though, there was plenty of space, so I’m not sure what her problem was.
Having an owl outside your office window is very cool.
San
December 31, 2025 at 1:38 pmThank you for your perspective, Melissa. I can only assume that the lady had really bad experiences with other – less aware – runners that stepped in her path or something like that. I definitely know plenty of runners or walkers who wander around or spread out and block the whole path and that’s very annoying!
Lisa
January 1, 2026 at 12:39 pmYou did nothing wrong. Myself and my running friends have been yelled at (sometimes violently) by cyclists on more than one occasion, they aren’t nice to runners in my experience.
Stephany
January 2, 2026 at 10:15 amYAYYYYY! What a wonderful way to start 2026!
The bike lady was rude, no bones about it. There is no reason to yell like that in your ear!
Anne
January 18, 2026 at 12:32 pmOK, I love that you read Linda’s blog, too. I have been reading since her youngest – now in HS – was a tiny kid. She is one of the most eloquent blog writers I have ever found. I also appreciate that she shares about her recent MAJOR life changes, since I can (kind of) relate. Anyway – I’m over there, too, if you see me pop up in the comments.
Agree wholeheartedly with everyone who says you did nothing – NOTHING – wrong when you ran on the side of the bike lane. People are annoying.
Not owls, though – that picture is slightly terrifying but also amazing. Fingers crossed there are babies (owlets, I think?) this year. You need something positive to keep you going at work. <3