As a dedicated transportation cyclist (but VERY occasional “greenbelt” cyclist), I can identify with your complaint. Even more so as an occasional greenbelt walker.

Is there a law requiring cyclists to signal? I’m not sure. The City of Boise website has a “courtesy and safety guideline” that says: “Bicyclists and skaters who wish to pass other users along the Greenbelt must notify others that they are passing, either verbally (example: “passing on your left”) or by other audible means (bell, horn, etc.).” Of course, unless there’s a corresponding ordinance in the city code, it’s whistlin’ in the wind.

My standard practice (when I’m bicycling): I never “zoom zoom” to begin with; there’s a place for that, but it is NOT the greenbelt. (I’ve feel disdain for the POSERS who do their Lance Armstrong impression on the greenbelt!) When I come up on somebody (you, maybe?), if you look like you’re walking in a straight line, in the proper position on the path, and “with purpose,” I’ll slowly pass without hollering. Frankly, a verbal warning is just as likely to result in a close encounter as a silent passage, due to the element of surprise in either situation. I also rationalize that a verbal warning in every situation would be akin to honking the horn on the road, every time we pass somebody. And finally, I rationalize that nowadays, people on the greenbelt are as likely as not to have their iPod-plugs jammed in their ears, so they won’t hear my warning anyway.

If I’m not mistaken, there actually is a Boise City law requiring bells on all bicycles and that they be used when overtaking. I remember reading it, but I’m too lazy to search for it again.

As usual, the problem is who is going to enforce it?

An old friend of mine once was hit by a no-warning biker and suffered nerve damage and dreadful pain for the rest of his life.
This pedestrian peril from bikers is no joke. They should all be legally forced to have bike ringer signals on their bikes and thus able to use them in time to warn people ahead of them. (And I don’t mean air horns–those should be outlawed.)
I’ve also noticed that most bikers I see coming up to crossings just hate using their brakes. They love to play chicken with oncoming cars.
Overall, bikers in BOI are pretty arrogant. Eventually, after they maim enough people, they will get their legal comeuppances.
Perhaps my own survival in the parks can be supported by walking off the paved paths and instead tramping on the grass.

This is ignorance on so many levels it defies the imagination.

It seems every time I’m out walking my dog, somebody’s dog is out running around and ends up following us down the street with the owner yelling at the top of their lungs for their dog to come back. I usually just keep going and figure they can run down the street after us, instead of me stopping, if they are really interested in getting their dog back.

I think dogs in front yards unrestrained is a much bigger problem than up on the hiking trails.

When a bike rider chased Ms. Limbert’s dog for a half-mile, was she being yanked at the end of the leash? I’m just curious because there IS a leash law in the city limits. It’s rather funny, in an ironic way, that she blames the bike rider for her puppy-dog running away. (She’d never see Puddles again if the same scenario took place in the foothills.)