do you shout to warn others where you are?

grantway

Normally shout coming through then tell them to stay where they are
or move to the left or right

Some dont and seem to do the middle lane thingy has there on the M25
so I hang on there tail and let them hear the buzz from my Hope Pro 2 hubs
That normally does it.

Mc Smiley

From a way back i might shout bike approaching, so they know i'm there. Or ask when i am closer 'is it ok if get past?' or something along those lines? Usually works, some people are stubborn, deaf (selective hearing;) or just annoying all 3 are usually dealt with extra cheerfully to make them feel worse


Or if i don't see them my BB that sounds like the joints of an 80 year old will warn them.
But the people i have a problem with are people on dedicated bike trails, because you have to slow down. I know they have right of way but still there are hundreds of other routes, this paticularly refers to the Timberland trail, just go somewhere else please

fluff.

I freewheel a bit, my super noisy hope hubs can be heard from several miles away

stumpyjon

Or ask when i am closer 'is it ok if get past?'

Personally I think this approach is better than 'bike coming through' or 'bike on your letf' etc. Legally pedestrians have right of way and I think asking someone if you can come through rather than bike coming through (which can be interpreted as get out of my way) is more likely to get a positive response.

The only time this isn't required is at a trail centre and then I think it's fair to assume the pedestrian is in the wrong if they are a on a bike trail.

timeless1

Just slow down then go past

richprag

Well round where i do most of my current riding its all towpaths (basingstoke canal, wey navigation etc in surrey) and really thin so I slow right down and just say excuse me, or my girlfriend rings her bell from a distance usually that gives people time to turn around and see you. The most annoying thing is when two people go to opposite sides of the path cos then i have to watch i don't take out an old couple with the ends of my bars.

As someone said before, slowing down and engaging people verbally works well. as does a bell.

Bikedevil

I approach slowly and if they haven't eard me a couple of back pedals tends to make a sufficiently polite noise.

Bones!!

beski wrote:

At night a bicycle must also be fitted with a red rear reflector (and amber pedal reflectors, if manufactured after 1/10/85).

Working on this piece of information, surely this means most of us including the lycra wearing, tarmac lovers :twisted: around here shouldn't be out after dark as most after market pedals particularly SPD's don't have amber reflectors.

Now i'm not trying to cause trouble but nobody else seems to have noticed this.

stumpyjon

You'll find most if not all SPDs fitted to a complete bike will come with reflectors as this is part of the law. After market pedals aren't part of a bike and don't need the reflectors. It's the responsiblilty of however rides the bike to make sure it's road worthy.

TBH though the police have much better things to stop people for, such as chavs on bikes with the V brakes undone, another legal requirement for bikes is to have two independant braking devices :shock:

passout

'Coming through' if it's safe. Otherwise (if singletrack for example) stop, see how amy species of birds you can count, re-mount and carry on. An unusual approach, but it works for me. I never hover behind a slower rider though, it drives me nuts.

DoctorBobrick

I sing while I ride, so if they don't hear me coming they ain't gonna hear me yell "BIKES LEFT" :P

Tranced

Walkers need education that bell ringing is a polite way of letting them know you're coming through & have noticed them. The number of times I get the bird for potilely "pinging" my bell some distance off makes my just want to ride over them.....
The key "thank you" when they move seems to help.... if all cyclists practiced this the walkers may get the hint

missmarple

I say "cheers!" when they let me pass.

Turrican

Indysmith i so totaly agre people dont hear at all, say excuse me nicley and hey dont listen say it loudly and they still dont listen, even when some do they dont even move to let you pass or just a little bit.

hucking_fell

dave_hill wrote:

"As a cyclist I'm only required by law to carry an audible means of warning to other road users and pedestrians as to my presence. As I have a big mouth, fully functioning set of vocal chords and two highly-developed lungs, I think that I'm more than covered, don't you? Fact is you didn't hear me anyway despite repeated warnings, so I fail to see what difference a piddly little bell would have made! Thank you for your timely advice!

I've just printed this out. Will get it laminated at work then tape it to by bars. Can't wait to use it!

My friend uses his bell right up until he's at them then if he still can't pass he blasts his refs whistle which is tied to his helmet strap. First time I seen him do this I was behind him and couldn't apologise to the poor guy he blasted 'cos I was trying so hard not to laugh. Now I make sure I'm in the lead and politely ask to get past.

medicineman

I ususally find a loud "good morning / afternoon / evening" as you come up behind people is ok. Its other cyclists coming towards me I have problems with. I try to engage the highway code and stay left but this doesn't always work!

Tranced

Ipods are often the trouble. Walkers (and others) are so wrapped up in listening, they loose any perseption of what is going on around them, plus they are often turned up so loud, there is no way they'll hear anyone behind them. Plus, podders tend to sway left & right as they walk.

eyes like marbles

plus the proportion of people you pass who may be hearing impaired ?

1 in 7

Belphegor

Lots of people genuinely are deaf. The rest just wander around completely unaware of their position in relation to the world around them in complete middle lane driving dawdle mode. This can be observed in any supermarket!

mcbazza

Belphegor wrote:

Lots of people genuinely are deaf. The rest just wander around completely unaware of their position in relation to the world around them in complete middle lane driving dawdle mode. This can be observed in any supermarket!

So true. Well, they're not technically deaf. They are just unable to multi-task. ie. listen, whilst pushing a trolley. This is proven by the in-store announcements when (for example) bakery items are reduced. They manage to hear that!

The zombie customers in my local supermarket (Asda in Norf Wotfud) have a tendency to drag the trolley behind them with one arm. This causes the trolley to move along at an angle. So, instead of taking up the width of a trolley, it's approx the width of 1.5x trolley...... and then they just stop, and start pointing at stuff on shelves. Ignoring the queue of people trying to get past.

I guess they just need one hand free to give their darling 'Brrrrrit-naeeeee!' a good clip round the ear from time-to-time. Because, as we all know, Supermarkets are where parents bring their children for a good telling-off. Not, contrary to popular belief, places to shop in.


And going back on-topic...

I am now getting through bells at the rate of about one every 3-4mths. I tend to give people a 'ding' when I'm a good way off. I judge their body language, and if I get the right signals, I pass on by. If I don't, I slow down, and give another 'ding'. If I still get no response, I pull up behind them, sometimes whilst locking the rear wheel just a tad, and with some audible gear changing. That generally does it, and I pass with a nod+smile+wave. If that doesn't do it, then I trundle along behind them until they do notice.

When people apologise for holding me up, I always give the same answer (even if it isn't true): Oh no problem. I'm in no hurry. It's just nice to be out. Enjoy your day. (waves)

The trouble I'm having with these bells is that they aren't very durable. They are poorly made (which I sort of expect for £2-3), and not built to be used 5-10 times a day. Hey ho.

When the clanger does eventually it's then that you are at the risk of the snide remarks from the walker-types. In which case the retort is: Oh, I do have a bell (whilst pointing to it). But, I use it that often to warn people of my whereabouts that the clanger has broken: - thwap.thwap.

I'd ask Hope to get onto designing a better MTB bell. But, it'd be >£30, available in 10 colours of anodized alloy. And due to excellent machining, would still be ringing 10mins after it was used.

.blitz

Nobody likes to be shouted out of the way. I find a lairy skid often has the desired effect

eyes like marbles

i guess i think most of the time people won't necessarily hear me coming up behind them due mainly to them being plugged into their mp3 player or the wind is at their front - what does surprise me is the time it takes some people brain to register that you are coming towards them and i don't have booster button that gives the bike wings.

i click my brakes, sometimes whistle, say goodmorning, on your right - depends who i am passing really, sometimes you have to crawl past and think you've made enough noise to announce your presence for the next mile on but i guess people are just lost in thought a lot of the time, i've had the odd fright myself .
a good proportion of the people i pass early morning are getting on a bit ( and like me don't have perfect hearing) always always say a cheery hello or thanks.

mcbazza

I like it when on narrow routes (eg. towpaths) the walkers see/hear you, and then separate to *both* sides of the path with about 80cm between them.

I like the challenge of trying to make my wide handlebars fit through narrow gaps made out of people.

But, if I'm going in that canal, then I'm taking as many of them with me as possible.

That said, I've noticed an increasing trend (in, I hope, fair-weather cyclists) of fellow cyclists that don't seem to realise the 'drive on the left' rule of the road also applies to cycling.

.blitz

mcbazza wrote:

I like it when on narrow routes (eg. towpaths) the walkers see/hear you, and then separate to *both* sides of the path with about 80cm between them.

Yeah, why do they do that ?

stubs

I find the worst is when you have 3 abreast coming towards you the one on the left moves to the right the one on the right moves to the left and the idiot in the middle just weaves in a haze of indecision :roll:

Mike1012

Get yourself an Airzound - it'll scare the crap out of them!

oldholborn

People are always in the way on the best part of the trail.
You have worked hard to enjoy the downhill.
Braking and changing gears when not required slows you.
Get a bell.
If you hit em you can say you warned em!

canada16

I had some stupid C"w on a cheap 30 quid halfords bike in the city centre were there are hundreds of bikes wizzing buy, and she is on her mobile phone.

She was zig zagging all over the road, you go to the left and she went to the left and you would try undercut her and she would go to the right.

Eventually I told her to get off the phone before she killed me.

So its not only people, you can get dumb people on bikes.

And once, I must have been going 20-30mph, on a bike lane, and instead of this girl walking around a pole on the pavement she decided to walk around it and go into the road an on the bike path.

Scarred the hell out of her, she came 1cm from me probably killing her. lucky i was looking out and seen her and the steel post as she looked at it with utter disbelief asking her self should I go around this by walking in the road. I must have killed 1cm from my tred by hitting my brakes.

goldblendslurper

I think in general some people just don't consider what others are doing. On my morning commute a foreign student on a bike decided that it was alright to use a zebra crossing without either checking left or right. I was hard up on the curb, and had a car overtaking me. We were both approaching the crossing at a fair speed side by side. The bloke on the bike was coming towards us on the pavement (seeming to have no intention of using the zebra crossing). Suddenly he swerved riight into the road.

Thankfully, despite it being early morning, both myself and the car driver had our wits about us and manged to jump on the brakes.


I am another who can't understand the walker thing where one of them goes on either side of the path. Usually they leave a gap which is 10mm less than your bars and you have to put a foot down :?


EDIT: I forgot the most important point which was that it's illeagal to ride on the pavement, so had either of us hit the bloke on the bike, he would have been in the wrong.

Tranced

Ah.... some controversy.

I sometimes think it comes down to having created a society in which everyone has the right to do just about whatever they please without any risk/ fear of retaliation. This in turn has led to a society that thinks only of themselves. i.e. I'm OK so what else is there?

If there was risk here in UK like these is in so many (possibly most) other countries of getting a flat hand behind the head when zig zagging down the road with earphone blaring, people would be a bit more aware of what is going on around them.

And for the love of ...... I'm not advocating some horrendous violence now, just suggesting that as nice and people tolerant we as a society are, possibly if society in general were less focused on what "I" can do and how things do/ don't affect "me" and more aware of others, things may be quite different. So by creating a society in which everyone is automatically considered in law, we as people don't have to provide any consideration to those around us.

This topic comes up time and again when out riding with mates.

I try to see both sides..... I love whacking along a trail fast as I can, but also like taking my kid out along the trail to encourage enthusiasm for the sport. So I end up being slowed (slowee) by others and sometimes I'm the "slower". I do believe this keeps me more aware.

Ditto motorbikes.... sometimes think everyone should spend at least a year on a MB before getting a car licence. Hmmm? Awareness. Pet topic this....