Been overtaken ...

Toe knee

Which happens to me quite a lot , anyway I was out on a short ride this morning, just minding my own buisness,
And saw o pothole, so moved to avoid it, and as I did this a fellow cyclist who I didn't hear was overtaking me ( yes again ) and thus making him swerve to avoid a collision, now I was just woundering if it is common practice or not to alert the rider in front with a shout of behind or similar to alert them of your presence. And so avoiding these situations. This
Has happened to me on a couple of occasions now.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks tony

doug5_10

"on your right" although if its a headwind, usually useless

danlikesbikes

General rule is you should announce yourself if behind, but often people tend to leave it till they are alongside or past which kind of defeats the process of making the rider in front aware and avoiding what happened to you.

Personally I tend to announce myself if I'm coming up and not going past, or if going to pass comment to that effect. Both ways at least the ride up front knows your behind and/or coming past.

smoggysteve

I would think on busy or narrow roads good road etiquette would be to warn others of your presence. I always point to hazards if I know there is a likelihood of other cyclists being behind me. I also make sure that if I an overtaking another rider I give them space as I would if I were a car and if its narrow I warn them I am there.

Problem I find from time to time is stupid cyclists who when warning them you are there, decide to stop and pull their bike around making it more difficult to get around. Seems to be older riders who do this.

Monty Dog

You should also look over your shoulder/ under your arm before any manoeuvre just in case - it should be a natural reflex particularly if you start riding in a group. If overtaking unknown riders I give them a wide berth too - so in this case I'd say both riders are partly to blame.

cougie

I would say the overtaking rider was at fault.
Cars are supposed to give you about six feet when they overtake. Riders know about potholes and they shouldn't pass too close when overtaking.

pst88

What do you say when you're announcing yourself? I have to say I never do this. Just overtake whilst giving plenty of room.

supermurph09

I normally just say something, "just passing you on the right", normally when I'm about 1-2 bike lengths behind.

danlikesbikes

pst88 wrote:

What do you say when you're announcing yourself? I have to say I never do this. Just overtake whilst giving plenty of room.

Hello, rider right, passing, good morning/afternoon lots of options. But nothing wrong if your leaving plenty of room for the rider in case they need to avoid something in the road.

herb71

I will let you know the correct overtaking etiquette if I ever manage to overtake someone!

yeachan153

I've installed a small mirror like this - helps for situations much like the one you have described, and also checking for cars and buses you can't hear in the wind.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zefal-Spin-Bar- ... fal+mirror

Wirral_paul

As Monty_Dog says - you should always be in a position to have a quick look over your shoulder before moving out like that. What if the cyclist had been a car that you hadnt heard - especially as said above when you cant hear in the wind? If riding alone, potholes dont just appear - so try and get used to looking a little further ahead than maybe you do already. There's no reason to not see them 10 - 20 yards in advance really.

TakeTurns

Supermurph09 wrote:

I normally just say something, "just passing you on the right"

You may as well recite a poem! How do you manage to get all that out. :shock:

I always look ahead of the rider I'm overtaking, in order to make sure there aren't any potholes. It's common sense, because I know they'll swerve away from it. I also give about 3-4ft space.

The overtaker was at fault in your case, although you could've helped prevent the situation. I'd say 70/30.

Cookie91

Overtake with plenty of space. No need to say anything, cars don't usually give much warning when they overtake you. If someone overtakes you and you avoid a pot hole your only going to change your position by 2-3ft max. They should be well clear of that.

butcher of bakersfield

Yes, I always leave loads of room when I overtake, just like I would in a car. I don't like shouting at people because you tend the scare the bejesus out of them. Though a bell helps in such situations.

fishyweb

The only people that I overtake are invariably so old that they would need an ear trumpet to hear anything I yelled at them

Toe knee

Thanks for most of the replies , as is the norm on this forum, some elitist members need to remember its a beginners forum, first time riding in wet conditions, sorry for not knowing where every pot hole is , concentrating on avoiding the grids and rainbows in the road. I will pay more attention in future and look over my shoulder every 15 seconds so I don't upset riders behind me, just remember when you first started out ! ! ! I asked for advice not a slagging off for being a relatively new rider. :evil: :twisted:

MountainMonster

I always just leave enough room if I am on the road, but if I am on paths of sorts or in places of tight restrictions I always give a friendly "on the right" or something similar.

butcher of bakersfield

I wouldn't worry about it Toe Knee. Whilst keeping an eye out is a good thing, you don't always see every pot hole and imperfection in the road. Of course, you've got to be careful in traffic and sometimes it's safer just to take the hit, but it's a little different with cyclists. And when they approach you they will know full well they can't be heard, so it's a bit irresponsible to pass closely without warning.

Of course, there'll always be people who do it, so that doesn't really help you. Just got to be vigilant. It's a learning experience.

Toe knee

Thanks butcher

mouth

you remember the bell that was on your bike when you bought it....................

dhobiwallah

Toe knee wrote:

Thanks for most of the replies , as is the norm on this forum, some elitist members need to remember its a beginners forum, first time riding in wet conditions, sorry for not knowing where every pot hole is , concentrating on avoiding the grids and rainbows in the road. I will pay more attention in future and look over my shoulder every 15 seconds so I don't upset riders behind me, just remember when you first started out ! ! ! I asked for advice not a slagging off for being a relatively new rider. :evil: :twisted:

All that some comments are saying is that the overtaker here may not be 100% to blame. We don't know if he did make his presence known and you simply didn't hear him as you were concentrating on a tricky section of road in the wet (hearing shuts down pretty quickly when you get overloaded).

Some of the advice says that perhaps you should be looking further ahead and not suddenly swerving to miss obstacles which have always been there. Unless it is specifically hidden by topography/glare from a wet road etc then a sudden swerve suggests that the rider involved there has made an error. Not the end of the world - it happens; but it doesn't mean that an overtaking rider who now has to take action to avoid a 'crazy Ivan' is automatically to blame...

No slagging off involved - just advice that you asked for.....

imposter2.0

Toe knee wrote:

I asked for advice not a slagging off for being a relatively new rider. :evil: :twisted:

I don't see anyone 'slagging you off' - or did those posts get deleted ?

Toe knee

Sorry chaps seems I took some of the advice the wrong way, apologies all round. I will try and concentrate on lookin further ahead in future when on my ride. :oops:

hatch87

Its the same as driving, you just get use to looking further ahead rather than whats directly in front of you, that way you can gradually move out rather than swerve. At the same time, the cyclist overtaking has no reason to pass so closely, I tend to to leave a couple of bike widths if they don't know I'm there. The thing is you can't rely on the cyclist overtaking, you can only control what you do.

dhobiwallah

Looking further ahead is something that is pretty easily overlooked by new roadies. On an MTB (while off-road at least) every inch of the trail is different so you really need to look ahead and choose your route carefully so you don't plan a track straight into a big rock/root/hole or similar. If your eyes are glued to your front wheel you will pretty quickly hit a problem if you get much above a walking pace.

On tarmac it is pretty much a given that the road surface ahead will be fine so you don't give any thought to it.

That is until you come across a spot isn't fine!!!

(Also on the road the speeds are much quicker so you need to be looking much further in front too....

NITR8s

When overtaking another cyclist, I always slow down initially and sit a couple of bike lengths behind them to get an idea of their pace/ability and the road layout etc. Then when there are no cars coming and the road is clear I will overtake as if I am a car.

junglist_matty

Was riding home on Friday evening after work, not putting in a big effort or anything, just pootling along at 18mph, slowly approach a group of three riders and casually overtake, friendly hello on way past, then about 20seconds later, the guy off the front of the group comes racing past me and 10seconds after that the other two come past, I think nothing of it, continue at my leisurely pace of 18mph and again, about 2 minutes later I overtake them, then again they decide to race past me, all the while I'm sitting at a constant pace, laughing away to myself at their silly commuter racing tactics!

goonz

I just never service my bike so all the rattles and creakes my bike makes usually announces me a long way off.

Wirral_paul

dhobiwallah wrote:

All that some comments are saying is that the overtaker here may not be 100% to blame. We don't know if he did make his presence known and you simply didn't hear him as you were concentrating on a tricky section of road in the wet (hearing shuts down pretty quickly when you get overloaded).

Some of the advice says that perhaps you should be looking further ahead and not suddenly swerving to miss obstacles which have always been there. Unless it is specifically hidden by topography/glare from a wet road etc then a sudden swerve suggests that the rider involved there has made an error. Not the end of the world - it happens; but it doesn't mean that an overtaking rider who now has to take action to avoid a 'crazy Ivan' is automatically to blame...

No slagging off involved - just advice that you asked for.....

+1 to every single point made above. Its just like dring a car and safe to say - as a newbie you will likely be more tense than when you gain more experience. Once you start to relax then you'll naturally be able to look further ahead and have more time to plan a gentle change of line to avoid potholes, and time to check over your shoulder for passing bikes / cars etc.

What is it the motorbikers call a shoulder check (i'm not a motorcyclist)....... "the lifesaver"??

lotus49

"Coming past" is what I always say. I do try to be aware of other riders around me, particularly after almost colliding with someone as I turned left. Yes, he shouldn't have been that close to me but I should have been more aware of my surroundings. Signalling might have been a good idea too :oops: .

Those pesky cyclists are rather quiet and easy to miss.

My daughter is good at this. She dings her bell until they look round and then dings it a few more times for good measure. No-one fails to notice her .