What do you call out when you come up behind pedestrians?

Onlooker none@ wrote in :


I only recently rediscovered bicycling and that there are LOTS of nice
MU paths winding their way thru the city. I try to avoid tmes when
there are lots of joggers and dog walkers out but on some paths, they
just cant be avoided.

What seems to get the best results to warn them you are passing?

I say "Good morning" or "Good afternoon", depending on the time of day,
when I find myself sharing a path or road with pedestrians. Politeness
usually defuses any potential irritation they may have at finding a cyclist
so close, and it certainly causes them to turn and take note of me, usually
moving away to make room as they try to figure out whether they know me.

I usually call out within 8-10 feet, though at this point I've slowed down
to accommodate any sudden moves on the part of those walking.

It works for me, in any case.

----

I call "on your left" usually at 75 feet or so. If there is no reaction
I'll call again. If I'm not to out of breath I thank them as I go by.

Tencast--



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In article ,
tencast wrote:

I call "on your left" usually at 75 feet or so. If there is no reaction
I'll call again. If I'm not to out of breath I thank them as I go by.

Tencast--



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I call out "passing on your left" and thank them with a smile as I pass.

Dave in Minnesota

In article ,
saki writes:
Onlooker none@ wrote in :


I only recently rediscovered bicycling and that there are LOTS of nice
MU paths winding their way thru the city. I try to avoid tmes when
there are lots of joggers and dog walkers out but on some paths, they
just cant be avoided.

What seems to get the best results to warn them you are passing?

I say "Good morning" or "Good afternoon", depending on the time of day,
when I find myself sharing a path or road with pedestrians. Politeness
usually defuses any potential irritation they may have at finding a cyclist
so close, and it certainly causes them to turn and take note of me, usually
moving away to make room as they try to figure out whether they know me.

That's very much my approach, too. I find initially signalling
with my bell preferable to any verbal calling-out. The bell has
that distinctive sound that immediately identifies it as being
attached to a bicycle. Using it causes people who might otherwise
be tuning-out nearby verbiage to turn around, assess the situation
for themselves, and respond accordingly. Then we can trade smiles
and "hellos" as I gently pass.

I usually call out within 8-10 feet, though at this point I've slowed down
to accommodate any sudden moves on the part of those walking.

That sounds right. I figure 1 foot's distance for each Km/h of
speed (sorry for mixing units), up to 15 Km/h. Faster than that
is too fast for a MUP anyway. 10 Km/h or less seems to generally
be a good speed for safely passing pedestrians on a MUP.

It works for me, in any case.

Same here. It might be frustrating for someone who's in a
hurry, but riding on a MUP is basically "leisurely strolling
through the park" anyway, so frustration is incongruous in
those circumstances.


cheers,
Tom

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I'll typically ring my bell when I think I'm within earshot, just to let
them know I'm coming. If they don't seem to have heard me (most people
will flinch or move slightly to the edge of the path) I usually call 'on
your left' about 8-10 feet away from the ped.

I always slow down a bit and keep my hands on the brake levers - you
need to be able to react quickly to strange and sudden movements! I
never pass a ped at more than about 15mph, and always thank them for
accomodating me.



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On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 11:13:23 -0500, Onlooker none@ wrote:

What seems to get the best results to warn them you are passing?

"On your left" seems to work the best.The next best call seems to be
"Bike Up!" I also sometimes use my bicycle bell.

Onlooker wrote:
...
What seems to get the best results to warn (peds) you are passing?

Use a bell instead. No need to figure out what to say, always the
same volume, pretty well conveys the idea that it's a bike.

How far back do you call it out? I cant seem to determine the optimum
range: too far and they cant hear, too close and they irritated or
paniced.

Depends on your speed and theirs, and their activity. A blader
practicing a straight line needs less advance warning than mother hen
with chickets on trainer wheeled bikes. Ring it far enough back to
permit them to move to one side (a solo ped can't resist the
gravitational pull of the center of the paved surface, no matter how
wide).
My only rule of thumb is: if I can see the face, I should have made
the noise already.
HTH
--Karen M.

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 16:53:49 +0000, saki wrote:

Onlooker none@ wrote in :


I only recently rediscovered bicycling and that there are LOTS of nice
MU paths winding their way thru the city. I try to avoid tmes when
there are lots of joggers and dog walkers out but on some paths, they
just cant be avoided.

A call of "On your left" can be confusing to pedestrians, who then tend to
turn towards their left, causing them to veer closer to your path. I
usually say "I'm passing on your left" which is usually clearer. A
cheery "good morning" can also cause them to turn around and veer into the
path you were going to take, so may not be a good idea. Greet them that
was as you pass them, not in order to warn them of your presence.

Note that I used "left" both times. If at all possible (in the US -- the
UK is different) pass other trail users going in your direction on the
left. Be very cautious of small children, and those with dogs or
headphones. Dogs and kids can change direction quickly and unpredicatbly,
and people with headphones seem oblivious to what is going on around them.

I do not find bells to be helpful. The sound can be difficult to locate,
and people may behave unpredictably until they figure out where you are.
Bells are not as bad as those beepers on the electric carts in airports (I
can never tell where that sound is coming from), but nearly so.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "What am I on? I'm on my bike, six hours a day, busting my ass.
_`\(,_ | What are you on?" --Lance Armstrong
(_)/ (_) |

Onlooker none@ wrote in message . ..
I only recently rediscovered bicycling and that there are LOTS of nice
MU paths winding their way thru the city. I try to avoid tmes when
there are lots of joggers and dog walkers out but on some paths, they
just cant be avoided.

What seems to get the best results to warn them you are passing?


"On your left" is something only cyclists know how to react to. I
don't ride fast on MU paths. I approach from behind slowly to the
point where I don't have to yell and say "excuse me". Everyone knows
what that means.

Your right, people do all sorts of things, including stop. That's why
I approach slowly.

Tom

In article , Onlooker wrote:

What seems to get the best results to warn them you are passing?

I number of people mentioned bells. I usually just say
"ding ding", fairly loud, once I'm in non-shouting range.
People are often amused and rarely angry, which is about
as good as it seems to get. I also tend to slow down as
I come up on people -- buzzing past someone feels wrong.

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley * http://www.cs.umn.edu/~cosley/)
GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN (http://movielens.umn.edu/ * 612.624.8372)
*** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***