Originally Posted by rogue9607
As for the bell vs "on your left", bells tend to startle me when I'm out walking but are still better than nothing at all. So far this spring, a good percentage of the people I've passed with an "on your left" (somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2) actually reply with a "thank you". This tells me that users of the Mt. Vernon trail certainly know what it means, which is probably due to the number of cyclists on the trail.
Riding home up the Custis Trail today, I was behind, well, let's say your average "odd bird" cyclist - a bearded old guy with pink-trimmed full-length spandex...
Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that he was passing a young woman. She was walking on the very right edge of the trail. He started to pass well to the left (on a two lane trail) and announced loudly, almost alarmingly "On your left!" She jumped all the way off the trail against the wall, and turned with a look of confusion and then disbelief as he very slowly rolled on by.
That's why I'm for the bell...