do you use a bell?
if so, do people listen?
i have been dropping my daughter off at school on my way to work for the past couple weeks, and this route takes me around the beach. the road along the beach is narrow and crowded so i have opted to use the multi-use path along the beach. it is paved, about 12 feet wide and for a big portion there are actually separate paths for feet and wheels.
through the last two weeks i have noticed something interesting. i dutifully ring my bell whenever i approach someone from behind, and i have unscientifically determined that the only people who hear it are the ones who are already walking or running to the right hand side and don't need to give way (in other words the people i am simply trying to alert that i'm approaching, not the ones i am asking to let me pass).
however, the people walking against the flow, walking abreast and blocking the whole path, or just wandering, never seem to flinch even in the slightest at repeated rings of the bell (it is the loudest brass bell i could find), and i end up having to do something creative or dangerous to get past them (like riding off into the grass to go around or squeezing between them and the shrubs. after you've rung the bell several times and shouted "excuse me" a couple times, what else can you do?
my big dummy has dyno hubs front and rear, so i am thinking i may just upgrade the bell to an air horn. :-)