Originally Posted by
Dan333SP
The only time I've ever gotten any pushback from passing without warning by another cyclist is when passing a large group of riders at once. There's a route I ride regularly with minimal traffic and generally minimal riders, but once or twice a week I'll come across a group ride of 10-15 riders. I believe all but a handful of then generally have helmet mirrors, so I'll say "On your left!" when passing the last rider in line (with at least 5 feet of clearance) and then just give a finger wave as I pass the rest of them . One of the guys in the back will shout that someone is passing, so honestly I don't know what else they want me to do, but at least one of them always wobbles, makes a surprised exclamation, and shouts at me as I pass. I think they're just shaky group riders in general so any variables scare them. Oh well.
We have some of those around here. I call them group ride Nazis. They also tend to call out "car up!!!" when there's a car approaching on a straight stretch of road, and "car back!!!" every 3 seconds when they're riding along a busy street with a steady stream of cars coming. As well as point at every possible thing in the road that isn't clean, smooth pavement.
There's no earthly reason to announce a pass with 5' of space. Maybe, in a fairly long paceline, the last rider should say "I'm last, we're clear" or something like that every few riders or so. And FWIW, unless you are deaf or have ear buds in, you can hear the wheel noise from a paceline well before they pass you.