Originally Posted by jfowler85

And someone else has an anecdote which complete refutes this. Another has an anecdote which supports both positions. A potential solution is to not say anything at all, which works for me every single time...as mentioned some people just don't know how to react when being approached from behind. I've seen people freeze up, jump left, jump right, do nothing at all, acknowledge, look, nod, and of course do the left/right shuffle trying to figure out what is going on.

I've had the best luck with not saying anything at all; if it's a close-ish pass I slow down so as not to be a jerk. Others I have followed behind generally do the same thing.