Originally Posted by DataJunkie
On busy MUPs do y'all yell on your left every 5 seconds?
I sure as heck am not. It makes more sense to slow down or relocate to the street. On my route I have a MUP that is one of the busiest in the city and the alternative street routes are insanely slow. I slow down and occasionally yell on your left to the aimless. Unfortunately, even with yelling on your left or going slow I still have close calls from time to time. I really wish I had a decent alternative to that MUP.
No, of course not - if you're saying 'on your left!' every 5 seconds, that's your cue that said MUP is not in a condition for speedy cycling - as you point out. On the MUP part of my commute this morning, for instance, I'd say I said 'on your left!' maybe 5 times in 3 miles.
If you're having close calls, you need to work on your psychic powers.
I've gotten decent at recognizing the clueless, and I announce extra early for them. Of course, it also helps that probably 2/3 of the traffic on our MUP during weekdays is cyclists, so the peds get used to it.
Unfortunately, I've noticed lately that some peds have taken to intentionally walking against traffic on the MUP, no doubt because they're sick of being buzzed by silent cyclists. So to those who find no reason to ever announce...there's your result.