TxSpeedster

So riding the MUP around White Rock Lake yesterday on a test ride after making a few changes to the steering tube stack and neglecting to reinstall the signalling bell afterwards. As I came up on a pair of women walking their dogs I gave the standard alert: "Passing on your left."

The woman on the left immediately moved to her left and guided her dog in that direction as well. With the entire path now blocked I applied the brakes and veered off of the pavement and onto the adjacent grass. In the so doing the woman's dog and I made glancing contact, dog shoulder to rider shin.

The woman shouted an obscenity and I stopped to make sure the animal was uninjured and offer an apology which was angrily brushed away with; "I moved to the left when you asked me to!"

I shook my head and continued along my way. The MUP has plenty of signage regarding passing on the left only and announcing left prior to passing. As much as I am pissed at her for causing me to strike an animal, I have to share the blame because I was in too much of a hurry to reinstall my bell before riding.

/rant

Papa Tom

I respect that you're assuming some of the blame, but how would a bell have changed that woman's concept of what to do?

Marc40a

Don't beat yourself up.

What it probably comes down to, and it might sound crazy, is that a lot of people don't know the difference between right and left. Not that they don't know, but it takes them way too long to think about it, and sometimes if rushed, they get it wrong.

Weird but true. I've known a few people like that.

Anyways, we all know that a bell is where it's at because trying to project your voice is for the birds. It sounds like you're yelling if you're a good distance away, and if they can hear you at a speaking level, then you're probably warning them way too late.

himespau 

Yeah, saying passing left so often makes people move left. Just ringing the bell to let them know you're coming (sometimes) helps. Sometimes it doesn't. There's not really a whole lotyou can do other than giving up the paths and sticking to the roads.

rmfnla

Pedestrians are supposed to walk facing traffic, even stupid ones...

AlmostTrick

I married one of those people!

Me, I have a hard time remembering road directions.

We work well together!

Marc40a

Me, too.

Another person I knew like who was like that was probably the most talented drummer I've ever played with. His limbs could do four different things independantly and polyrythmically (while singing on top of it) but he didn't know the difference between a left or right turn.

velocity

I just feel sorry for the dog

CrankyOne

So did my wife.

snow_echo_NY

sorry this happened i can only guess the woman has no idea and thinks she was right. hopefully she'll recount this story to someone who knows and will inform her.

agree you can't blame this on you not installing the bell. next time you can possibly announce yourself earlier like others said? something non-confrontational like "heads up!" or "coming through!" i find that works better than "on your left" when approaching ped/cyclist who is unfamiliar with the lingo.

Phil_gretz

I'd just recommend that you stay off the MUP. Ride to your heart's content on the roads, away from the peds,dog walkers, unicyclists, children, pantomimes, and general recreationalists. Anyway, my two cents...

TransitBiker

The bells, THE BELLS! (don't forget them)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLp8Vq0JSew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiKOhOzQyZg



- Andy

matimeo

I think someone else said it, but it doesn't hurt to announce your presence way in advance. Either that or you need to be prepared to stop. I belt out a "bicycle, on your left" well before I get to the people on the path, and then usually look back to see. By then I've already moved to the left of the trail so they usually get the drift and shift to the right. That doesn't stop some people from being oblivious, but that's not my problem. I just slow down.

Secret Squirrel

Most times I had yelled "on your left", they moved left. I bought a bell and now they think I'm annoying them.

Wanderer

I'd hit her, and avoid the poor dog!

joeyduck

I find it incredibly frustrating that people don't seem to get, in North America at least, people pass on the left. Seriously wtf. When you hear an ambulance do you veer left, no. When someone announces with a verbal warning or a bell ring why the fruck would you go left.

It is also forgotten that in absence of a sidewalk you walk facing traffic, my wife has disputed me every time on this matter.

megalowmatt

Since I began using a bell I've found that people respond way better to the bell sound. In the past if I tried to announce my presence approaching from behind they rarely heard or became annoyed because I had to nearly yell to get their attention far enough out. With the bell it seems to cut through way better than my voice, especially in windy conditions.

My wife and I were mountain biking last week. I use a bear bell on my mountain bike and a woman thanked me for the subtle and early warning.

RoadTire 

For the life of me I can't get my kids to drop their "it's stupid, I hate bells," attitude. Ok, so I'm a little apprehensive on the first couple rides of the season, but after the positive comments and awareness of pedestrians on the trail, that feeling disappears.

RoadTire 

I would hate to be threading through oncoming pedestrians. Just feels weird thinking about it. Dunno why.

loky1179

Kudos to you for stopping and apologizing, even though it wasn't your fault.

PaulRivers

Unfortunately, "on your left" is just bad phrasing. All the person often hears is "something something LEFT!".

Have had something similar happen to me more than once, most people stay where they are, but a few people legitimately think I'm asking them to move to the left.

gregf83 

+1. It's not that complicated. If you're riding on a MUP you should be slowing down to basically a walking pace and ensuring that the walker has heard and understood what you shouted before passing. It's not like it's going to cost anyone a big amount of time. If you want to ride faster get off the bloody MUP or don't say anything and just pass if it's wide enough.

I have to pass people every morning on a bridge with a narrow sidewalk. I pull up behind them, ask if I can squeeze by, wait for them to look around and swerve all over the sidewalk, then pass once they've settled down and are riding more or less in a straight line. Sometimes there are walkers or joggers to pass. Often they've got something stuck in their ears so the chances of them hearing anything I shout are slim.

Life's too short to get irritated by having to slow down once in a while, either by walkers or blind old ladies in the checkout line trying to pay for their food with a purse full of change.

Daniel4

What irks me is if someone says they didn't hear me coming when I've been ringing my bell. So when I approach a non-responder from behind, I keep my bell ringing continuously right up until I finish passing him. No chance of anybody accusing me of sneaking up in that situation.

Someone even said she thought the bell was a bird.

BTW I can't get off the path otherwise I'll be in the river. And the MUP I take is the safest way to cross a highway before I get back onto the main road I like to take.

Northwestrider

I prefer to stay off MUP's, but having said that, I do find them necessary now and then. It's inconvenient to mount a bell on my favorite bike, so when on a MUP with people , I just slow down like someone earlier has suggested. I do like a bell more than any other method to make my presence known btw.

illdoittomorrow

You haven't visited Calgary If I had a nickel for every time someone veered a direction other than left for an emergency vehicle, I could buy you a plane ticket to come here and watch. With enough left over to buy a sizeable share of a Fortune 500 company...

@ OP: I've had nearly identical results when using my bell, so don't fret. I hardly ever use my bike's bell- it's there mostly for compliance with local bylaws. I find the best way to pass people here is to slow down and quietly give them a wide berth without giving them the opportunity to react.