OK pet peeve of the day. When I am approaching someone from the rear I always let them know I am coming. I have a mirror and rarely get surprised when someone is passing, but it still ticks me off when they don't let me know in advance they are passing. This is on a bike trail. So do you always tell people when your sneaking up on their rear?

I don't unless they're blocking the way.

i used to use "on your left" all the time, but the walking zombies dont understand what it means. So now i use a 160 Decible dual tone siren and blast it for 2 - 5 seconds as i approach them. They get it now.

as for what i do when someone announces "on your left" ........i hold my line and dont wobble bobble all over the road in total shock and surprise, unlike 99.9% of the peds and sunday bumblers and ipodderjogger bobbers out there. Its called situational awareness and i i strongly believe 99.9% of the peds, sunday bumblers and ipodderjoggers seriously need to get some.

What is it that "you" do different when someone announces "on your left"?

^^^^^your supposed to move to your right


I use it on the bike path...but I try to stay off of it as much as possible. I feel so unsafe when on there. Too many idiots

I have always ridden my bike far enough right that another cyclist would not have to wait for me to move right. I simply hold my line and they can pass fine, without any announcement.

Works fine on an 8 foot wide path. Is your path much more narrow?

Like CB HI, I tend to ride to the right side of the path anyways, so I have no problem with people passing unannounced a few feet away. When passing, I use my bell to warn the jagoffs who ride right down the middle, or when there are two or more people side-by-side. I've given up yelling on your left because so many people take that to mean "move to the left".

Aside: I had a jogger a few weeks ago yell "You're supposed to signal" at me after I passed him on the MUP. The funny thing was that that part of the trail was empty, I wasn't going particularly fast, and I gave him about 4 feet of clearance when I passed. I guess he randomly likes to jump several feet from side-to-side as he runs...

Y'all need to ride faster.

I ring a bell for all joggers/walkers. I only signal another a cyclist if I am passing fast, or I have to pass closer than the farthest side of the path allows me. Most of the time I am taking over another cyclist it is a slow enough process that I can't imagine I am suprising the cyclist in any way.

I'd be all in favor of "on your left" or other overtaking signals as a standard practice, if I thought they did anything to enhance safety. I don't believe they do. As others have reported, the phrase "on your left" seems to confuse most MUPpets: they grind to a halt, spin around, wobble, do everything but maintain a steady course (if they were already over on the right) or get to the right if they weren't there already. So, when you're dealing with the confused and inattentive, it doesn't seem to help much, and when you're dealing with the clued-in and attentive, it's unnecessary and annoying: "On your left, on your left, on your left, yabbayabbayabbayabbayabba," SHUT UP ALREADY.

"Excuse me" for roller bladers and peds if I want them to make room for me to pass. "Passing" for cyclists

I use a bell.... if I get no response then I keep using it and if still no response I'll slow down to pass at a reasonable speed. Last thing I want is someone to move into my path and have an accident while out doing something I enjoy like riding a bike

When on my own I always stay to the right... and those that pass without any warning do piss me off because what if I swerved due to a bad spot in the path or fallen branch? Those morons don't think ahead. Sure I may be riding in a predictable manner, but predictability is not absolute.

It's rare that I ever do get passed on the trail... but it seems most of the time it happens there's no warning.

"On your left" does make me think I need to move to my left... "I'm passing on your left" would let me know to not move over into that lane. I have a mirror now as well... but no guarantee I'll be focusing on it alot while on the trail. It's better for picking up cars approaching than skinny cyclist.

Yes - except for 2 situations.

1) I see wires coming from their ears. I don't waste my breath.
2) The look to be the oblivious type. This is a judgement call developed from experience. There are some peds who, when you announce, will become startled, jump, and stagger to the left. If I have the ability to, I slow down, pull to the left as far as possible, and say 'excuse me' as I pass, but not before.

#2 is rare though, so I almost always announce well in advance.

@lilbrownbat: as a runner, I very much appreciate the courtesy of a verbal announcement. I hate it when I get buzzed by a silent cyclist. I don't know if I speak for all runners, but to me a frequent barrage of "on your left!"s is much less annoying than having cyclists constantly buzz you.

No. I don't. I stay to the right, and I expect to be occasionally passed myself. It's simply being aware of your surroundings. I did scare a lady the other day who chastised me for the above - (I apologized to be nice), but I don't feel a normal "pass" merits an audio alert every time.

Maybe on a cold desolate path in the middle of nowhere I might say "your left" so as not to scare anyone, but any other normal day it's an expectation to have other traffic around.

Ya know in total I think I've voiced "on your left" more on escalators and moving walkways than I have an MUPs.

On MUPs I'm less prone to get annoyed by a meandering cyclist poking along enjoying the daisies, as I'm that person myself at times. On an escalator I simply want to say "Move your ass and your luggage to the RIGHT and stand single fricken file. Not sprawled across the entire width of a shared space."

(Sorry. Just dropped my mom off at the airport.)

I announce myself to runners / pedestrians - many have earphones and can't hear me, but I do that anyway. When I encounter very slow cyclists, I often sneak by silently - some get nervous and I don't trust them. With faster ones it depends - most of the time I say 'hello' when I'm next to them.

It isn't like saying it makes them move. I just get annoyed with people who won't stay right.

-Nate

I've found that there are people out there that hear "get the F out of my way" no matter what I say, and as a result, get pissed off.

My route covers about 16 miles. The upper 8 miles is gravel, dirt, sand, occassional ruts. I tend to ride on the right side but will move all over the trail to stay on a firmer surface. The first 5 miles is usually not very busy and it would be easy to get surprised by another cyclist aproaching from the rear. Getting surprised at 14 mph on gravel could lead to a problem. It's here where I have the most concern about being warned since its easy to get lulled into the ride.

The next three miles is full of joggers and dog walkers. Some oblivious due to iPods, but most will move right and wave and/or reel in their dogs when I announce my pressence.

The rest of the trip in on paved trail, generally wide. There tend to be other bikes moving in both directions here. It's easier to keep a straight line here so getting passed is not as big an issue, barring something on the trail in front of me. I guess I don't worry about other rider's courtesy here since its busiest enough its more like being on the road.

I think my next purchase will be a bell, see what kind of reaction that brings.

A lot depends on the biking culture of your area. Here the paths are used so often that announcing your pass seems unnecessary in most cases. I stay far enough to the right to communicate that anyone may pass me safely. Most don't announce their pass, which is fine by me. When I prepare to pass a cyclist, if I notice they're deliberately riding well to the right, I don't announce. Same with peds/runners. These are people who assume they'll be passed numerous times on the path, and I give them wide berth when passing, so it could hardly constitute buzzing.

If a cyclist/ped/runner is hogging the centerline, then I'll announce "passing" and allow them to make a decision as to which way to veer. Most will correctly veer to the right.

Oh, and when I prepare to pass I always check over my shoulder to make sure I can move over. I've approached packs of cyclists where I can't tell who's intending to pass. In those cases I always announce, and I expect anyone ahead of me to signal their intentions (by glancing over their shoulder before they veer to pass). There's nothing scarier than being in the middle of a pack of cyclists who don't know which way they're going.

If there is enough room, then I announce it only if the person looks like a MUP/road/sidewalk etiquette bonehead.

Peds and joggers get a, "Excuse me mate, mind if I get past?"

Overtaking other cyclists, I just stick a *** in my mouth and ask them loudly if they have a light. Ah, the looks of pure hate...

I've got a bell AND an AirZound on my commuter bike - bell for peds, horn for cars and emergencies.

If I'm on my road bike, and I'm coming up on someone, I've changed to saying "Coming up...on your LEFT.". Adding the extra phrase on the front of it seems to reduce the panicked jumps to the left. I'm a bit more vocal if they're hogging the center, or a group is walking 3+wide and into the other lane.

....if they're doing the above, AND on a cell phone, I give them the AirZound.

Sometimes I do. Sometimes I do not.

It really depends upon my mood and how the other rider \ ped \ rollerblader is acting.

I rang my bell at a couple of pedestrians this morning and the woman jumped about two feet in the air, scurried to the guard rail on the right side of the path (it's by the river there), and *flattened* herself against the railing, literally clinging to it with her hands as though she expected to have to vault over it to escape the scary cyclist. The path is ten feet wide at that point, I had rung the bell a full twenty feet before I passed, and I was coasting on my old Raleigh so the "tickety" noise of the freewheel was pretty loud. And I was going about 10 kph. I really don't know what else I could have done... I hope that woman never goes on the other pathways that are narrower and have more traffic; she'll die of fright.

I ring my bell for pedestrians and slower cyclists, just in case, but yeah, about 25% of the time they react by jumping or swerving.