It's almost as if disappointment were the goal.

What is the general consensus in the cycling community? There is no general consensus. It's a matter of opinion on what riders think is common courtesy. What you and I find to be common courtesy may greatly differ from each other.
When you pass someone on your bike do you let them know before you do so? With a bell or verbally? No, I don't. Not worth my time.
Do you expect others to let you know when they are passing? No, I don't. And please don't. It's annoying.
Does it annoy you when you are passed without warning or do you not care? On the contrary it annoys me when people warn me before passing me. I, as all cyclist should, have a mirror and can see behind me. Don't waste your breathe.

I often travel much faster than the other riders on the road/MUP. I give pass with as much space as I can safety give them. I once tried to count how many cyclist/walkers/joggers I passed on a commute once but stopped somewhere around 30 on the way there. On a 26 mile round trip ride.

As I noted above, here in Wisconsin (and likely in other jurisdictions as well), giving audible warning before overtaking is the law, not merely a courtesy.

We have two major mup's in our area.

This one below has been in our community for decades. It is heavily used by "everyone" with "everything" including trolly cars that run down the center line. Just about every day (except winter) it will have traffic. This portion of it is only 3 miles long. With this trail, if you dont call out or ring a bell then you are risking incident just on who is out there and the senarios that exist. People of all ages, People of all recreation levels. Lol in fact if you pass say some ole ladies going for a stroll and didnt ring the bell loud enough lol, ohhh you will hear how loud they can be once you pass. Them old ladies will let you know hard! about letting them know your coming lol...

http://allhdwallpapers.net/wp-conten...wallpapers.jpg


This trail goes 400 miles across my state. I happen to live in the middle so I can enjoy it in either direction. It is a national historic trail that is used by everyone except roller blades. Because it is crushed gravel people will hear you coming along however sometimes they dont hear so at that point its best to let them know. There is plenty of room to pass however consider some walk in a side by side pattern taking up most of the trail..Lol and when they are "walking and talking" they aint listening lol...

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...8d&oe=58F2BE2C

Road cyclists have a completely different ballgame.....Their issues are not what is in front of them but rather what is behind them....As you can read, they know what is behind them, their frontal confrontations are minimized...

There's a special place in hell for people who ride on sidewalks :bang:

:notamused: :crash:

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Originally Posted by 68venable (Post 19232540)

What is the general consensus in the cycling community? There is no general concensus on ANYTHING in the cycling community... ESPECIALLY on bikeforums…

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If God didn’t want us to ride on sidewalks He would not have placed them next to high speed highways with no shoulders and bad pavement in autocentric suburbs where nobody walks anyways [such as I encounter routinely when I visit Macomb County, MI].

In fact on heavily traveled commercial roads with frequent driveways, I have described my technique of “bolus riding” in which I ride on the road when there is no traffic behind me. When a bolus (a concentrated mass of scattering material, i.e. cars) is released from a traffic light, I then ride on the sidewalk until the bolus passes and I resume riding on the road. (For residents of Metro Detroit,think of Gratiot or Woodward Aves.)

BTW, @Ty0604, no hard feelings; I enjoy reading your posts on the Touring Forum, but I'm a primarily urban cyclist with decades of riding in Michigan and Massachusetts, possibly much different than the Pacific Northwest.

Good grief, your MUP is nicer and wider than actual roads around me. The paths/trails I ride are half that width, maybe even narrower.

If the paths were as wide as the quoted picture, no I would not bother calling out nor expect it. When you only have room to pass within a foot of others' shoulders, then it can be very startling to the person being passed to have someone silently appear practically on their shoulder. People startle and then you don't know where they might wobble to.

Passing shouldn't be complicated. If it isn't safe to pass, wait until it is. 1 meter of clearance should be plenty, if there is less, pass slowly or wait.

Some DB riding on the sidewalk nearly ran into me as I was walking to work this morning.

But consider this...As enticing as it is, it does attract everyone and during Spring and Summer particularly, it can be a madhouse lol. On this part of the trail if you dont have etiquette it wont be a nice day for you. Even the cyclist who dare venture in such dangerous waters must heed verbally or with sound or they will hit someone simple as that.
This is part of a mup that goes around an entire lake. This is the East Side...

Now the West loop trail is more relaxing and probably more along the lines of other mups.. Although you cant see it because of the leaves lol, this paved path doesnt have the demarcation line in the middle. Less people travel it because it is three times as long and its common you can pass without notice
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...a9&oe=58C4E001

I guess it all depends on what we ride, who and what else is traveling on it annnnnnnd then you have to take into account the human factor....That lol...is the real question lol..

With apologies to Jim from Boston, if God had wanted us to ride on the sidewalks, He would have named them, "siderides."

A year and a half ago, it wouldn't have mattered, passing me would have been done only by a fit roadie. Now, though, a bell would be nice. Reduced capability has rendered me like the Dutch -- "ride slower, enjoy the ride", as Colville-Andersen put it.

It's a shame it's not your own free choice, but that's not a reason not to enjoy it. Not that the Dutch do enjoy every ride, if it wasn't enjoyable they enjoy complaining about it afterwards.

On the subject, I think it's a matter of etiquette to at least look for consensus and try to complie if you found any. Make it easy for others and don't make them have to think about what you want. Use a bell, it's easy to hear, you instantly know the direction and the distance of the one ringing it, and you immediately know that it's a cyclist. If someone shouts you'll have to think whether it's just a cyclist wanting to pass, or something else is happening. You might even want to take a look behind you and leave the straight line.

It's not just about you and the other cyclist at that point in time, it's a collective matter between cyclists in general over time. Be predictable and contribute to order rather than chaos.

It annoys the hell out of me when someone uses bell before they pass me on the left . I ride straight line not all over the road like some cyclists do .

For what it's worth, if someone doesn't want to get hit all they have to do is ride / walk a straight / predictable line that leaves room for others, and make sure to check for oncoming, overtaking, and approaching before making any maneuvers.

Projecting some kind of responsibility on the whole rest of the world because you can't be bothered to handle your own basic responsibilities is not only exceedingly rude, but also likely to lead to darwinian events.

I'll tell you what, though: I absolutely love it when, while in passing, I say, "On your left.", or "Hi there." and the other rider honestly and enthusiastically responds: "Hello! How's it going?" or something like that. It makes me feel like there is some real friendliness in this sport, and not just with people I've known all my life.

It is wrong to assume the preference of being notified when being overtaken is a matter of fear of being hit. One can hold their line and make safe maneuvers and still prefer to be notified. This is not an abandonment of person responsibility.

Do you say "on your left" when you walk by someone in a store?
Do you honk at cars when you pass them?

I really think this is based on the situation. If the person is to the right and going in a straight line, startling them and shouting at them as you pass seems a bit unnecessary. If the person in front of you is all over the path and you're putting both of your lives in danger by not announcing your presence, then by all means, let them know.

That said, if I pass someone without alerting them, I will usually say "g'morning" to them as I pass. If I alert them and make them move out of my way, I usually excuse myself as I pass.

Someone, maybe you, made the car comparison earlier. I had a good laugh. And when someone passes me in a store doing 25 we can have that conversation.


Of course shouting in someone's ear is more likely to startle them than passing quietly but no one is suggesting that that would be the thing to do.


One thing that seems very clear in reading this thread is that the people who are most likely to do the passing are quite confident that it is not necessary while the people who are likely to be passed are the ones who prefer to be notified. One could draw a conclusion from this but im pretty sure that's not going to happen.

I still think a lot of this is situation based. When you come up on a person, you can usually gauge the necessary action. There are times when people are clearly lost in their own thoughts and notifying them might do more harm than good.

I'm in no way implying that people shouldn't be courteous of others. If I don't announce my presence, I'm going around the person with a good distance between us. I don't think anyone is a fan of being buzzed by other riders.

BECAUSE the act of calling out itself frequently causes clueless riders to swerve or maneuver randomly, often right into the path of the over taker.... YES it is wrong to assume that the over taker should increase their own risk just to accommodate a "preference" which is not based on any reasonable need. If you're doing what you should be doing, then nobody needs to announce a pass.

Shutting up and making the pass is usually safer. For all parties. When you see someone is all over the place, then sure, announce the pass. but what you really should announce "HOLD YOU LINE" not "on your left". When you see a cluster ufk ahead, then act appropriately, both as an over taker and as one being passed. When you see a tight pass ahead, look for a chance with more room, or announce your presence and observe for a second before passing.

But yes, projecting some kind of responsibility on the whole rest of the world because you can't be bothered to handle your own basic responsibilities is not only exceedingly rude, but also likely to lead to unintended events with Darwinian consequences.

Egocentricism is not allowing you to see that this statement could be used to support either argument.

The only rule of etiquette that makes sense to me: treat others (riders, runners, walkers, etc.) as you would like to be treated yourself.

It works for me and I am 60 years young.

Life is already too complicated as it is to be creating additional complications.

Selective reading is not allowing you to see how it cannot.

I think this is one of the better ways to explain it. It is situational..

My biggest issue is when i come up to say 3-4 walkers, retired ole folks that basically consume 70% of the total width of the trail by walking side by side. They are not doing this with any wrong intention its just the situation. Sometimes they dont hear as well and they kinda get surprised real quick as I approach and ring my bell. lol which that they hear, those kiddie bells ring loud lol..