Is there a generally accepted set of hand signals for riding in groups, especially in a paceline?

I've seen people put their palms down to the rear or hold up their fist to signal stopping or slowing. Which is correct?

I have have seen people tap their palm against their hip to signal that they done pulling and about to come off the front. Which hip is tapped, the side you are moving toward? I've also seen people flick their elbow or stick out their fingers but that seems less obvious to the riders in the back.

Anything else, or does it vary from place to place?


-Tim-

In the groups I ride in, the elbow flick is the sign to pull through. Patting your hip says to the rider behind “follow me.”

Palm down to rear, slow down. Hand or fist up, stop. That, plus turns and pointing out road hazards, seem to be consistent from group-to-group (in my experience).


However, even a simple "hazard on the road shoulder" has lots of variations (some point at the hazard before the familiar hand-behind-the-back motion, others do some kind of wave or wiggly hand, etc)... so instead of assuming some standard, best to get accustomed to what the group uses and stick to it on a per-group-basis to avoid causeing any sort of internal group confusion.

Random hand movements can mean

"my wrists are tired".

I learned the elbow flick the same, but the folks who pat their hip are always doing it as a preface to sweeping their hand across their backside to indicate a pedestrian or a car ahead on the shoulder or in the lane being ridden in and that they will be pulling out to avoid it. Often accompanied by calling out "runner up" or "car up" as well. I kinda see how it means "follow me," just never seen it used for general purposes or in any other circumstance.

When I rode motorcycles, a buddy and I used the signal of slapping the thigh to mean "I'm about to accelerate" (i.e., giddy-up! ) Along those lines, the most misunderstood signal I've seen was when a ride leader raised his hand above his head and waved it in a circle. We were on a usual and familiar course, so it definitely didn't mean "we're turning around," for which I'd seen a similar gesture. It looked rather like he was cracking a whip, which I took to mean that we should (get ready to) sprint for the town line which happened to be ahead. What he intended, however, was to indicate something like rounding up, or for everyone to close their gaps (we'd gotten sort of stretched out back at an intersection). Of course the exact opposite happened as some of us just started hammering.

One signal/flourish that nobody taught me and I don't think I've seen anyone else use, but which I like to use is an upward swooping movement of the arm when indicating a turn to highlight the fact that we're turning directly onto a significant incline. Similarly, a hand reaching forward and up to indicate "climb ahead," undulating to indicate "rollers ahead," or up then sharply down to indicate "crest and steep descent ahead." Pretty obvious, I think. People might wonder why or what it means at first, but I doubt they mistake it for something unintended. Would you?

Oh. Thanks!

In my part of the world, patting the right hip/buttocks communicates that there is an obstruction (e.g., parked car, oncoming jogger) on the right side of the road and is a signal to move to the left to avoid it.

In my corner of the world, patting the hip is the same as flicking the elbow - I'm done pulling and moving left. In light of this thread, that does seem odd - why two gestures that mean the same thing?

I use a palm-down gesture - sort like slowly dribbling a basket ball - to signal "slowing." I can't remember if I made that up or picked it up on a group ride. Seems intuitive though.

Perhaps it's time someone created the official set of gestures that everyone will agree on. That should be easy ;-)

The most used :
Open hand behind the back = Slow down
Waving and pointing forward = Clear/Go
Waving the arm behind the back = Rails crossing
Elbow flick = Next/Your turn
Hand all the way up in the air = Flat!/Mechanical issue
Pointing the ground = Hole, bump, debris. (you actually point where it's coming)
Open hand with fingers pointing back, moving horizontally from far right to the back = Move away from this side (because there's a parked car on side of the road for example, or some sand, water, or just because the road narrows down.

Growing up in Chicago, this was deployed frequently:

I have retired that signal and now exclusively use a thumbs up to communicate my displeasure. It really throws people for a loop and then I don't get run off the road either, which is sort of a nice side-benefit.

I had a friend who I toured with 20 years ago tell me the most effective thing was to blow them a kiss.

The most used signals in my locality:
Open palm down, to rear: slowing and/or stopping
One finger pointing down: isolated hazard (pothole, roadkill)
Hand out to side, moving fingers or waving: gravel, sand
Moving hand behind back, or in the air (like, c'mon guys!): move over (parked car, shoulder ends)
One hand up: mechanical

Right hip for moving right and left hip for moving left?


-Tim-

That gesture is ill advised in most of the deep south.


-Tim-

You shouldn't really need to signal direction. Always pull off into the wind. In the absence of wind pull off in the same direction as everyone else.

I deployed it with vigor today, and my wife (who I mentioned this to) agrees with you (i.e, not just the deep south).

If only - but nope. Pat right hip, move left

Yeah.
But you know, eventually standards become real standards when enough people adopt them. In my career I've seen building codes become more standard across the country as local authorities have taken to adopting the same one: the IBC. They still have their local variations, but at least they follow the same form.

Seems to me our signaling standards are pretty much that - there's some variation here and there, but it all follows the same form and is pretty intuitive. However, here's one I like that is probably not well understood: patting the top of ones helmet = single file/no running stops/be on your best behaviour!

In my neck of the woods the hip pat indicates "there's something up ahead on this side of the line that warrants our attention" ...but since it is almost always accompanied by a slight -- or, occasionally, dramatic -- shift of the line away from that side, I suppose "follow me" makes sense too.

On rare occasions the hip pat is used to inquire "Do these shorts make my ass look fat?"