rdtompki

My wife and I have been riding our tandem for about a year and enjoy organized rides. While as senior citizens we're not speed demons we'll pass slower rides on the flats. Downhill we can develop some pretty impressive closing speeds. We use "on your left" at slower speeds where passing room is minimal or if we need someone to move over (riding left of center lane for example). In other circumstances I'd prefer to pass with more than adequate room rather than distract the other rider; on real downhills there isn't enough time for the other ride to react. In one situation today I called "on your left" and the rider, who was already 3/4 of the way to the centerline, moved left.

Any thoughts on this approach? This certainly isn't unique to tandems, of course.

Creakyknees

I have found no perfect solution to this problem; only the mitigation resulting from vigilance, planning and communication.

The last time I did a rally (I don't ride many) the long courses and the short / fun-ride courses used the same route home, so the racer types doing the long course were cover the last 10 miles of rolling hills, mixed in with the casual riders on hybrids. My solution was to yell, loudly and often, things like "big group behind you!" and "riders passing"

My efforts didn't really cause any of the slow riders to move out of the way; they pedaled along in their zone of obliviousness. But at least I felt better than I had upheld the roadie code by yelling at them.

znomit

Fixed that for ya

bike eagle

"On your left" seems to be the most common warning among cyclists. Like the OP, I often find that saying that causes others to move to their left, obviously the exact opposite of what's desired. For that reason, I usually say, "bicycle coming!" That usually causes the rider/jogger ahead to either stay where they are, or to move to their right, either one of which is fine by me.

umd

I hate saying "on your left" personally. I try to say anything else or nothing at all (with plenty of room) but sometimes it comes out anyway.

acaurora

People always get the misconception (at least in my experience) that when we say "On your left", all they really hear apparently is the "left" part, and proceed to move left, directly in the path of where I'm heading. I have found that saying "passing on your left" works better. Of course though, there is always the swift and stealthy method of not saying anything and blowing right past them with ample space. I have had times, though, where passing without saying anything results in them yelling at me or me hearing them gasp/surprised as they're behind me.

umd

It's not a misconception, it happens enough that it makes the results of saying it unpredictable. In my experience.

So what?

acaurora

I just feel bad when that happens, I don't want to give anyone a heart attack / get them in an accident

Caad 8

Just today, some senior citizens were walking on my bike route. The path there is very narrow and there is sand on both sides. They were walking on the right and in the middle. I was going about 10mph here since its so narrow and you can't really go that fast there. As I approached I said "on your left" and this old guy who looked like santa moved to the right, and as I passed he said thank you. I assume for telling him that I was approaching.

umd

Often I'll go in the car lane to pass someone. If that startles someone (and sometimes it does), they shouldn't be riding on the road.

Doohickie

When you verbalize, the first instinct a human has is to engage in the conversation. So when you say, "On your left" or "Passing" or "I think you look marvelous" or "I've got a loaded gun; if you turn around, I'll shoot," a person's first instinct is to turn around and see who's talking to them. If you say a direction such as right or left, they will move in that direction as if it were an order. It's just human nature.

So I got a bell for MUP travel. If there is little traffic, I will ding it a ways off. If I get any reaction or acknowledgment, that's it I'm done and I just ride through. No reaction? I'll ding again as I get closer, and continue to ding the bell until the person makes it apparent they know I'm there and passing on the left. The difference with a bell is that it is impersonal, there is no verbal interaction. Since peds don't have a bell, there is no urge to answer in kind.

Granted, people in the Orient may be more accustomed to crowded situations, but this little video illustrates the concept rather well.

acaurora

LOL, you definitely have a point there.

F4UX3/2

I deal with, arguably, even more oblivious cyclists on my daily rides over the golden gate bridge in the form of bike renting tourists who are trying to ride a bike for the first time since childhood and take pictures/operate a viedo camera at the same time.

I've found this method is best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBl0ly40ORg

Velo Dog

"On your left" has always been trouble for me. It generally works OK in real bike events with semi-experienced riders, but it's death on MUTS. I avoid multi-use trails when i can, but my office backs right onto a nice one and it's perfect for lunch rides. At least half the time if I sweep along like an Arrogant Roadie Pri** and shout, "On your left," the old ladies or moms with strollers or little kids with training wheels either freeze or move to the left themselves.
Solution: Come up slowly behind them and say something like, "Can I pass on your left?" or "I'm going by on your left, OK?" Then wait to be acknowledged before you make your move.
If you want to go faster than that, you don't belong on the MULTI-USE trail.

sfrider 

This is why professional instructors in any area are taught to consistently use positive directions: tell the listener what you DO want them to do. Never tell them not to do what you don't want them to do - at least if you expect an immediate response. It takes longer to parse the double negative and turning it into action is error prone. Mainly because it leaves the recipient to figure out an action that falls outside the negative, and if misheard could be interpreted in the positive. So for instance, never say "don't turn!" - say "continue straight!". Not "don't touch" - but "keep your hands off". If you say "on your left" it could easily be misheard as "left!" meaning you want (in the positive) the person to move left. When someone isn't listening or paying attention, or thinking of something else, it's pretty common to miss the first couple of words if unexpectedly addressed.

This is pretty elementary instructional stuff. There is no basis for "to your left" in any state law, nor is it normally recognized idiomatically among non-cyclists, nor is it particularly good practice. Instead a quick "passing!" works better, or do what the law usually mandates and get a bell.

Grumpy McTrumpy

I don't like announcing my impending overtake. I prefer to just pass with as much lateral distance as possible, such as moving to the middle of the traffic lane.

We were having a small team endurance ride a week ago (three of us) and were in a tailwind section, hence going rather fast for the low power required. I mentioned to the lead rider that were were probably going to scare the heck out of the kid ahead of us, due to the speed difference.

So when we got closer to the kid, lead rider says "on your left" or some variation thereof, and the kid turns to look, and veers left into our path. I estimate the speed differential to be somewhere around 14 mph so we had a very short time to react. No contact, fortunately.

I suggested to lead rider: next time, just swing out wide and silently blow by him before he has time to react. If he's going to take someone out, let it be only himself.

this all happened on a state route 2-lane with large shoulders. I wouldn't even consider it on an MUP. MUPs are not for training.

Chris_F

I'm no speed demon but I do occasionally pass other riders. When I do I just wait until there's a ton of room then I move by with so much space between us that I don't have to announce. When this isn't possible I'll usually say something like "excuse me", give them time to turn around and see who said it, then they figure things out and move right. This requires slowing down to their speed which is a fate worse than death to some cyclists.

Perhaps something like "stay right" would be more effective than "on your left" because most folks hear "left" and move to the left.

KevinF

I always ride on the open road; there aren't any bike paths around here. If I'm approaching somebody who looks like they know what they're doing (i.e., no problems maintaining a straight line), I'll usually say something, whether it be "good morning" or "on your left" just to let them know I'm there.

If it's somebody riding "sketchy", I'll blow right past with a wide berth without saying anything. As has been said above, saying "on your left" usually produces a reaction of them looking back to see me, and most people can't look over their left shoulder without steering left as well. So by not saying anything, I'm getting them to do what I want them to do -- just keep doing what you're doing.

Chris_F

How about approaching them and saying "hey, what's that cool thing over there on your right?" Then blow by on the left as they swerve right and off the road.

kleinboogie

I never say anything unless the cyclists appear intelligent about what on your left means. Most people will look to their left and in doing so move their bikes left. It's the way the brain works. I'd prefer to assess their intentions well in advance then once I commit I go for it as quickly as possible. I'd rather have the occasional rider who can't hold a line than scare the bejesus out of everyone I pass and risk more incidents. Worked so far.

rangerdavid

THIS, is the perfect opportunity to practice your "Lance Look"

Jay Andriot

I'm amazed at how self centered we are sometimes. On you left really means, Oh Please pay attention to me, I'm going soooo fast and you need to let me by. I think On Your Left has more to do with the lack of skills on the part of the person doing the passing than it does with the parties being passed. On your left is dangerous because in a high percentage of cases it causes the person being passed to move to the left. You'd be much better off saying nothing and just passing or if you feel the need to announce your presence the just say Passing. I ride mostly on a MUP. Half the people I pass are wearing headphones and can't hear a thing I say anyways. Sometimes I have to slow to a crawl and just wait for the right time to pass, that's life, we have to share the path/road

ultraman6970

Personally i hate to say something, period. If there is room to the left to pass i just go. What surprise me the most is that people do not pay attention to a single thing while riding. I can hear guys coming from at least more than +20 feet away sometimes, it is so easy also just go and look over your shoulder also. I got the bad custom from my tracking days but anyhow, people just go and ride and use only the sight sense and tha's it.

The other bad custom is people just waving while riding the bikes, from side to side of the road, no matter what u say, that M O F O could cause an accident, and no matter how to explain to them, they will continue doing it. The other thing, if you say To your left of whatever, some get scared and dont know what to do, making the situation even worse.

What i have found useful is just wait, do not say a thing and wait for the right moment to pass. If you are passing and they start moving to the left just touch their hips and move them pretty slowly like for 2 secs, another thing i got from my racing days. Nobody is hurt u are sure the stupid guy will move and everybody happy. The other detail, women tends to ride in straight line more often than men.

PS: agree with Jay

Wylde06

Whenever im getting ready to pass someone on the MUP, ill yell coming up on your left, and people usually move over to the right. if i see they have headphones on...i dont even bother

JoelS

Seems that often enough when I call out "on your left" the person moves left. After a few collisions I realized it's the "left" part of the direction which causes folks to move left. So if I call out anything at all, I use "passing."

But really, the best solution is to get a bell...