A rant: If you're passing me, please let me know!

[owlice]

(This rant is directed at the dozens and dozens of bikers biking on Hains Point yesterday afternoon, most of whom are, I'm sorry, clods. Absolutely clods. Or were clods yesterday, at least.)

How hard is it to ring a bell -- you DO have a bell or other signal on your bike, don't you? If you're passing me, let me know, please! If you don't have a bell, use your voice! Call out, "Passing on your left!" or something else that lets me know where you are, which side you are on, and how narrow the space between us is going to be. Call out especially if you are going to do so within four inches of me! You have NO idea what my skill level is -- except that I am slower than you are -- so letting me know that you are about to pass me is as much for YOUR safety as it is for mine.

Thank you to the TWO -- just TWO, of dozens and dozens! -- bicyclists, one male, one female, who did call out. It is much appreciated.

The rest of you? You're clods! And I'm going to start telling you so when you haven't announced your presence, and I'm not going to feel bad about it, either!

So there!!

[OakLeaf]

Sometimes I just holler "On your right!" as they go by.

[abejita]

I do that too!! I also make faces at the ones that pass me ;-)

[bcipam]

My friends and I, all old time roadies, always call out. But we have noticed the younger riders don't - like it's not cool or something. I always yell to someone who passes and doesn't shout out "Don't forgot to call!!!!". The other day my guy and I were hiking in a local mountain bike park and noticed all the riders were calling out, being very friendly and polite. My partner then observed, "No wonder, they are all old dudes!" - obviously their moms taught them better!!!

I figure its my mission to teach those young kids better. Some of the ones I ride with make fun of me but no matter, it's just right to do.

[kfergos]

Sometimes I just holler "On your right!" as they go by.

Me too! Only one time I did that, and at the next light when I caught up with the guy who passed me, he said, "I guess I didn't call out loud enough," which made me feel like a jerk.

For the record, I'm one of the young cyclists, and I invariably slow down and call out, often loudly, before passing on the trail.

[Catrin]

I have noticed this in the local park where I have ridden so much. To date NOT ONE CYCLIST has called out to me when they passed. It should also be apparent that I am a new cyclist as I am still working on riding a straight line... though am much better than I was

[owlice]

Sometimes I just holler "On your right!" as they go by.

Oh, that's sooooo much better than what I was contemplating telling them; thank you!

[aicabsolut]

Really? HP is 2 lanes wide (one way). It's not a bike trail. There's usually a very safe passing distance to be had where you shouldn't need advance notice. It's also so crowded that if I would never shut up if I had to call out to every person I passed. Also, everyone knows that on Thursday nights, there is a huge peloton speeding around and sprinting every lap, making it more crowded than usual. Ride as you would on any road and keep an ear out for others.

[ny biker]

Ride as you would on any road and keep an ear out for others.

One of the big reasons I stopped riding on Beach Dr was because too many cyclists were passing me with only a couple of inches of clearance and they never ever warned they were passing. And I never ever heard them coming or knew they were there until I saw them next to me. Keeping an ear out is not enough to hear some bikes coming up from behind.

[owlice]

Really? HP is 2 lanes wide (one way). It's not a bike trail. There's usually a very safe passing distance to be had where you shouldn't need advance notice. It's also so crowded that if I would never shut up if I had to call out to every person I passed. Also, everyone knows that on Thursday nights, there is a huge peloton speeding around and sprinting every lap, making it more crowded than usual. Ride as you would on any road and keep an ear out for others.

"Everyone" knows?! No, everyone does NOT know. Sorry. The huge peloton speeding around is NOT exempt from showing common biking courtesy, despite what most of them seem to think. Sure, Hains Point is two lanes, and there usually is a very safe passing distance to be had, but some people -- some of whom are passing me -- don't use the "very safe passing distance" and are happy to get within three or four inches of me, maybe because they are riding many-across and there isn't an empty lane next to them.

I ride in crowded areas sometimes, and call out "bike passing on your left" and/or use my bell as often as necessary, even continuously if that's what it takes.

That Hains Point is NOT a bike trail, but is used not only by cars, but bikes, walkers, skaters, runners, and parents taking a stroll with their kids in a stroller, is all the MORE reason why someone passing should call or ring out. And if cars are blocking the road -- trying to park -- I think the "huge peloton speeding around" should act like traffic and STOP rather than weave around the car.

If bikes want to be treated as traffic, bikes need to act like traffic!

[pumpkinpony]

It might help your comfort level if you got a mirror... Not that that excuses the inconsiderate cyclists - I don't like people passing close by without telling me either, but at least with a mirror I know they are coming.

[Eden]

If bikes want to be treated as traffic, bikes need to act like traffic!

Well.... cars don't honk at one another when they pass.....

I don't know the area in question, so I don't know the particular situation, but as it is a road and not a MUP, I'm more inclined to agree with aicabsolut. I don't call out to cyclists when I am passing them on the road, just as I don't want to be honked at by cars. Then again I don't buzz them either. I give them the 3 feet or more that should be given by a car.

While some states may have an "audible signal" law, others have a prohibition.... its actually illegal to honk at cyclists for no good reason (ie an actual dangerous situation that requires use of a horn) in this state. I prefer it that way. For the most part I can hear cars unless it is very, very noisy. I know full well they are there. When they let out an ear piercing honk right off my side, it just makes me jump and that's not good.

[Selkie]

Really? HP is 2 lanes wide (one way). It's not a bike trail. There's usually a very safe passing distance to be had where you shouldn't need advance notice. It's also so crowded that if I would never shut up if I had to call out to every person I passed. Also, everyone knows that on Thursday nights, there is a huge peloton speeding around and sprinting every lap, making it more crowded than usual. Ride as you would on any road and keep an ear out for others.

I see your point on this, Absolut, but I admit that I'm like Owlice, I appreciate a warning and having some type-A rider buzz me p*sses me off (some of my responses to this sort of thing are, "passing on your right," "please warn next time," or "thanks for the warning").

When I ride down at Haines Pt., I try to pick times when I'm pretty sure the racer/hammer types won't be riding there (earlier in the morning, for example, on a weekend). If they pass me without warning but give me plenty of room, I don't care that much.

Ride defensively. I've had these aggressive riders buzz me on uncrowded MUTs, for Chrissake. It's stupid and pointless. Who cares if you can pass me, just keep a safe distance. There are a lot of people who apparently, were raised by wolves, and lack common courtesy. The worrisome thing is that this is a safety issue.

.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sometimes I just holler "On your right!" as they go by.

I do that too.

Some of these bikers are so silent that I totally cannot hear them coming and sometimes they give me a heart attack zooming right past me by all of a sudden out of the blue on a country road. Sometimes it's after a long curve and I couldn't have seen them coming in my mirror anyway. I think it's both rude and a safety hazard.

[PamNY]

Owlice, I think this is a useful discussion even if there isn't general agreement. You should rant all you want, and hearing different opinions is educational.

The first time I biked on a rail trail, I didn't call out because the damn thing looked like an interstate highway to my Manhattan sensibilities. I thought "on your left" was a New York quirk because of narrow roads and crowding.

Speaking of "old roadies:" I do get annoyed at their antics, but they are the best at those two little words that mean so much: "You okay?"