calling out when you're passing

[RoadRaven]

When riding with others - a mini-pelaton - I call (like the others do) "CAR BACK!" when there is a car coming up behind.

So on a cycle-path, having tried various things including "onyerleft/right" I find "BIKE BEHIND" to get the best response.

Alot of walkers don't have bikes in their heads as they saunter along and "onyerleft/right type calls just seemed to have them looking around wondering why someone was calling out.

"BIKE BEHIND!" has them (almost always step to the side of the path and then look around...

[tulip]

I find a bell works very well. I ring it and most joggers and peds give a little wave, and other cyclists move over to the right. The bells I have on each of my bikes are small and inconspicous (for those of you concerned about the perceived uncoolness of having a bell on your $2000 road bike), and yet when I ding it, it's loud.

I find it very disrespectful (and dangerous) when cyclists say nothing and whizz by. The same for when they say "on your left" in a quasi whisper when they are already at your shoulder!

[SouthernBelle]

I do like the bike behind you call. I think on your left just confuses walkers and runners.

[bonnie526]

I'm a (very) new rider and all this calling out stuff has had me very confused. Well, not so much the calling out as the people's reactions when I do. I've been using "on yer left" exclusively but now I'm gonna try some new ones. Thanks for the ideas!

[bikerz]

I usually say "Good morning - on your left" and then " hello" or something as I pass. In fact I usually say good morning, even in the afternoon and evening - that's sort of embarassing! And I try to remember to say how many of us there are if I'm not alone.

I've learned not to say "on your left" to kids - if they do know left from right, they are so likely to move left! For kids, I just say "Hi there - just stay where you are - you're doing great" or something like that. and the go the safest way around. I think the burden is on me to pass kids safely, not on them to get out of my way. And I guess I extend this to most walkers too, especially coming from behind.

But the cyclists and walkers that bug me are the ones coming towards me 2 or three abreast who do not move out of the way at all. On last week's ride I went off the path twice because cyclists wouldn't go single file.

And I HATE having cyclists blow by with no warning, right or left. So scary.

[Brandy]

What a pleasant surprise...from what I thought was a silly question on my part, I have learned a lot! It now makes sense to me that I get some shocked reactions from pedestrians when I say "on your left" and I'm going to try out some new phrases...thanks ladies!!

[colby]

I've learned not to say "on your left" to kids - if they do know left from right, they are so likely to move left! For kids, I just say "Hi there - just stay where you are - you're doing great" or something like that. and the go the safest way around. I think the burden is on me to pass kids safely, not on them to get out of my way. And I guess I extend this to most walkers too, especially coming from behind.

I always try to take the alpine view of the world with rule #1 for skiers/snowboarders. Anything moving slower than you in front of you is someone that it's YOUR responsibility to pass safely -- people "below" (in front of) you always have the right of way. Of course, things don't usually go UPhill when you're skiing, so it takes a little adaptation for two-way travel I pretty much figure anything traveling slower than myself has the right of way no matter what direction they are going compared to myself, and if we're equal (bikes facing bikes, runners facing runners), we should respect each other and give each other room to both stay safe.

[Pedal Wench]

"One bicycle coming up on your left" in as friendly a voice as I can muster. Change the number appropriately, so folks don't move right back over when the first bike passes. If it's a little kid, I slow waaaaaay down and say,"Hello, a bicycle is going to be passing you, just keep going straight ahead, you're doing great" and then a "good job" when they did it right!

[Geonz]

If I"m on a path it's 'cause I"m willing to go a lot slower; I assume even a cyclist on a path may not know from "on your left" so it's "coming up behind you" or "good morning" ... or sometimes I'll be singing...
... if it's a dorkus oblivious, I'm afraid I do tend to assess their predictable path and don't mind startling them.
... it's that older lady who clung to the man's hand as I went by, trying so hard not to look scared, that really made me feel justified using the road if I'm going more than 10 mph. (I've seen 'em twice since but we were going opposite directions... and he waves and smiles... so I musta done okay... and I had imagined her saying "See! That's why I won't go out there!" but oviously she still is... )

Oh, and I have a bear bell on my tube that I knock about with my thighs that people often hear; on the Racer I have beer cans that rattle in the baskets. I'm afraid I generally wax cacophonous... somebody has to be dorky enough to make up for Canucks!!!