"On your left" - What does this mean to you?

[MartianDestiny]

"On your left" IMO, means "please hold your line and speed so I may make a safe pass, thank you"

IF bikers happen to be side-by-side, riding erratically, or really hogging a lane that should otherwise accommodate two riders , then yes, I feel "On your left" takes on the added meaning of "Please single up or tighten up or move right for a moment so I can have room to pass you".

I was passed by a jerk last week that seemed to feel "On your left" meant "run your $4k carbon bike off the ledge and get the heck outta my way despite the fact that we're in a no passing zone and you are going the speed limit". Needless to say I didn't budge and the fool nearly ran headon into a kid while passing me in the wrong lane when it was unsafe to do so. Of course he then slowed down to 7 mph and made me pass him

So, I don't think "on your left" means you have to give up your line, and certainly not immediately, but out of courtesy you should do so if needed as soon as it is safe and practical to do so. I expect that's what you thought it meant

Edit: like others I'm more careful in my choice of words and timing with non-cyclists. I'll use things like "Bike Back", or "Passing, *pause, 1-1 thousand*, Left" (gives them time to digest passing before they hear left, at which point they've already started moving right). And I'll slow and give more warning if it's actually a situation where I need someone to yield space to me rather than just hold course since non-cyclists tend not to process/respond to "on your left" as quickly as cyclists do, even if they know what it means. I do have higher expectations of cyclists knowing my intentions, but I've learned to always expect the unexpected

[Righteousbabe]

To me "on your left" is said 1) as a courtesy to let a rider or pedestrian know someone is coming around them so as to avoid collision; and 2) to (hopefully) gain clearance if the road/path is blocked by a cyclist or pedestrian. If I hear "on your left", I get over if at all possible. If riding two abreast, I get over behind/in front of the other cyclist I am riding with. But there are a lot of people who just don't get it...or are too proud/egotistical to yield. I run across this all the time, especially with male cyclists.

Sounds like you and I do a lot of the same rides in the DFW area. If I happen to run across these two men at one of the rallies, and they do the same to me, I am not sure I will be able to restrain myself from saying something. Thanks for the heads up!

[Ana]

"On your left" IMO, means "please hold your line and speed so I may make a safe pass, thank you"

Agreed!

I have to say that momentarily (especially if they sneak up suddenly and then you hear a voice behind you) I am startled and cannot get my thoughts together. For some reason, my reaction to being startled is to change my direction of travel but I've since learned to maintain my speed and direction of travel; and let them do maneuver around me. I think it's mostly due to brief panic of something-unexpected-is-happening. It's especially difficult for me not to be startled if the person is traveling at a much higher speed than than I am--not only because it is more difficult to understand them as they approach--because everything happens more quickly!

[Skierchickie]

I guess I haven't used "on your left" while biking, nor had it used on me. We're sparsely populated, and I don't encounter a lot of riders on my road rides. I guess it hasn't occurred to me to say it - I generally cough or something, so they know I'm there. I use it a lot in ski races. In striding races, it's always (well, at least the last 30 years that I know of) been a rule that the slower skier in the tracks relinquish them to the faster skier coming up behind. Proper etiquette is to yell "Track! On your left!" Or right, as the case may be. Skate-skiing, in a race, you yell out the side to plan to pass on, and they are supposed to get over the other way (or pull their equipment in enough to allow the pass). I do encounter people who either speed up or refuse to get over, but that is against the rules, and they really should be disqualified for it. The main thing is to select an area where it is actually possible, and not going to send the person into the bushes, a rock, etc. To be polite. I try to select the inside of a curve where I can get past as quickly as possible, although I had one woman gripe about that (because I was making her take the longer route - however she'd been preventing me from passing for a while, so I didn't really have a choice - I could have passed on the straight section, had she not kept speeding up each time I tried). Once you call "on your left", you have the responsibility to complete your pass as quickly and efficiently as possible, and they have the responsibility to make that possible. I have said "on your left, please, when you get a chance", in areas where I need to pass but recognize that it won't work right there.

I don't use it out training, because it seems a little over-the-top, plus little old ladies tend to fall if you startle them. So I try to gently make my presence known, slow up behind them and wait if it makes sense to, etc. Sometimes it can be frustrating, but better than being rude.

As I said, I've never used it riding, but it seems like the same rules would apply. I can see how, in a more populated area with lots of riders/walkers, or on a MUT, it would be a good tool. Where I am, it seems like it would come off as elitest or something, and maybe somewhat demanding.

Anybody remember Taea Leoni (sp) in Spanglish? From 50 yards back , "ON YOUR LEFT!!". I thought that was pretty funny.

Oh - the OP's question: to me, it means to get over as soon as I safely can to make room for them to safely pass, inconveniencing them as little as possible.

[Tuckervill]

On our trail, I usually whistle a little tune from far enough back for them to hear me, but not startle them, as if I were just tootling along. We have very little traffic on most of our trail, so hardly anyone here would know what On Your Left means. If they still don't hear me, I say "bicycle! I'm going to pass you on the left." and say thanks if they stop and look back and don't get in my way, which is what often happens. I never say thanks to runners who don't even notice me because they have their headphones on. Most of them give me dirty looks.

Karen

[Nightowl]

I have been riding trails a lot. I purchased a small bell and ring it quite a ways back, so the walker or slow biker is aware of me behind them. As I get closer, I then say "on your left" if it is safe to pass and the left is appropriate. I find this combination doesn't startle people. I have received many "thank yous" and "I like your bell" comments, so I guess it works well enough.

[PamNY]

On our very crowded (and in some parts multi-use) bike path, "on the left" simply means "I'm passing you." The serious bikers, whom I sometimes regard as homicidal maniacs in spandex, are very good about saying it.

I say "on your left" and ring my bell when passing pedestrians, skaters, or bikers. I use the bell because we have lots of tourists and languages/local customs may vary.

If there is some unusual obstruction, like two bikers who stop to chat with one bike parked sideways, I call out "helloooo."

[Resi]

LOL I just love it, glad I am not the only one which gets cranky LOL
I get this all the time, but the best situation I had was at the Houston-Austin MS 150 2009. Bueschner Park has some small hills (for me Swiss gal it is just a bump in the road) but hey this are for some riders good hills, so I let it be... I am biking behind a guy and hear him shifting not right, all this noises, I approach him calling out "passing on your left" and I guess he just could not get his gear right and fell over...this is so funny but also scary. By the way he was ok...
I am a faster rider, but after passing I alway go back to the right, so faster rider can pass me, it is like driving a car or not?

I find people which start biking should join a club, where they learn how to ride in groups and get some technical tips. Ignore the fast rider, if you bike a while you get better and faster, this is not a quick fix... I respect every biker It does not matter to me on which level he or she is, and charity rides are not races, which many bikers just ignore.



Happy and save riding

Resi

[Karma007]

Is it maybe a regional thing? In SC, it was common knowledge and lingo. Hee in CA, I don't hear it so often, and otherwise intellignet people act like I'm speaking a foreign language when I use it. I've had people move to the left, so I could pass on the right. Huh?

[Crankin]

Channluv, last year I was passed by an in-line skater going UP Oak Hill in Harvard, MA. He passed my DH, too, who was going faster than me. I heard the guy, but my brain couldn't assimilate the image, as he was also wearing a bike helmet. This is a hill that is used for training by racers, so it's not some wimpy hill! And, he was my age, not some young guy.
All of these stories reinforce why I don't ride on paths, although, we don't have many around here. We want to go on one that starts about 7 miles from my house, to go out for breakfast, but it's either going to have to be really early in the morning, like 6 AM, or after 9, to avoid the commute traffic.