Announcing your passes – a walker’s observation

[ronwalf]

@mstone 54001 wrote:

Eew, that seems like a terrible idea. If you’re moving above a walking pace, you should always announce that you’re going to pass someone. (Note that I’m not limiting that to bikes–joggers running past a little old lady walking should also say something or slow down a bit.)

I guess I should put their entire quote:

Safe Bicycling in Maryland, 2008 wrote:

If they’re walking in a straight, predictable line, pass them without saying anything – but give them lots of room so you do not startle them. Avoid headphones so you can hear others passing or warning you.

[mstone]

@ronwalf 54006 wrote:

I guess I should put their entire quote:

I don’t see how you can tell that they will remain predictable. The point of announcing, in my mind, is to ensure that they remain predictable. Also, having it as the law that you must announce hopefully minimizes the number of arguments about whether your announcement was “rude” or whether you’re “telling someone to move”. If the announcement is entirely discretionary then, yeah, the recipient has a basis for arguing that you’re implying something negative about their behavior.

edit to add: I suppose if you can really give them lots of room its moot (like if you’re passing in the left of a full size travel lane with several feet to spare, in which case I probably wouldn’t ding in VA either) but that can’t happen on our trails.

[JeffC]

@4st7lbs 54002 wrote:

Just making the paths wider would make things that much safer for all involved.

If the Custis, W&OD and Mt. Vernton had something like the section of this article under “Bikeways that use independent rights of way,” we might be able to call ourselves civilized.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregated_cycle_facilities

Until then, it is a chaotic glorified sidewalk. That this passes as outstanding infrastructure in the USA but would be lacking elsewhere says a lot about how low our expectations are.

[Terpfan]

I don’t just ring my bell at passes, but also around some of the blind corners in hopes that a fellow approaching cyclist won’t be across on my side of the path. Generally calling it helpful, but on a handful of occassions I have frieghtened people who then turn toward the sound–particularly true with younger children.

One woman got angry about how “all you people keep ringing your damn bells at me.” So, evidently the observation of 1 of 15 was not a MVT user.

I wish there was signage saying stay to the right or showing two people abrest going different ways, two cyclists, etc. The right also helps considering I’ve encountered people running down the wrong side of the path and everything in between. Most recently, I’ve been annoyed by runners who seem to think their objective is to stay on the yellow hash marks.

Sometimes I am a walker on the paths and it makes me respect those calling their passes that much more, but I think it’s usually been around 30-50% of people calling.

[rcannon100]

Ring Early. Ring Often.

Bells work great. The trick for bells or calling passes is to do it early – 25 feet away – not 2 feet away. Yelling “passing” right in someone’s ear will startle them – and does not give you sufficient time to avoid a crazy ivan.

[ronwalf]

@mstone 54007 wrote:

edit to add: I suppose if you can really give them lots of room its moot (like if you’re passing in the left of a full size travel lane with several feet to spare, in which case I probably wouldn’t ding in VA either) but that can’t happen on our trails.

This is actually happens to be a common case for my route (by Lake Artemesia, with maybe a 12 or 14 foot path at points). My unstated point was this: There is not a firm consensus on when to ring for pedestrians. Many people have put a good faith effort into devising appropriate rules, and they have come to differing conclusions, so I suggest rationing our ire at our fellow travelers accordingly.

[dasgeh]

I really wish there were simple signs, especially where lots of people get on the trail (e.g. Rosslyn). In fact, I really wish that there were pavement markings near the Marriott, with a little picture of a ped on the far right and a pic of a cyclist to its left on the right side of the yellow line coming off the parking lot entrance and down at the light. Would decrease confusion.

[bobco85]

In general, I think that there should be enough time for the following steps to occur:
1) You ring your bell or announce your pass
2) The person hears you
3) The person responds, whether it be a wave, turning and/or nodding their head to acknowledge you (I do this when I’m walking), or silently becoming aware of a pass.
4) You move into position to pass the person
5) You pass the person

I also advocate for ringing your bell before blind curves (avoided an accident due to the oncoming person making too wide of a turn).

[rpiretti]

So there’s this bell that’s made by Crane in Japan. I have it. Loud is F&$k. People never get in my way anymore. Gets the dog’s attention too, the works. Get the brass one, it’s the loudest. Just a suggestion for which bell to get.

[Tim Kelley]

@Rando Guy 54026 wrote:

So there’s this bell that’s made by Crane in Japan. I have it. Loud is F&$k. People never get in my way anymore. Gets the dog’s attention too, the works. Get the brass one, it’s the loudest. Just a suggestion for which bell to get.

Link?

[consularrider]

@Tim Kelley 54027 wrote:

Link?

There are more than one Crane bell. I have two of one the with the lever striker, the Suzu. It is good and loud, but dulls in the rain.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3035[/ATTACH]
There are also the Karen with a spring mouted strike hammer, the Riten rotary, and a version similar to the Incredibell.

[rpiretti]

@consularrider 54029 wrote:

There are more than one Crane bell. I have two of one the with the lever striker, the Suzu. It is good and loud, but dulls in the rain.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3035[/ATTACH]
There are also the Karen with a spring mouted strike hammer, the Riten rotary, and a version similar to the Incredibell.

Thanks Consularrider. Yes, I have the Suzu as well and it does dull in rain. But, luckily there isn’t that many folks on the trail when raining. Kidding aside, I alternate depending on the circumstances. Usually, I ring the bell with walkers and runners due to headphones and call when passing for bikes. As for the bell, I’m curious about the Karen. Seems like it would last longer due to a more secure hammer. But, brass would be the loudest material whatever model you choose.

[Drewdane]

I can’t even begin to describe how irritated I get about this. As someone who regularly uses the WOD as a pedestrian as well as a cyclist, my experience mirrors that of the commenter in the OP.

Hardly anyone calls out their passes. And to make it worse, it’s mostly people who look like they really should know better. I assume ignorance on the part of folks on Walmart bikes who look like they may be “English-challenged” and on their way to/from manual labor jobs, and I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to pretty much anyone on a comfort bike or a hybrid.

But SO many of these people are roadie or commuter types, on high(er)-end bikes with clipless pedals, wearing actual cycling gear, etc. Those are the folks that make me want to throw rocks… 😡

[KLizotte]

@Drewdane 54042 wrote:

I can’t even begin to describe how irritated I get about this. As someone who regularly uses the WOD as a pedestrian as well as a cyclist, my experience mirrors that of the commenter in the OP.

Hardly anyone calls out their passes. And to make it worse, it’s mostly people who look like they really should know better. I assume ignorance on the part of folks on Walmart bikes who look like they may be “English-challenged” and on their way to/from manual labor jobs, and I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to pretty much anyone on a comfort bike or a hybrid.

But SO many of these people are roadie or commuter types, on high(er)-end bikes with clipless pedals, wearing actual cycling gear, etc. Those are the folks that make me want to throw rocks… 😡

I understand what you are saying but do you acknowledge all passes with a wave or nod? Do you wear headphones? If you answer yes and no, respectively, then I think you have every right to “throw stones.” If not, well…

Last night on two separate occasions peds apologized to me as I went by because they thought I was dinging them for getting in the way (I was merely announcing my presence and there was plenty of room for me to pass). I felt bad about it and hope they quickly figured out what “dinging” means. A couple of weeks ago on another MUP a woman started screaming at me when I dinged because she had a dog unleashed and was walking near the yellow line. Again, I was merely announcing my intention to pass (nicely). She started screaming that “she could hear me”. It was very weird. A runner once told me he doesn’t like the dings/passes because it interupts his “zen moment” and that he knows how to stay to the right and look before turning. On Sunday I dinged a cyclist and she turned to look at me and veered right into my path. *sigh*

I call or ding most of my passes but allow judgment to be my guide since I’ve sometimes found them to be counterproductive. My biggest pet peeve is having to guess whether the person has heard my pass and understands it. I really wish peds would acknowledge them because even if I call a pass and they are out in la la land and decide to do a crazy Ivan, having called my pass is going to be small solice if I’m in the hospital.

Perhaps it is time to have a tete-a-tete with the local running clubs to get on the same page?

[mstone]

@KLizotte 54055 wrote:

Perhaps it is time to have a tete-a-tete with the local running clubs to get on the same page?

I kinda assume that it’s like talking to this group to change cyclist behavior on the W&OD–you’d likely not reach the people you’re trying to.

[Author]

Posts