Curmudgeonly post about failing to call passes

[Riley Casey]

So I rode the CCT on Saturday from the Silver Spring end to MacArthur Blvd and on to the folk festival at Glen Echo. Beautiful day for a ride. The usual press of pedestrians, baby strollers, skate boarders ( no roller bladers, guess that has passed into fads past ) and cyclists of all stripes from carbon frame racers to weight loss cruiser hopefuls. In that 20 mile round trip I heard exactly ONE pass called. Just one. I’m pretty religious about ringing my bell for pedestrians of all sorts and fair to middlin’ about calling passes on other cyclists. I’m not a racer by any means and my speed differential isn’t going to put any cyclists I pass into cardiac arrest. I don’t think there is any excuse for not signaling a pass on pedestrians though and from the appreciative responses I got when using the bell it’s seems that it’s pretty uncommon for the walkers to hear from passing cyclists. Are the responsible riders only those out commuting on weekday mornings?

Curmudgeons – R – Us

[PotomacCyclist]

I call out warnings but half of the pedestrians (and many of the cyclists) are wearing earphones. They don’t hear a thing. They frequently get startled as I pass, even though I shout out “passing on your left” in advance. Some cyclists may just be rude, but I think others have just given up because of all the zombie earphone wearers. I’ve even muttered a couple times that the person isn’t going to hear anything I say, so why bother. Then I shout out the warning, pass, and get a startled reaction.

As for roller blading, I saw a group of maybe 30 women in East Potomac Park the other day, all on old-style roller skates. Just rolling down Ohio Drive. Not something I ever expected to see. Many in the group seemed to be older, maybe 40s or even 50s, though some appeared to be in their 20s or 30s. They were harmless enough. I got a chuckle out of it.

[5555624]

@PotomacCyclist 21190 wrote:

Some cyclists may just be rude, but I think others have just given up because of all the zombie earphone wearers.

Or they’re just clueless. It seems that I notice the same number of called passes year-round, which means the percentage plummets with nice weather. If so many cyclists are cluelessa about red lights, why would they know anything about calling their passes? (Recently I’ve been counting cyclists at traffic lights in Ballston — 13 of 19 running red lights.)

[rcannon100]

Are the responsible riders only those out commuting on weekday mornings?

Yeah clueless might be the word. Or, there is a direct correlation to the number of miles you have put down, and calling out passes. Maturity brings awareness that proper pass calling is a safety necessity. Taking a spill bc a poseur fails to call a pass can be a major lesson learned.

I have only ridden the CCT once during the weekend…. WOW! Like Wow! Over on the W&OD, it was weekend traffic as well this weekend – but there was maybe 3 parts per million experience rider and you could see the nods of appreciation for good pass calling.

[PotomacCyclist]

@5555624 21192 wrote:

Or they’re just clueless. It seems that I notice the same number of called passes year-round, which means the percentage plummets with nice weather. If so many cyclists are cluelessa about red lights, why would they know anything about calling their passes? (Recently I’ve been counting cyclists at traffic lights in Ballston — 13 of 19 running red lights.)

I see a lot of car drivers barrel through red lights too, especially when they are trying to turn on red. They don’t even slow down to make the right turn, even when pedestrians are already in the crosswalk (where the pedestrians have the WALK signal). I see this almost every day. While it’s not the majority of drivers, it’s a significant percentage. Others will try to nudge pedestrians out of the crosswalk when trying to turn. Cyclists may be breaking the laws but a heck of a lot of car drivers are too.

But I agree that any sort of traffic, car or bike, can be annoying. That’s why I try to avoid major trails at peak hours whenever possible. I hate riding on the Mt. Vernon Trail during afternoon rush hour.

[thucydides]

The week before last I did a little mini-study (very mini) on called passes. I focused just on commute times and just on the Custis (from it’s start at the W&OD fork to the bridge over GW Parkway). I counted on four trips total (two AM eastbound, two PM westbound) and I was able to adjust my work schedule a bit to get variance on start times (and thus hopefully sample a different group of riders). The results:

In total 9 out of 29 called their pass (defined as either a verbal warning or bell ring). That’s not too big of a shock but here’s where it gets interesting:

7am – 7:20: 6/10 called their pass
8am – 8:20: 2/11 called their pass
4:30pm – 5: 1/4 called their pass
5:30pm – 6: 0/4 called their pass

These are approximate times that I was on the trail. Now obviously this is a very small sample and probably reflects some biases. I commute on a real heavy bike and I carry a lot of weight in my panniers, especially in the morning. So I’m slow, as evidenced by how many people pass me. But I still pass a few so there is bias towards the faster riders (but I doubt it matters). What I find interesting is the difference between the earlier and later morning commuters. It definitely conforms with my strong impression (from when I drive or walk around the District) that earlier commuters are a far more pleasant species than later commuters. Still, with numbers this small the difference may really be random.

What about weekenders? Yesterday I took my little study to the W&OD but this time with me running. In the early afternoon I ran on the W&OD for just about exactly 5 miles (basically between John Marshall and Columbia Pike). I was passed by 48 bikes. Five called their pass.

Perhaps if I decide this is worth learning a bit more about I’ll assign some of my research staff to do a more elaborate study later this month. Then I could vary by trail, time, weather, & day as well as characteristics of the person getting passed. “Woman pushing stroller.” “Jogger wearing ear-buds.” Then, again, anyone who spends extensive time of the trails knows perfectly well that called passes are the exception. So spending the time proving it may not really teach us anything.

[5555624]

@PotomacCyclist 21194 wrote:

Cyclists may be breaking the laws but a heck of a lot of car drivers are too.

No disagreement here. On the other hand, though, I rarely see a car stop for a red light and then go before the light turns green. Evidently, Ballsotn is in Idaho, because I see “cyclists” do it all the time.

Personally, I think that if every vehicle operator that ran a red light (and that includes not stopping before making a right on red) got locked up, we could solve the region’s traffic problems in a week.

[eminva]

@thucydides 21214 wrote:

It definitely conforms with my strong impression (from when I drive or walk around the District) that earlier commuters are a far more pleasant species than later commuters.

Ouch, that hurts. 😮

Liz
Calling my passes on the late shift

[sjclaeys]

@5555624 21192 wrote:

Or they’re just clueless. It seems that I notice the same number of called passes year-round, which means the percentage plummets with nice weather. If so many cyclists are cluelessa about red lights, why would they know anything about calling their passes? (Recently I’ve been counting cyclists at traffic lights in Ballston — 13 of 19 running red lights.)

I always wonder what is meant by “running a red light”. In my mind, going through a red light without stopping or looking for cross traffic constitutes running a red light. I sometimes see cyclists do this, but it is the most prevalent form of red light running by motor vehicles (and the most dangerous). Another form is slowing or stopping at a red light, seeing that the crossing is clear, and then making the cross against the light. In my experience, this is the form mostly done by cyclists and rarely done by motor vehicles. Although both acts are illegal, the first creates far more risk than the second. I am not advocating going through red lights, but some clarity about which behavior is being discussed would be helpful.

[consularrider]

Seemed like my experience on the W&OD yesterday may have been the exception, or maybe it was because the TdC made a point to the riders before starting, but I don’t think I’ve ever had so many passes called, and it wasn’t just from those in the event. Sort of restores my faith in mankind, at least for a couple of hours.

[KLizotte]

I rode through Northeast DC this weekend on both Sat and Sun for the first time (Mt. Ranier and Brookland areas) and found the drivers there to be 10x more courteous than those found in central DC and Arlington. They gave me wide berth when passing and some refused to pass me even though I waved them through on some roads. Big thumbs up to NE!

Unfortunately it was back to reality on Lousiana Ave NW (in front of Union Station where the street goes through a parking lot) when a car that wanted to make the green light started beeping his horn impatiently behind me since I was taking the lane. When he finally got around me and through the light, I saw that he rudely cut in front of a line of cars to get into a right turn lane further up. Nice.

[DismalScientist]

@sjclaeys 21220 wrote:

I always wonder what is meant by “running a red light”. In my mind, going through a red light without stopping or looking for cross traffic constitutes running a red light. I sometimes see cyclists do this, but it is the most prevalent form of red light running by motor vehicles (and the most dangerous). Another form is slowing or stopping at a red light, seeing that the crossing is clear, and then making the cross against the light. In my experience, this is the form mostly done by cyclists and rarely done by motor vehicles. Although both acts are illegal, the first creates far more risk than the second. I am not advocating going through red lights, but some clarity about which behavior is being discussed would be helpful.

Cyclists are doing mostly the later. Folks doing the former are called bike messengers.

I think the argument that cyclists run red lights boils down to “because we can” as it is usually safe. The problem is that eventually drivers may take the same viewpoint if police discriminate in favor of cyclists by not stopping offending cyclists.

Furthermore, I do not enjoy Cat 6 racing when my opponents are obvious scofflaws.:rolleyes:

[TwoWheelsDC]

I’ll admit that I don’t call 100% of my passes. I usually make a judgment call depending on the situation. If there are younger kids riding, I generally choose to slow down and pass as far left as a I can, since my experience is that kids tend to veer off suddenly when they hear a bell or a loud shout behind them…although if their parents are behind them, I’ll call the pass to the adult. Also, if I’m passing at a slow speed and have tons or room to go around, I generally feel like calling the pass is unnecessary. This happens more on the W&OD, which is alot wider than the MVT or CCT. If I’m going fairly fast and/or don’t have as much room to pass, I always call it out. But for every ped that gets all uppity about me NOT calling out a pass, there are probably 5 that react as if I’m shouting at them to get the hell out of my way, which clearly is not the purpose of calling a pass. Unfortunately, the expectations of peds and cyclists don’t match up very well, so it seems like you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

[jopamora]

Sometimes I wonder if my hearing is going and I missed the call when someone silently passes me. Turns out my hearing is fine and laryngitis is epidemic. Been taking the kids out riding and walking on the Georgetown Branch Trail the past couple of weekends and I feel like my head is constantly swiveling around.

Startling someone is better than not calling a pass IMHO.

[GuyContinental]

@jopamora 21231 wrote:

Startling someone is better than not calling a pass IMHO.

Couldn’t disagree more- in a lot of situations one is a courtesy, the other can result in a real accident. I’ve had earphone zombies and little kids freak out and jag HARD left when they swivel their heads over their shoulder. In the case of a clean and wide pass (5’+) with kids in particular (and anyone wearing both ear buds in general) I rarely make so much as a peep and a freewheel. Do you honk your car horn when you pass someone on the sidewalk? If you did, it would probably scare the heck out of them.

Pass smart, pass safe, gauge the benefit of the warning in a given situation.

[Author]

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