My Morning Commute

[hozn]

(In Switzerland bike infra is also shared with peds (and low-power motorcycles, etc.).)

I think in Europe cyclists are also used to being passed very closely by cars. The roads are narrow and speed limits generous. But, at least in my experience, this is done much more skillfully than in this country; it’s not scary once you get used to it. So I expect cyclists are pretty good at holding their line and not being spooked by being passed by another cyclist.

Around here, I’ve had a couple people chase me down to yell at me that I didn’t call a pass. Only I did, but apparently not loud enough. And the most recent time was on the bridge over 495 on the W&OD and I was probably 5 or 6 feet away from the person as I passed (maybe that is why they didn’t hear me). The entitlement is ridiculous. I wanted to ask them if they were a small child or intoxicated or otherwise couldn’t be counted on to not veer across the yellow line without checking first; instead, I just told them that I had announced my pass and I was sorry that they hadn’t heard it.

[Crickey7]

If a few people actually chased you down to complain, that means in all likelihood, many more did not hear you but chose not to make a stink about it. I’d suggest that your pass-calling isn’t nearly as audible as you think it is. At least on the CCT, the posted requirement isn’t simply signaling your pass. It’s signaling your pass audibly.

[mstone]

Bells!

[hozn]

@Crickey7 180650 wrote:

If a few people actually chased you down to complain, that means in all likelihood, many more did not hear you but chose not to make a stink about it. I’d suggest that your pass-calling isn’t nearly as audible as you think it is. At least on the CCT, the posted requirement isn’t simply signaling your pass. It’s signaling your pass audibly.

Most people acknowledge my calls by waving, so I’m pretty confident the problem here isn’t me. And that’s 2 people in 13 years of commuting, so not too bad. Given the ingrained cyclist expectation here to be treated like unpredictabld children on the trail, I’m pretty sure the ratio would be a lot higher if I were actually inaudible. And if someone can’t hear me because they’re chatting next to a friend, I don’t feel obligated to scream at them. For the last few year I do just use a bell.

[Judd]

@hozn 180661 wrote:

For the last few year I do just use a bell.

I find the bell to be more reliable at being recognized since it has consistent volume. I’ve had plenty of times where my voice cracked when calling a pass or I was winded and it wasn’t loud. And if someone has headphones in who knows if they heard me. When riding a bike with a bell I usually do both.

To encourage good behavior I also give a hand acknowledgement or say thank you to everyone that calls a pass to me.

[dkel]

Whom does calling a pass serve, really? I feel like calling my passes is a matter of self preservation, to prevent potential crazy Ivans. As long as the person I’m passing knows better than to make sudden course corrections, the call is actually unnecessary. When I’m the one being passed, I don’t like to be startled by people who don’t give me an audible signal, but for my own part, I know I’m not going to veer into them, because I always check my 6 before making a lane change. So, I call passes for myself, really. Other than being startled, I don’t see why people should get upset by people not calling passes. It’s not like everyone honks their horn before passing in a car; why is it so important on a bike?

All that said, I must admit that I do get mildly irritated when people pass me without an audible warning. After thinking about all this, maybe it shouldn’t.

I’m still going to ring my bell every time.

[mstone]

@dkel 180666 wrote:

It’s not like everyone honks their horn before passing in a car; why is it so important on a bike?

Because the pass-ee isn’t surrounded by a ton of steel armor? Also, ironically, the passing distances are generally greater for the less vulnerable road users. Wouldn’t want to scratch your own paint, dontchaknow?

Quote:

Other than being startled, I don’t see why people should get upset by people not calling passes.

Isn’t that reason enough?

[dkel]

@mstone 180669 wrote:

Because the pass-ee isn’t surrounded by a ton of steel armor? Also, ironically, the passing distances are generally greater for the less vulnerable road users. Wouldn’t want to scratch your own paint, dontchaknow?

Isn’t that reason enough?

I think it’s cultural rather than practical, and the need for calling passes is based on the lack of consistent behavior (in this country) on the MUPs.

[Crickey7]

No one likes being startled by someone else passing at a significant speed disparity appearing silently at one’s elbow and whooshing by. Whether or not cyclists are weenies for being annoyed by it, it’s pretty obvious joggers and walkers are. And if you’re going to do it for some trail users, is it so hard to do it for all? Some cyclists won’t care. But some will.

[dasgeh]

@consularrider 180632 wrote:

Nope, at least not in Germany. The vast majority of cycling infrastructure that I’ve seen is shared with pedestrians so there isn’t much buffer. What you have a lot of are sidewalks the width of the W&OD with about two and a half feet marked for bikes. Both bikes and pedestrians will generally respect that. Your second point is better.

Not all of Germany – in Berlin, it’s mostly bikes-only and peds-only.

[lordofthemark]

@Judd 180663 wrote:

I find the bell to be more reliable at being recognized since it has consistent volume. I’ve had plenty of times where my voice cracked when calling a pass or I was winded and it wasn’t loud. And if someone has headphones in who knows if they heard me. When riding a bike with a bell I usually do both.

To encourage good behavior I also give a hand acknowledgement or say thank you to everyone that calls a pass to me.

I was blessed by my creator with a loud voice that carries well, so I tend to take this opportunity to put it to good use – a call can enable me to ‘customize’ and be more polite – cyclists get “on your left” or “passing”, runners “on your left”, walkers I will usually do “bike passing on your left” to be less confusing, and if I am going very slowly and am close (such is if I have slowed down because opposing traffic prevented a safe pass) I will add an “excuse me”. But when my voice is tired, or I suspect the passee does not understand English, I will often use the bell. OTOH if its an apparently experienced runner, with headphones, and there is space to give them plenty of room, I may just pass in silence (depending on how recently I have lubed my derailleur) assuming they know not to do a crazy ivan.

[consularrider]

@dasgeh 180693 wrote:

Not all of Germany – in Berlin, it’s mostly bikes-only and peds-only.

That wasn’t my impression when I was riding there for three days in April. but, I don’t want to getting into an argument about it. While I love riding in Germany, cycling infrastructure here has many downsides just as it does in the US, and my point is that cycling behavioral norms and expectations are not consistent across cultures.

[dcv]

@hozn 180661 wrote:

Most people acknowledge my calls by waving, so I’m pretty confident the problem here isn’t me. And that’s 2 people in 13 years of commuting, so not too bad. Given the ingrained cyclist expectation here to be treated like unpredictabld children on the trail, I’m pretty sure the ratio would be a lot higher if I were actually inaudible. And if someone can’t hear me because they’re chatting next to a friend, I don’t feel obligated to scream at them. For the last few year I do just use a bell.

Hans is a better man than me. I call my passes, but I get very angry with people who tell me I should’ve called it louder.

[mstone]

@lordofthemark 180701 wrote:

I was blessed by my creator with a loud voice that carries well, so I tend to take this opportunity to put it to good use – a call can enable me to ‘customize’ and be more polite – cyclists get “on your left” or “passing”, runners “on your left”, walkers I will usually do “bike passing on your left” to be less confusing, and if I am going very slowly and am close (such is if I have slowed down because opposing traffic prevented a safe pass) I will add an “excuse me”.

The feedback I hear from pedestrians is that regardless of what cyclists think, it’s not often easy to understand spoken calls, and they just come across as some guy shouting at them. In the worst case, they’ll stop and turn toward the cyclist to figure out what the shouting is about. (In one well-known fatal cyclist/pedestrian collision in the region, that was exactly what’s understood to have happened.) For cyclists “in the culture” called passes are intelligible because the cyclists already know what calls are likely and are able to predict a message without fully hearing and processing it. A pedestrian who’s familiar with calls on trails will start to do the same thing, but someone hearing it for the first time cannot. Of course, the more you try to say, the more likely even an experienced pedestrian (especially one who’s hard of hearing) will have to puzzle over the message if it’s not immediately predictable and unconsciously classified. Someone with hearing difficulty will also instinctively try to look at the person speaking to see their lips, likely stopping and turning toward them…

I’m all for being polite, but reserve words for when it’s possible to use a normal conversational voice. (Speed differential permitting, opportunity for the person to actually acknowledge, etc.)

[huskerdont]

@dcv 180706 wrote:

Hans is a better man than me. I call my passes, but I get very angry with people who tell me I should’ve called it louder.

There is a … person … cycling on the Custis some mornings who shouts “shout it out” whenever I pass them (intentionally using the gender-neutral pronoun here even though the subject-verb disagreement grates on me). I thought it was just me voice, but it happened with me Incredibell as well (!). It annoys me; if you can’t hear, that’s fine, no problem, but don’t blame me. Anyway, a year or so ago I came across a situation where this person and another person where shouting loud swear words at each other while riding along, arguing about the warning not being loud enough. It was kinda scary, but I guess I’m not alone at being annoyed by busybodies.

[Author]

Posts