John Schmidt
Since I ride in around in Portland a lot where there are lots of
pedestrians and other cyclists, long long ago, I put a bell on my bicycle
(s). A pleasant bell, not one of those awful single DING noises. : ) .
But I would think that if you are in a organized ride, and riding slow,
that people passing constantly is to be expected. I think I would rather
NOT have people constantly calling out. And if you a faster rider, it
would get pretty old having to say "on your left" every 10 seconds for a
couple hours. But I don't know, since I have nice pleasant bell I do
tend to ring it more often then saying "coming by", it is easier to do.
I always try to pass on the left, But occasionally I have had people
riding way left. So then what do you do?. I still try to pass on the
left.
Now I like to stay right, and sometimes as I get ready to pass on the left
I have had people who like to ride out more in the road, move left on me I
assume opening up the right for me/ trying to guess where I am rather than
just sticking. Disconcerting and Strangely becoming more common...
Now with Cars, even if I have a bike lane i still try to pass on the left,
or more often stay behind them. (it's a death wish literally to
_hope_that all car drivers are checking their rearview mirrors before
turning right. With phones its enough to hope they are seeing (yes seeing,
not just looking) out the front window ! )
Every-day, every damn day that i ride home into washing county, i have n!$#
and i#$#! , etc, folk on their phones and turning right without signaling.
Not signaling is a huge pet peeve, and if I were doing traffic enforcement
everyone that didn’t signal would get a big ticket ! The fancier the car
the more likely.
You know, At least announce the direction you're pointing the gun so People
can duck / drive defensibly. Otherwise is it intentional??? (Btw, PDX is
the only place I have had car drivers intentionally swerve at me. )
If i can't get up in front of everyone before the light turns green, I get
off the road and wait for the line of cars to clear. And btw, you can't
just stop, you have to get off the road, even if you are 40 feet from the
intersection, guaranteed someone will get confused (there is alway a mix of
overcautious too polite / "no you go" types in among the impatient
drivers and the impatient will blame you regardless)
At least in Portland I am usually not the only person riding (commuting)
along as I almost always am in Washington county.
Now on my Mountain bike, I don't have a bell yet. But for pedestrians I
usually say good morning and GET OFF my bicycle and walk past them or get
off the trail, with a "i need a rest break anyway". The trails are just
too narrow. And too many people with guns and knives : ) (especially now
with an increased perceived cougar threat.)
On Mon, Sep 24, 2018 at 3:00 AM My Computer via OBRA
wrote:
> I typically do it, but there is a 50/50 chance when I call out "left" the
> person goes left (instead of right) making the situation worse.
>
> On Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 3:32 PM bennett.jack@yahoo.com via OBRA <
> obra@list.obra.org> wrote:
>
>> Hello OBRAland,
>>
>> I have a question about cycling behavior that perhaps someone out there
>> can answer. I've done Cycle Oregon a number of times, and there's a
>> persistent phenomenon that puzzles me: the failure of stronger riders to
>> give warning when they blow by within close range of slower riders. This
>> happens All. The. Time. I'm a steady rider with experience in pacelines and
>> pelotons, yet I'm still startled when someone speeds by me a few MPH
>> faster, elbow-to-elbow and with no warning. I can only imagine how
>> disconcerting this is to someone who's less confident on their bike in a
>> group. And it seems to me that it's just inviting disaster if the slower
>> rider doesn't strictly hold their line. Also, aside from safety issues, it
>> just seems like good cycling manners.
>>
>> So my question is this: Why do some folks find it hard to simply say "On
>> your left" or "Left side" when overtaking at close range? I don't
>> understand what's difficult about it. Is there some real justification
>> for neglecting this warning? Or is it uncool, too much trouble, annoying to
>> say repeatedly, or what? I'm sure there are some in OBRAland who do Cycle
>> Oregon, so I'm hoping someone can enlighten me on this.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Jack
>>
>> .................................
>> Jack Bennett
>> bennett.jack@yahoo.com
>> .................................
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