As far as I know on a bridleway there is no keep left expectation
Do what you like when no one is walking, but surely common sense kicks in when you see another trail user, or is it yourself that is confusing walkers as they have no idea where you will decide to ride when you approach them ?!
That "case against bells" is imo nonsense.
the simple fact is that with a bell you can warn folk you are there from much further away ( so givre them time to do whatever is needed) than you can speak to them unless you shout and also bell = bike in many folks minds whereas a voice does not
Why so many folk are so against bells i just do not understand.
Yes they are not 100% effective but they work and work well most of the time, Its what walkers expect, it gives you the moral high ground
One day I'll do a video of using the same busy shared use path with a belland without
Why so many folk are so against bells i just do not understand.
Why you got that from my largely pro-bell post I’ll never understand 😉 does everything have to be so binary/partisan?
bell = bike in many folks minds whereas a voice does not
And voice = fellow human being. Like I said, there are sometimes opportunities for interaction. I don’t ever view my bell as a magical body-sweeping device but as an early warming system, usually followed up with slowing down (or even stopping, on trails etc) and verbal greetings/nice day/thanks, ‘there’re two more behind me’ etc.
Why you got that from my largely pro-bell post I’ll never understand 😉 does everything have to be so binary/partisan?
Have you used the internet before? I don't really get the whole walker thing. Use a polite bell, slow down, stop if you have to, smile, say hello and thank you, accept that the world and walkers in particular don't revolve around you. And yes, riding to one side makes the choice easier, but hey, if you're a big, chattery, family group with six dogs then it's hard to keep up with everything going on around you let alone react to angry cycling man appropriately.
Why so many folk are so against bells i just do not understand.
Walker 1: What's wrong with a cheery hello, your bell made me jump out of my skin
Walker 2: Why are you shouting, why haven't you got a bell.
I have a bell on both bikes that I tend to use when I'm on shared paths, It's not uncommon to get both those reactions within earshot. Don't get me started on dogs off their leads. I try to be more like P7eaven and chill, but a couple of weeks ago even stopping to pull to the side of the path got me a dirty look.
Dear Cyclists. Barrelling through a group of redsocks as if youre riding a World Series is why people assume we are all dicks.
not that im implying thats what the OP was doing, but still points bears repeating.
PERSONALLY, ill slow down to walking speed when passing on a path, whoever it is, whatever the conditions, and still slow down enough to give a cheery good morning when passing with a reasonable amount of space.
I don't think that anti-anti bell comment was aimed at you P7, that opinion was from page 1.
Your small piercing dinger, probably less effective than the nice big one because older folks loose high frequency hearing response before lower frequencies, so maybe quite deaf to the little one. Something to be aware of when approaching coffin dodgers from behind.
Have you used the internet before?
Indeed. Did you see I was winking? But rather than me get too far into self-perpetuating meta-rhetorical Qs, just to say that I fully agree with your above post. On the internet, no less!
I don’t think that anti-anti bell comment was aimed at you P7
thnks for the pointer. TBF I thought it was aimed more at my link to the ‘case against bells’ opinion piece (which in itself was maybe poorly-titled as it’s more ‘a case against only bells’ (my current/long-time stance on the subject)
a couple of weeks ago even stopping to pull to the side of the path got me a dirty look.
That's because A: they don’t like to see bicycles on ‘their’ path. Or B: they once had a bad experience with someone on a bike. Or C: They are themselves a bell(end). Or D: A, B and C.
Indeed. Did you see I was winking? But rather than me get too far into self-perpetuating meta-rhetorical Qs, just to say that I fully agree with your above post. On the internet, no less!
Outrageous! Get outta my way!! 🙂
I missed the wink as well Oops!
I have never had anyone complain about the use of a bell.
i also do the slow down and say thanks - infact I am over polite when riding. the number of " thank you", "lovely day", "just letting you know I am here" "I'll just squeeze past please" gets tiresome but I still do it
I regularly am thanked for using a bell
There are times when I don't use the bell. On narrow sections where there is nowhere for the walker to go I will tend to roll along behind them and then ask to pass ( as I am too close for a bell) once there is room to pass
I think this is the key - only use a bell when you can reasonably do it from 50 m away. don't ring it if you are close
I sometimes shout " ding a ling" which is quite funny
I sometimes shout ” ding a ling” which is quite funny
Same. But I generally trial-run my grandad-jokes on random supermarket-employees and/or shoppers. Try it from behind a shopping-trolley next time? 😉
Reactions are generally/variously:
- polite laughter
- mild discomfort
- giggling fear
- naked terror
Unless it's a purpose built and marked mountain bike trail, it's a shared path, so expect to have to slow down and stop for others, and don't ride quicker than you can see to safely stop.
Rule#1 and the new Highway Code hierarchy apply. Always. You can't stop others being dicks, but you are responsible for your own actions and reactions.
I sometimes shout ” ding a ling” which is quite funny
I find this usually gets a laugh if I'm on a shared path on the road bikes which have no bells fitted.
I met a couple on the Mon & Brec canal yesterday and they actually crossed over to the opposite sides as they saw me, stood 1 metre apart as their dog ran up and down in the space in between but they still asked why I'd stopped. Not being a dick is not always enough.
I have never had anyone complain about the use of a bell.
Ah well. People have a different experiences. Last time was on a canal side in Hebden, and she complained that I'd startled her so much she could've fallen in...(she couldn't have, but there you go)
I use a big rotary bell on the town/ute/touring bike
That is a cool addition imho, just to be clear on my personal stance on bells : )
@jameso - yes, IMO life is not complete without a proper ‘bicycling’ bicycle and a big brassy bicycle bell. It’s worth it just for the alliteration.
I think though maybe I’m either too old (and/or else on some other spectrum) to quite understand where ‘cool’ and ‘bicycle’ fit together in the bigger world. I tend to assume that most adult Brits think of bicycles as just annoying odd things. Filed under either ‘over-expensive showoffy’ or ‘OMG RU poor?’ types of ‘not a car’ objects. Or else (more typically) they think of them ‘not at all’.
Sidenote: That same bell (pictured on the stem) has recently developed a Timber!-type active mode whereby it dings over even small bumps . I decided not to try and fix it in the belief that bonus bumping bell-action is brilliant.
Frankly, I've had this problem as much trail running as I have cycling. Coming off Great Whernside with a friend in less-than-ideal conditions much fun was had jogging down the stone paving slabs. Came across a group of about 15 red-socked warriors intrepidly questing / hobbling their way up (it was a bit windy but their three-points-of-contact-at-all-times perhaps a bit overdone) - who screamed "SLOW DOWN! YOU'RE A MANIAC AND ENDANGERING ALL OF THESE NEW WALKERS HERE!". I couldn't but laugh, jump off the path onto the mud, run around them, and continue.
Should I wear a bell around my neck like a cat?
Is the redsock akin to the mamil? Or more like the lycra lout? And do they form ‘brigades’?
I may begin walking in lycra and cycling with red socks on alternate weekends.
For peace.
May need to register as a new brigade, though. Or two. No-one said it was going to be easy…
I may begin walking in lycra and cycling with red socks on alternate weekends. For peace.
🙂
Your small piercing dinger
Fnar Fnar.
Do what you like when no one is walking, but surely common sense kicks in when you see another trail user, or is it yourself that is confusing walkers as they have no idea where you will decide to ride when you approach them ?!
As as driver and road cyclist when on a bike I go left.
However I would never assume that this is the expected option with pedestrians or that will have thought of it.
