Perhaps buy a pram or pushchair, put the dog on a lead,and keep control of it, and most importantly never walk on the road as this will be a common occurance for you with motorists

Hope you are trolling project? Generally speaking the road isn’t intended as a pedestrian path – but a shared-use cycle path is. Bit of a difference.

So if the cyclist messed up, caused an accident and the baby ended up in hospital that would be ok because he inconvenienced the cyclist by, oh a whole 2 seconds..?

Grow up, slow down and call out to get by. The next person might be less reasonable.

Agree with some of the sentiments above. It’s not the bell that’s missing it’s basic manners and courtesy.

Don’t be a tedious troll project, read the OP’s posts ie. dog at heel child on back. It is entirely reasonable that the OP should have been given some warning by the cyclist.

My experience, as an owner if 3 dogs, is that the majority of cyclists use a bit of common sense and courtesy when approaching people with dogs/toddlers/Granny etc out for a walk and slow down and pass carefully. You often can’t hear a bike approaching from behind and I’ve had many cyclists approaching way too fast and not allowing enough time to recall the dogs.

Shared pathways are just that, SHARED and as has been said above, a few seconds here or there is nothing.

Sometimes people step left / right without warning.

I’ve found a bell to be pretty much universally useless. Either folk are walking whilst wearing earphones, are paying to much attention to their phone or just get really annoyed by a bell tinging.

I slow down and say “can I squeeze past” or “excuse me” – doesn’t always work though…. :/

Not sure why and when slowing down and giving a friendly, verbal ‘excuse me’ went out of fashion. Seems the most effective way for everyone to continue having a nice day IME

Probably about the same time that saying “Good morning” to strangers went from “nice, polite thing to do” to “suspicious serial terrorphile” 😀

GrahamS – Member

Perhaps buy a pram or pushchair, put the dog on a lead,and keep control of it, and most importantly never walk on the road as this will be a common occurance for you with motorists

Hope you are trolling project? Generally speaking the road isn’t intended as a pedestrian path – but a shared-use cycle path is. Bit of a difference.

Of course i was joking, as a member of Sustrans and a volunteer ranger for them, one of my biggest hates is the excesive speed muppets on bikes pass peds and doggers,OnE day theyre going to hit someone, and then there will be a backlash against us sensible cyclists.

Oh and last winter me and quite a few others,local residents, local council staff and other intrested parties, stood on a freezing cold day on a cycle path, with tables and various freebies for cyclists and walkers, doggers,and other path users, and got a fantastic responce, except from one idiot on a bike, who shouted abuse for blocking part of the path.

Best way to approach fellow path users is slow right down, and shout Hello, or excuse me, or cyclist approaching, and always say THANKYOU.

I ALSO BEG FORGIVENESS FOR MY PREVIOUS LACK OF HUMOUR.

Phew.

Thought that didn’t sound like you, but my sarcasm filter is currently full of winter snot. 🙂

Sometimes people step left / right without warning.

It’s just a jump to the left.
And then a step to the right.
Let’s do the time-warp again.
Let’s do the time-warp again.

I ALSO BEG FORGIVENESS FOR MY PREVIOUS LACK OF HUMOUR.

That wasn’t particularly funny either. 🙄 HTH.

( 🙂 )

Slow down, and pass wide if you can.

Obviously, give a warning, but be ready for it not to be heard, for many possible reasons.

The bell thing is a complete red-herring, although old folk love you if you have one.

the whole things a crock – shared use paths are very much a box ticking exercise – sustrans only wants recretational cyclists using them – yet campaigns for them in areas where they should be and are needed for transport purposes.

sustrans only wants recretational cyclists using them

Patently not true in my area (North East England) and certainly not the ethos of Sustrans which is supposed to be about transport.

I had an interesting chat over beer with the Sustrans Network Manager a while back and he was musing about whether Sustrans should support ANY recreational routes at all.

http://road.cc/content/news/88895-sustrans-racers-not-welcome-shared-use-paths

a racer being anyone that goes fast.

ive had abuse for approaching too fast before – i always slow down for passing but theres a difference between slowing down from say 20mph – to slowing down from 12mph (average recreational cyclists speed)

If im going from my house to work – im not doing it at 12mph.

meanwhile the pedestrians can generally wander all over the path with wreckless abandon without looking behind – walk 2/3/4 abreast and take up the whole path with headphones in dressed in dark clothes and no lights with a black dog on a black lead — and its me that gets the shit if i hit them.

ive also had abuse for light that are too bright – “well im sorry but your wearing no illumination or reflective clothes so i need these to see you”

the pedestrians need to learn that this works both ways and its not just one way at cyclists.

@ theOP, what did the bride reckon to you both being on her path?

trail_rat: mountains and molehills that one. Have you read the actual press release?

Nothing in there I disagree with. You?

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/press-releases/racers-told-keep-traffic-free-paths

Dogs – I never know what the best way to approach an unleashed dog is….especially when is often the case they are on the other side of the path to the owner. They are a complete wild card.

Choices seem to be a complete stop while the owner unsuccessfully calls the dog to him across the path, or to proceed between them completely unsure as to whether the dog will react to his owners call…I find it an awkward situation, and I generally default to trackstanding when head on, but coming from behind if they don’t react to a bell it’s tricky.

Recently when dog and owner have been walking towards me I have switched to deliberatly riding on the owners side (slowly obviously) to attempt to shepherd them to the dog side before they have acknowledged they should do something about the dog…I’ve not had great success though.

This is a really old issue – how to pass walkers etc on a path/trail etc.

Most times with slowing down and a bit of common sense there isn’t a problem, although however you do it. it does seem to surprise/terrify some people. (some walkers demand bells, others jump like startled rabbits)

A few things though do tend to cause problems e.g. racing, headphones, and (my real hate) extendable dog-leads.

Edit – oh yeah – give horses a wide berth – they often dont do what you or their rider expects

i often stop fully for horses unless the rider has made full eye contact.

I never know what the best way to approach an unleashed dog is….especially when is often the case they are on the other side of the path to the owner.

As with any trail user, making eye contact and acknowledging the dog helps. (I usually use a friendly *click click* “Hey Mutt” call)

Generally I just watch the dog as I approach. Perversely I’m actually happier if the dog is unleashed and off doing sensible dog things like sniffing about for rabbits in the undergrowth.

In my experience they are far less predictable when leashed as they already feel restricted and may go into defensive mode if they feel threatened.

had a mate whose gears jammed just as he tried to pass a horse on a Surrey bridleway and he fell under its legs – not nice

Unfortunately you see the exact same attitudes on shared paths as you do on the roads. The bigger, faster moving object has right of way.

Of course, most people use a bit of common sense, but then there’s always a good portion of the population who don’t have any.

In regards to bell ringing, I’ve personally had some very positive feedback, with people going out of their way to thank me for it!

Vive le bell!

Regardless of whether I’m using a bell, I slow down for pedestrians and dogs on shared pathways. Dogs and children are unpredictable.

Choices seem to be a complete stop while the owner unsuccessfully calls the dog to him across the path, or to proceed between them completely unsure as to whether the dog will react to his owners call…I find it an awkward situation, and I generally default to trackstanding when head on, but coming from behind if they don’t react to a bell it’s tricky.

It is difficult with unleashed dogs. Being a dog owner, I don’t want to say that dogs should be leashed, everywhere at all times, because I like to let my dog roam and sniff etc. But you do have to be alert/considerate to other path users. I will usually call and grab my dog by the collar if I hear a bike bell and let them pass, so he doesn’t get in the way. By the same token I would expect them not to go racing past and to slow down some.

Bridleway riding is unfortunately like that, when you aren’t on dedicated bike trails, sometimes you have to interrupt your flow for other trail users. C’est la vie. We have trail centres that are purely for MTB, where you shouldn’t really encounter pedestrians, kids or dogs on the trails (other than the family and shared ones).

And another thing about shared paths is when some older cyclists see a group of youths, just chatting or waliking, they seem to think they have t oride as fast as they can at them , shouting to them to get out of the way,and get resultant abuse from the kids,

Where as ive always slowed down,and shouted hello, or excuse me, and i used to be surprised that they did actually move aside, and some actually thankyouu for warning them of your approach, now it seeem just normal,some even shout and ask about buying a bike, etc.

I’ve found a bell to be pretty much universally useless.

I use a busy shared path every single day and I find the exact opposite – people can hear a bell from quite some distance, and almost always move out of the way by the time I get there. Joggers with earphones are an exception.

I’m not a fan of the dring-dring-dring type:

They always sound a bit urgent and “rude” to me.

I always find that those sort of bells get the best result, possibly because it isn’t the sort of noise most walkers associate with a burly bloke on a bike. Usually gets a smile. I’ve bought a comedy horn to stick on one of my other bikes; can’t wait to see what sort of a reaction that gets.