ding-a-ling

Alan Erskine said:

Yup.... I usually say "passing on the right/left" only to have people go
_in_ that direction if they move at all! I end up swerving to miss them and
have, so far, managed to do so, but feel it's only a matter of time.

Quoted message said:

Said "passing..." once and the woman said "you should use your bell". If I
use the bell, nobody moves; it's a shared path fer-fvck-sake!

This has already been discussed hasn't it?

Basically, in my experience, if people don't move with a verbal "beep beep"
or "passing", they're not going to move at all.

But never mind, I use the air horns in those cases. :-)
--
Linux Registered User # 302622 <http://counter.li.org>

Fred Nieman said:

But the dog's people shuffle unhappily by my granny-gear moving bike,
and call back to me, "you should have a bell".

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Alan Erskine said:

Said "passing..." once and the woman said "you should use your bell". If I

use the bell, nobody moves; it's a shared path fer-fvck-sake!

Basically, in my experience, if people don't move with a verbal "beep beep"
or "passing", they're not going to move at all.

But never mind, I use the air horns in those cases. :-)

I think we have all encountered the smart [censored] pedestrian.

Is worthwhile to have your bell, which I use discretionally anyway, but
more importantly have an air horn so when you do get a "should use your
bell", you casually loop back around behind them and then let rip with
the air horn.

Would be good to get your own back in such a subtle way :p

Cheers Ray

Ray said:

I think we have all encountered the smart [censored] pedestrian.

Quoted message said:

Is worthwhile to have your bell, which I use discretionally anyway, but
more importantly have an air horn so when you do get a "should use your
bell", you casually loop back around behind them and then let rip with
the air horn.

Quoted message said:

Would be good to get your own back in such a subtle way :p

I'm on a recumbent, I originally bought the air horns because I was doing a
fair bit of road commuting at the time, and needed something with a little more
"oomf" than a bell to let cars know I'm there.

Turned out that pedestrians are by far more of a problem than cars.
--
Linux Registered User # 302622 <http://counter.li.org>

"ruff ruff", That's what I'm gonna be using from this point on. Ruff-ruff.

T'was fun MTBing at westgate Sunday in such inclement weather, saw they bunted off part of the single track that lay 1 foot under water (and mud), but the rest of the course seemed 'proving' enough. The punt was out this weekend too, due to fire on board.

Alan Erskine said:

Said "passing..." once and the woman said "you should use your bell". If I
use the bell, nobody moves; it's a shared path fer-fvck-sake!

This seems to vary around Australia. In Perth, there are lots of signs
on the paths "cyclists please ring bell when passing", so it becomes
a reasonable expectation. And if enough cyclists do it, pedestrians
will generally respond without having to think. It can task a while
for the brain to process the significance of a yell from behind,
even worse a dog noise.
Dogs off-leash on a shared path are a big NO, and will earn the
owner a lecture. Thats here. YMMV, as the yanks say.

"fred nieman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

And this fellow yells at me for dinging my bell as we go round blind
corners on a shared path! What's with that? Oh, per-leeze? (and so

on...)

<snip>

Quoted message said:

from the Merri Creek path onto the Yarra path, I say "woof-woof", and
the dog of the pedestrians coming the other way looks at me, and then
trots happily past me on the other side of the bridge. But the dog's
people shuffle unhappily by my granny-gear moving bike, and call back to
me, "you should have a bell".

My bell gets regular use on the bike paths usually with a good response
(though on last weekend's tour to the Brisbane Ranges, the excess moisture
made it just go 'tink'. Lucky it was a road trip). But often some
pedestrians, usually walking three wide, are just on another planet and it
takes a "ding, ding, ding, DING!" to get their attention then it's "Oh it's
a bike, oh sorry."

One trick I used before I fitted a bell was simply to ride along the path
whistling (usually very badly) and people nearly always picked up on this
without feeling insulted or stressed. It's a good strategy to use in
conjuction with the bell. Ride along and whistle a little tune as you
approach, flick the bell 30-40 metres back, then again more stridently if
there's no response. Often the whistling on it's own will save you having to
ring the bell.

As for the MTB rider who bagged you for using a bell, he's just a stuck up
f%$&ing [censored]!

Cheers
Peter

Peter Signorini said:

As for the MTB rider who bagged you for using a bell, he's just a stuck up
f%$&ing [censored]!

Cheers
Peter

Our thoughts exactly. In the words of one of Alexi Sayles lesser known characters, Sod yers!

Ok, stupid ped story time. Riding to work on Cup Day (ok, get paid 270%, more than I'd win on the race anyway), spinning up Gertrude towards Fitzroy, encounter several drunk & aggro peds who decide to give chase.

With the cries of "giveusalift yaf*****whatever" ringing in my ears, I turn around, and can't help but notice two of them have tripped and virtually fallen face first on the road. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

Riding home in the afternoon, after first negotiating my way out of North Melbourne past more underdressed but intoxicated peds. Return to Gertrude St through the drizzle. Now a mildly clueless ped decides to step off the kerb outside the Builders, in front of moi, and a car alongside. Sound the AirZound2. The ped literally sails backwards onto the kerb, a tad like a manga/action sequence....

Anyway I reckon I did the poor sod a community service, no nasty accident involving either the 1). ped 2). cyclist 3). motorist 4). all three.

Very much doubt the ped saw it like that though. 🙄

As for the MTB rider who bagged you for using a bell, he's just a stuck up
f%$&ing [censored]!

Cheers
Peter[/QUOTE]
(MP3 Player set to replay + MP3 voice recording of "f%$&ing [censored]" + 12v Amp with battery pack) all in backpack + speaker mounted on handlebar with switch = effective [censored] warning device.

somewhere at the back of my mind I recall that it is illegal to use amplified voice as a warning device but I can't remember the specific law

...but wouldn't it be nice sometimes....

SteveA

phuggan [censored] that MTB rider is

I'm used to being a 2nd class citizen out on the road, paths & trails (everywhere I ride actually), but I didn't think it would get that here as well.
Surely everyone here knows the hit & miss rate with using a bell on a shared bike path. Even when you are actually acknowledged in time it usually causes consternation on their part which means braking hard or you’re off onto the grass .
Been commuting to/from work since ’91 & my bell has revisited my ‘bars on more than one occasion, but it only seems to last a week or two - it’s constant ringing over bumps etc causing false alarms where ever I go.
Ruff, ruff. Toss, toss.