Just to qualify the detail of my occurrence with said earphoned pedestrian & dog. Being 06.30h, it was dark and the path was only vaguely lit by nearby streetlights. The path itself was about 1.5 metres wide with a steep grassy bank on the left and a fence on the right and ped + dog took the entire width of the path up. Thus I had nowhere to 'go'. I was pretty much trackstanding when I had to call out to bring his attention to my presence. He hadn't noticed my nice shiny headlight, so suggestions as to an appropriate course of action apart from getting off the bike and saying 'S'cuse me please, may I walk past - ?' in a loud enough voice to be heard.
Pedestrians & earphones.
- Thread starter simongt
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- sharing shouty cyclist
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martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Why is this option discounted?
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Well it's your life and time. Me, I'm a big fan of Occam's Razor: when you find a simple solution that works, stick to it.It isn't. The whole idea of this qualifying post being that if anyone has ALTERNATIVE suggestions, as pointed out in the last sentence - !
As a postscript to this subject, I was cycling along same shared path today on the way to work, similar time & conditions. Ahead I saw a young lass jogging. I slowed down as usual and rang my bell at a similar distance as the previous occasion - about six or seven metres. Her reaction was immediate; she moved to the left and then without missing a step looked round to check where the source of the bell was. And yes, she was wearing earphones - ! 
Conclusion - women obviously don't see the need to have earphones on at the volume level deemed necessary by so many men i.e. ensure that anyone within five metres can also share their dodgy taste in music. This lass obviously felt it was important to still be aware of what was going on around her.
Conclusion - women obviously don't see the need to have earphones on at the volume level deemed necessary by so many men i.e. ensure that anyone within five metres can also share their dodgy taste in music. This lass obviously felt it was important to still be aware of what was going on around her.
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Word has probably got out among joggers that there's an inconsiderate cyclist frequently using that stretch of path and they need to beware.
Normally I'd agree with you, and certainly a sample size of 2 people isn't going enough to be making any concrete statements but I'd suggest that it's logical that a lone woman MAY feel more vulnerable than a lone man running in the dark on a poorly lit path in the semi dark early hours, and therefore MIGHT make more of an effort to be aware of their surrounding than a man would.
You're right. However the precautions we take are based on our perception of risk, not the actual risk.
How about this then - ? Cycling along same path yesterday morning, saw same ped + dog. So, mindful of the vitriolic and 'holier than thou' replies this thread has received, I slowed right down to a walking pace about ten metres from ped. Rang my bell several times; no response. So I called out in a moderate voice, VERY politely ' Excuse me please'; again, no response. So I repeated my ever so polite call about eight or nine times as I approached closer gradually increasing volume each time, but definitely short of shouting. As luck would have it, the ped was pulled to one side by the dog which wanted to wee against a bush just before I passed him, still calling 'Excuse me please' and he STILL nearly jumped out of his skin - !
uclown2002
Guru
- Location
- Harrogate
Nothing to see here - move along.How about this then - ? Cycling along same path yesterday morning, saw same ped + dog. So, mindful of the vitriolic and 'holier than thou' replies this thread has received, I slowed right down to a walking pace about ten metres from ped. Rang my bell several times; no response. So I called out in a moderate voice, VERY politely ' Excuse me please'; again, no response. So I repeated my ever so polite call about eight or nine times as I approached closer gradually increasing volume each time, but definitely short of shouting. As luck would have it, the ped was pulled to one side by the dog which wanted to wee against a bush just before I passed him, still calling 'Excuse me please' and he STILL nearly jumped out of his skin - !
Well done. Have a cookieHow about this then - ? Cycling along same path yesterday morning, saw same ped + dog. So, mindful of the vitriolic and 'holier than thou' replies this thread has received, I slowed right down to a walking pace about ten metres from ped. Rang my bell several times; no response. So I called out in a moderate voice, VERY politely ' Excuse me please'; again, no response. So I repeated my ever so polite call about eight or nine times as I approached closer gradually increasing volume each time, but definitely short of shouting. As luck would have it, the ped was pulled to one side by the dog which wanted to wee against a bush just before I passed him, still calling 'Excuse me please' and he STILL nearly jumped out of his skin - !
