Who uses a bell on their commute?

[HLaB]

Maybe OT, but I had a heavy load tonight and came back via a shared use path tonight. Came up behind a couple tonight, I slowed to slower than walking pace let my noisy freewheel alert them, which it did and just before I came through I said excuse me please and passed on the bloke's side. The bloke turned round and thanked me, the wife turned round, 'where's the bell?' I was tempted to say I think my polite call and hands on the brakes worked better but it wasn't worth it

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

...
I find it hard to believe that anyone (sane) walks the streets shouting at other pedestrians when they get in the way in the manner that some apparently feel justified in doing once they are on their bikes.

not everyone lives in streets/towns/cities or even villages. The last time I lived in a town, I was at uni 20 odd years ago... since then I have usually had no neighbours, lived as rural as you can get, frequently been off mains water/sewage/gas & no TV signal at all and had intermittant electricty... Shopping trips were half day expeditions completed once every 2 weeks, or a month and if you forgot to buy it, you did without. I also grew up in a rural location, until I was 8 years old, though slightly less rural than now.

So - put into perspective, I am talking about city folk or town folk who come out into the countryside to allow their dogs to walk off lead, whilst they chat either to phone or more often with each other. they pay no attention whatsoever to what is going on around them, their dogs or nature in general & are completely in awe of 'white blobs' in the fields called sheep! they frequently walk 2/3/4 a breast, so it is easier to talk with/at each other and are completely unaware of anyone other than themselves. Saying excuse me to get their attention, rather than barging between them when they are completely blocking the path/track seems positively polite to me given their inconsiderate use of the bridgeway/tracks/footpaths. The slighest recongition of that fact that they are not the only people in the world would be a good place to start. We have even had the situation where so engrossed in their own conversations, that they have walked into our stationary bikes, patiently waiting for them to even see us coming towards them. It has not been unknown for us to have to make our presence known when we are on foot to avoid any incident. Extreme example - no, I get it each and every day simply because I live in what townies perceive as their leisure area aka 'the countryside'.

so streets, no; shouting, no, not normally; calling out politely, yes; at pedestrains, yes; on my bike, yes; on foot, yes; justified, as the need arises & yes. Not every spoken word with a stranger has to be rude.

 

[Drago]

yes to bell , and a loud cough when needed

You use a bell when the Doctor tells you to bend over?

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

"(I am) coming through!" certainly isn't polite nor is it courteous.

"Passing on your right" however is more descriptive than "ding a ling", "jingle jangle", "PAAAARP" (for the airzound usesrs) or even "Excuse me old bean, would it awfully inconvenience your good self if I were to interrupt your perambulation to kindly request passage by way of your dextral flank"

 

[Cyclist33]

"...Yes, Mr.Dudwee?"

Sorry, couldn't help myself.
As you were...

What a refreshing slice of institutional racism.

 

[Cyclist33]

not everyone lives in streets/towns/cities or even villages. The last time I lived in a town, I was at uni 20 odd years ago... since then I have usually had no neighbours, lived as rural as you can get, frequently been off mains water/sewage/gas & no TV signal at all and had intermittant electricty... Shopping trips were half day expeditions completed once every 2 weeks, or a month and if you forgot to buy it, you did without. I also grew up in a rural location, until I was 8 years old, though slightly less rural than now.

So - put into perspective, I am talking about city folk or town folk who come out into the countryside to allow their dogs to walk off lead, whilst they chat either to phone or more often with each other. they pay no attention whatsoever to what is going on around them, their dogs or nature in general & are completely in awe of 'white blobs' in the fields called sheep! they frequently walk 2/3/4 a breast, so it is easier to talk with/at each other and are completely unaware of anyone other than themselves. Saying excuse me to get their attention, rather than barging between them when they are completely blocking the path/track seems positively polite to me given their inconsiderate use of the bridgeway/tracks/footpaths. The slighest recongition of that fact that they are not the only people in the world would be a good place to start. We have even had the situation where so engrossed in their own conversations, that they have walked into our stationary bikes, patiently waiting for them to even see us coming towards them. It has not been unknown for us to have to make our presence known when we are on foot to avoid any incident. Extreme example - no, I get it each and every day simply because I live in what townies perceive as their leisure area aka 'the countryside'.

so streets, no; shouting, no, not normally; calling out politely, yes; at pedestrains, yes; on my bike, yes; on foot, yes; justified, as the need arises & yes. Not every spoken word with a stranger has to be rude.

How can your bikes have been stationary if you were "coming towards them"?

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

How can your bikes have been stationary if you were "coming towards them"?

Presumably if the bike stops prior to impact...

 

[Cyclist33]

Presumably if the bike stops prior to impact...

Then it wouldn't be coming towards them.

 

[summerdays]

As in they were coming towards them generally - saw the lack of awareness on the part of the pedestrians so stopped stationary. Pedestrians then walked into stationary bike (well I assume that is what she meant).

I've had pedestrians walk into my bike before when I've been standing beside it (though only in town - I don't manage to escape into the wilds normally). In the same way I've walked into a lamp-post too.

 

[Recycle]

"Passing on your right" however is more descriptive than "ding a ling",...

Not an expression I would use. Not that there is anything wrong with it, just that my brain transposes things so "right" will probably come out as "left" and I'm likely to direct the person into my path rather than out of it. Likewise, if I received the warning I would probably step into the cyclists path.

 

[John the Monkey]

"Passing on your right" however is more descriptive than "ding a ling", "jingle jangle", "PAAAARP" (for the airzound usesrs) or even "Excuse me old bean, would it awfully inconvenience your good self if I were to interrupt your perambulation to kindly request passage by way of your dextral flank"

"Passing..." is good for other cyclists - for pedestrians on shared paths, I'd use "Stay left please" or "Bike on your right" (or "make me a gap, lads" - tailoring to your audience is important, after all) . The advantage of the Crane Bell is that it can be heard from further away though - you can still use your voice once you're closer.

A bit of verbosity can be quite fun too - "Have a care sir!" I said to one lad who stepped into my path (I'd slowed & covered the brakes, so no big deal).

 

[GrumpyGregry]

That's your view. I wouldn't be offended if it was said to me and I haven't had a negative reaction to it so far. It all depends on how its delivered.

You haven't had a negative reaction to it. Can you read people's minds then?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

"Passing on your right" however is more descriptive than "ding a ling", "jingle jangle", "PAAAARP" (for the airzound usesrs) or even "Excuse me old bean, would it awfully inconvenience your good self if I were to interrupt your perambulation to kindly request passage by way of your dextral flank"

True.

"May I pass on your right?" is both descriptive and polite and doesn't imply "I'm coming through NO MATTER WHAT!"

 

[GrumpyGregry]

So - put into perspective, I am talking about city folk or town folk who come out into the countryside to allow their dogs to walk off lead, whilst they chat either to phone or more often with each other. they pay no attention whatsoever to what is going on around them, their dogs or nature in general & are completely in awe of 'white blobs' in the fields called sheep! they frequently walk 2/3/4 a breast, so it is easier to talk with/at each other and are completely unaware of anyone other than themselves. Saying excuse me to get their attention, rather than barging between them when they are completely blocking the path/track seems positively polite to me given their inconsiderate use of the bridgeway/tracks/footpaths. The slighest recongition of that fact that they are not the only people in the world would be a good place to start. We have even had the situation where so engrossed in their own conversations, that they have walked into our stationary bikes, patiently waiting for them to even see us coming towards them. It has not been unknown for us to have to make our presence known when we are on foot to avoid any incident. Extreme example - no, I get it each and every day simply because I live in what townies perceive as their leisure area aka 'the countryside'.

Your sat nav says straight on.

Mine says do as you would be done by.

 

[brucers]

Thats assuming the pedestrian gets out the way at roadrunner speed! An option would be to beep in a slow and lethargic manner like Dillon would in the Magic Roundabout!!

But then you'd have to whizz past at Roadrunner speeds otherwise the effect is lost