RE/
Quoted message said:Basicly when cycling what tactics do you find work for alerting walkers/runners etc. that your
approaching and want to get past.
I've got one of those little single-ding bells on all 3 of my bikes.
I avoided getting any sort of noisemaker on the assumption that people would be offended by
same....taking the sound to mean "get out of the way, I'm coming through..".
I finally bought the first one after scaring an elderly couple half to death in French Creek State
park...thought for sure that *anybody* could hear me coming up on them - going slow, cracking twigs,
crunching gravel.... but that wasn't the case.
Maybe it's the way it's used, but I find a fair percentage of people actually say "thank you".
My technique is to give one ding - long or short, loud or soft depending on the situation - as far
back as I can and then check for some reaction on the part of the person ahead. I still slow down
and/or give them a wide berth - but the effect of the bell seems to be to avoid the startling effect
of 200+ pounds of meat passing by unexpectedly. The idea is for the ding not to be so close that
they think they have to jump out of the way.....Sort of a "yoooo-hoooo" we're back
here.....*waaaaay* back here, but coming your way."
Seems to me like the critical factor is that it's used to save people from being startled and/or
prevent them from wandering into a path that I've already chosen to go around them with plenty of
room to spare - as opposed to clearing them out of the way.
It helps with dogs too - if Rover's on one of those retractable leashes, they have time to reel him
in before we get all mixed up.
It's also fun to play with on long straightaways....
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PeteCresswell