Headphones

theGoat said:

Given that a cyclist riding on a bike path is required to give an audible warning when passing a pedestrian, why aren't pedestrians on a bike path prohibited from wearing headphones or other such devices which prevent them from hearing said warning? What's the point of madly ringing a bell if some dosey pillock with their [censored] music turned right up can't hear you.

Can they hear the clip over the ear as you squeeze by? Check and report back to the group 🙂

Ritch

theGoat said:

Given that a cyclist riding on a bike path is required to give an
audible warning when passing a pedestrian, why aren't pedestrians on a
bike path prohibited from wearing headphones or other such devices
which prevent them from hearing said warning? What's the point of madly
ringing a bell if some dosey pillock with their [censored] music turned right
up can't hear you.

And my mates laughed at me when I showed them my air zound.

Nothing says GETOUTTATHEWAY like that little red button. :-)
--
Linux Registered User # 302622 <http://counter.li.org>

“ cyclists to give audible warning to pedestrians on bike paths ??? "

That's just asking for trouble.
I just rocket past & let them deal with the trauma, or I hit the grass detour, whatever helps me hold the momentum & make it less complicated (for all concerned) .
Sounding your approach leaves them open to dart left & then right & then stand here & there & just make it impossible to pass by safely. Happens every time on the Yarra trail for me personally, except for some runners who (acknowledge) ignore the warning & continue on regardless, maybe hanging left (or right).

Those signs that say “sound your bell”, just leaves the total responcibility for pedestrian saftey in the hands of cyclists. I mean if little johnny falls into the water & drowns because you didn’t ring your bell as you rode past, where would that leave you?

John Tserkezis said:

theGoat wrote:

<snip>
What's the point of madly ringing a bell if some dosey pillock with their [censored] music turned right up can't hear you.

And my mates laughed at me when I showed them my air zound.

Nothing says GETOUTTATHEWAY like that little red button. :-)

Gotta luuuuurve the Air Zound!

To paraphrase byron27.

One toot,
is all it takes,
to launch a dozey pedestrian.

Bikesoiler said:

John Tserkezis said:

theGoat wrote:

<snip>
What's the point of madly ringing a bell if some dosey pillock with
their [censored] music turned right up can't hear you.

And my mates laughed at me when I showed them my air zound.

Nothing says GETOUTTATHEWAY like that little red button. :-)

Gotta luuuuurve the Air Zound!

To paraphrase byron27.

One toot,
is all it takes,
to launch a dozey pedestrian.

Yep - and you can toot from far enough away that they can turn around,
do silly things and THEN get out of the way before you have to slow
down!

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 at 05:15 GMT, Bikesoiler (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Gotta luuuuurve the Air Zound!

To paraphrase byron27.

One toot,
is all it takes,
to launch a dozey pedestrian.

Worst. Haiku. Evar!

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
NOT A CHANCE! I know for a *fact* the kittens aren't frightened
by temporal anomalies. Clock watching simply ain't their bag.
John Schmidt@ARK

It amazing the reaction you get from walkers (especially the elderly), when you sound your intention to pass on shared footpaths. For some reason a bike is the last thing these people tend to expect when walking along a shared path or bike path.

powinc

Partly on this subject:

Sakar in the US are showing an iPod/MP3 Sound case for bikes so you can
play all your music above 'traffic' noise. 9v battery runs the speakers.
Steve
idealcycles.com

The full release:

LAS VEGAS (2005 International CES, January 6, 2005) --- If you like your
media on the go but don't like the shut-the-world-out feeling of wearing
earphones, Sakar International's new family of Sound Cases will be music to
your ears. These protective carrying cases for MP3, CD and DVD players and
laptops incorporate built-in speakers that let the sound out of the bag ---
literally. Special cases allow the music or other audio to play loud and
proud on bikes and car visors, too.

The line includes seven different bags that are wired for sound. In each
instance, the integrated speaker amplifies the audio so it can be heard
without headphones and even shared with others --- whether on the road or in
the office. As a bonus, the pairing of the case and speaker in one unit
eliminates the need to buy two separate accessories.

The lineup includes:

· MP3 Sound Case (MSRP $29.99), a water-resistant hard-shelled container
with a speaker on the front, an inner mesh pocket to hold the MP3 player in
place, and a storage compartment for memory cards. Shoulder and belt straps
are included.

· CD Sound Case (MSRP $29.99), a slightly larger carrier for CD players with
similar features and a storage compartment that holds up to 12 CDs.

· Stereo Sound Case (MSRP $39.99), a model with two amplified speakers that
accommodates either an MP3 or a CD player, and holds up to 36 CDs.

· DVD Sound Case (MSRP $49.99), a leatherette version that houses a 5" or 7"
DVD player, includes stereo speakers embedded in fold-out flaps on either
side of the open player's screen, and has a front storage compartment for
DVDs.

· Laptop Sound Case (MSRP $59.99), a microfiber carrier with a cushioned
protective laptop compartment and stereo speakers for laptop audio.

· MP3 Car Visor Sound Case (MSRP $29.99), a holder/speaker that pipes MP3
tunes into the car without the messy wires of inverters. The product slides
onto the car visor and has a speaker in the center with separate
compartments on either side for the MP3 player and batteries.

· Bicycle Sound Case (MSRP $39.99), a saddlebag-type carrier with two
built-in speakers and a cushioned compartment that holds either an MP3 or CD
player. The case fits on all bikes, fastens to the bicycle bar with Velcro
with no installation required, is weather-resistant, and delivers enough
volume to play over traffic while also providing safe riding without
headphones.

Each Sound Case runs on a 9-volt battery and gets its audio feed through a
built-in connector that plugs into the media device's headphone jack.

About Sakar International Inc.
Sakar International Inc. designs and manufactures a wide range of
technology, toy, and consumer electronic products. Founded in 1977, the
company is privately held and headquartered in Edison, N.J. For more
information, visit www.sakar.com

Forget bells and even air horns a simple shout "passing on your right" not only warns them of your approach but tells them what your intentions are.

tried it, & paid the price (they though they i said for them to go right, so I swerved right off the path into the bushes to avoid them).
I suppose my speed has alot to blame from my misadventures on these shared paths, but I commute (therefore have somewhere to be) & heaps of cyclist pass me going harder anyway.
Dunno, born under an unlucky sign maybe. Lucky I stick to riding MTB's, makes the dirt detour an easy option.

Marx SS said:

tried it, & paid the price (-they though they i said for them to go
right, so I swerved right off the path into the bushes to avoid
them-).
I suppose my speed has alot to blame from my misadventures on these
shared paths, but I commute (therefore have somewhere to be) & heaps of
cyclist pass me going harder anyway.
Dunno, born under an unlucky sign maybe. Lucky I stick to riding MTB's,
makes the dirt detour an easy option.

I agree with what you say, but at the same time, if you commute
regularly on bike trails you have to expect pedestrians/dogs/whatever
and you have to accept that it's not safe to ride full pace.

I actually think "shared" bike trails are more dangerous than the
road - motorists are more predictable.

--
Nick

cogcontrol said:

Forget bells and even air horns a simple shout "passing on your right" not only warns them of your approach but tells them what your intentions are.

I used to do that. I've found that a bell gets ignored less and seems to get registered as a bike rather than anything else.

quote='NickZX6R'Marx SS said:

tried it, & paid the price (-they though they i said for them to go
right, so I swerved right off the path into the bushes to avoid
them-).
I suppose my speed has alot to blame from my misadventures on these
shared paths, but I commute (therefore have somewhere to be) & heaps of
cyclist pass me going harder anyway.
Dunno, born under an unlucky sign maybe. Lucky I stick to riding MTB's,
makes the dirt detour an easy option.

I agree with what you say, but at the same time, if you commute
regularly on bike trails you have to expect pedestrians/dogs/whatever
and you have to accept that it's not safe to ride full pace.

I actually think "shared" bike trails are more dangerous than the
road - motorists are more predictable.

--
Nick[/QUOTE]

Absolutely. What with broken glass, dozy peds, cracked, rippled and generally [censored] uneven surfaces, dogshit, meandering routes and suchlike, I've started avoiding paths and sticking to roads. About the only downside to roads is that exhaust fumes can get a bit dense and nasty when you're breathing as fully and heavily as you can.

"Resound" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Absolutely. What with broken glass, dozy peds, cracked, rippled and
generally [censored] uneven surfaces, dogshit, meandering routes and
suchlike, I've started avoiding paths and sticking to roads. About the
only downside to roads is that exhaust fumes can get a bit dense and
nasty when you're breathing as fully and heavily as you can.

More of us on the roads means drivers are all
the more likely to take notice of us. Some might
learn to tolerate us, some might even think "hey,
that looks like a fun alternative to driving!".
Take back the streets!

hippy

On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 at 04:07 GMT, Resound (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

NickZX6R said:

I actually think "shared" bike trails are more dangerous than the
road - motorists are more predictable.

Absolutely. What with broken glass, dozy peds, cracked, rippled and
generally [censored] uneven surfaces, dogshit, meandering routes and
suchlike, I've started avoiding paths and sticking to roads. About the
only downside to roads is that exhaust fumes can get a bit dense and
nasty when you're breathing as fully and heavily as you can.

That is why I investigated the gardiner's creek trail. But it didn't
work out, precisely because of the reasons you gave. Just how many
bridges do you have to change direction on to cross, again?

Now I just stick to as small roads as I can, most of the way. There's
a road parallel to Camberwell rd, one street over to the east, that
goes all the way up the hill city bound. So I am breathing hard up
there, and miss the fumes. When going back down on Camberwell Road
proper, I am letting the hill do the work for me, so don't have to
breath in so much [censored].

Just came back from the Warburton track. Camped out at warburton
lastnight with the MTBC crew. It was a bit warmish this
afternoon. Bloody passengers on the train saying "lovely day for a
ride" 🙂

At least I met someone lastnight who agrees with me on the "would be
nice if 10 degrees cooler" part 🙂

No bike tracks in Antarctica yet...

After setting up camp at the caravan park, I waited out the front of
the park with a couple of the riders, waiting for a bunch of others
who were going into the mountains. They didn't come. Eventually, I
found out the centerary trail went out the back of the park, but they
"only left 5 minutes ago". I tried to catch up, but the trail sort of
disappeared, so I went wandering up into Big Patt's Creek road, and
then up to Stirling's Gap. I didn't look at my time up, but I guess it
was 1.5 hours for the 11.5km rise. And 20 minutes on the way down
(when I was moving, and not taking photos, I was getting about 40km/h
average, but was only game for doing a maximum of 48). Having a bike
with suspension would have been good. My arms were numb from the
jarring - there are potholes and embedded rocks all over the road. It
looked quite benign when doing 8 km/h up. I wasn't going as fast as
possible on the way down, because I saw several 4WDs roaring all over
the place, and the gravel surface was quite loose. And I have
absolutely no experience on turning on a downhill sloping gravel
surface 🙂

I noticed my back light was missing today, so I guess I lost it on one
of those many bone shattering bumps I found.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
I'm all for computer dating, but I wouldn't want one to marry my sister. --unk

TimC said:

<snip>

I noticed my back light was missing today, so I guess I lost it on one
of those many bone shattering bumps I found.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
I'm all for computer dating, but I wouldn't want one to marry my sister. --unk

I had that a while ago. I looked at the two cleanly separated halves of the lense and thought "I can glue that back together." Cue MX5 emerging from side street. *crunch* "Well...perhaps not..."

cogcontrol said:

Forget bells and even air horns a simple shout "passing on your right" not only warns them of your approach but tells them what your intentions are.

or just for the fun of it...

"Commencing straiffing run now, wing commander" 😄

On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 at 06:21 GMT, Resound (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

TimC said:

<snip>

I noticed my back light was missing today, so I guess I lost it on one
of those many bone shattering bumps I found.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
I'm all for computer dating, but I wouldn't want one to marry my
sister. --unk

I had that a while ago. I looked at the two cleanly separated halves of
the lense and thought "I can glue that back together." Cue MX5 emerging
from side street. *crunch* "Well...perhaps not..."

I only bought it Wednesday, to replace the 8 year old one that recently
suffered from first a broken latch thingy, and then the innards of the
switch tried to become outards.

I guess the new one just wasn't up to standards? I guess someone is
trying to tell me to hurry up and make my own.

One of the guys on the ride had his light permanently on. It was
dynamo powered, with a light sensor, which his front panniers were
covering up. He said it takes about as much power out of him (for the
3 watt bulb) as a 5m incline in 20km or something equally rediculously
small (does that make sense? 3W, E=mgh=5000; p=3W = E/t; d=tv=Ev/p =
5000*25/3=41666m=41 km -- yep, makes sense, once including
efficiencies). I want. Same guy (Roger) that was powering up the
hills, with his dog (!) in the back trailer (!) drikning more water
than him (!) despite putting in no effort whatsoever. These old guys
put me to shame.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
"Legacy (adj): an uncomplimentary computer-industry epithet that
means 'it works'." -- Anthony DeBoer @ ASR

"TimC" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

These old guys put me to shame.

They've had longer to train..

hippy ;-)