Rider down

TimC said:

Pediestrian sitting next to railing 20m up
said to me "this is what happens when you don't ring your bell". My
jump to conclusion: ped walked out in front of bike, didn't he?

Was this ped bloke involved?

"TimC" wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

bar railings. Concious. Pediestrian sitting next to railing 20m up
said to me "this is what happens when you don't ring your bell". My
jump to conclusion: ped walked out in front of bike, didn't he?

ick!... My bell (mtb) has been totally ineffective of late... I've given
up, and now yell "BIKE".. then "BIIIKEEE".. followed by
"MOTHTETRCHWOTCHOUTFUCCIEKIGN BIIIIKKKEEeeeeeee.. (Doppler effect)"...

Time for the olds to turn up their hearing aids I thinks..

cheers,
GPL

On 2005-12-15, cfsmtb (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

TimC said:

Pediestrian sitting next to railing 20m up
said to me "this is what happens when you don't ring your bell". My
jump to conclusion: ped walked out in front of bike, didn't he?

Was this ped bloke involved?

Dunno, but he must have been there if he knew the bell wasn't used --
the only other people present when I came through were the ambos.

--
TimC
When I'M trying to get somebody fired, I always walk a mile in their
shoes first. That way, when I get them fired and they get all angry
with me, I'm a mile away, and I'VE GOT THEIR SHOES! HAW HAW!
--Beable van Polasm, alt.religion.kibology

TimC said:

Dunno, but he must have been there if he knew the bell wasn't used --
the only other people present when I came through were the ambos.

They could just be making an assumption, ala, "Every cyclist runs red lights".

I feckin' hate that area under the SE.

Bikes going too fast - these guys should be on the road, dosey peds - these guys should stay at home, bladers - well, never actually had trouble with 'em..

hippy

hippy said:

I feckin' hate that area under the SE.

I want to know why the hell they didn't make that path wider to start with. It's stupidly narrow with the vertical railings guaranteed to grab a handlebar and end in accidents.

I always fear passing peds with headphones, the occasional pair of peds who refuse to go single file to let anyone past or oncoming cyclists who are a bit unsure of their handling and ride in the middle.

At the very least, a centre line might help.

I went past with a large volume of traffic that had built up waiting for the boom gates and couldn't work out why he was still lying with his head up against the railing so awkwardly. Hope he's OK.

--
Frank
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"GPLama" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"TimC" wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

bar railings. Concious. Pediestrian sitting next to railing 20m up
said to me "this is what happens when you don't ring your bell". My
jump to conclusion: ped walked out in front of bike, didn't he?

ick!... My bell (mtb) has been totally ineffective of late... I've given
up, and now yell "BIKE".. then "BIIIKEEE".. followed by
"MOTHTETRCHWOTCHOUTFUCCIEKIGN BIIIIKKKEEeeeeeee.. (Doppler effect)"...

Time for the olds to turn up their hearing aids I thinks..

cheers,
GPL

Oddly, I found the bell doesn't seem to do much to catch ped's attention.
When they do hear it what I usually get is a glare (as in "I wasn't in your
way, what did you ring your bell for?"😉.
On my partner's bike I put one of those handlebar-mounted squeaky toys. When
she uses that she gets a smile and people move out of her way - the cute
factor works.

I've taken my bell off and just yell (not aggressively loud) "Bicycle
noises - the sort you get when you forget your bell!". Accompanied by a
smile, people are amused and friendly, moving out of the way with no
hassles.

I tend to think most peds are drivers and see a bell in the same light as a
car horn. It's a device used to express displeasure (much less as a warning
device these days). A little consideration goes a long way. I've seen many
cyclists come close to a prang with peds, resulting in bad feeling, stressed
people and generally making the ride much less fun (no doubt the walk,
too).

Try negotiating your way with 'people' rather than 'warning peds' - it might
just result in less stress and allow you to get more from your ride. If you
want to ride for heart-rate, speed, etc., don't expect everyone to
accomodate what's important to you. Most shared path users are there for
casual leisure, not training.

Cheers,

Frank

hippy said:

They could just be making an assumption, ala, "Every cyclist runs red lights".

I feckin' hate that area under the SE.

Bikes going too fast - these guys should be on the road, dosey peds - these guys should stay at home, bladers - well, never actually had trouble with 'em..

hippy

yeah same. sad lil' commuting warriors get their jollies by flying thru here, sitting on wheels wothout knowing how, seemingly waiting till there is oncoming bods before passing or refusing to lose precious momentum to allow oncoming bods to pass also

a perfect place for a centre line, and an SMS-able garroting wire

"sinus" wrote in message...

Quoted message said:

I always fear passing peds with headphones, the occasional pair of peds
who refuse to go single file to let anyone past

Same... and they are the first ones to fly off their nut if they think
_they_ are in danger.. grrr..

Quoted message said:

At the very least, a centre line might help.

Yep.. love the new lines on my local paths... it helps keep the sheep in the
right direction.. and is good ammo when pointing out which side of the line
some 'path users' should be on...

cheers,
GPL
:just another sheep:

In 10yrs commuting, my bell never meant anything to anyone so I tossed it...

Nowadays I slow alittle, maybe yeild if I have to, look for a gap if there's one, or run out into the grass/verge where possible. Peds seemed to get spooked regardless of what appracoh you take when coming from behind.
Paint a line down the middle maybe?

It pays to button off though when appraoching peds on paths.

Marx SS said:

In 10yrs commuting, my bell never meant anything to anyone so I tossed it...

Nowadays I slow alittle, maybe yeild if I have to, look for a gap if there's one, or run out into the grass/verge where possible.

I find the bell useful for a percentage of peds - they will actually move out of the way (or jump in fright into my path).

For the others, ringing the bell appeases my consience. If it all ends in tears at least I did the right thing. Avoidance is better, but if there is an accident and police or insurance becomes involved then I have one less argument to have about what I did wrong.

The dangerous thing about the path in question is that it has no verge, no grass. Just some vertical bars that will grab the handlebars and send you over them or over the big drop to the creek.

Ps. I have noticed a number of pedestrians lately who, on seeing me approaching or hearing the bell turn their shoulders side on to squeeze past as if I am another pedestrian they are passing in a busy shopping centre. What do they expect me to do, turn my handlebars?

sinus said:

Ps. I have noticed a number of pedestrians lately who, on seeing me
approaching or hearing the bell turn their shoulders side on to squeeze
past as if I am another pedestrian they are passing in a busy shopping
centre. What do they expect me to do, turn my handlebars?

See what happens if you wobble a little as they spot you coming, I'll
bet they give you more room then.
And for those that don't look but are used to a bike bell a little bit
of airhorn is good for their personal development. They'll thank you for
it later.

GPLama said:

Quoted message said:

At the very least, a centre line might help.

Yep.. love the new lines on my local paths... it helps keep the sheep in the
right direction.. and is good ammo when pointing out which side of the line
some 'path users' should be on...

I wouldn't be so sure about that,

``
Amenagements cyclables en Belgique

Review in Roue Libre, 1991.

Review of new Belgian Government policy on cycling.
Cycle tracks no longer favoured in urban areas due to problems and danger.
Preferable to remove narrow paths and where in bad state.
Two-way cycle tracks to be declassified as particularly dangerous.''

http://www.lesberries.co.uk/cycling/infra/research.html

A center line gives a sense of false security, riders will take more risks, travel at higher speeds etc etc.

quote='DD'sinus said:

Ps. I have noticed a number of pedestrians lately who, on seeing me
approaching or hearing the bell turn their shoulders side on to squeeze
past as if I am another pedestrian they are passing in a busy shopping
centre. What do they expect me to do, turn my handlebars?

See what happens if you wobble a little as they spot you coming, I'll
bet they give you more room then.
And for those that don't look but are used to a bike bell a little bit
of airhorn is good for their personal development. They'll thank you for
it later.[/QUOTE]

If any peds appear to be ignoring your bell & you don't have an AirZound, try a very brief lock of the rear wheel. It's a sound sure to scatter even the most stubborn. :p

Plodder said:

Oddly, I found the bell doesn't seem to do much to catch ped's attention.
When they do hear it what I usually get is a glare (as in "I wasn't in your
way, what did you ring your bell for?"😉.
On my partner's bike I put one of those handlebar-mounted squeaky toys. When she uses that she gets a smile and people move out of her way - the cute factor works.

I've taken my bell off and just yell (not aggressively loud) "Bicycle
noises - the sort you get when you forget your bell!". Accompanied by a
smile, people are amused and friendly, moving out of the way with no
hassles.

I tend to think most peds are drivers and see a bell in the same light as a
car horn. It's a device used to express displeasure (much less as a warning
device these days). A little consideration goes a long way. I've seen many
cyclists come close to a prang with peds, resulting in bad feeling, stressed
people and generally making the ride much less fun (no doubt the walk,
too).

Try negotiating your way with 'people' rather than 'warning peds' - it might
just result in less stress and allow you to get more from your ride. If you
want to ride for heart-rate, speed, etc., don't expect everyone to
accomodate what's important to you. Most shared path users are there for
casual leisure, not training.

I found the bell to be useful over here in Europe where they expect it. If you don't ring it you are in the sh1t! In Oz I just avoid paths with peds when I can. I ride slow and ride around the peds. Wont work for regular path commuters though.

I used to r_n along that path (Tam, shush :P) and always moved over when I heard a bell or rolling tyres, but that's because I always give as much room as I can to cyclists, coz lets face it, I love cyclists! 😄

If Europeans can understand what a bell means, perhaps given time, Aussies can too? I still wont fit one though unless I become a "path regular".

hippy

--
Frank
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"hippy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I found the bell to be useful over here in Europe where they expect it.
If you don't ring it you are in the sh1t! In Oz I just avoid paths with
peds when I can. I ride slow and ride around the peds. Wont work for
regular path commuters though.

Yep - you're right. It took me a few days to get used to ringing my bell
when approaching people when I was over there. I guess the fact I don't
habitually ring my bell means I've been socialised into the problem too...
bugger.

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

If Europeans can understand what a bell means, perhaps given time,
Aussies can too? I still wont fit one though unless I become a "path
regular".

hippy

Can't see Aussies learning that any time soon. They need to be prised out of
the car first...

me

Approaching from behind I call out " bike" and if that is ignored then its a little toot on the AirZound. There are a small number of hard core rednecks in this town who think that once on a shared path they own it so they get a loooong blast if the first 2 gentle warnings have not got any results. There are a couple of "serial" offenders I come accross who belong to the fsck U tribe and they have had a blast when level with their ears. Some people do not want to be part of society and rules. Its OK for them to stay in the middle of the path regardless of other peds, bikes or prams and to let their dog roam/ chase/ bark.

When approaching a mob spread accross the path who dont look like moving aside the outa control wobble certainly works to scatter them.

The edges of the paths here are generally not good. Some have a drop of up to 100 mm off the edge, deep sand, ruts or goats heads in the grass. No way are the gatorskins going into that.

Locking the back wheel mmm, ok on MTB tyres but not the roadie.

99.9% of ppl are excellent but its the rsoles that are remembered.

Hugh

P.S. Very emotional letter in Townsville Bulletin from a cyclist who was attacked by 2 dogs on top of Castle Hill at about 0600 Tuesday morning. He was bailed up for 20 minutes and bitten repeatedly until other ppl (walkers)arived and distracted the dogs and he "escaped". Apparently Police, Ranger, Ambos all attended. He is physically OK now after visit to GP for dressing of wounds and a jab.

Bikesoiler said:

If any peds appear to be ignoring your bell & you don't have an AirZound, try a very brief lock of the rear wheel. It's a sound sure to scatter even the most stubborn. :p

One thing that also works a treat if you can stand it is to de-toe your brakes so that they squeal. Even slowing gently sounds like a full blooded panic stop. Guarenteed to scatter them like pigeons on cocaine.

HughMann said:

When approaching a mob spread accross the path who dont look like moving aside the outa control wobble certainly works to scatter them.

Same works well on cross country skis when approaching someone lying with their skis spread across the track. I knew someone whose approach was to look out of control until just before the person, then to side step, drop into a tuck, or jump the obstacle.

hippy said:

.....If Europeans can understand what a bell means, perhaps given time, Aussies can too? I still wont fit one though unless I become a "path regular".

hippy

I find Aussies to be the most Bell Deaf people on earth. Riding with my wife along a shared path, in Sydney, she repeatedly ding'd a group of peds who were taking up the whole path. Being too polite to scream BIKE!!! as I would haver done she dismounted and walked behind them dinging away until one eventually turned to see what the noise was. "Oh it's a bike" was the reaction.