shared cycle paths

[Dirk]

I cringe when I hear a cyclist calling 'Coming through!'.
It smacks of 'Get out of my way!'
I always sound my bell, or call out 'Bike behind', and make sure I get some kind of reaction from the pedestrian, before committing to pass; no reaction = slow right down.
Always greet or say thankyou as you pass.

 

[Poacher]

Does that include the rules of the road that exist only in your fevered imagination? Like it being illegal to cycle without a bell?

To be fair to @sidevalve , that's not exactly what he said, is it?
(Never thought I'd see the day when I'd defend him)

 

[gavgav]

If I want to ride fast, I'll avoid shared cycle paths - doubly so at the weekends. If you are actually trying to get anywhere in anything resembling a hurry they are a pain in the proverbial, and I'd rather take the road.

If you're not in a hurry and are prepared to dodge dogs/children/headphone-wearing-eejits they can be alright to ride though, not every ride has to be full speed ahead. Plenty of pedestrians have a very dim view of cyclists on these paths so I usually try and do what I can to improve the situation with considerate slow passes and a cheery "good afternoon".

This!! Spot on

 

[DRHysted]

I don't have a bell on any of my bikes. For some reason I see ringing a bell in the same light as beeping a horn impolite.
All the New Forest tracks are shared use, the technique I use is wait until I'm close enough that I'm not bellowing like a fisherman's wife, call out a cheery "excuse me please", followed by a "good morning/afternoon/evening" (delete as appropriate) when they've jumped because they were in a world of their own. Then to finish it off a nice cheery "thank you" after I've past (and made sure Fido is not glued to my rear wheel).
I do this even if they are miserable gits, or have parked their car on half of the path and are stood yapping on their phone on the other half. Because I know I have been reasonable to them, and if they are harbouring ill will towards me, it's their fault.

My advice to the OP, expect everyone else to be a miserable git out to make your life hard, and act in unpredictable ways. That way when you find a helpful person your day will be much brighter.

 

[DaveReading]

Either I'm very lucky and/or I have a nice friendly-sounding bell and/or pedestrians round here are particularly easy-going - but I've yet to encounter anyone taking offence at a gentle ding as I come up behind them.

 

[Dirk]

A scenario on the Tarka Trail.......
Me, riding into town on touring bike to pick up some shopping. Two pedestrians walking all over the place, with their backs to me.
I sounded my (fairly loud) bell at about 30 yds out, then again at about 15 yds ........ no reaction from peds. I called out at about 10 yds.... no reaction. I slowed to about 5 mph and called out again. As I went past them, the woman shouted angrily 'Use your bell !'
I stopped and pointed out the sequence of events.......... at which point she stated that I shouldn't be riding on the pavement anyway!
I give up!

 

[sidevalve]

To be fair to @sidevalve , that's not exactly what he said, is it?
(Never thought I'd see the day when I'd defend him)

thank you for a sensible answer.

Regulation 37 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 doesn't apply to bicycles (which is what we're talking about).

Fair enough - I was mistaken - pity you couldn't have simply said that in the first place - shame that your first line of attack had to be juvenile petty personal insults

 

[jefmcg]

Fair enough - I was mistaken - pity you couldn't have simply said that in the first place - shame that your first line of attack had to be juvenile petty personal insults

@glasgowcyclist asked politely, but you ignored him

Which law's that then?

GC

 

[ufkacbln]

Pedal Bike Safety Regulations require a bike (at point of sale) to be equipped with

1. Any hand-operated brakes arranged left-hand rear, right-hand front
2. A bell
3. White or yellow reflectors on both sides of each wheel or tyre
4. A white wide-angle front reflector, or a front lamp
5. A red wide-angle rear reflector
6. Yellow reflectors front and rear on each pedal

The reflectors (or front lamp) required above must be of a specification that is approved by the UK Vehicle Lighting Regulations

Fortunately as most of my "bikes" are trikes... they are exempt


Some shops get around this by selling that cycle without pedals as it is not a "complete bike"

 

[ufkacbln]

A scenario on the Tarka Trail.......
Me, riding into town on touring bike to pick up some shopping. Two pedestrians walking all over the place, with their backs to me.
I sounded my (fairly loud) bell at about 30 yds out, then again at about 15 yds ........ no reaction from peds. I called out at about 10 yds.... no reaction. I slowed to about 5 mph and called out again. As I went past them, the woman shouted angrily 'Use your bell !'
I stopped and pointed out the sequence of events.......... at which point she stated that I shouldn't be riding on the pavement anyway!
I give up!

I use what I call an "Ice Cream" bell, nice and loud, and I often get complimented for it!

 

[briantrumpet]

A scenario on the Tarka Trail.......
Me, riding into town on touring bike to pick up some shopping. Two pedestrians walking all over the place, with their backs to me.
I sounded my (fairly loud) bell at about 30 yds out, then again at about 15 yds ........ no reaction from peds. I called out at about 10 yds.... no reaction. I slowed to about 5 mph and called out again. As I went past them, the woman shouted angrily 'Use your bell !'
I stopped and pointed out the sequence of events.......... at which point she stated that I shouldn't be riding on the pavement anyway!
I give up!

NFD (Normal For Devon). I've had the same on roads.

Topsham is terrible for it. Firstly, Briantrumpet's Law states that however many pedestrians there are, they will forgo the pavement, and (like laws for gases) will attempt to fill all the available space, no matter how many pedestrians there are or how wide the road is. (You can discount the pavement for the physics of this, as the it does not exist, to all extents and purposes of this law.)

Secondly, in Topsham, the age-profile of the population means that bells or voice will not intrude on the cognition of the pedestrians following Briantrumpet's Law, unless it is so loud that they jump out of their skins and have a minor coronary. However, if it's not that loud they will instead jump out of their skins as you gently ride by, and exclaim "You could have used your bell!"

 

[ufkacbln]

There is also the "Shoulder theory"

Shoulders have repellent properties and repel from the side of pathways and corridors..... this is the reason that a single pedestrian will walk down the centre of a path

Add a second pedestrian and two things happen. First the shoulders will align so they walk side by side, then the shoulders repel, both from teh path edge and each other. This forces the pedestrians to walk in a pattern equally distributed across the path

 

[briantrumpet]

There is also the "Shoulder theory"

These two laws/theories could be related. It's a pity that neither Einstein nor Feynman didn't get round to working on it. It's a bit like gravity - it's easy to observe, but very difficult to understand.

 

[sidevalve]

glasgowcyclist asked politely, but you ignored him

Didn't actually get much chance [check the timeline] besides wasn't the one calling me anticyclist simply because I believed that a cycle should be equipped with a bell [or a horn] seems I was wrong OOER clearly a hanging offence.

 

[ufkacbln]

Wot you need is:

Then watch them dance the "Funky Pedestrian"