Ride to Work Day 2011.

Tomorrow is Ride to Work day, so if you feel inspired to get on your bike then make sure you stop off at Glebe Park for a free breakfast. There will be a team from Lendlease cooking up a storm on the BBQs, some delicious treats from Baker’s delight and even some free bananas on offer? To keep you entertained as you eat there will be music, bikes to look at information on sustainable living. And if you are looking for something else to keep you going there will a team of physios on hand to eases any aching legs and to give practical advice on how to make your bike fit you better to stop any aches and pains. The event, organised by Pedal Power, will run from 7am-9am in Glebe Park, by the Rotunda.

Henry82 said :

bryansworld said :

That would be an illegal use of your horn. Whereas using the bell or your voice to alert a pedestrian you are passing is common sense. You don’t get knocked off your car if a pedestrian veers into you when startled as you drive past.!

How often do you ride? From what i’ve seen if you ring your bell (or yell), most pedestrians fan out and block the entire path. Usually i slow down to a little bit faster than them, and overtake.

That was actually me that said that, not Bryansworld. And yes, I ride often. If you signal early enough, there shouldn’t be a problem. And in any case, the more we model the behaviour we want on the roads and bike paths, the more all users becomes used to what should happen. Same goes for on road riding; if vehicles become accustomed to sharing the road there will be less catastrophizing about cyclists risking being smeared on the asphalt simply by daring to use the thoroughfare for its intended purpose.

OpenYourMind said :

errr, this thread was about Ride to Work. We’ve already done the ‘some people that walk/ride/drive are asshats’ discussion to death.

Get on yer bike. The weather is lovely and for me, at least, nothing makes for a better start to the day than a pleasant ride to work!

Seriously, trying to dictate the direction of any internet thread is like trying to herd cats. They’re always going to go off on tangents.

And goats, excellent description.

errr, this thread was about Ride to Work. We’ve already done the ‘some people that walk/ride/drive are asshats’ discussion to death.

Get on yer bike. The weather is lovely and for me, at least, nothing makes for a better start to the day than a pleasant ride to work!

Phil_the_Printer said :

I like the description of pedestrians as ‘goats’… I am an fairly regular bike rider and I concur, you ring the bell and some go left, some go right and some do nothing! A group may include a mixture of those.
Ringing my bell is a recipe for disaster. On one occasion I was approaching a lady clown with frizzy red hair and a suitcase who was considerately walking close to the left by a handrail, I dinged, she stepped a little left then sharply right straight in front of me. I was not moving quickly but this made me twitch a little right on the narrow path and because I was moving very slowly I went off the gutter in front of moving traffic and into a square drain. My wheel was buckled and I almost came off under the cars going by. IMHO if I ding, the pedestrians should do nothing, hopefully they are walking neatly on the left and I will pass by on their right. So if I don’t ring, it makes no difference, if I DO ring, they scatter!

Well you clearly are not ringing your bell back far enough. Of course they panic if you ring it right on top of them. Give them a chance to get their crap together. One of the group will know the Keep Left protocol and haul them over. a polite “Just move a little to the left” as you pass will do wonders for educating pedestrians.

Jono said :

la mente torbida said :

Here we go again.

Daily I ride, I use my bell, me and the pedestrians work well together

Absolutely. I’m on the shared paths every day, as a bike rider, as a walker and as a runner. By being considerate to the others on the path and by paying attention to what’s going on around me, I never seem to have problems either (a) with pedestrians when I’m a cyclist or (b) with cyclists when I’m a pedestrian. With all of the complaints that seem to come from both cyclists and pedestrians, I wonder if I’ve just been incredibly lucky in this, or if there’s actually something in this paying attention and being considerate idea that others might try.

Every day as a cyclist I am pissed off by other cyclists whipping by very close with no warning. They should well know that I could dodge a bump or something at any moment. Use a bell! Common courtesy. And safer.

I like the description of pedestrians as ‘goats’… I am an fairly regular bike rider and I concur, you ring the bell and some go left, some go right and some do nothing! A group may include a mixture of those.
Ringing my bell is a recipe for disaster. On one occasion I was approaching a lady clown with frizzy red hair and a suitcase who was considerately walking close to the left by a handrail, I dinged, she stepped a little left then sharply right straight in front of me. I was not moving quickly but this made me twitch a little right on the narrow path and because I was moving very slowly I went off the gutter in front of moving traffic and into a square drain. My wheel was buckled and I almost came off under the cars going by. IMHO if I ding, the pedestrians should do nothing, hopefully they are walking neatly on the left and I will pass by on their right. So if I don’t ring, it makes no difference, if I DO ring, they scatter!

la mente torbida said :

Here we go again.

Daily I ride, I use my bell, me and the pedestrians work well together

Absolutely. I’m on the shared paths every day, as a bike rider, as a walker and as a runner. By being considerate to the others on the path and by paying attention to what’s going on around me, I never seem to have problems either (a) with pedestrians when I’m a cyclist or (b) with cyclists when I’m a pedestrian. With all of the complaints that seem to come from both cyclists and pedestrians, I wonder if I’ve just been incredibly lucky in this, or if there’s actually something in this paying attention and being considerate idea that others might try.

Last time I was challenged for not ringing my bell “Umm, I did”.
Clearly, they weren’t listening.

s-s-a said :

When you are driving your car, do you honk your horn every time you overtake a slower vehicle? Are you shocked if driving in the slow lane on the freeway and a car overtakes you?

Rear vision mirrors are optional extras for pedestrians, but they’re an option no-one seems to order.