To think that cyclists should ring the bell when they coming at you from behind?

[DogCalledRudis]

Dont count how many times i've been nearly hit by a silent cyclist...

I call the dog back and make him sit beside me and give him a treat when he does so, if a cyclist dings me in enough time. The dog has now copped on to this, so when he sees a bike (at any distance!) he comes looking for a treat. Even when they're about a mile away across a field ...

Yes it's a path off track for walkers/cyclists. Occasionally someone will say thank you but it's rare. It seems like they feel they have more of a right to be on the path and that's why they don't say thank you?

I've started saying " you're welcome " now when they ride past without a thanks!

Another off lead dogwalker here. I'd much rather a cyclist rang from the moment he saw me and the dogs until he could see me gathering them into the side of the path. I don't take the known cycle chasers onto shared use or national cycle route paths, but there's a first time for everything and I'd rather minimise the risk.

Waiting until you're close enough to call out a warning, you're probably already too close.

I think it's more like 'why should they thank you for not being attacked by their dog?'

your dog.

Apocilypse I don't have a bell. I call out in plenty of time and as I slow down, there's always loads of time.

Anyway I've found that when cycling with DH who DOES have a bell, he rings it and some people sort of filter the sound out...as though it's something not meant for them....like distant traffic or sirens.

Yep.
All dogs attack don't they
So I take it you're one of the rude cyclists then Aga?

I only call them back because I don't want a bike slamming into them.

I'm surprised how many people seem to take offence at a bell. I'd much rather a cyclist dings their bell to let me know they're there rather than simply appear at my shoulder and frighten the life out of me. Some people seem to take offence where none's meant!

When we're out on our bikes I've taught my DCs to give their bell a wee ding ding when they're approaching someone and then shout Thanks as they go by. No-one's been offended so far....

I never know whether to ding or not. I always thought a bike bell was like a polite cough 'I'm here', but from some of the dirty looks I get, I do wonder...

I don't ride on pavements btw but do use shared paths, inc local park

I'm quite happy to be 'dinged' by cyclists - it's what the bike bell was invented for.

What really winds me up, though, is cyclists on the road when there is a dedicated cycle path. A road I use every day in my car runs through a village for at least a mile and has a shared cycle path both sides of the road and still the cyclists use the road. The road is narrow with the added complication of traffic islands along it and there is no way to pass the cyclists safely, especially in the rush hour. To be fair, the main culprits do tend to wear more than their fair share of lycra!

In the same rural, touristy area a 5 mile stretch of pathway along an A road was replaced with a wide cycle/foot path - and they won't use that either. Apparently, the surface isn't suitable for the lycra-clad 'super cyclist'. Thankfully, children and tourists seem to be able to cope with it!

(Blimey, grumpy old woman alert)

"So I take it you're one of the rude cyclists then Aga?"

Do you thank parents for stopping their children running into the road when you are driving? No? So why should it apply to dogs.

I ride on road in Lycra and offroad- sometimes I ring, sometimes I call out excuse me. I am always careful not to mow people down and aware they may move unpredictably! Last week I went past the same family twice, which involved some negotiation around children, and dogs with leads stretched across the path... No cycle paths, shared or otherwise though, it is road or bridle way.

I think dogs on shared paths should be on short leads and under control so someone calling back an unruly dog is just keeping their dog under control. If it was on a lead and under control in the first place there would have been no need for that behaviour. Keeping a dog under control is no more deserving of thanks than me keeping my bike under control.

I don't have a bell. I find it far more effective to roar "OI!" at the top of my lungs when a car driver is trying to kill me (yet again) rather then pissing about trying to locate my bell and gently "ping"ing at them. So on towpaths or shared paths, I will slow down when coming up behind walkers, and call out "on your left/right". I generally assume people will get the direction confused (I always do) and wait behind them until they have moved out of the way before trying to get past.

There are many rude cyclists out there who give the rest of us a bad name.

I would say, though that dog walkers (and I am one too) should just keep their dogs under control and out of the way of cyclists without expecting thanks! It's your dog who is causing the potential hazard, why do you expect a thank you for doing the right thing? I'll thank anyone who gets out of my way, with or without dog, but I wouldn't thank a walker who just called their dog over. And the number of dog walkers who don't bother so I have to weave through their off-lead pack who are wandering all over the path drives me crazy!

Aga that's a poor attitude.
But doesn't surprise me.

So dogs are the second class citizen again I see.
Rebecca why should the dogs be on a short lead?

They have a right to free run.

Clara if you have a road bike worth more than your own car, then of course you're not going to ride on an awful unmaintained cycle path which could potentially cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage to your bike. My DP went over a pothole on one of these paths recently and went straight over his handlebars

The official government guidance is that those off-road cycle paths are only for children and tourists. I.e. you shouldn't use them if you are going to go over about 12mph. They are a refuge for those scared to use the road, not a mandated route.

Can you imagine doing 25-30mph on what is effectively a pavement?

TheCatsBollocks - FFS, dogs and children both have the "right" to run free, but not in a manner causing potential harm to themselves or other people! It's just common sense! So no, dog walkers don't have any "right" to let uncontrolled dogs wander in front of other path users any more than I believe my children have the right to wander about in traffic. It's just not safe for anyone. Anywhere that dogs could potentially get in the way of walkers and cyclists, they should be on a short lead. I say this as a responsible dog owner.

Run dogs off-lead in the woods/fields, not on communal paths.

claracluck71 - we had a cycle path designer on one of these threads recently, and she said that cycle paths are designed for use by 12 year-old children, not serious commuter or racing cyclists. The expectation is that adult cyclists will use the road. Your average adult cyclist is just too fast to be safe on cycle paths.

CatsBollocks, dogs aren't citizens at all, second-class or otherwise.

As far as I am concerned, dogs are an inconvenience, I have no issue with that, and as I possess working eyes and working brakes, I can make my way around them. Nobody has ever apologised for the inconvenience, nor thanked me for my consideration. But certainly I have no problem with dogs being around.

If your particular dog has a death wish and will run at bicycles, then that's your responsibility and not something that I am going to thank you for preventing.

Cyclists on MN are never in the wrong.

Nor in real life either

(Actually according to a study about 2/3 of accidents involving cyclists and motorists were the fault of the motorist, so obviously cyclists are in the wrong sometimes. Just mostly not. )

How entitled do you have to be to believe that if someone calls their dog back to them them that a thank you is not needed?

Shall I just not bother then Aga? And hope that they move out of the way in time but that maybe you will have to slam your brake on and possibly injure yourself.

Is that what you want?

No wonder bikers have a worse name than dog owners.

Dogs are an inconvenience.
Exactly my thought on cyclists.
But at least my dogs are well mannered.

Sustrans actually says that on their shared use paths dogs should be under close control.

I'm a cyclist and a dog walker. I walk my dog off lead on the shared path near here, he comes when I call him and I'm alert for cyclists. Msometimes I've been chatting, not noticed one coming behind me and then they've alerted me literally one second away and being pissed off that it takes my dog 30secs to run to me.

On the other hand I've been cycling and people have made no attempt to get their dog under control. I've twice had a dog dart under my bike at the last minute and cause me to come off. Last time the dog owner laughed as I lay bleeding on the floor.

I don't mind stopping for dogs if the owners are trying to get them, even if the dogs ignoring them.