Mr. Beanz

Riding solo on the trail heading south to the coast. I ran into a small group of triathlete riders. As I prepared my pass around their left, I rang my incredi-bel. Before I overtook the rider at the head of the line, I heard him laugh and say,"hehehe, he has a bell". Then the another rider said,"yeah, a bell bwahahahaha!".

I pulled up to the first rider and looked him in the eye as I went by. It was someone that I knew. I hope you know that you hurt my feelings!

ilvwhtgrls

lol, they can laugh all they want in your wake.

Condorita

The karma train's headed their way! Hope they didn't snark on hybrids today, too, or it's gonna get really ugly!

urbanknight

People make fun of a lot of things... until that thing is the saving grace.

zzzwillzzz

can't be true, there's no such thing as a group of triathletes...

Rumpled

That which is behind you concerns you how?
I wonder if the tri-geeks observed the Doppler effect of your fine bell.

cyclezealot

Bells are not standard equiptment.. Guess we are prejudiced because bells are put on kids' bikes.. THose who are urban riders can relate because pedestarians are always in our way.. I find my touring bike has slightly squeaky brakes. That gets their attention as quickly as might a bell.

John R

Maybe they were laughing at your camelback and helmet visor....LOL

Velodad

I would have fallen back behind them and ridden the hell out of that bell for a few miles.

diphthong

true dat!

alicestrong

They waz very jealuz of yer beautiful bell...

Watch they don stealz it nex

Garfield Cat

Must have been the same guys who laughed at my propeller beanie helmet.

big john

You could have said "Ask not for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for thee".

urbanknight

Nice!

lowlife1975

my take is that anytime you step out in public, you are immediately open to ridicule, judgment, critique, etc... if you choose to be "different" and thus more prone to the aforementioned, then make sure you have thick enough skin to deal with whatever people might say. for the record, i hate bells on bikes but i'm mature and civil enough to hold my tongue or at least wait til the person is out of hearing range. haha

JustMe

Did you hear that leaner, meaner?? Lowlife hates your bell!

lowlife1975

haha... i thought this thread was kind of interesting b/c this weekend i took this girl on a ride to introduce her to the joys of cycling. so we were going pretty slow on the MUT and the first thing i taught her was to always ride predictably and in a straight line, so that people can pass on the left. for some reason everyone had bells this day and we got buzzed 3 times... haha... the bell kind of startled my friend and she thought it was unnecessary and a simple polite "on you left" was much better. i kind of agree and think when you see riders going slow but straight and there's plenty of room on the left to pass, announcing your intention to pass with a bell is kind of unnecessary. if anything bells should only be reserved for clueless riders in flip flops on beach cruisers with ear phones swerving all over the road!

lesiz

Hell, I'm laughing at you right now.

And yes, I am a rude person.

Cycling, as other any persuit has things that are "considered" to be cool and those which are considered uncool. If you personally desire something that's considered uncool and you decide to go for it anyway, be prepared for the ridicule of small minds.

robertkat

Ha. Funny thing that is, but most people don't seem to realize just how cool bells are. Although that (pics or it didn't happen) group of tri people probably wouldn't stand a chance in the sort of events that have rules requiring bells. I for one wish more people would use them.

Mr. Beanz

Funny that so m many peeps don't care for them. I for one am a polite dinger! I ringy dingy from a distance that alerts others that I am approaching without scaring the beejeepers outta them!

I'm not sure what a bell has to do with buzzing another rider?

I actually started using one years ago after getting tired of shouting, "onyerleft". Too many riders don't know what it means or can't hear it thru the wind. A bell is piercing and it can be heard. I have a soft lovely voice which isn't picked up by many on the trail. So the bell works for me!

GP

One of our members has a bell that he rings when there is a car back. It's much better than yelling.

Rick@OCRR

I have a bell on my fixed gear bike, which I ride a lot on MUP's and the one advantage of a bell is that it transcends language. Sometimes an Asian or Hispanic (just to pick two examples) may have no idea what "On Your Left" means.

A bell, they understand.

Although, when I read the title of the Thread, I though the Beanzer had gone back to wearing an original 1976 edition Bell Biker and that's why he was laughed at. Guess not . . .

Rick / OCRR

PS: Beanz, we missed you on the Grand Tour Double this Sat. Sorry you missed it (again!).

blarnie

D!cks.

This very day, the only person I happened to pass, replied with ignoring me, to my greeting and salutation. I retort, "Mr. Friendly".

People got to lighten up. It's riding a bike. Supposed to be fun.

Nelson Vails used to ride around with sh&t on his helmet. He was fast too.

embe

next time yell, "get the **** out of the way" and see what that does for their mood haha.

Velodad

Ding! Ding!