On Your Left!

Or sometimes it's: On your right!
In the latter case it's what I feel like yelling when someone passes me sort of close.
This happens quite a lot.
People passing me, I mean.
If I'm passing someone close, by close I mean close enough to touch, I usually call out.
Something.
Passing!
Coming up on your left!
Hello, nice day, mind if I pass you on the left there seeing as how you are going much slower than I and I have many more miles left to go and I really don't want to follow you all the way to the end of the street.
Okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea.
If you've been following this closely, you read the part where I said usually.
About the only time I don't call out when passing is when I take the left lane while the passee is in the bike lane.
The bike lanes here are not of the wide variety:



Oh, and while I remember, I commented in someone elses blog(One Speed: Go! I think it was) about the bike lane guy going in the opposite direction as the bike lane guy here.
It's sort of true, but the other day I noticed that the bike lane guy here actually goes in both directions:



I believe it's a secret Department of Transportation plot to confuse me.
Slow me down.
Or something.
Anyways, in the case of passing folks in a lane(s) such as the one(s) above, I usually take the left lane and go like hell.
The point being the rider in front of me has the bike lane and I'm not one to ask someone to yield to me just because I'm in a hurry.
Now if the left lane is occupied by a vehicle larger than I, I pace the rider in front until I can execute the pass mentioned above.
I think this is the right thing to do. I mean that's how I do it when I drive a car.
Now, this may come as a shock to some, but I get sort of angry when I'm the slow one in the bike lane(yes, I know that's a rare occurrence) and some yahoo passes me in the lane.
I'll tell you why.
For one thing, riding a bike is sort of fun and sometimes, I like to do zig zags and yell "Wheeeeee" between taking gasps of air.
Sometimes, I'm so impressed with the amount of speed I've attained that I find myself staring at the computer readout and I tend to drift right and left.
I know I shouldn't be impressed, but really it doesn't take much to impress me.
Point is, when I'm in the bike lane and there's no one in front of me and I think no one is behind me I ride my bike like a twelve year old day dreaming of Christie Brinkley.
Or whom ever the young ones day dream about these days.
Unless I hear someone call out behind me, then I move over to the right like the good huffer and puffer I am.
The only time I hold my line is when there's someone behind me and that's like almost never.
Now that means either I'm really fast or really slow and I ain't saying.
Image is everything don't you know.
Now what this all means is that it's extremely dangerous to pass me on the silent cause I'm a freaking danger to bike lane navigation.
Mostly to the passer cause you assume I know what the hell I'm doing.
That means you tri guy.
Or maybe you were just to huffed and puffed out to utter a sound.
Maybe it only looked like I was loafing along.
I would tell you about the time a woman silent passed me on the road but I'd rather not.
Anyways, I call out to the rider in front or take the left lane for I figure what if the dude in front is like looking at the bike lane guy wondering why he's facing opposite directions or maybe he's having a really good day and any time now he's going to yell out "Wheeeee!" and start doing zig zags or maybe he's just set some kind of personal speed record and he's like so impressed with the number on his computer that he's sort of distracted right now.
So if I'm in front you, a ring of a bell, a short call out, or even a shout of frustration is enough to get me to move to right.
On Your Left! is the one stop vocalization for all your passing needs.
Just remember, if you are passing me, I was in front of you.