PBP: A la Gauche, or A la Droite.

[Exit Stage Left]

There's some confusion as to what you should shout when passing riders. I favour 'A la gauche' meaning 'On your left', but some people shout 'A la droite' intending 'keep to the right'. It only matters if the rider you intend to pass may have to pull out themselves or if they are wandering. Which is the correct thing to call, or is it something different entirely?

[red marley]

On LEL on leaving Middleton Tyas I was with a French rider who spoke no English. We turned L onto a main road with him in front. He, being both tired and French rode straight into the right-hand, oncoming-traffic lane. While he was turning back to wait for me, I was madly shouting "Gauche! Gauche!" desperately trying to remember if I should be prefixing this with a 'a', 'a la' 'au' or something else. Given the time it took for him to realise what he should be doing before nearly being flattened by an oncoming lorry, I guess I got it wrong.

[Panoramix]

There's some confusion as to what you should shout when passing riders. I favour 'A la gauche' meaning 'On your left', but some people shout 'A la droite' intending 'keep to the right'. It only matters if the rider you intend to pass may have to pull out themselves or if they are wandering. Which is the correct thing to call, or is it something different entirely?

On your left = Sur la gauche or "Je passe a gauche"

On LEL on leaving Middleton Tyas I was with a French rider who spoke no English. We turned L onto a main road with him in front. He, being both tired and French rode straight into the right-hand, oncoming-traffic lane. While he was turning back to wait for me, I was madly shouting "Gauche! Gauche!" desperately trying to remember if I should be prefixing this with a 'a', 'a la' 'au' or something else. Given the time it took for him to realise what he should be doing before nearly being flattened by an oncoming lorry, I guess I got it wrong.

Keep your left = "serrer a gauche" or "a gauche" but he should have understood "gauche"

[LEE]

There's some confusion as to what you should shout when passing riders. I favour 'A la gauche' meaning 'On your left', but some people shout 'A la droite' intending 'keep to the right'. It only matters if the rider you intend to pass may have to pull out themselves or if they are wandering. Which is the correct thing to call, or is it something different entirely?

I thought it was "Git art tet rurd" in your neck of the woods

They'll get the message

[L CC]

Mrs. Ernst & I favoured "a la gauche" at the semaine. Ernst himself said nothing but then he does play fast & loose with Le système légal 

[vorsprung]

I favoured "all right?"

The frenchies tended to ride in big groups so when they hit a hill they'd be held back by the fat guy
So then you have to overtake them
But they are blocking the entire width of the road
So you use the wrong side of the road
Then the french road captain of the group you are passing will harrang you, in french of course for bad overtaking

ARD take up the entire width of a 2 lane N route though

[Hummers]

I normally say "Did you know I'm behind you?" and this seems to scatter people a fair bit.

Even if they don't speak or understand Devonian.

H

[LEE]

I normally say "Did you know I'm behind you?" and this seems to scatter people a fair bit.

It's when you hear this just as you are dozing off in your bed that it's most frightening.

[Exit Stage Left]

Mrs. Ernst & I favoured "a la gauche" at the semaine. Ernst himself said nothing but then he does play fast & loose with Le système légal 

He should pay more attention to Eilidh's words of wisdom.
I like to tell people that 'continuez tout droit' means 'keep taking all the right turns'.

[EdinburghFixed]

Is this a French rule I'm not aware of?

On the roads here, I overtake people without shouting in their ear first, just as I wouldn't blast the horn before overtaking in the car.

(I have ridden in France but don't recall this situation arising, and in any case I had about 50lbs on the rack!)

[mattc]

There's some confusion as to what you should shout when passing riders. I favour 'A la gauche' meaning 'On your left', but some people shout 'A la droite' intending 'keep to the right'. It only matters if the rider you intend to pass may have to pull out themselves or if they are wandering. Which is the correct thing to call, or is it something different entirely?

On your left = Sur la gauche or "Je passe a gauche"

Which would you* expect to hear when being passed?


* [or typical French Audaxer]

[Panoramix]

There's some confusion as to what you should shout when passing riders. I favour 'A la gauche' meaning 'On your left', but some people shout 'A la droite' intending 'keep to the right'. It only matters if the rider you intend to pass may have to pull out themselves or if they are wandering. Which is the correct thing to call, or is it something different entirely?

On your left = Sur la gauche or "Je passe a gauche"

Which would you* expect to hear when being passed?


* [or typical French Audaxer]

Either, the first one is easier to say but a bit more aggressive. If you struggle to say those two, "A gauche" will do.

I would only say it if they are obstructing.

[border-rider]

Is this a French rule I'm not aware of?

On the roads here, I overtake people without shouting in their ear first, just as I wouldn't blast the horn before overtaking in the car.

(I have ridden in France but don't recall this situation arising, and in any case I had about 50lbs on the rack!)

It can be necessary on PBP. Vosprung's reply wasn't entirely serious, but by day 3 you can get some quite badly-disciplined groups of weary people and passing them can be fraught.  It's sometimes simple self-preservation to call out as they wobble across the white line into your path.  The difficulty is in trying to work out the appropriate language - last time we did it in English & French if we were unsure.

[Exit Stage Left]

Is this a French rule I'm not aware of?

On the roads here, I overtake people without shouting in their ear first, just as I wouldn't blast the horn before overtaking in the car.

(I have ridden in France but don't recall this situation arising, and in any case I had about 50lbs on the rack!)

It can be necessary on PBP. Vosprung's reply wasn't entirely serious, but by day 3 you can get some quite badly-disciplined groups of weary people and passing them can be fraught.  It's sometimes simple self-preservation to call out as they wobble across the white line into your path.  The difficulty is in trying to work out the appropriate language - last time we did it in English & French if we were unsure.

it's mainly used in situations like the one at 1.16 in this video <a href="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9211423&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=01AAEA" target="_blank">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9211423&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=01AAEA</a>  that was about 11am on day 2
People have very different sleep and feeding patterns, so it's not unusual to be on the front of a fast-moving group overtaking riders who are themselves overtaking others. I'm especially conscious of this because I block the view of anyone following my wheel. It's reassuring if the leading rider is actively warning riders that a group is coming past, It's also good to signal road hazards, I generally gesture towards them. The signal to move out for parked cars and slow riders is the right arm across the back, to avoid confusion with a left-turn signal, which could mislead drivers.
Riding at the Semaine Federale reminded me of these issues, as it's like a cross between PBP and the London Brighton. It had some good descents so I was passing with up to 25kph speed differential, so some warning is in order.

[citoyen]

Not quite the same thing but the signs on the road out of Dover instruct drivers to "Tenez la gauche".

d.

[clarion]

Doesn't that mean 'hug those with limited social skills'?

[French Boy]

There's some confusion as to what you should shout when passing riders. I favour 'A la gauche' meaning 'On your left', but some people shout 'A la droite' intending 'keep to the right'.

You in Britain, as always (!), do things differently. Here, if you call « à gauche », you are asking the rider ahead to move left so you can pass on the right.

If you follow the British practice and call « à droite », you will cause a huge pile-up and lot of resentment. Unless, of course, the guy ahead hears your English accent (which is considered appealing in France), remembers that you ride on the other side of the road, holds his nerve and waits to see what the unpredictable Anglais will do next.

aux armes, citoyens!

french boy

[mattc]

French Boy:
We did consult the french-Audax-ambassador-to-YACF, and he gave the following reply:

There's some confusion as to what you should shout when passing riders. I favour 'A la gauche' meaning 'On your left', but some people shout 'A la droite' intending 'keep to the right'. It only matters if the rider you intend to pass may have to pull out themselves or if they are wandering. Which is the correct thing to call, or is it something different entirely?

On your left = Sur la gauche or "Je passe a gauche"

Which would you* expect to hear when being passed?


* [or typical French Audaxer]

Either, the first one is easier to say but a bit more aggressive. If you struggle to say those two, "A gauche" will do.

I would only say it if they are obstructing.

Perhaps you two could establish un entente cordiale between you?

[Exit Stage Left]

I ended up just shouting 'Attention', a fair way behind anyone I was passing . The usual problem was that two people would be riding side by side and it was unclear what they would do when they passed someone in front of them while I was passing them. I was a bit embarrassed at first, but it didn't seem to bother anyone. I did notice that a lot of 'Touristes' had bells, and there was some talk of them being compulsory under French traffic regs.

[pioto]

Hello from Munich/Germany,

I was not sure where to post this (or whether it has been posted before), but this right/left thread appears to be suitable. I guess "outstanding performances" could qualify as well though.

Did you hear of the Canadian who thought he is in Brest (km 618) when in fact he was only in Carhaix (km 525)? It was dark, raining, the wireless cyclocomputer didn't work properly next to the battery-driven headlight. And probably someone was standing right in front of the "Paris" and "Brest" signs at the exit. So he turned left, and not right.

When he reached Loudeac and the staff looked at his road book, they asked him, why he didn't ride to Brest. He answered: "I was there!" - "So where is your stamp?". By then he had figured out what had happened. And it was too late to ride back to Brest and get the stamp.

I hope this has not been posted elsewhere yet. Quite legendary stuff IMHO.

I think you, Mr. Peacock, started right next to me at 19.15. I am about the only fellow whose sight is not blocked if you ride in front of me

My first post here. In Germany they hardly discuss PBP at all
OT: I am thinking of coming to this Mille Alba thing in Scotland next June. Anybody know where I can register?

[mattc]

Entry here:
http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/12-153/

Please go to the specific thread about the event (under the 'Audax' sub-forum) for further info and questions. They may get lost here.

[ Great story, by the way. Not in the right place, but I can understand the "Right or Left" link    ]

[Exit Stage Left]

Hello from Munich/Germany,

I think you, Mr. Peacock, started right next to me at 19.15. I am about the only fellow whose sight is not blocked if you ride in front of me

My first post here. In Germany they hardly discuss PBP at all
OT: I am thinking of coming to this Mille Alba thing in Scotland next June. Anybody know where I can register?

The tallest Bavarian I can find in the 7.15 start is 5049, it would mean that you had a birthday between registering for PBP and joining here. I rode part of the route with a Bavarian living in Scotland so I'm getting used to you people.

[pioto]

The tallest Bavarian I can find in the 7.15 start is 5049, it would mean that you had a birthday between registering for PBP and joining here. I rode part of the route with a Bavarian living in Scotland so I'm getting used to you people.

Good work! I am 5049 and my birthday was about a week after PBP ended.

I think it will be virtually impossible for both of us to miss each other in any given brevet. See you!

[Manotea]

I've noticed that since PBP if I'm pushing off onto an empty road I can be quite unsure of which side of the road I should be on...

[Andrew]

As it happened, I didn't need to worry... since I didn't overtake anyone!