Aren't cyclists a nice bunch of folk!

jackdee98

Hi folks,

I'm new to the forum and am considering commuting to work. It's been about 15 years since I was last on a bike so today my friend lent me his 6 month old Specialised Allez Elite and I decided to cycle to my work and back to see how long it would take. It's worth noting that my friend has cycled about 3 miles since he aquired the bike, my journey today was around 22 miles round trip.

Anyway there's a couple of points to this post, I was shocked at the state of the cyclepaths that I used, dog mess, glass, overgrown, low hanging branches and where they were actually doing some maintainance instead of parking their van on the gravel they parked on the tarmac :evil:

On a more pleasant note, about half way back my mate phoned me to ask how things were going, so I took the call whilst "walking" the bike and I was delighted to see how many other cyclists stopped to check if things were OK.

So in the space of a couple of hours I've seen the good and the bad sides of commuting.

Cheers.

BentMikey

Hehehehe, that's awesome! Keep up the good work. 22 miles round trip is a big distance, you should be proud of yourself. If you do start cycling regularly, don't feel guilty for taking a rest day.

Two suggestions though, once you get more comfortable with riding, it might be time to ditch cyclepaths. They generally are there only to get cyclists out of the way of motor traffic, and actually make things more dangerous for us:
http://www.londonskaters.com/cycling/sa ... -lanes.htm

I would strongly recommend buying Cyclecraft by John Franklin. I'm sure you're already an experienced road user, so apologies if this sounds like asking you to learn to suck eggs, but there really is a wealth of useful information in that book.

Lastly, don't ride in the door zone, and never let yourself cycle next to an HGV without an easy exit.

Eat My Dust

BentMikey forgot to say, make sure you buy a good helmet

Shadowduck

Welcome to the forum!

I take it from the fact you're here your commute experience didn't put you off for life then?

Unfortunately, plenty of (or even most) cycle paths are in a diabolical state - you'll find that a lot of people on here (myself included) will advise you to just ignore them most of the time and ride on the road. Even if you find one in good condition, you've still got to cope with suicidal peds and stop / give way at every single side street! Get yourself a copy of "Cyclecraft" by John Franklin, heed its advice and you'll be fine.

Are you going to put a bid in for the Allez, then?

PS: I see BentMikey beat me to most of that... Oh well. The point he makes about HGVs is particularly important!

Gambatte

"Aren't cyclists a nice bunch of folk!"

Thank you, yes we are.

and now

so are you!

tardington

Glad you are liking commuting!

I always stop and ask punctured people if they need a hand etc - so far no one ever has. Especially the lovely female ones. :sad:

Gambatte

Eat My Dust wrote:

BentMikey forgot to say, make sure you buy a good helmet

and a hiviz vest?

niblue

tardie wrote:

I always stop and ask punctured people if they need a hand etc - so far no one ever has.

I stop as well and several times now I've been able to help, either by giving one of my spare inner tubes, letting them use my pump or, one time when the guy had punctured at the end of my street, letting them use my nice dry garage and tools to fix a problem while it was pouring outside. Adds a nice few points to the karma bank as no doubt I'll need help myself some day.

jackdee98

My mate got the Allez because of his works cycle to work scheme, he's the type of person who sees it as saving £300-£400 not spending £400-£500.

BTW when I mentioned to him about being offered help his reply was "Well, us cyclists like to stick together" I said he would be lucky to see another cyclist on his 3 mile one and only journey.

Unfortunately my place of work doesn't do a cylcle to work scheme. Time to raid the money box.

Belv

Cycle paths can be just what you need when you can't face the battle that is cycling on the road, but 90% of the time you are not any better off. What passes for cycle paths around here are pavements with dual use signs on them so they are too narrow, badly surfaced and not maintained, plus there is the danger of mixing pedestrians and cyclists. Suggested maximum speed for cycle paths is 18mph too.

Tips for road riding? Be assertive and hold your position as far as possible, but never assume that following the highway code keeps you safe. Always be prepared to back down: i don't see the point in being 'in the right' from a hospital bed or worse.

Suggest to your work they take up a cycle-to-work scheme! It doesn't take any money or much effort on their part. Loads of info and some places that run schemes here: http://www.bikeforall.net/content/cycle ... scheme.php

Gambatte

Belv wrote:

What passes for cycle paths around here are pavements with dual use signs on them so they are too narrow, badly surfaced and not maintained, plus there is the danger of mixing pedestrians and cyclists. Suggested maximum speed for cycle paths is 18mph too.

Usually badly maintained, full of debris and unusable any day with a decent frost

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

Belv wrote:

Cycle paths can be just what you need when you can't face the battle that is cycling on the road, but 90% of the time you are not any better off. What passes for cycle paths around here are pavements with dual use signs on them so they are too narrow, badly surfaced and not maintained, plus there is the danger of mixing pedestrians and cyclists. Suggested maximum speed for cycle paths is 18mph too.

Tips for road riding? Be assertive and hold your position as far as possible, but never assume that following the highway code keeps you safe. Always be prepared to back down: i don't see the point in being 'in the right' from a hospital bed or worse.

Agree. With a bit of planning/experience, it's amazing the extent to which you can actually assert yourself on the open road, and in so doing minimise the potential dangers around you and take the tension out of traffic situations. One easy example; if you're approaching a 'pinch point' or short stretch where a driver may be tempted to make a (too) close overtake, simply move out into the 'primary' position (i.e. the middle of the road lane). No driver will be able to pass you unless they treat you like another vehicle.

You'd think this might cause irritation (and amongst some drivers it will) but more often in my experience it removes the will I/won't I decision from them + preempts a panicy 'corrective' manuevre if they misjudge the overtake wrong. End result: they relax behind you. And 9 times out of 10 there will be a suitable passing spot (or you'll just leave them for dead in the traffic) pretty soon so don't worry about them being stuck behind you...

To take a Bristol example, if you ride the notorious 'Gloucester Rd.' in the frequently blocked, sporadic and poorly designed cycle lane you take your life in your hands: I had more close calls here than in any other place on my commute. If you ride in the road though (as I do now), asserting yourself when you need to, the expereince is completely different: much safer, faster and more comfortable...

niblue

The most dangerous section of my commuting route is the only part of it with a bike path. It's one of those nasty roadside ones (basically just the gutter painted red) - not only is if full of potholes, drains and other crap but it also co-incides with some pinch points where cars (who're not supposed to overtake there but do anyway) can get very close.

Roger Davies

jackdee98 wrote:

Hi folks,

I'm new to the forum and am considering commuting to work. It's been about 15 years since I was last on a bike so today my friend lent me his 6 month old Specialised Allez Elite and I decided to cycle to my work and back to see how long it would take. It's worth noting that my friend has cycled about 3 miles since he aquired the bike, my journey today was around 22 miles round trip.

Anyway there's a couple of points to this post, I was shocked at the state of the cyclepaths that I used, dog mess, glass, overgrown, low hanging branches and where they were actually doing some maintainance instead of parking their van on the gravel they parked on the tarmac :evil:

On a more pleasant note, about half way back my mate phoned me to ask how things were going, so I took the call whilst "walking" the bike and I was delighted to see how many other cyclists stopped to check if things were OK.

So in the space of a couple of hours I've seen the good and the bad sides of commuting.

Cheers.

Agree 100%. I've had lots of help from members of this forum and the old 'Cycling Plus' (which was a much nicer place I think) in the past. I've been sent bikes bits for nothing been loaned specialist tools and had loads of free advice and many times have other cyclists stopped on the road to offer me help when they believed I was in trouble. Cyclists generally speaking are a nice bunch of people.

DavidTQ

niblue wrote:

The most dangerous section of my commuting route is the only part of it with a bike path. It's one of those nasty roadside ones (basically just the gutter painted red) - not only is if full of potholes, drains and other crap but it also co-incides with some pinch points where cars (who're not supposed to overtake there but do anyway) can get very close.

Thats one of the most deadly things about such cycle lanes, motorists think thats all the space a cyclist needs and so think they can overtake as close as they like...

Rule 163 of the highway code doesnt mention leaving less space because of some paint on the road...

cee

Sea_Green_Incorruptible wrote:

You'd think this might cause irritation (and amongst some drivers it will) but more often in my experience it removes the will I/won't I decision from them + preempts a panicy 'corrective' manuevre if they misjudge the overtake wrong. End result: they relax behind you. And 9 times out of 10 there will be a suitable passing spot (or you'll just leave them for dead in the traffic) pretty soon so don't worry about them being stuck behind you...

I agree 100% with this. Taking the decision away from them means they have to wait for an appropriate point to overtake. Last week on one of my journeys home, this same thing happened. I was passing parked cars, with traffic moving towards me as well, and adopted the primary. A young lady came very close to me an looked to overtake (there was not enough room), which I responded to by moving further out into the road, causing her to be directly behind me. She puled back, then when I was clear of parked cars, I pulled in to allow her to overtake.

I even got a nice smile as she went past, maybe she was looking at my bum :oops:

Totalnewbie

Cyclists are often very nice. I've had free advice aplenty, an offer on here to cycle with me round multi-lane Vauxhall Cross after I posted for advice on how to tackle it, and pedals sent to me after I posted asking for advice on which pedals to put on my old bike - the poster would not even accept money for postage.

When I came off the other week, two peds and a cyclist stopped to help me and the cyclist offered to cycle home with me to check I could get home ok even though I saw after it was in the wrong direction for him (I declined as I wasn't well enough to cycle afterwards). And when my mate was knocked off her bike by a dog on Clapham Common, two cyclists stopped and helped her wash out her grazes with their water bottles and gave advice.

I always stop to help if someone looks like they're struggling, or if I witness an accident, so it seems like the karma paid off.

Roger Davies

DavidTQ wrote:

niblue wrote:

The most dangerous section of my commuting route is the only part of it with a bike path. It's one of those nasty roadside ones (basically just the gutter painted red) - not only is if full of potholes, drains and other crap but it also co-incides with some pinch points where cars (who're not supposed to overtake there but do anyway) can get very close.

Thats one of the most deadly things about such cycle lanes, motorists think thats all the space a cyclist needs and so think they can overtake as close as they like...

Rule 163 of the highway code doesnt mention leaving less space because of some paint on the road...

That's true but I suppose the white lines should take that into account when deciding the width. Not that I've noticed many vehicles give a *&%* where the white lines are when they need some extra space to get by something.