Your rants here.

roger_merriman

Blonde Cyclist wrote:

Thieving scumbags stole my "wet weather" road bike from a secure bike cage in underground parking which was under two locks. Front desk have them on CCTV but I'm so angry and upset about it! To add insult to injury my nice bike is currently having major repairs in the bike shop so in the space of two weeks I have gone from 2 bikes to none! Gah! I even had to do an interval session on a gym bike last night...

It is terribly frustrating isn't it! had my bike nicked a few months back, yes i ended up with a nicer bike in the end. But doesn't stop being angry about it. I ended up commuting on a MTB with Downhill tyres for a few weeks, slow doesn't get close...

jds_1981

HoHoHoBlueGiant wrote:

Doing my early Saturday morning ride in the quiet country lanes of Derbyshire when I see the only car I'd seen all morning approaching on the opposite side of the road.

How surprised was I too look across and see the driver giving me the w4nker sign thorugh his window :shock:

I'd half expect this from a car full of yoofs 'impressing' their mates, but this was a grown man (very grown), a supposed 'adult'.

I just don't know what goes through these peoples minds :?

I've had a taxi driver going the other way call me a w4nker...
The only response I could think of at the time was "You are too!"

msmancunia

Sorry to hear about your bike news, Blonde Cyclist - hope you get it back and the other one fixed soon.

Today's rant - bloke I overtook half way to work didn't like being overtaken by a girl and overtook back five minutes later, pootling just in front of my front wheel. I had no intention of taking a tow because 1) he was too slow and 2) he had no mudguards and I was wet enough cuycling in the deluge of rain without being covered with the sh*te from his back wheel. So I overtook again. Repeat ad infinitum....

veronese68

I've got to go into town tonight, near Goodge Street, and I was going to cycle. I thought I'd take 2 locks for security. I've had 3 people in the lat half hour ask if the bike will be safe. I don't know if there is somewhere secure to lock my bike. So I'm going on PT.
At least they didn't make comments about cycling in London being dangerous.

UndercoverElephant

Urgh. Heavy rain this morning was able to loosen the perma-funk from my helmet. Cue 12 miles of drips either stinging my eyes or going in my mouth. Feel sick now, the taste won't go away.

suzyb

Pulled an old Tesco carrier bag our from the cupboard to put in my bin and the damn thing disintegrates as I'm unfolding. I now have bits of carrier plastic all over the place :evil:

rubertoe

Why wont the rain just fecking fark right off.

And why wont my cold just abate, my mitts cannot take much more abuse of the snot dripping from may face.

On a lighter note, an anti-rant to counter; half day today and the whole day off tomorrow! TDF mountains here we come.

Mr Sworld

suzyb wrote:

Pulled an old Tesco carrier bag our from the cupboard to put in my bin and the damn thing disintegrates as I'm unfolding. I now have bits of carrier plastic all over the place :evil:

Considering they take at least 20 years to decompose you should clean out your cupboards more often... :shock:

Sharkyssurfers

rubertoe wrote:

Why wont the rain just fecking fark right off.

And why wont my cold just abate, my mitts cannot take much more abuse of the snot dripping from may face.

On a lighter note, an anti-rant to counter; half day today and the whole day off tomorrow! TDF mountains here we come.

are you sure its a cold and not just hayfever, I used to never suffer from it, but in the last two years I have had the shiffles and running eyes.

mudcow007

very nearly squished a ped last night who just stepped out Here he did apologise profusely* though

wow what a word i'm going to try an use that more today

aclivity

aclivity wrote:

Second time that I have been cycling past a pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches bus in Manchester city centre when it has decided not to wait for me to get past, but just pull out. I complained about pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches to TfGM, who took decisive action by ... passing the complaint on to pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches. Not surprisingly, pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches did nothing.

I stopped next to the pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches bus at the lights, knocked on his door and asked why he, as the pisspoor driver of the pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches vehicle, had elected to pull out whilst a vehicle was alongside, and he said he didn't care. Not only that, he said bikes shouldn't be on the road instead of his pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches vehicle. He then shot off through a red light to avoid any further conversation.

So today is a double rant - I shall be emailing TfGM again, and ask them what exactly they expected the aforementioned pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches to do other than file their referred complaint in the pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches bin, and ask that they perhaps consider asking the pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches management to consider educating the pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches drivers as to the rules of the road that they are required to obey. They may also want to try to educate the driver of the pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches bus that I spoke with this morning as to why motorised vehicles, such as the pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coaches bus that he was operating, are on the roads by permit, and why bikes are there by right.

Did I mention that Bluebird Bus & Coaches are pisspoor?

Probably bad form for me to quote myself but I thought it would be nice to share an exchange of emails with TfGM ... bearing in mind that I had already emailed them once before about the pisspoor Bluebird Bus & Coach driver, and had received an email a couple of weeks later saying my complaint had been passed on to them:

Email to tfGM wrote:

Hi There

It may come as no surprise that your decisive and firm action of "passing on the email" brought about exactly NO response whatsoever. No reply from Bluebird Bus & Coaches at all. I can only assume that they are quaking in their boots worried about what sanctions the regulator is likely to bring down on them.

No, wait, hang on, they don't care, as it is obvious that you are happy to abdicate any responsibility that you may have had.

Anyway, the reason for this email - hoping against the available evidence that you may actually DO something about it - is to report a second, almost identical situation this morning. Same junction, same bus company (different bus, though - this one was registered as DD56 BLU), same time of day. This time, as I had received no useful support from TfGM last time, I spoke to the driver directly at the next set of traffic lights. He just didn't care, basically - even when I suggested that I would keep complaining about the parlous state of the Bluebird drivers cavalier attitude to vulnerable road users. His parting words were "bikes shouldn't be on the roads anyway", as he shut his doors and drove off through a red light.

This is a complaint about a bus company, it's my second one in a few months. Perhaps you might ratchet your response up from "barely able to care" to "oooh, how awful". Maybe I can hope that if I encounter a third event, you may even reach the panic stations of pursing your lips and sharply drawing breath. If that third encounter results in my being crushed by the wheels of the bus, though, I would of course expect "institutional hand wringing and useless platitudes" to be the order of the day.

So to clarify - 1. buses pulling away from the kerb should at least pretend to look to make sure they aren't pulling out into a vehicle already lawfully on the carriageway, and 2. motorised vehicles are on the carriageway by permit and license, whereas bicycles are there by right. Oh, and 3. Red lights apply to buses to as well.

I'd sign off by "looking forward to hearing from you soon", except for the fact that I don't, I expect to wait a couple of weeks before I get a semi-automated response telling me that my complaint is important to you, but not important enough for you to deal with, so instead you have referred me to the bus operator so that they can commence to ignore it with immediate effect. You may call me a cynic, for my part I feel that I am just a realist.

Rather to my surprise, I did actually get an email from TfGM later that same day. It reads:

email from TfGM wrote:

I write in acknowledgment of your correspondence in relation to a lack of a response from Bluebird Bus & Coach and your dissatisfaction with the actions taken by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

Your comments have been logged as per our complaints handling procedure; please quote the above unique reference number assigned to your comments with all future correspondence on this matter.

I am sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the level of involvement taken by TfGM on this matter and would like to take this opportunity to explain our roles and responsibilities in relation to the issue you raised and the bus network in general.

Firstly, TfGM is not a bus regulator and does not have the necessary powers to take action against the bus operators in matters such as this. As you may be aware, the bus network was deregulated in 1986 by the then Government which means that the vast majority of bus services in the Greater Manchester region are now provided by privately owned and operated bus companies who run these services on a commercial basis. As a result of this deregulation, the operators retain overall responsibility of the day-to-day operational management (including staffing and performance) for the services that they provide.

The issues that you have raised centre on the driving standards of an individual employed direct by Bluebird Bus and Coach. Whilst we share your concerns in relation to this matter and the risk this driver may pose to other road users; our only mandate in this instance is ensure your comments are passed to the management team of the bus company concerned for their investigation and action against the driver as per their internal disciplinary and grievance policy. In addition, any careless driving that may pose a danger to other drivers or pedestrians is a civil matter that could be addressed by the police.

I understand from your email that you did not receive a response from Bluebird to your previous comments, and are now making another complaint of a similar nature. As per our complaint handling process I am obliged to forward these comments to the General Manager of Bluebird for his direct response to you on this matter. In addition, I am conscious that the operator failed to reply previously so I will pass your comments to our Bus Operations Team and request that they raise these concerns at their next meeting with the operator. As these are closed meetings that contain commercially sensitive information, we are unable to provide specific feedback to you once the meeting has taken place.

In the meantime, I have posted your comments to their General Manager and requested that he respond to you as a matter of urgency explaining what actions he will be taking in relation to this situation.

It's nearly 2 weeks since that exchange of emails. No response from the pisspoor Bluebird Bus and Coach company.

msmancunia

I had an "exchange of dirty looks" with a pisspoor driver of the Pissport Bluebird Bus and Coach company only this morning. He was revving and revving behind me when we were both stopped at a set of red lights before crawling up to within 10cms of my back wheel.

So obviously I did my best "Kelly Brook riding in wedge heels" impression and toddled off very slowly from the lights, slowing him down by all of a minute. Very petty, but made me feel better.

redvee

This song.

http://guardianmusic.tumblr.com/post/27 ... -at-a-time

Topaxci

Knocked off my bike commuting in last week by a car failing to give way at roundabout.
He wasn't going that fast, just kept coming at the junction by the time I realised he wasn't going to stop it was too late.
Luckily I escaped with cuts and bruises. Painful but could have been a lot worse.
Rear end of bike is totalled though, driver wanted to settle it amicably until he realised how much repairs would be, then suddenly wants to deny all liability. Police attended and have witnesses and everything but now it has be drawn out through the legal/insurance process.

Worse is I can't afford to do the repairs/replacements now until this is resolved. So no more road bike in the near future. I have an old mountain bike for (much slower) commuting but weekend rides are out, a week before summer is supposed to start.
Very annoyed and frustrated :evil:

stuj15

Home time = Rain (yet again)

The law of sods...... :evil:

veronese68

Sorry to hear that Topaxci, hope you get it sorted quickly. Try telling his insurance company that you are going to involve ambulance chasers to ensure you get what you're entitled to. They may roll over a bit quicker to get rid of you. Good luck.

DrLex

aclivity wrote:

(a great rant, an amusing follow-up and an interestingTfGM reply)

Unless GMP take an interest, which I'd think pretty unlikely, I'd be tempted to hit the "Emergency Engine Stop" on the back of the next Bluebird bus with driving skill shortage - apparently requires the grease monkey to come out and effect a reset.

Sharkyssurfers

yeah nice one TFL, going home last night noticed they have blacked out some of the bike lanes, one by the cul de jzed for starters makes negotiating a nightmare now, so we might have no resort but to use the games lanes. :twisted:

And what I have done so wrong in this world to have to fight a headwind for 25 miles everyday on the way in this past week and another visit from the PF

Badrod

Riding through and dodging open cans of white and red paint that some erse has thrown all over my commute path.....both me and the bike look like a contemporary king of the mountains jersey!

stuj15

Sharkyssurfers wrote:

And what I have done so wrong in this world to have to fight a headwind for 25 miles everyday on the way in this past week and another visit from the PF

I have to admit SS that this past week I've thought to myself a couple of times "Bloody hell this is hard going, how the f*ck does SS do this for 25 miles everyday" I'd be well and truly pee'd having to tread through that treacle for that amount of miles. Still, makes getting a tow from a LB more pleasant.

I notice they've also installed bollards between the traffic flows at Tower Hill ???

Sharkyssurfers

stuj15 wrote:

Sharkyssurfers wrote:

And what I have done so wrong in this world to have to fight a headwind for 25 miles everyday on the way in this past week and another visit from the PF

I have to admit SS that this past week I've thought to myself a couple of times "Bloody hell this is hard going, how the f*ck does SS do this for 25 miles everyday" I'd be well and truly pee'd having to tread through that treacle for that amount of miles. Still, makes getting a tow from a LB more pleasant.

I notice they've also installed bollards between the traffic flows at Tower Hill ???

yeah has been tough this week, with that and the rain, but I guess its doing my legs some world of good somewhere!!. If it wasn't for the traffic going home would be a dream in that tailwind, but it seems to be getting worse. Yeah noticed them bollards on the Blackfriars underpass as well.

McNulty

After 12 months of puncture free riding my run came to an end this week with the current count standing at 4 :x

veronese68

Ordered a fridge freezer in John Lewis on Saturday as ours is dying a slow and noisy death. They told me it would be delivered direct from their supplier and I would get a call on Monday. No call on Monday ,so call them on Tuesday afternoon.
They call back at 8pm saying they couldn't get through to the supplier but would call on Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon they are still trying to find out something. 6.30pm they call me to say the supplier is out of stock and won't have more until mid August and delivery would be after that.
So, I cancel that one today and go for a different model from another supplier. £300 more. Within 10 minutes my wife gets a call from the distributor of the original model saying they can deliver on Monday or Tuesday. So back on to JL confirm I can revert to the original order. Blah blah blah, this is boring me now.
Anyway TLDW. John Lewis staff were great. Their supplier, quite the reverse.

DrLex

What are you planning to spend the £300 on? New wheels?

veronese68

Unfortunately it's £300 I didn't really have. But I do need new wheels, need to finish building my stand and order some rims and spokes.

suzyb

Dog owners in this town are unbelievably lazy and irresponsible. In the half mile walk from my house to the hairdresser there was at least 5 piles of dog poo on the pavement.

If you don't want to clean up after your pooch, don't get one you lazy, irresponsible, disgusting c**ts :evil:

msmancunia

Ew - I hate pet mess. I hate cats for entirely this reason.

Today's rant from me is about my first cold in 17 months just as I start a long weekend off work. Said weekend is going to be a lot less productive than I had planned.

merkin

suzyb wrote:

Dog owners in this town are unbelievably lazy and irresponsible. In the half mile walk from my house to the hairdresser there was at least 5 piles of dog poo on the pavement.

If you don't want to clean up after your pooch, don't get one you lazy, irresponsible, disgusting c**ts :evil:

HERE HERE!!

EKE_38BPM

4 years after being hit by a car when cycling to work, I woke up this morning with a stiff neck.
Whiplash. The 'gift' that keeps on giving.

veronese68

I felt like MSM this morning. 4 young twunts in suits hanging out of a new Mercedes leering at some girls as I passed them in traffic. As the traffic cleared I thought this could be interesting if they catch me. Sure enough rear passenger is hanging right out of the window and just misses slapping my aris as they pass. I nearly caught them, just as well I didn't because he was going to get a slap. Fortunately I turned into the park and left them to it.