Your rants here.

attica

The idiots were out in force again tonight.

<Sigh>

Why is it that as soon as it starts to rain, everyone starts driving like pillocks?

urban-commuter

Because summer is over, thunderstorms are coming, and they ate too many skittles in their lunch break.

itboffin

Evans + true wheel + 1 wk = ( 2 visits to collect + 1 still unfinished wheel) = very pissed off me, grrrrrrrr!!!!!!

thomsonn

Another classic to add to the "pulling out on cyclists", over tkaing you to turn left etc.

today - lorry overtakes whilst road is narrowing ! - great - thanks, and yes it was scary

skullthaw

i got hit by a beamer after i stopped at a red light he smashed my rear wheel and drove off the driver behind blocked the road so i could get up but i was fuming, if u live in derby drive a black beamer and drove off and read this u should be ashamed :twisted: had to buy a new wheel rear mech helmet and wear shorts for 2 weeks in winter :oops:

Cumag5

There are so many things annoying me about cycling in London at the moment it's difficult to know where to start. The latest one is the proliferation of Motorcyclists using the cycle lane. I'm not just talking about a quick in-and-out but using it for its entire length.

If they're in front of me I have to breath in their surprisingly strong fumes and they often can't get through gaps that I could, so I get held up.

If they're behind me, they often come up right behind (sometimes revving their engines deliberately) and I'm concerned they're going to run up the back of me.

Not only that, yesterday one overtook me at about 30 mph IN THE CYCLE LANE, literally brushing my handlebar.

This morning I also got a load of abuse from a van passenger, after I indicated (not rudely) that they had just driven through a red light. "Who made you the law?" he shouted at one point. What a £$%^.

What the hell is wrong with people? Is there something in the air/water?

moconnor01

Hi there ..... is anyone else noticing more and more of those annoying moto skooters taking up the bicycle space at traffic lights - what is that all about?????? It sends a chill up and down my spine when I take off at the lights, try and clip in and have 3 - 4 of those annoying motorised mosquitos pushing past me!

Kieran_Burns

moconnor01 wrote:

Hi there ..... is anyone else noticing more and more of those annoying moto skooters taking up the bicycle space at traffic lights - what is that all about?????? It sends a chill up and down my spine when I take off at the lights, try and clip in and have 3 - 4 of those annoying motorised mosquitos pushing past me!

they're called chicken chasers around here - and yep they are generally ridden by teenaged 'lads' who for some utterly obscure reason think they are on POWER machines.

When i was younger (read: fitter and faster) I could match the top whack of them for a reasonable distance and took great delight in trying to have a conversation with said two-legged gland before peeling off somewhere obscure and recovering

simon_ramsey

Had an incident cycling home last Thursday that was a bit of a mare. I was coming down Ludgate Hill towards Fleet Street and just as I approached City Thameslink a London Lite vendor stepped out without looking into the road to give a paper to a van driver that was sitting in the traffic. I was about 3 cars lengths back doing about 20 mph. How I stopped and missed him I don't know. I turned round and said to the Guy he could apologise to me if he wanted to and I just got a grunt from him.

Buckled my back wheel as I sort of did an Endo so I hope the van driver enjoyed his free paper !!

On the Friday I got stopped by the City of London police who accused me of RLJ'ing at a pelican crossing when I had clearly stopped - believe me I wasn't in the mood but that's another story.

LBS fixed my wheel Saturday morning whilst I waited for £8 so not all bad.

beseku

I'm playing devil's advocate here I know, but on the way home last night it wasn't mopeds, motorbikes, cars, vans, trucks or coaches that caused the most grief, it was the cyclists.

London being a heaving, busy, smoky metropolis means that *everyone* is in a terrible hurry and a bad mood, and although its no excuse, the vast majority of cyclists I've seen this last week really do antagonise by thinking they own the road and the rules don't apply.

If its not skipping lights, it's rushing past peds on a zebra crossing. I saw one fella ride at 10mph in the middle of the road, adjacent to the bus lane on Clapham Road yesterday, pissing off everything behind him, two wheels or four, engine or not.

Of the near misses I see every day, I'd say at least half are caused by poor riding - filtering in the wrong lane or trying to squeeze up by a bus/truck.

As well as getting annoyed at cars and vans being bad, be aware that cyclists being utterly unpredictable in their behaviour and utterly ignorant in the way you behave on the roads probably has as much to do with it, if not more.

biondino

beseku wrote:

I'm playing devil's advocate here I know, but on the way home last night it wasn't mopeds, motorbikes, cars, vans, trucks or coaches that caused the most grief, it was the cyclists.

London being a heaving, busy, smoky metropolis means that *everyone* is in a terrible hurry and a bad mood, and although its no excuse, the vast majority of cyclists I've seen this last week really do antagonise by thinking they own the road and the rules don't apply.

If its not skipping lights, it's rushing past peds on a zebra crossing. I saw one fella ride at 10mph in the middle of the road, adjacent to the bus lane on Clapham Road yesterday, pissing off everything behind him, two wheels or four, engine or not.

Of the near misses I see every day, I'd say at least half are caused by poor riding - filtering in the wrong lane or trying to squeeze up by a bus/truck.

As well as getting annoyed at cars and vans being bad, be aware that cyclists being utterly unpredictable in their behaviour and utterly ignorant in the way you behave on the roads probably has as much to do with it, if not more.

I completely agree with you. A massively higher proportion of cyclist ride badly in the city compared to cars and lorries, and the unpredictability thing is on the money - we have so many more options when we ride regarding filtering, road position etc. that it's hardly a surprise that motor vehicles and pedestrians often don't know where to look. It's all the more infuriating because you just want to grab them by the scruff of the neck and tell them to sop being such c*cks but you can't (most of the time )

AndyManc

beseku wrote:

I'm playing devil's advocate here I know, but on the way home last night it wasn't mopeds, motorbikes, cars, vans, trucks or coaches that caused the most grief, it was the cyclists.

London being a heaving, busy, smoky metropolis means that *everyone* is in a terrible hurry and a bad mood, and although its no excuse, the vast majority of cyclists I've seen this last week really do antagonise by thinking they own the road and the rules don't apply.

If its not skipping lights, it's rushing past peds on a zebra crossing. I saw one fella ride at 10mph in the middle of the road, adjacent to the bus lane on Clapham Road yesterday, pissing off everything behind him, two wheels or four, engine or not.

Of the near misses I see every day, I'd say at least half are caused by poor riding - filtering in the wrong lane or trying to squeeze up by a bus/truck.

As well as getting annoyed at cars and vans being bad, be aware that cyclists being utterly unpredictable in their behaviour and utterly ignorant in the way you behave on the roads probably has as much to do with it, if not more.

Totally disagree ... or Bollocks, whichever you prefer.

I think the number of 'road users' that use them correctly is very small, thats counting all vehicles.

All car drivers speed, the majority don't give enough room when overtaking, many use mobile phones ... the list goes on.

What you must remember , it's the cyclist that will always come out worst , no matter where the blame lies.

Nivacrom

Whilst riding home just now I was challenged by a young guy on an MTB asking Why was I being so dumb?
I got in his way whilst I was crossing a junction when the light was green for me whilst he'd decided to ride through the red light on my left!

facemunk

Devil's advocat or not, that Clapham Road run is a horror. Coming off the lights at Stockwell and every numpty on a bike weaves about, 3 or 4 abreast across road and bus lane, desperate to race to the first back end of a bus that they will then wing out into the main road (without looking behind them obv) to avoid.

I hang back, avoid the numpty-peloton, wait until they've filtered into a food chain, and then I claim my scalps.

sc999cs

Nivacrom wrote:

Whilst riding home just now I was challenged by a young guy on an MTB asking Why was I being so dumb?
I got in his way whilst I was crossing a junction when the light was green for me whilst he'd decided to ride through the red light on my left!

You inconsiderate b...... :twisted:

Did he have knobblies?

beseku

facemunk wrote:

Devil's advocat or not, that Clapham Road run is a horror. Coming off the lights at Stockwell and every numpty on a bike weaves about, 3 or 4 abreast across road and bus lane, desperate to race to the first back end of a bus that they will then wing out into the main road (without looking behind them obv) to avoid.

I hang back, avoid the numpty-peloton, wait until they've filtered into a food chain, and then I claim my scalps.

Damn, you've just spelt out my tactics to the world

facemunk

To the woman on a roadie in waterloo yesterday evening

I wasn't screaming obscenities at you... they were for the guy on the motorbike who tried to push me under a bus.

If I rode clipped-in I'd be squished.

DancesWithSheep

To the charming young chap driving a white van up to westferry.

I can only apologise for filtering past you at the lights it was dashed unsporting of me.

Whilst I may have been very close to your shiny vehicle, you were well within your rights to swerve over and run me into the kerb. I can only thank you for rolling down the window to spitting in my face whilst calling me a c*nt.

You must have seen that i was quite warm and needed refreshment.

girv73

To the young ladies with earphones in who decided to cross a pedestrian crossing on Chichester Street (Belfast) this morning while the traffic lights were green: bikes are traffic too and you're damn lucky I'm not a frikkin' car or bus and was able to swerve to avoid you. I regret that your ear attachments may have prevented you from hearing the important instructional message that I attempted to convey by means of shouting, but think perhaps my sign language message will have been understood.

You were lucky this time, but Darwin will win in the end.

biondino

Similarly, while I understand that, when crossing a road through stationary traffic, it's good to test the water to make sure you don't get hit by a hidden cyclist filtering to the right of traffic, but is it really appropriate to do so with your baby in his pushchair?

girv73

@biondino I especially enjoy the pram wielding mums who's technique for crossing busy roads starts by placing the front wheels of the pram on the carriageway, RIGHT IN MY FRIKKIN' PATH.

downfader

girv73 wrote:

To the young ladies with earphones in who decided to cross a pedestrian crossing on Chichester Street (Belfast) this morning while the traffic lights were green: bikes are traffic too and you're damn lucky I'm not a frikkin' car or bus and was able to swerve to avoid you. I regret that your ear attachments may have prevented you from hearing the important instructional message that I attempted to convey by means of shouting, but think perhaps my sign language message will have been understood.

You were lucky this time, but Darwin will win in the end.

Darwin... just saw a car shoot past my window at about 80mph (in a 30 zone).. wish the rules would sort out people like that sometimes. :?

I gather that the girls you encountered were prolly deaf anyway, judging by the "boom-tish boom-tish!!!" I hear when kids walk past listening to their ipods.

girv73

downfader wrote:

I gather that the girls you encountered were prolly deaf anyway, judging by the "boom-tish boom-tish!!!" I hear when kids walk past listening to their ipods.

You'd think so, given their total lack of awareness of my presence :roll: I had to clamp on the brakes hard enough to skid for a bit, and even the sight/sound of a hefty MTB and hefty(ish) rider in hi-vis gear, feet away and sliding sideways towards them at ~20mph failed to elicit even a glance in my direction. I reckon it would have taken me to actually explode or something to get them to notice me.

BTW, I've decided to call them "iPeds" from now on

downfader

iPeds. That could really take off!! 8)

Kieran_Burns

Got to say - I think that's a brilliant idea myself.

Remeber folks - you heard it here first

urban-commuter

the iPed

Like it.

girv73

Thank you, just glad I could help

ride_whenever

why not a radio device that interferes with the headphones... that'd get their attn

girv73

@ride_whenever I think we're back in EMP weapon territory now ... see the Revenge Fantasies thread

Seems yesterday was the day for suicide peds as I had another on the way home. I'd just finished a 5 mile climb up the A6 Antrim Road (feeling quite pleased with how that went) and was taking the right hand fork at a traffic light controlled Y junction on to the A8 Ballyclare Road.

Captain Oblivia, hiding under her umbrella, wanders across from the left to a pedestrian island between the two forks. My lights are green, her pedestrian lights are red. Does she stop? Does she feck! She doesn't even break her stride and just continues out on to the road while looking the wrong way. I have to grab a handful of brake and just about get stopped in time, narrowly avoiding an endo/faceplant the braking is so severe. If I was a car, she'd have been a statistic.

I managed to get out "HEY! F**ks sake!" and then she delivered this absolute classic line:

"F**k you, you shouldn't have been going so fast!"

WTH !? :!: :? I relayed this to Mrs G when I got home, she had a laughing fit

I was doing 10-12mph at that point, ie: not fast. Would she expect motorised traffic to go that speed?

It shows the complete lack of personal responsibility that's all to common these days - clearly she felt it was my fault for cycling where she was walking (how dare I!). She'd probably have tried to sue me if I'd hit her.

Anyway, yesterday's suicide ped incidents have got me thinking about liability insurance, so I'm going to check out joining CTC today to get some protection from the numpties that inhabit our streets. I shouldn't have to, but then peds shouldn't cross on red either :evil:

KTbiker

Hmm it all doesn't make sense right- I normally get around on my road bike on the roads and have to put up with the odd idiot driving past too close and too fast.

Today I commuted on my hybrid/upright heavy beast on the cycle paths and I couldn't believe it- 2 near misses with dopey pedestrians and other cyclists! And that's without me going on about the mess at a busy crossing! I've decided I'm safer on the roads- I can't believe it.

The cycle paths were also covered in gunk, twigs, conkers, thorns...sigh