Your rants here.

downfader

yourpaceormine wrote:

Bell House plasterers of High Peak Derbyshire...

really appreciate your attempts to run me off the road this morning, when I wave you on your way with one finger was it right to jump out of your van and grab hold of me, and try to pull me to the ground?

Have been tempted myself to put their number in a load of fake ads for lonely hearts, or selling all kinds of odd things in the local papers. Dont do it from your PC or phone or you'll be traced. Or you could sign them up for telesales firms

Flasheart

Local Library PC's are handy for that stuff

downfader

Flasheart wrote:

Local Library PC's are handy for that stuff

I know.. Oops! I've said too much!

I did hear of a guy that got cut up everyday in his car by a particular small firm of removals guys. He printed up some prossie cards and stuck them all around the phone boxes with the firms number on.

pastryboy

Heard a thud and instantly knew my rear tyre was gone. Went from fine to flat in about three seconds. A quick check revealed a protruding nail head.

Take it off and the nail was three inches long - how on earth does a long nail like that which must have been lying flat go right inside a tyre rolling over it :?:

Puncture was so bad there were entrance and exit holes.

Well equipped to deal with it and very impressed that within two minutes of starting to fix it two cyclists passed and asked if I was ok/had the necessary bits to fix it. Very good of them 8)

jimmypippa

yourpaceormine wrote:

Bell House plasterers of High Peak Derbyshire...

really appreciate your attempts to run me off the road this morning, when I wave you on your way with one finger was it right to jump out of your van and grab hold of me, and try to pull me to the ground?

Where, when?

I think I noticed that van this week, never before.

Kieran_Burns

pastryboy wrote:

Heard a thud and instantly knew my rear tyre was gone. Went from fine to flat in about three seconds. A quick check revealed a protruding nail head.

Take it off and the nail was three inches long - how on earth does a long nail like that which must have been lying flat go right inside a tyre rolling over it :?:

Puncture was so bad there were entrance and exit holes.

Well equipped to deal with it and very impressed that within two minutes of starting to fix it two cyclists passed and asked if I was ok/had the necessary bits to fix it. Very good of them 8)

I don't think you've quite got the idea of the rant thread It's meant to be a spleen vent, not a smug sonnet :P

kurako

What goes through the minds of overweight middle aged women on their way to work in the City? Possibly "Does my bum look big in this?" ( answer: almost certainly ) or maybe "Would the kitchen look better in magnolia?".

It's almost certainly not "Is it safe to step onto Fenchurch St without looking at the road?".

Luckily I was paying a bit more attention and managed to see standing at the kerb, staring blankly ahead, just prior to marching across the road. Thanks for giving me the chance to practice my emergency stop to track stand to unclip transition. Thanks also for blanking me when I stopped about half a metre from your right leg and said "Jesus Christ! Any chance you can look at the road?" Thanks also for looking confused when I said "Can you at least acknowledge the fact that I nearly went into you?" as you disappeared between some parked cars.

I have visions of her having a discussion in her office over a much needed cup of coffee about her run in with a "lycra lout" who appeared "out of nowhere".

:evil:

el_presidente

Dear tosser RLJing on a crappy full-sus MTB at the south carriage drive this morning. Yes I did nearly hit you & called you a tosser, that is because I didn't see you, because not only did you RLJ, you were ON COMPLETELY THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD hence I was looking in the other direction for oncoming traffic. Oh well, maybe you will get run over soon, good luck.

Wallace1492

East Dumbartonshire Council (and any other ones for that matter) Why do you put advanced stopping area's at traffic lights that can only be accessed if you are there first, as the road is so narrow, you cannot filter to them. And if you are there first, then there is no need for them. And why put in small filtering lanes when clearly the cars will have to enter and block them as road is so narrow.

You have wasted my Council Tax doing this!!! Grrrrrr.

will3

@everyone
this is not twitter.

tailwindhome

..

itboffin

will3 wrote:

@everyone
this is not twitter.

sitting on the train drinking Guinness

tailwindhome

looking for d lock

Wallace1492

Indian Call centres that call when I have a half day off trying to fettle with bike. They get name wrong, ask me all sorts of personal questions, then get annoyed when I refuse to answer them. One today was, and I kid you not, "So Mr Wallace. do you have any gold at home...?" Apprantly they have a tie up with GOLD4U or one of the "Post your gold to us and we will give you money" sites. (Don't posties get tempted with the envelope that says "CASH FOR GOLD - RETURNS")

Incidentally, best story I ever heard about call centres in India was at the time it first started, guy call up insurance company, went something like this:

Customer: Hello, I would like to claim for a damaged carpet
Call Cantre (CC): Whats wrong with it?
Cust: We have been flooded and carpet is ruined
CC: Can you not dry it and it will be fine?
Cust: No
CC: But if you leave it outside for a few hours it will be dry
Cust: No it bl00dy wont!
CC: Yes, yes it will
Cust: Look, where are you.
CC: I am in Catcutta, it is 38C outside
Cust: Well I am in Cowdenbeath and it is driving hail outside and 0C.
CC: Ah yes sir, I think you might have a point....... (gets claim form)

deffler

Cust - Im ringing up to speak to my branch as Ive lost my wife.

Indian Callcentre - Ok Sir, I will transfer you & I hope you find your wife soon.

Absoluteley true story from the bank I work for.


While Im on, I need to rant @ myself for constantly ringing in sick & wasting the day snoozing.

kurako

1. First visit from the PF on the new bike. Had just safely negotiated a) a guy who earlier had cycled along the pavement before bumping off the kerb alongside a white van which was indicating left and b) some tool who felt it was ok to cycle across my path even thought the lights were green. Hit a rock in the middle of the road which I didn't see due to looking out for other people's stupidity. Why do bad things happen to good people? :evil:

2. Coming along Narrow St on the way to the Canary Wharf. Some woman in a mini pulls out from a street on the left narrowly missing a girl on a hybrid and then drives half on the road, wheels screeching, and narrowly misses me. So knowing the road layout I know I can catch her up so give chase. We stop at some lights and I give her a tap on the window which seems to surprise her as she's too busy fiddling with the Satnav. She acts all "What? Huh?" until I say "That was stupid back there. You nearly wiped out two bikes". At this point she mouths "Sorry" and I say "You're sorry?" and she mouths "Yes". So I say "Pay attention and don't play with that while you're driving". (Obviously 'that' being the Satnav which had already fallen on the floor with all her fumbling around). So off I went and hopefully she gets the message and maybe feels a bit lucky cos my d-lock was in my backpack

deffler

@ prodirectsoccer.com

Why oh why, when I placed my order on Monday, all items instock, money has debited my card, your items items are sent via courier have you still not dispatched my items??????? I was counting on them for Sunday morning.........Aaaaaaaaargh.

Suggest you get somebody over to Wiggle so they can show you how its done

northstar

I dislike stereotypes and try to avoid them but people in 4x4s with blacked out windows tend to drive like twats.

downfader

northstar wrote:

I dislike stereotypes and try to avoid them but people in 4x4s with blacked out windows tend to drive like twats.

I always think of blacked out windows as being suspicious. Dunno why.. I mean I dont feel that people wearing shades are shifty looking and I suppose it does the same thing. :?

will3

@ motorists

Yes it would be lovely if you could find the energy to dip your headlights from mainbeam* so that you don't dazzle me. If you do, though, please be kind enough to leave them dipped until you've actually gone past me, not when you're still 10 metres in front.

Also:
if you're approaching me from behind, there;s really no need to dip, in fact it;s rather nice if you leave mainbeam on!


*for the benefit of the 90% of forum members who are from london, mainbeam is a brighter setting of the headlights of a car that people use where there isn't streetlighting (yes that's right, there are areas without...............oh never mind.)

northstar

downfader wrote:

northstar wrote:

I dislike stereotypes and try to avoid them but people in 4x4s with blacked out windows tend to drive like twats.

I always think of blacked out windows as being suspicious. Dunno why.. I mean I dont feel that people wearing shades are shifty looking and I suppose it does the same thing. :?

Me too, sometimes i'm proved wrong and they drive "normally" but twice today they drove like twats, which just made me more stubborn in one case (the other case the driver decided passing my handlebars with barely two inches was wise) he nearly rear ended a white van straight after so I guess that could be karma for him/her).

kurako

northstar wrote:

downfader wrote:

northstar wrote:

I dislike stereotypes and try to avoid them but people in 4x4s with blacked out windows tend to drive like twats.

I always think of blacked out windows as being suspicious. Dunno why.. I mean I dont feel that people wearing shades are shifty looking and I suppose it does the same thing. :?

Me too, sometimes i'm proved wrong and they drive "normally" but twice today they drove like twats, which just made me more stubborn in one case (the other case the driver decided passing my handlebars with barely two inches was wise) he nearly rear ended a white van straight after so I guess that could be karma for him/her).

White van driver v 'gangsta' 4x4 driver? I'd buy tickets for that!

Flasheart

I always thought the dark tinted windows were there so you coulldn't see the driver picking his nose 8)

jedster

I dislike stereotypes and try to avoid them but people in 4x4s with blacked out windows tend to drive like twats.

Indeed. On both counts.

A while back I saw an Audi Q7 with tinted windows waiting to join my road. My danger sensors when off big time and I moved towards the centre line to give me plenty of room for evasive action. Sure enough he pulled out on me. I gave a big shout of "hey!" nothing abusive. He slammed on the brakes and I passed him.

He followed me down the road and flashed me over. Hmmm... do I need this?
ANyway I stopped and he apologised - "sorry I coudn't see anything in that light".

I was a bit taken aback. Because I just accepted his apology. Clearly what I should have said is "well maybe combining tinted windows with sunglasses early in the morning is not such a good idea you fookin numpty" :roll:

mudcovered

will3 wrote:

Yes it would be lovely if you could find the energy to dip your headlights from mainbeam* so that you don't dazzle me. If you do, though, please be kind enough to leave them dipped until you've actually gone past me, not when you're still 10 metres in front.

If you are getting this a lot it might be that your front lights are not powerful enough. I used to get this all the time until I got some decent Halogen front lights (2x10W cateye now replaced with some Powerful LED lights).

I still encounter this problem when I'm driving and I've been guilty of being somewhat slow off the mark at dipping my lights when driving occasionally as well .

It's good practice to dip your headlights if you are following a vehicle no matter what sort it is. You don't know if they have a mirror attached and if they do it could seriously dazzle them. The fact that you welcome the extra light thrown by these following vehicles also suggests you might be better with a more powerful front light setup.

Mike

will3

mudcovered wrote:

will3 wrote:

Yes it would be lovely if you could find the energy to dip your headlights from mainbeam* so that you don't dazzle me. If you do, though, please be kind enough to leave them dipped until you've actually gone past me, not when you're still 10 metres in front.

If you are getting this a lot it might be that your front lights are not powerful enough. I used to get this all the time until I got some decent Halogen front lights (2x10W cateye now replaced with some Powerful LED lights).

I still encounter this problem when I'm driving and I've been guilty of being somewhat slow off the mark at dipping my lights when driving occasionally as well .

It's good practice to dip your headlights if you are following a vehicle no matter what sort it is. You don't know if they have a mirror attached and if they do it could seriously dazzle them. The fact that you welcome the extra light thrown by these following vehicles also suggests you might be better with a more powerful front light setup.

Mike

not really, Hope vision 1 gives plenty of light, ta muchly, but not as much as a car on mainbeam

Eau Rouge

Can I rant at myself?

Coming home last night, approaching the only set of light on my short commute, which are on a crossraods only a few hundred meters from my flat. The road is a gentle downhill, but enough to allow me to cruise down it at about 25mph. Getting near the lights, there are a few cars queued. The lights don't have a timed sequence, they are triggered by the presence of cars, and I see that my set will be the next to go green

So I pull over to the right, actually over the white line, and try and time it so I can keep some speed and filter in with the cars pulling away and spring down to the flat with them, which usually works quite well. It works quite well provided to watch for the ones turning right. Their usually easy to spot from their positioning (I don't care much for indicators but they can help here too).

I had it timed perfectly last night, or so I thought. The first car, turniing right would be out of the way before I got to them, and I could filter in behind the van...when the van didn't accelerate away as expected, instead started flashing it's indicator (uselessly operated indicators, whats the point) and began to turn right. He blatently hadn't seen me, but I was now left overlapping him and not in a good place at all. Rapidly slowing, he crossed my path without incident, leaving me on the right hand gutter and having to fliter back across to the left.

I am not invincible. It's not the end of Milan-San Remo, Careful The F**k Up!

mudcovered

will3 wrote:

not really, Hope vision 1 gives plenty of light, ta muchly, but not as much as a car on mainbeam

Fair enough. You must rid on roads where the drivers are more unhelpful than they are round here.

Mike

fairweatherbiker

Can I Rant about something that hasn't happened yet.

Its been a bostin week - very little traffic, good weather, coolish but not too cold - a perfect week of commuting.

But its not going to last

After autumn half term traffic seems to increase exponentially until Xmas - cold mornings mean the cars are belching out that noxious-smelling shyte that lurks around at ground level to make life even more unpleasant for pedestrians and cyclists alike. More traffic means the impatient gits are revving, accelarating hard to get to the next lights, and determined not to let each other in, and more resentful of you sailing past the jams to the front of queue.

A friend of mine went to Copenhagen recently and came back praising that city as cycling heaven, now if I could only learn to speak Copenhagenish...

MonkeyMonster

WTF is up with parliament sq traffic after 9pm... I've seen better driving in a playgroup. Fecking bend buses ignoring yellow boxes and rogering the traffic flow which then makes everyone else lose about 50 iq points who then vainly try to get round or under or over and it all goes massively tits up - the peds then ignore their crossing lights and look affronted when you slowly go through your green light and not hit them.

FFS!