Your rants here.

kingstongraham

pangolin wrote:

We were both moving at about 20mph according to strava

So let him overtake.

If you think you shouldn't have to, that's true.

pangolin

KingstonGraham wrote:

pangolin wrote:

We were both moving at about 20mph according to strava

So let him overtake.

If you think you shouldn't have to, that's true.

He had no room to overtake. That's why he drew level then started pulling back in. I could have braked hard and let him in. Or I could make my presence known so he doesn't squeeze me off the road.

Which route is best to take is going to depend on the exact conditions on any given day / road / vehicle etc and is going to be hard to decide based on a description on here.

We shouldn't have to play by different rules depending on who is pushing us off the road just because we're worried they would win in a fight, but in reality yeah of course that's a risk assessment that everyone makes quite quickly in these situations.

kingstongraham

pangolin wrote:

Which route is best to take is going to depend on the exact conditions on any given day / road / vehicle etc and is going to be hard to decide based on a description on here.

Fair.

I just know that my brain often says "Why should I be the one to give way?". I'm trying to train it to "I already know he's a w4nker, what's the safest thing to do here?"

keef66

Yep, no point in being right but dead.

I still think that 50% of the driving test should be done on a bike in traffic

rick_chasey

pangolin wrote:

Fun chat with a white van man on the way home. Riding on a gradual downhill with 2 cars not far in front, he decides he needs to overtake. Gets halfway past me and realises he can't overtake me properly without kissing bumpers with the car in front. So he just sits next to me and begins to ease over towards the kerb (and me) instead.

I give him 1 decent knock on the side panel so he knows I'm there. He pulls back out slightly and a little way up the road pulls over, window down. Now he's not screaming at me so I pull up ready for a reasonable talk.

Did you hit my van??
I knocked on your van yeah.
Why you hitting my van? I knew you were there. You shouldn't be trying to undertake people.
I wasn't undertaking you...
Yeah you were I overtook, then you started trying to undertake me. Why you hitting my van?
You got about halfway past me and stopped, then started pulling over towards me, that's why I...
Why you hitting my van? Don't hit my van! Do you have a car?
Yeah...?
Would you like it if someone hit your car? The car you've worked hard to pay for? Don't hit my van!
Well if it was a choice between them knocking on ...
DON'T HIT MY VAN! *drives off*

I overtook him at the queue 200m up the road and gave a friendly wave, didn't see him again.

Think he was hoping for an apology for hitting his van but if it's a choice between his van hitting me or me knocking on it and doing no damage other than to his feelings then I'd do the same every time.

He sounds like a tw@t.

Don't let the pedants get to you. In the wonderful world of hindsight you probably shoudl have slowed down a bit, but the guy is clearly a knobber and we can all see why you did what you did.

Let it go.

drhaggis

WFH today. But as I left the car for MOT plus service, got to ride 15 non-commute miles back home. Reasonably warm, not too windy, and overall a very pleasant ride. But when I was almost home, approaching Ferry Rd. roundabout, with two lanes, a ducking hunt did a punishment pass, with inches to spare, when he had another lane on his right all to himself, only to come to a stop 50m later in the roundabout. I wasn't going to let that one go away, oh no. I told him what I truly thought of him, his behaviour, and his mother, and reminded him I might have children. Had he been a big lad, I might have been in trouble.

Anyway, as Strava says, the adrenaline rush got me at 180 bpm. Unsurprising, given how murderous I felt. Now here's hoping the 15 miles back to the car can go in the anti-rants thread

redvee

Riding home tonight and a driver decided that give way lines don't apply to him and only stopped when I literally inches fro his bumper. I got a bit vocal with the driver who was apologetic but I told him the apologies were meaningless and he should be paying more attention to the road as I could have been on the deck under his front bumper. Footage already uploaded to the local plod for them to take some action over.

asprilla

BHF London to Brighton Off Road. 2500 pricks riding like absolute bell ends along the Thames path that's being shared with walkers, runners, dogs and rowers trying set up. Ride appropriately to the conditions you total nippleclamps.

veronese68

Asprilla wrote:

BHF London to Brighton Off Road. 2500 pricks riding like absolute bell ends along the Thames path that's being shared with walkers, runners, dogs and rowers trying set up. Ride appropriately to the conditions you total nippleclamps.

Done that ride 4 times now. The first couple of times it was still fairly small and was much better, bizarrely it got a lot bigger when they changed the name from London to South Coast off road. But the route is exactly the same.
Completely agree about the quality of riders, it's not difficult to be wary of others and leave a bit of space. Every time I've done it I've left as early as possible to avoid the majority of bellends. It's quicker on a cross bike but a couple of bits were a bit sketchy. More comfortable on an MTB. Good fun though. Amazing how many people I had drafting me along the downs link every time I've done it.

asprilla

Veronese68 wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

BHF London to Brighton Off Road. 2500 pricks riding like absolute bell ends along the Thames path that's being shared with walkers, runners, dogs and rowers trying set up. Ride appropriately to the conditions you total nippleclamps.

Done that ride 4 times now. The first couple of times it was still fairly small and was much better, bizarrely it got a lot bigger when they changed the name from London to South Coast off road. But the route is exactly the same.
Completely agree about the quality of riders, it's not difficult to be wary of others and leave a bit of space. Every time I've done it I've left as early as possible to avoid the majority of bellends. It's quicker on a cross bike but a couple of bits were a bit sketchy. More comfortable on an MTB. Good fun though. Amazing how many people I had drafting me along the downs link every time I've done it.

I was walking the dog along the river from Walton to Hampton Court this morning and it was just choppergeddon. A lot of folks riding well beyond their experience and skill set.

veronese68

Standard behaviour on any of these rides unfortunately. Does the charity aspect increase their sense of self righteousness making it worse?
People not slowing down around kids and dogs in parks does irk me. I’m sure the tool that rides past them no hands in Bushy Park is going to come a cropper at some point, unfortunately an innocent party will probably get hurt as well.

wolfsbane2k

Family members who don't read the bloody calendar and book you do to stuff day you've marked as a "need to keep free to clean and service the bikes ready for X event" day

wolfsbane2k

Came off on the approach to a roundabout this morning (wet road and diesel), thankfully slow speed as I was slowing to a stop, rather than trying to slot in between traffic. Walked it off.

Although rather a gentle drop, bike went expensive side down, appears to have bent the hanger, shifts are failing, and I overshifted into the wheel when trying to climb the hill; and I'm now grunting and groaning every time I move my leg as the large bruise on my hip develops.

drhaggis

Rode to work, ended up wet (quelle surprise) and, when unpacking for the shower, realised I'd left my trousers home.

asprilla

DrHaggis wrote:

Rode to work, ended up wet (quelle surprise) and, when unpacking for the shower, realised I'd left my trousers home.

Nothing goes home until it's replacement has been brought in.

hopkinb

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Came off on the approach to a roundabout this morning (wet road and diesel), thankfully slow speed as I was slowing to a stop, rather than trying to slot in between traffic. Walked it off.

Although rather a gentle drop, bike went expensive side down, appears to have bent the hanger, shifts are failing, and I overshifted into the wheel when trying to climb the hill; and I'm now grunting and groaning every time I move my leg as the large bruise on my hip develops.

Oof, heal up quick. It's never nice falling off a bike, tarmac hurts.

wolfsbane2k

hopkinb wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Came off on the approach to a roundabout this morning (wet road and diesel), thankfully slow speed as I was slowing to a stop, rather than trying to slot in between traffic. Walked it off.

Although rather a gentle drop, bike went expensive side down, appears to have bent the hanger, shifts are failing, and I overshifted into the wheel when trying to climb the hill; and I'm now grunting and groaning every time I move my leg as the large bruise on my hip develops.

Oof, heal up quick. It's never nice falling off a bike, tarmac hurts.

Ta. A nice size 13 boot sized bruise has appeared on the hip, thankfuly no other damage.

awavey

is it still considered a left hook, if you anticipate it happening, so back off to let it play out in front of you instead ?

the thing that will stick with me as the car was holding station alongside me as we approached the roundabout, there was a kid couldnt have been much older than 10 or 11 in the front passenger seat who you could see as their face changed to a very concerned look, they had worked out what was likely to happen if we carried on in our side by side stunt formation pairing.

how is it a kid who cant even drive a car, see whats plain in front of them, whilst their parent just obliviously goes ah cyclist Ill half overtake,and yeah now turn left on them

redvee

DrHaggis wrote:

Rode to work, ended up wet (quelle surprise) and, when unpacking for the shower, realised I'd left my trousers home.

Did that on Sunday with my boxers, as I was getting ready for work I was sure I'd put a clean pair out with the other clothing I change daily so gave it no more thought. Luckily I have spare boxers and socks in work for such instances.

cjcp

Having recently been taken out by a pedestrian on the segregated bike lane, and been fortunate to have anyone behind me, I'm genuinely struggling to see why some folks sit right on another rider's wheel along there.

WTF are they going to do if a pedestrian steps out in front of the rider who's @rse they can nearly touch?

shirley_basso

Truck and trailer to plough through the ped?

cjcp

Unlikely: I went down like a sack of spuds, while they were left standing.

And did they even offer to provide their details? Did they hell, and quietly walked away, so another reason why I don't buy this cyclists need to have insurance and registration cr@p.

secretsam

DrHaggis wrote:

Rode to work, ended up wet (quelle surprise) and, when unpacking for the shower, realised I'd left my trousers home.

So far, the "left at home" tally includes:
Socks
Boxers
Work shirt
(Most memorable) shoes

drhaggis

SecretSam wrote:

DrHaggis wrote:

Rode to work, ended up wet (quelle surprise) and, when unpacking for the shower, realised I'd left my trousers home.

So far, the "left at home" tally includes:
Socks
Boxers
Work shirt
(Most memorable) shoes

Of these, the only one left for SCR bingo is... socks! (technically, I can't forget my shoes, as I have two pairs in the office).

Also, I may have visited a nearby Sainsbury's to buy an emergency towel one day I might have forgotten to replace the old one.

elbowloh

DrHaggis wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

DrHaggis wrote:

Rode to work, ended up wet (quelle surprise) and, when unpacking for the shower, realised I'd left my trousers home.

So far, the "left at home" tally includes:
Socks
Boxers
Work shirt
(Most memorable) shoes

Of these, the only one left for SCR bingo is... socks! (technically, I can't forget my shoes, as I have two pairs in the office).

Also, I may have visited a nearby Sainsbury's to buy an emergency towel one day I might have forgotten to replace the old one.

I have forgotten both shirt and trousers at the same time (shoes are left at work) on a day I had a meeting with one of our directors at 9.00 in the morning. Realised this about 3 miles from the office and was frantically looking for shops that were open to buy said items. The usual suspects (TM Lewin, M&S, were not open or not any where near), but found a discount suit shop where i bought ill-fitting trousers (too short) and shirt (with the folds in it). Was 5 mins late for meeting looking a wreck.

bipedalconsumer

wongataa wrote:

froze wrote:

I have a lots of rants, but here's my number one rant. What I can't figure out is that more and more states are making it against the law not to text and drive, but having been to a state that has the law the motorists there still text and cops will be in a car next to the texter and do nothing. So here's my rant in regards to that. All modern cell phones have a built in GPS, this means the phone knows where you're at and how fast your going, it would be real simple to have all the phones simply turn off completely at speeds above 20 mph and then resume operation at speeds above 200 mph. Don't say this can't be done because some police departments are now doing this with their onboard computers that have the same GPS in it as our cell phones have. Then there would be no worry about enforcing a law that most policing agencies have no desire to do so, but more importantly...no more distracted drivers! The only service that would be available on cell phones while driving would be 911 calls.

I know some of you will scream unfair, so what? What's unfair are all the accidents being caused by distracted driving! And just like we use to do for many years when we had to make a phone call was to find a phone booth and pull over and use it, at least in today's world if such an automatic phone turn off was activated all you would have to do is park and use your phone in your car and no longer would have to search for phone booth.

The crazy thing about this GPS automatically shutting down your phone is that instead of letting the GPS do it which would be very inexpensive to do, is that car manufactures want to build self driving cars instead which would cost a great deal more than programming all phones to shut off automatically.

What if the GPS isn't turned on? I rarely have it turned on on my phone as I don't use that feature much and it is an unnecessary battery drain if you don't use it. Also, the main argument against this that non drivers would not be allowed to use their phones when they should have no restrictions. Another argument against this is that you are allowed to use a phone in a car hand held in an emergency situation (in the UK). This would prevent that.

This seems well thought out but In a way this also goes against the idea of people's right to privacy from surveillance, although I do understand that it may sometimes seem like our smartphone locations are always being tracked - for this to work would require that GPS / location tracking be mandatory at all times, which many people at least in Western countries would tend to find extremely philosophically objectionable.

bipedalconsumer

At least in the US, deaths of cyclists are up by 10% in the last year
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/06/18/cyclist-and-pedestrian-deaths-skyrocket-in-2018-as-motorists-stay-safe/, and pedestrian deaths have increased by over 40% in the past 10 years https://www.sallymorinlaw.com/road-safety/distracted-driving/
Undoubtedly due to distracted driving (and distracted walking.)

kingstongraham

bipedalconsumer wrote:

wongataa wrote:

froze wrote:

I have a lots of rants, but here's my number one rant. What I can't figure out is that more and more states are making it against the law not to text and drive, but having been to a state that has the law the motorists there still text and cops will be in a car next to the texter and do nothing. So here's my rant in regards to that. All modern cell phones have a built in GPS, this means the phone knows where you're at and how fast your going, it would be real simple to have all the phones simply turn off completely at speeds above 20 mph and then resume operation at speeds above 200 mph. Don't say this can't be done because some police departments are now doing this with their onboard computers that have the same GPS in it as our cell phones have. Then there would be no worry about enforcing a law that most policing agencies have no desire to do so, but more importantly...no more distracted drivers! The only service that would be available on cell phones while driving would be 911 calls.

I know some of you will scream unfair, so what? What's unfair are all the accidents being caused by distracted driving! And just like we use to do for many years when we had to make a phone call was to find a phone booth and pull over and use it, at least in today's world if such an automatic phone turn off was activated all you would have to do is park and use your phone in your car and no longer would have to search for phone booth.

The crazy thing about this GPS automatically shutting down your phone is that instead of letting the GPS do it which would be very inexpensive to do, is that car manufactures want to build self driving cars instead which would cost a great deal more than programming all phones to shut off automatically.

What if the GPS isn't turned on? I rarely have it turned on on my phone as I don't use that feature much and it is an unnecessary battery drain if you don't use it. Also, the main argument against this that non drivers would not be allowed to use their phones when they should have no restrictions. Another argument against this is that you are allowed to use a phone in a car hand held in an emergency situation (in the UK). This would prevent that.

This seems well thought out but In a way this also goes against the idea of people's right to privacy from surveillance, although I do understand that it may sometimes seem like our smartphone locations are always being tracked - for this to work would require that GPS / location tracking be mandatory at all times, which many people at least in Western countries would tend to find extremely philosophically objectionable.

I use buses and trains more than a car. A phone automatically stopping working over 20mph shows a very car-centric view of the world.

keef66

"A phone automatically stopping working over 20mph shows a very car-centric view of the world."

I'm guessing that post came from the U.S. where a lot of people do have a very car-centric view of the world. I was more puzzled by the suggestion that the phone would start working again at 200mph. Suggests the O.P. thinks of travel as a binary choice between single occupancy car vs an aircraft. No hope for climate change...

tgotb

bipedalconsumer wrote:

This seems well thought out

I don't think it's that well thought-out at all. It can be very useful to have a passenger use their phone to call your destination, talk to people you're planning to meet, check travel information/weather online, book a restaurant, call a hotel etc etc etc, it's something I do all the time. Same applies on trains; is the suggestion that people should be stopped from using their phones on trains?

And why the exemption to allow phones to work again above 200mph? Is it to allow phone use on selected Chinese, Japanese and European high-speed trains, but only when travelling near their maximum speed?

In fact, stopping anyone travelling by any means other than walking from using their phone, just to stop people texting at the wheel, would seem to be a very good example of a poorly thought-out argument. You won't even stop people texting at the wheel in slow-moving traffic (unless you want to stop pedestrians using their phones too...)