Track Stands at Traffic Lights.

Greg T

Everyone watches me as I trackstand.

It's like watching a bucking bronco on speed doing Irish dancing in a minefield. You know what's going to happen, you know it's going to be messy but at the same time you just can't help watching.

I seem to be getting worse at it as well.... Not fair

the_hundredth_idiot

victor ludorum wrote:

In fairness, that's not doing a trackstand, that's riding around very slowly until the lights change. Since the point of a trackstand is to allow a track start without having to clip in, wandering about until you face the wrong way counts as a loss... I'd struggle not to call out something like 'Dude, you obviously need to practice your track-standing, but do you have to do it on the road?'

The one's who really get in my nerves are the riders who don't even trackstand badly, but just ride around in the ASL and the space in front doing figures-of-eight and circles until the lights change. Then they finish off their little circuit, line themselves up and ride off leaving all of the other traffic standing around (bikes and cars) because no-one can move until they are out of the way.

I saw a guy on a hybrid with full on aero-bars (why?) doing this the other day across a junction from me. He was riding round and round across two lanes of traffic, even though one of them was a left-turn filter lane with its own green light. He kept having to duck out of the way of left turning traffic and then, when the lights changed, he was facing the wrong way... :roll:

Ah, the lesser spotted trackstand. A magnificent beast and a pleasure to behold but somewhat rare and well camouflaged. I confess, I do covet the lesser spotted as do all enthusiasts.

Unfortunately, its poor relation, the greater spotted trackstand, is a much more common sight on the streets of Ye Olde London Town. And, with it's squawking and flapping as it ungainly wobbles around in front of you, a distraction to those of us seeking the lesser spotted.

There is, on occasion, a greater spotted trackstand which wobbles around in my back garden. I long for the day when it transmogrifies into a lesser spotted and I can release its magnificence into a more natural habitat where it can be admired by all. Unfortunately, I fear that transformation may never happen and it will die a sad, lonely death never having reached its full potential. But the alternative of releasing it onto the streets before it is ready will, I fear, result in both danger and humiliation.

doyler78

I have to agree when you see people wobbling all over the show and grabbing at cars, vans, etc to keep them up I think what waste of effort. Surely easier just to plant your foot on the ground however when you do see it done well you can't help but admire it.

A perfect example was a couple of months back as I was standing at a bus stop and the lights changed and the cyclists just turned his front wheel sideways and just remained almost motionless until the lights changed. These light have a long change phase so it was all the more impressive. It just didn't seem to be any effort at all and when the lights changed he just took off. It was the best example I had seen of this fine art.

Greg T

SecretSam wrote:

It's a bit of a show off bloke thing

You say that as if it's a bad thing......

Trackstanding sits in the same bracket as:

Owning Power tools
Having a spirit level
Breaking bones (your own)
Having a mate who snogged a young D list celeb in 1996
Watching Top Gear

In the blokedom panthenon of cool stuff to do.....

secretsam

Greg T wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

It's a bit of a show off bloke thing

You say that as if it's a bad thing......

Trackstanding sits in the same bracket as:

Owning Power tools
Having a spirit level
Breaking bones (your own)
Having a mate who snogged a young D list celeb in 1996
Watching Top Gear

In the blokedom panthenon of cool stuff to do.....

Am guilty of most of the above (no D-lists I'm afraid)

But I don't do it, because I'd look a wally