The Traffic Light Conspiracy

percusski
percusski Posts: 41
edited October 2008 in Commuting chat
Why is it that lights especially at the top of hills tempt you then change to red just as you're almost there?

Comments

  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    It's so that you can have a rest with a legitimate excuse, just pulling over to the side of the road isn't the done thing, waiting at a set of lights is.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • Gussio
    Gussio Posts: 2,452
    percusski wrote:
    Why is it that lights especially at the top of hills tempt you then change to red just as you're almost there?

    It is to remind you to ride faster :wink:
  • Littigator
    Littigator Posts: 1,262
    Can't say I've ever come across one smug look tra la laa di daaaaa!
    Roadie FCN: 3

    Fixed FCN: 6
  • snowman1080
    snowman1080 Posts: 19
    There only there to warn you to dodge the traffic as you cross. :-)
    Be excellent to everyone.
    (Bill S Preston Esq, Ted Theodore Logan. 1989)

    650B - bouncy
  • spen666
    spen666 Posts: 17,709
    the worst ones are the ones that change to green just as you have unclipped and put your foot on the ground
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  • ansbaradigeidfran
    ansbaradigeidfran Posts: 526
    edited October 2008
    Trafic lights? What traffic lights? I only see three sets on my commute, and two of those are quiet pedestrian crossings that rarely interrupt me!

    EDIT: Four sets sorry, of which three are pedestrian crossings.
  • linsen
    linsen Posts: 1,959
    If you want to feel good about traffic lights, come visit Southampton - the most per square mile in the whole of Britain...


    apparently....
    Emerging from under a big black cloud. All help welcome
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    There's a set on the way home that will be on green if I go flat out from the previous set when THEY turn green. If the first set are green the second set are always on red.

    Only, I never really feel like going flat out at this point as it's right at the start of the commute home and if I do I'm utterly knacked for the next section which contains the only real hill....

    Bit of a Catch22 really.....
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • chas67
    chas67 Posts: 13
    I have to agree with redvee - I'm always happy for a legitimate excuse for a rest on a hill ........... also a chance to practice trackstands, say hello to fellow commuters .... as a reformed RLJer (with only minor relapses) I also enjoy the challenge of getting the timing right to hit as many on green as possible (and I've got about 38 sets on my commute) ........
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Traffic lights? What are they then? On a commute that can involve places with names like Marsh Gibbon, Steeple Claydon, Botolph Claydon, Barton Hartshorn, Stratton Audley etc, there's more chance of meeting a talking badger than having to stop at traffic lights. Even cars are a rarity on some parts of the route. Sticksville has a lot going for it sometimes.

    London eh? As if...

    :)
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    Same here - not a single traffic light on my morning ride.

    I did see a bus once though. It was mostly blue.
  • Jen J
    Jen J Posts: 1,054
    I have a one mile commute.

    I pass through 11 sets of lights. :cry:
    Commuting: Giant Bowery 08
    Winter Hack: Triandrun Vento 3
    Madone

    It's all about me...
  • robvalentine
    robvalentine Posts: 33
    i commute in london, and i have 6 sets of traffic lights, on a 6 mile commute (admittedly outer london..)
    the hippies of today will be the squares of tommorrow
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    To the lab the quick way is about a mile, 9 sets of lights...
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
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  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    ChrisInBicester wrote:
    Marsh Gibbon, Steeple Claydon, Botolph Claydon, Barton Hartshorn, Stratton Audley

    Are they places or Public Schoolboys?
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

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  • pst88
    pst88 Posts: 621
    It's the ones halfway up a hill that I hate. Once you stop it's hard to get going again with one massive gear.
    Bianchi Via Nirone Veloce/Centaur 2010
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    pst88 wrote:
    It's the ones halfway up a hill that I hate. Once you stop it's hard to get going again with one massive gear.

    +1.

    Furthermore, MTFU. :D
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • SPOODZILLA
    SPOODZILLA Posts: 128
    I have a few killer hills on my 13 mile run in, I find myself willing the light to change to red to I can have a rest - even pedalling a bit slower to make sure they change. I'm a lazy git sometimes.

    Traffic lights count.....58 sets :shock:
    Road: 2006 Trek 1500
    Off: 2009 Carrera Fury

    I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,719
    On the other hand, why are the light timings in Birmingham city centre so damn short? Put my foot down, start to reach for my bottle and they're green again. I'm sure there's someone in the control room laughing at me...

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