And we wonder why people don't like cyclists!

gtvlusso

Yeah, I hate cyclists too....oh, hang on...

Agent57

Always Tyred wrote:

Can someone explain to me why runners need reflective gear? (other than when they run along country lanes)

Is it because they cross roads in a manner requring reflective gear?

I use a shared-use cycle path that has a lot of runners on it, particularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm grateful to those that wear reflective gear, as my bike lights pick them out well in advance of me passing them.

A lot of pedestrians on the path dress entirely in dark clothes, and they're hard to see. It wouldn't be so bad if they stuck to their own half of the path (the half without the cycles painted every so often along its length), but a large number of them don't seem to understand what "shared" means, or that they are supposed to use only one half of it.

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

Here's one from this morning in Bristol - you know one of those ones that actually leaves you open mouthed and thinking about it for hours afterwards.

Normal route in. Get into town. Usual mixture of mass RLJing and cyclists waiting at the lights on the Cheltenham Rd. Nothing special. Until...

MTB commuter on a crappy British Eagle or something (BUT in full ninja get up: black tights, technical black top, possibly a black helmet and technical cycling glasses) literally bombs through a red that I'm waiting at as fast as his knobbly tires and pig iron frame will let him.

Again, nothing too amazing about that but the speed he did it at was a bit of an eye opener. Lights change to green, I wind up the Cervelo to pootling speed and I've caught him in no time, only to hit another set of lights where he...

1) does not stop (predictable).
2) Hops onto a busy pavement at speed and rides into the face of the mass of peds, scattering people in all directions as he goes
3) Hops back onto the cycle lane on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD where he proceeds to cycle into the busy oncoming traffic at some speed, causing consternation, anger and occasionally panic amongs motorists all round.

This account doesn't actually capture the sheer arrogance of the guy's behaviour in practice. I was gobsmacked. Tw*tishness of the highest order...

dmcmylor

Sea_Green_Incorruptible wrote:

Here's one from this morning in Bristol - you know one of those ones that actually leaves you open mouthed and thinking about it for hours afterwards.

Normal route in. Get into town. Usual mixture of mass RLJing and cyclists waiting at the lights on the Cheltenham Rd. Nothing special. Until...

MTB commuter on a crappy British Eagle or something (BUT in full ninja get up: black tights, technical black top, possibly a black helmet and technical cycling glasses) literally bombs through a red that I'm waiting at as fast as his knobbly tires and pig iron frame will let him.

Again, nothing too amazing about that but the speed he did it at was a bit of an eye opener. Lights change to green, I wind up the Cervelo to pootling speed and I've caught him in no time, only to hit another set of lights where he...

1) does not stop (predictable).
2) Hops onto a busy pavement at speed and rides into the face of the mass of peds, scattering people in all directions as he goes
3) Hops back onto the cycle lane on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD where he proceeds to cycle into the busy oncoming traffic at some speed, causing consternation, anger and occasionally panic amongs motorists all round.

This account doesn't actually capture the sheer arrogance of the guy's behaviour in practice. I was gobsmacked. Tw*tishness of the highest order...

Like the look of your cycle path cruiser, been on the Raleigh website and can't see that model, what is it ?

biondino

On my way home last night I went through two red lights. In my defence (and I know there is no defence really, and will be presenting myself for a vengeance birching anon), it was 3.45am and between Crystal Palace and Wandsworth I was passed by a grand total of zero cars.

Jen J

biondino wrote:

On my way home last night I went through two red lights. In my defence (and I know there is no defence really, and will be presenting myself for a vengeance birching anon), it was 3.45am and between Crystal Palace and Wandsworth I was passed by a grand total of zero cars.

If it's confession time, then I nearly went through 2 red lights this morning - both times I ended up in the pedestrian crossing zone by the time the lights changed to amber. But no peds were around (none were even within sight), and I was going so slowly that it was really just a rubbish attempt at a trackstand. Ish.

lost_in_thought

biondino wrote:

On my way home last night I went through two red lights. In my defence (and I know there is no defence really, and will be presenting myself for a vengeance birching anon), it was 3.45am and between Crystal Palace and Wandsworth I was passed by a grand total of zero cars.

*Gasp*

My god! Slapped wrist for you. Don't go to Crystal Palace at that hour - you'll be mugged. Kudos for getting home as quick as possible. Don't worry about the red lights.

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

dmcmylor wrote:

Like the look of your cycle path cruiser, been on the Raleigh website and can't see that model, what is it ?

Thanks! It's actually a home-build jobbie. It used to be a 'Raleigh Ultimate' road bike circa 2001-ish). However I rode the Tiagra groupset on it to death over 5 years of commuting and never once cleaning it.

Prohobitively expensive to replace the groupset (particularly as C2W came along at the same time) so I salvaged what I could and converted it to a flat bar SS (with a Surly singlator to get the chain tension right) and kept everything polished and clean (i.e. 'pimped').

Stupidly low gearing on it, but it's genuinely satisfying to ride when you're not in a hurry to get anywhere or when I'm out riding with my 5 year old son... I love it.

downfader

Agent57 wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Can someone explain to me why runners need reflective gear? (other than when they run along country lanes)

Is it because they cross roads in a manner requring reflective gear?

I use a shared-use cycle path that has a lot of runners on it, particularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm grateful to those that wear reflective gear, as my bike lights pick them out well in advance of me passing them.

A lot of pedestrians on the path dress entirely in dark clothes, and they're hard to see. It wouldn't be so bad if they stuck to their own half of the path (the half without the cycles painted every so often along its length), but a large number of them don't seem to understand what "shared" means, or that they are supposed to use only one half of it.

Surely they are sharing? They want to share the space with you. What you want is segregation

Sorry, in a funny mood today. :oops:

DavidBelcher

Eat My Dust wrote:

I went for a run this morning at 6 am and it's pitch black. I see 10 cyclists, only ONE had lights and only three were on the road. What a great example of why people moan about cyclist!! (me included now) :evil:

Popped into my local station to ask about rail travel info last night and turned off my lights to save batteries. Forgot to put the rear one back on before setting off, and didn't realise this until I arrived home 15 mins later. :oops: :oops: :oops:

David