Unbelievable !

Levi_501

Due to the company car being collected by the garage this morning I worked from home until lunch time.

After a good filling of beans on toast I set en route to la orifice.

Gaily pedalling along Nine Elms I gets to Vauxhall round about monstrosity thing.

As I wanted to go along Albert Embankment past St Thomas Hospital towards Waterloo I gets in to the third of five lanes, which is the inside lane of the straight on lanes. Sounds confusing, but as soon as you go round it you will understand.

Pedalling merrily along, all of a sudden I hear a beep, then again another beep, and again and again getting stronger and stronger. I turn round to see a woman driving a silver Honda CRV trying to ram me ! WTF ! really WTF !

I waive her past best I can thinking what is happening.

She has to stop at the lights so a taps on the window, she ignores me, so I taps again and asks ‘Whats the problem’

You were in the way, you should be over there out the way pointing to the left’ What are you on about woman ???

Then she says, ‘You are all in black and could not see you !’ Really really WTF ! B1uddy he11 woman it is broad day light if you cannot see me (I am 6’4” and not small) what the hell are you doing driving !

She drove off !

Mumma mia, what to do ???

Cartesian Centaur

Ah Vauxhall cross, so many unfond memories...

You should have told her to see a psychiatrist as she was talking to people she couldn't see!

tardington

That is a very good suggestion.

Mine had your D-lock and her windscreen in. :shock:

Levi_501

Cartesian Centaur wrote:

You should have told her to see a psychiatrist as she was talking to people she couldn't see!

cjcp

Vauxhaul Cross. <shudders> Crazy place.

lost_in_thought

My conversations with the beepy folk at that roundabout thing and the ones at Marble Arch and Hammersmith usually go something like:

Me: *tap tap tap* *windy window signal* I'm sorry, you were beeping at me?
Them: you should have been over there/on the pavement/anywhere but in my way
Me: Oh, so is this not the lane for (insert destination here)?
Them: Yes... but...
Me: *interrupting* Good, then I am in the right place. Thanks for that. *cycles away, legally*

Aidy

lost_in_thought wrote:

My conversations with the beepy folk at that roundabout thing and the ones at Marble Arch and Hammersmith usually go something like:

Me: *tap tap tap* *windy window signal* I'm sorry, you were beeping at me?
Them: you should have been over there/on the pavement/anywhere but in my way
Me: Oh, so is this not the lane for (insert destination here)?
Them: Yes... but...
Me: *interrupting* Good, then I am in the right place. Thanks for that. *cycles away, legally*

I was loving the heatwave, everyone had their windows down - it made such conversations so much easier

prj45

Cartesian Centaur wrote:

Ah Vauxhall cross

I w riding under the raily bridge there once, in primary to head down to St Ockwell.

Heard this massive load of beeping behind me, slowed down, turned round and this guy had stopped his car in the lane, had got out and was shouting at me "but but, you're a bicycle!!!".

I just carried on.

mkchu84

If she couldn't see you, how did she know you were in the way? Unless of course she just drives around honking the horn just in case something gets in front of her

Oddjob62

mkchu84 wrote:

Unless of course she just drives around honking the horn just in case something gets in front of her

I've always wondered... if you added up the total amount of honks in a day in the whole country, what percentage of those would be considered "proper usage of the horn" according to the highway code. I'd say 5% would be very generous

jedster

Not really practical on a 5 lane roundabout but when I get an ill-informed beep I do like to stop. IN the middle of the lane. Look at the driver and shrug. Conversation tends to go along the lines that LiT describes.

Like I say, not going to happen on a roundabout but when you are cruising towards a red light, in the correct lane and some idiot tries to force you off the road it works quite well.

Oddjob62

There's a road near me with lots of speed bumps, and i know that i can beat any car up it. Had a tw4t Porsche enter the road just behind me and started tailing me close revving away. I dropped into a gab in the side, and let him past... then turned on the speed right up behind him shouting "COME ON!! HURRY UP!!"

Don't think he was happy with that

secretsam

I once hitched a lift on the front wing of a geriatric's Marina when he decided that the outside lane was actually the one to go straight on - through me.

This is part of the reason I don't like bike lanes - they give motorists the idea that bikes don't belong on the roads.

I've never tried tapping on the window, will use that tactic next time.

Assume getting angry isn't a good solution - but although I like LiT's polite but cheeky approach, I'm guessing that's probably a reflection of her personality - I'm more of a Mr Grumpy and Angry - don't think I could carry it off with the necessary panache...

lastant

SecretSam wrote:

I'm more of a Mr Grumpy and Angry - don't think I could carry it off with the necessary panache...

Need to change that picture...

Christophe3967

prj45 wrote:

Cartesian Centaur wrote:

Ah Vauxhall cross

I w riding under the raily bridge there once, in primary to head down to St Ockwell.

Heard this massive load of beeping behind me, slowed down, turned round and this guy had stopped his car in the lane, had got out and was shouting at me "but but, you're a bicycle!!!".

I just carried on.

Similar thing happened to me last summer as we rolled up to a red light, except the complaint was 'but you haven't got an engine' Bless.

Cartesian Centaur

SecretSam wrote:

This is part of the reason I don't like bike lanes - they give motorists the idea that bikes don't belong on the roads.

Yes, I was just thinking that maybe people get so upset about bikes around Vauxhall because there is a bike lane that goes all the way round, so of course cyclists should be using that instead of the road - never mind the fact that the surface is horrendous, there's always people parked in it, pedestrians ambling in it, and it takes at least five times longer to get around.

Dudu

Levi_501 wrote:

Gaily pedalling along Nine Elms I gets to Vauxhall round about monstrosity thing.

As I wanted to go along Albert Embankment past St Thomas Hospital towards Waterloo I gets in to the third of five lanes, which is the inside lane of the straight on lanes. Sounds confusing, but as soon as you go round it you will understand.

I live near there and use this exact manoeuvre whenever I want to get to Waterloo, The City, Kings Cross or the East End.

You were in the right place, doing the right thing. What a silly lady.

I make a point of riding over the exact centre of the "Straight ahead" arrows in the middle of the "W"LOO" lane, as fast as is comfortable i.e faster than most motors at this point.

Rich158

I love Vauxhall Cross, or rather I love getting through it There's nothing like that feeling of 'Feck...............I'm still alive'

Dudu

Cartesian Centaur wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

This is part of the reason I don't like bike lanes - they give motorists the idea that bikes don't belong on the roads.

Yes, I was just thinking that maybe people get so upset about bikes around Vauxhall because there is a bike lane that goes all the way round, so of course cyclists should be using that instead of the road - never mind the fact that the surface is horrendous, there's always people parked in it, pedestrians ambling in it, and it takes at least five times longer to get around.

Yes, the bike route is extremely cr@p, infested with zombie pedestrians, very slow and involves about twice as many red lights. And if you're riding from Albert Embankment to Wandsworth Road, following the signed cycle route leaves you stuck in the "No Cycling" bit of pavement just before the point where the buses leave the bus station.

On the original plans, the cycle lanes took up an entire traffic lane on the LH side of every road around the system. That had to go, of course, you can't expect to still the mighty roar of London's traffic, even to keep people alive.

A bicycle is a road vehicle, and it's usually safer and easier to use the roads - even at Vauxhall Cross.

Sewinman

Been there, got the T shirt! Same thing happened to me last year...some people eh!?

Roastie

Vauxhall Cross!

I pass through there every morning, tho' I turn off right under the railway bridge after that towards Kennington (2nd lane from the right). Not exactly the most bike friendly junction by a long way; it does amaze me some of the driving I see through there, particularly drivers forcing their way past, not allowing me to changes lanes across to the right only to pull in front of me and brake. Idiots.

lardboy

I go from South Lambeth Road to Vauxhall Bridge and vice versa once a day, and I've found that eyeballing people and very visible signals are the way forward. I wear white and red gloves, so that probably helps in that my indications probably stand out a bit more.

Ignore the cycle lanes, they're bloody appalling apart from the bit along the south towards the SLR which allows you to skip a couple of lights.

squired

Did it once on my commute - didn't fancy it again. For a cyclist attacking it for the first time I thought it was a bit of a nightmare. As it happens, I found that going over Chelsea Bridge was far more civilised and actually better for where I was working, so never had to go the Vauxhall route again.

Totalnewbie

Do Vauxhall Cross twice a day, I get surprisingly little hassle. When I was a proper Totalnewbie I remember wobbling around the cycle paths for the first few days of commuting but swiftly getting fed up with them, and someone on here gave me advice on how to tackle my route on the road instead. I now take the lane quite confidently and just go as fast as I can, keeping an eye out for cars with sh1te lane discipline.

I'm going to get hassle tomorrow now, aren't I? My good run is over...

(Last time I got hassled on VC was last year, by a hatchback full of lads shouting at me to get on the cycle path. It was hissing it down, and I was not feeling kindly, so I bellowed back 'fark orf!' in my best fishwife impersonation. The look of shock on their faces as they hung out the window was priceless, I don't think they expected me to say anything back...)

Cartesian Centaur

Totalnewbie wrote:

Do Vauxhall Cross twice a day, I get surprisingly little hassle. When I was a proper Totalnewbie I remember wobbling around the cycle paths for the first few days of commuting but swiftly getting fed up with them, and someone on here gave me advice on how to tackle my route on the road instead. I now take the lane quite confidently and just go as fast as I can, keeping an eye out for cars with sh1te lane discipline.

I'm going to get hassle tomorrow now, aren't I? My good run is over...

(Last time I got hassled on VC was last year, by a hatchback full of lads shouting at me to get on the cycle path. It was hissing it down, and I was not feeling kindly, so I bellowed back 'fark orf!' in my best fishwife impersonation. The look of shock on their faces as they hung out the window was priceless, I don't think they expected me to say anything back...)

Yeah, I agree with this for the most part - it wasn't the most fun part of my commute by any stretch of the imagination (hello Battersea Park) but I never had any major issues there - some inconsiderate driving and lots of adrenaline but not much actual hassle from drivers. My issues were more with figuring out which road I wanted and which lane I needed than anything else, and the time when I snatched a brake on a white line my first time riding non fixed in the wet and almost did a 180. Maybe it actually helped that I was always travelling in rush hour and traffic was heavy but also slow.