Abuse by region
Comments
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I cycle from the countryside in to Chester and to be honest I have very problems. I may get the "that was a little close" feeling a couple of times a week, where as the "you almost killed me moments" have only happened a hand full of times in a year.
Most of the incidents have happened in the city. The scariest thing I find out on the country roads are the big four wheel drive tractors. One of those coming past close at 30mph with the 6' tyres and a spotty young lad in the cab. Only good thing is you can here them coming and it take a while for them to catch up to you.0 -
Not too bad in leeds apart from some stupid pedestrians, but all my incidents happen around cottingley and up churwell hill, where you get a high proportion of stupid chavs.
Always on the way home I have either:
liquids dispensed on me out o the car/van window.
Idiots screaming out of the window to try and shock you.
Stupid schoolkids shouting abuse.
Drivers trying to side swipe you at mini roundabouts.
Chavs attempting to repeatedly ram you with a vehicle.
Trucks trying to force you into the back of parked cars.
etc.. etc..
I just live in a place of leeds where there is a high proportions of complete arseh*les :roll:0 -
Couple of incidents over the last 12 months but no more than you'd get in a car - I'm actually surprise how courteous most drivers round here are - stop to let me out, (even a bus on one occasion) so no real issues0
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Swindon: Not bad, most of the incidents relate to drivers not giving enough room to pass and I think most of this is down to slack driving and not realising how much room a bike needs because not enough people cycle.
There are plenty of leisure cyclists at the weekends but the bike as a mode of transport in Swindon is not common and of course a lot of people just have to get to that next set of traffic lights 2 seconds before you so you have to filter on the left once you catch up with them again.
Cycle paths are pretty poor as well. Most are 18 inches of paint at the side of the road or shared use with i-peds and dogs on stretchy leads all over the place oblivious to the fact that they are sharing the space with bikes.
So, the choice is to ride on the cycle paths with pedestrians who have no idea what the blue sign with a white bicycle in it means or ride on the road with the majority of drivers not knowing what it's like to cycle on the roads.0 -
London's fine, countryside's fine, medium sized towns and cities are a Breughellian dystopia full of rude, ignorant psychos whose only aim is to ensure you can only be identified by your dental records.0
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I commute from North Manchester through the City Centre to South Manchester and rarely have issues with motorists, although I take a route with pretty decent cycle lanes. The biggest issue I get is peds stepping in front of me.0
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northstar wrote:London is HELL. Simple as.
No it isn't, don't be silly.
Ride confidently and with respect to other people and you will get on fine, forget the idiots.
+1
Fight fire with fire, expect no quarter and give none. Remember that in central London, YOU will be the fastest moving thing around. Ignore abuse from cabbies, they hate everyone. Buses are the main peril, driven by braindead zombies.
It's just a hill. Get over it.0 -
Does anyone here abouts live in or work in Milton Keynes? I've got friends there and with the totally segregated paths, it seems rather a nice place to ride - especially if you use the green paths
It's just a hill. Get over it.0 -
northstar wrote:London is HELL. Simple as.
No it isn't, don't be silly.
Ride confidently and with respect to other people and you will get on fine, forget the idiots.
+1
Also it's a flawed question from the start, London has a population of 7.5 million, that's roughly 12% of the UK, equivalent to the combined population of Scotland and Wales, so I would expect a similar proportion of 'abuse' stories.0 -
I commute through the rural highways and byways of Fife into St Andrews. I try to be an assertive but courteous road user and a have never really had an issue with any motorist in the centre of the town, other cyclist yes, but never car users.
Being a University town the locals are used to cyclists (mostly students) charging about the place on their BSO’s that are too small for them, chatting on the phone, while carrying their golf clubs slung over their back heading back to the halls the wrong way down a one way street. When the clocks change they will all go into ninja mode and no one appears to be that bothered. Mr McPlod has other problems to worry about
Why we don’t have more vehicle / bike relates accidents escapes me, so cycling in this area appears to be very civilised compared to the horror stories from the city and long may it continue.0 -
I used to. Don't be misled. The redways are mixed use - peds & bikes, so totally unsuitable for anyone wanting to go at a decent speed. Add to that the fact that the upkeep is minimal so some are in a pretty poor state of repair, and pile on top of that the debris that accumulates - settees, bin bags, trees, a reading lamp, anything. It's not MK plebs, just plebs. There are too many people who genuinely believe that once they've finished with anything it becomes someone else's problem to dispose of it. The redways of MK are an obstacle course in places. And they're also glass magnets too.SecretSam wrote:Does anyone here abouts live in or work in Milton Keynes? I've got friends there and with the totally segregated paths, it seems rather a nice place to ride - especially if you use the green paths
And like most cycle routes, they tend to peter out where you really do need them. They also have a give way at every junction with roads into the grid estates so riding on them is a constant stop-start affair.
And the clincher? All motorists, and the local rag, believe that MK has the finest cycling infra-structure anywhere in Europe, so why on earth do cyclists insist on riding on the roads? Why? See above...
The redways of MK are a poorly thought badly maintained nuisance, unless you're out for a trundle with the family, in which case - wahey - they're ok. For commuting or any riding at proper speeds, forget it.0 -
Breughellian dystopia
top drawer if a little harsh[/quote]0 -
knappers wrote:Not too bad in leeds apart from some stupid pedestrians, but all my incidents happen around cottingley and up churwell hill, where you get a high proportion of stupid chavs.
Always on the way home I have either:
liquids dispensed on me out o the car/van window.
Idiots screaming out of the window to try and shock you.
Stupid schoolkids shouting abuse.
Drivers trying to side swipe you at mini roundabouts.
Chavs attempting to repeatedly ram you with a vehicle.
Trucks trying to force you into the back of parked cars.
etc.. etc..
I just live in a place of leeds where there is a high proportions of complete arseh*les :roll:
[/quote]jedster wrote:Breughellian dystopia
top drawer if a little harsh
Loses some marks for overt pretentiousness but a good one albeit wrong rather than a little harsh!
Good luck with Churwell Hill everyday - that one just never stops! Still, I can count on the fingers of one hand the times chavs of Bramley have randomly yelled at me and schoolkids shouted abuse. Weirdly they must be a more upmarket class of chav than the Morley lot........Faster than a tent.......0
