I Nearly Hit A Lemming Today...
Pufftmw
Posts: 1,941
Thing is most of us on this forum are reasonably streetwise & roadwise, look ahead, go steady/look at junctions and even wear helmets. Personally, I've been cycling for 42 of my 46 years, driving since I was 13, been a motorcycle courier, a van courier, commuted 150 miles a day for 10 years and in total must have racked up a couple of million miles in my lifetime. I've also cycled on & off road and for the last 2.5 years have commuted daily in London by cycle. Basically I'm pretty atuned to travelling in London/anywhere and know when & when not to take a risk.
Tonight, around 18:00 just off Lewisham Hi St, I was travelling about 20mph (30mph limit) on a straight and wide road. I wasn't in a hurry but then I never exceed the 30 in a car - in this case a Volvo XC70 which is quite a large & substantial vehicle. Out of a side road to my left, shot, without any warning or reason a girl on a bike (sit up & beg type). If I had been going 30, it would have been a close run thing. I naturally lifted off the acccelerator & went for the brake when another girl, on a simillar bike, narrowly missed my bumper. I had seen her begin to come out & hit the horn. I saw a third girl & looked/preyed that she would not follow & fortunately she just didn't but she looked shocked. I gave her "the eye" & carried on slowly up the road a few hundred yards cursing them before looking in my wing mirror. When I did I saw the 2nd girl on the floor with her bike. She'd obviously lost it having nealy hit me and ended up in the gutter. She was more or less ok as she got up and was standing there. By the time I had parked & walked back, they had all gone.
I think that I was in a bit of shock as I'd nearly hit at least 1 if not 2 girls (20 somethings) - it took me ages to calm down. I was driving slowly, it was my right of way and they had just run out completely oblivious to the junction or other traffic. I hope it sh1t them up as much as me so I hope & prey they will be a bit more circumspect & careful in the future.
Just goes to show how 1 moment we can be minding our own business & the next minute potentially killing or severely hurting someone or indeed being on the receiving end. Also the downside of all London's push to get people on cycles maybe?
Be careful out there!
Tonight, around 18:00 just off Lewisham Hi St, I was travelling about 20mph (30mph limit) on a straight and wide road. I wasn't in a hurry but then I never exceed the 30 in a car - in this case a Volvo XC70 which is quite a large & substantial vehicle. Out of a side road to my left, shot, without any warning or reason a girl on a bike (sit up & beg type). If I had been going 30, it would have been a close run thing. I naturally lifted off the acccelerator & went for the brake when another girl, on a simillar bike, narrowly missed my bumper. I had seen her begin to come out & hit the horn. I saw a third girl & looked/preyed that she would not follow & fortunately she just didn't but she looked shocked. I gave her "the eye" & carried on slowly up the road a few hundred yards cursing them before looking in my wing mirror. When I did I saw the 2nd girl on the floor with her bike. She'd obviously lost it having nealy hit me and ended up in the gutter. She was more or less ok as she got up and was standing there. By the time I had parked & walked back, they had all gone.
I think that I was in a bit of shock as I'd nearly hit at least 1 if not 2 girls (20 somethings) - it took me ages to calm down. I was driving slowly, it was my right of way and they had just run out completely oblivious to the junction or other traffic. I hope it sh1t them up as much as me so I hope & prey they will be a bit more circumspect & careful in the future.
Just goes to show how 1 moment we can be minding our own business & the next minute potentially killing or severely hurting someone or indeed being on the receiving end. Also the downside of all London's push to get people on cycles maybe?
Be careful out there!
1997 Gary Fisher Big Sur
2009 Scott Spark 60
2010 Ghost 5000
2011 Commencal Ramones AL1
2012 Commencal Meta AM1
2009 Scott Spark 60
2010 Ghost 5000
2011 Commencal Ramones AL1
2012 Commencal Meta AM1
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Comments
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I hope it sh1t them up as much as me so I hope & prey they will be a bit more circumspect & careful in the future.
That's what I was going to say
Hopefully they will take more care next time!0 -
nich wrote:I hope it sh1t them up as much as me so I hope & prey they will be a bit more circumspect & careful in the future.
That's what I was going to say
Hopefully they will take more care next time!
Ditto - and if you had hit them, then take some solace in the fact that in a tiny, tiny way you're helping the entire human race out:FCN 4 - BMC CX020 -
Yesterday i did hit a lemming.
I was coming down Grahame Park Way on the opposite side of the road to this google map.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=safari&q=grahame+park+way+nw9&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=&hnear=Grahame+Park+Way,+London+NW9,+United+Kingdom&layer=c&cbll=51.596782,-0.244873&panoid=2ipLPT-xdH8vgfMJN-xAZA&cbp=12,270.83,,0,4.42&ll=51.596748,-0.244703&spn=0.019114,0.072098&z=15
The guy walked straight across the grass section and stepped right out in front of me. I hit him at thankfully only 20mph.
He went flying backwards and i hit the deck hard on my left hand side.
Thankfully my feet unclipped from my pedals and i came to an immediate halt when i hit the deck so no slicing off of any skin.
While no damage to the bikes or each other i am now this morning bloody sore as hell in several places plus some nice bruises to show for my trouble.
Gonna have to get either a camera/load bell or BOTH!!!0 -
Lemmings have priority over Volvos. And indeed, over bicycles.This post contains traces of nuts.0
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What time? I was on that same bit of road yesterday too, at 9am taking the bike into Evans for service and 5pm having picked it up again! there was some sort of event at the RAF museum so lots of people around in the afternoon, pushchairs, kids running to and fro... chaos...NWLondoner wrote:Yesterday i did hit a lemming.
I was coming down Grahame Park Way on the opposite side of the road to this google map.
...Invacare Spectra Plus electric wheelchair, max speed 4mph
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OptimisticBiker wrote:
What time? I was on that same bit of road yesterday too, at 9am taking the bike into Evans for service and 5pm having picked it up again! there was some sort of event at the RAF museum so lots of people around in the afternoon, pushchairs, kids running to and fro... chaos...NWLondoner wrote:Yesterday i did hit a lemming.
I was coming down Grahame Park Way on the opposite side of the road to this google map.
...
Was around 8am.
Guy shoulder checked and didn't see me. He says he saw van in the distance but not me!!!0
