Nodders, millions of em!

cookeeemonster

rubertoe wrote:

The both times that I have been hit by a car I was wearing High Vis, the thousands of times I wasnt hit by a car I wasnt wearing High Vis. Go Figure.

You obviously weren't wearing enough high-viz. Or too much. It's your fault either way.

I hate high viz and all cyclists who demand we wear it.

Actually dont hate them at all but you know, tis the tinternet so gotta eggsagerate as well as mispel.

jonnyboy77

jds_1981 wrote:

Agent57 wrote:

jonnyboy77 wrote:

As for the repeated slights against those folks new to commuting by bike, I wonder how many cycle commmuters were experts day #1 :roll:

I reckon I was.

So that's one.

Me too. And when I started commuting (2003), there were very few other cyclists on my route to annoy/be annoyed by.

So on the very first day your commuted by bike, you considered yourself an expert in cycle commuting? ...

anonymousblackfg

CookeeeMonster wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

The both times that I have been hit by a car I was wearing High Vis, the thousands of times I wasnt hit by a car I wasnt wearing High Vis. Go Figure.

You obviously weren't wearing enough high-viz. Or too much. It's your fault either way.

I hate high viz and all cyclists who demand we wear it.

Actually dont hate them at all but you know, tis the tinternet so gotta eggsagerate as well as mispel.

You can't hate all of it, if you hated all of it you'd end up hating this.



and that High-viz is absolutely badass

cookeeemonster

Bright colours are cool ( and anyone who wants to wear high viz will get no complaints from me, but don't like being told I should wear it or any accidents are my fault)

Agent57

jonnyboy77 wrote:

So on the very first day your commuted by bike, you considered yourself an expert in cycle commuting? ...

Pretty much. The first time I commuted by bike to work, I'd been riding a bike on the roads for at least 15 years. And yes, I was very tired.

jds_1981

jonnyboy77 wrote:

So on the very first day your commuted by bike, you considered yourself an expert in cycle commuting? ...

Near enough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV1fi7YmcKo
Had been riding some time, and when I was somewhat younger, my mum didn't have a car. She had a tandem :oops:

ddraver

Have to slightly confess that i rode like a nodder this evening. The combination of a sh1t week, a tailwind and a lot of aggression to work out led to me making a few d1ck moves. Apologies to anyone between Mayfair and Wimbledon at around 7...

Mind you a Jag kissed my heel at a ped crossing - I suppose that is actually a spectacular near miss...in both senses of the word

itboffin

FFS i've left the keys to my bike locks all three of them at work which means i have to take my commuter on a peak packed commuter train, that's going to be a barrel of laughs :evil:

First.Aspect

Rolf F wrote:

Kurako wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

When I got knocked off one of the questions was if I was wearing hi viz. I was wearing a bright red top and it was a sunny day. Whilst not what is considered hi viz to most people it meets the criteria by being a marked contrast to the surroundings and it was certainly highly bloody visible if the daft bint had actually looked.

I wonder if you got hit by the same woman as me! "I didn't see you"... "But I had stopped and you hit me with the front of your car"..... Casualty asked if I was wearing a helmet. Yes I said but it was my leg that got hit I didn't hit my head. It's just one of the dumb questions they have to ask.

Well why weren't you wearing your helmet on your leg where it would have done some good? No helping some people.......

See my avatar? Police asked me as I was being wheeled into A&E whether I'd been wearing a helmet. I said, "Yes, but sadly it was on my head." It took some considerable period of whirring gears and cogs before the significance of the statement was appreciated.

As to high vis - with respect to the scoffers amongst you, I'm now afraid of cycling without it. I've got oh around 25 years' commuting experience, less the time I couldn't walk. I was hit by someone I could see for more than 20 seconds on a sunny day. So, please have some respect for new cyclists who are probably afraid as well.

The one positive of this is that I am taken for a nodder on a disc cross bike by the odd roadie in Rapha or Castelli, and cause great consernation when I say hello as a pass them up one of Edinburgh's many hills, on my slow bike wearing unstylish high vis.

cookeeemonster

First Aspect wrote:

]As to high vis - with respect to the scoffers amongst you, I'm now afraid of cycling without it. I've got oh around 25 years' commuting experience, less the time I couldn't walk. I was hit by someone I could see for more than 20 seconds on a sunny day. So, please have some respect for new cyclists who are probably afraid as well.

yeah I got no problem with that at all, and to be honest I might wear high viz out of my comfort zone i.e. dark country roads if that was on my commute.

First Aspect wrote:

The one positive of this is that I am taken for a nodder on a disc cross bike by the odd roadie in Rapha or Castelli, and cause great consernation when I say hello as a pass them up one of Edinburgh's many hills, on my slow bike wearing unstylish high vis.

veronese68

First Aspect wrote:

The one positive of this is that I am taken for a nodder on a disc cross bike by the odd roadie in Rapha or Castelli, and cause great consernation when I say hello as a pass them up one of Edinburgh's many hills, on my slow bike wearing unstylish high vis.

That is a definite advantage, I like that.
I don't mind high viz, it's the being told to wear it or I'm at fault attitude I object to. I was reminded this morning that one of my neighbours that drives a large tipper truck has to wear high viz jacket and trousers at all times when he is on site. He had two complaints about it, the first that he doesn't get out of the truck when on site so they should be able to see the large tipper truck regardless of what he is wearing. The second is that he said the reflection of himself in the windscreen can be quite distracting in certain light.

elbowloh

I sometimes wear a hi-vis gillet (not a work-site vest), but when i put my backpack on, it's really not much use. Keeps me warm though.

I was however lit up like a Christmas tree last night as I had to go on a nasty dual carriageway section of the A23 between Coulsdon and Hooley last night.

slowbike

Veronese68 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

The one positive of this is that I am taken for a nodder on a disc cross bike by the odd roadie in Rapha or Castelli, and cause great consernation when I say hello as a pass them up one of Edinburgh's many hills, on my slow bike wearing unstylish high vis.

That is a definite advantage, I like that.
I don't mind high viz, it's the being told to wear it or I'm at fault attitude I object to. I was reminded this morning that one of my neighbours that drives a large tipper truck has to wear high viz jacket and trousers at all times when he is on site. He had two complaints about it, the first that he doesn't get out of the truck when on site so they should be able to see the large tipper truck regardless of what he is wearing. The second is that he said the reflection of himself in the windscreen can be quite distracting in certain light.

That's a result of an unthinking H&S twonk - Hi Viz is safer therefore you must wear it ... even though there would be no benefit from wearing it and in some cases (like your neighbours case) it makes everything worse ...

A couple of years ago I had to do some work at height - putting up a wifi antenna outside a building - we used a forklift with cage ... the person in charge of H&S told me off for not wearing a hard hat & harness and clipping onto the cage. IMHO, ridiculous as if I'd fallen over (unlikely but a possibility) then I would still be inside the cage - if the cage fails then I'm going down with the cage anyway and if the forklift fails then it's the same situation. The harness is a minor hamper in manoeuvrability so not wearing one means I get the job done more quickly. I'm still not sure what the HH would've achieved ... I suppose I'm lucky I wasn't asked to wear HiViz too ...

markhewitt1978

Isn't the point of HGV, and indeed bus drivers wearing hi-vis, not for their normal day to day job, but if they break down, are in an accident or other random thing, they can jump out and have hi-vis on ready to go.

slowbike

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Isn't the point of HGV, and indeed bus drivers wearing hi-vis, not for their normal day to day job, but if they break down, are in an accident or other random thing, they can jump out and have hi-vis on ready to go.

Yer - but thats like sitting at home with your coat, shoes, hat & scarf on just in case you have to go outside into the cold & wet ... most sensible ppl have the kit to hand ready to put on ..

secretsam

I wear a hi-viz thingy on my backpack, apparently it's really bright at night. Which has s0d all to do with hi-viz, and everything to do with reflectives.

Other than that, I prefer reds or other bright colours, I feel that they stand out more than hi-viz.

rjsterry

Veronese68 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

The one positive of this is that I am taken for a nodder on a disc cross bike by the odd roadie in Rapha or Castelli, and cause great consernation when I say hello as a pass them up one of Edinburgh's many hills, on my slow bike wearing unstylish high vis.

That is a definite advantage, I like that.
I don't mind high viz, it's the being told to wear it or I'm at fault attitude I object to. I was reminded this morning that one of my neighbours that drives a large tipper truck has to wear high viz jacket and trousers at all times when he is on site. He had two complaints about it, the first that he doesn't get out of the truck when on site so they should be able to see the large tipper truck regardless of what he is wearing. The second is that he said the reflection of himself in the windscreen can be quite distracting in certain light.

All very well for your neighbour, but if someone is drafting the H&S policy for a company, they need to use clear and unambiguous instructions, not littered with lots of "except in the case of...". The injury stats for construction work suggest that relying on people's interpretation and common sense won't really cut it. Construction sites often have heavy plant and lorries moving around amongst lots of people on foot - as cyclists, I think we can all see why that might be an issue.

slowbike

rjsterry wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

The one positive of this is that I am taken for a nodder on a disc cross bike by the odd roadie in Rapha or Castelli, and cause great consernation when I say hello as a pass them up one of Edinburgh's many hills, on my slow bike wearing unstylish high vis.

That is a definite advantage, I like that.
I don't mind high viz, it's the being told to wear it or I'm at fault attitude I object to. I was reminded this morning that one of my neighbours that drives a large tipper truck has to wear high viz jacket and trousers at all times when he is on site. He had two complaints about it, the first that he doesn't get out of the truck when on site so they should be able to see the large tipper truck regardless of what he is wearing. The second is that he said the reflection of himself in the windscreen can be quite distracting in certain light.

All very well for your neighbour, but if someone is drafting the H&S policy for a company, they need to use clear and unambiguous instructions, not littered with lots of "except in the case of...". The injury stats for construction work suggest that relying on people's interpretation and common sense won't really cut it. Construction sites often have heavy plant and lorries moving around amongst lots of people on foot - as cyclists, I think we can all see why that might be an issue.

Well - I would've thought that fairly simple then - if you get out of your vehicle you must wear your HiViz clothing. The blanket "everyone must do this and that" makes no sense other than for the H&S writer who then doesn't have to think ... and the blanket "everyone must do this and that" written by the less thoughtful H&S Writer means that fewer ppl are actively thinking about their safety - it must be safe because the H&S policy says we are.

elbowloh

Tbf, although I don't work directly in H&S (i work for a large civils/construction company), i do work very closely with them. The blanket policies like this are usually client dirven and even then it's not the H&S people that decide on these policies, but rather directors.

I'd say most accidents on site are caused by people either doing something they weren't supposed to be doing (often trying to save time), through absent mindedness (alpha state / in the zone) or simply tripping over!

mtb-idle

Slowbike wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Isn't the point of HGV, and indeed bus drivers wearing hi-vis, not for their normal day to day job, but if they break down, are in an accident or other random thing, they can jump out and have hi-vis on ready to go.

Yer - but thats like sitting at home with your coat, shoes, hat & scarf on just in case you have to go outside into the cold & wet ... most sensible ppl have the kit to hand ready to put on ..

Where's the 'Like' button?

itboffin

today i totally OWNED everyone in London whilst riding my country winter commuter loaded with double panniers

shame on you all, tomorrow i'll be on my proper London FGSS wearing Rapha head to toe - all black natch, come get it if you want it biiiiiitches!!!! :twisted:

itboffin

i might make it easy for you all and ride with one leg :roll:

vimfuego

That wasn't you that I destroyed this morning was it? On my 9 year old MTB.

The Rookie

I wear a hi-vis gillet over my soft shell in winter as the whole thing reflects like the yellow paint on a speed camera (commute is country lanes) in summer I have white or yellow sports tops.

Wheelspinner

Bizarre hi-vis tale #724: one site I went to had to have a yellow vest with the reflective strips over shoulders and across the back or no access. Next site I went to they said I couldn't wear that vest because they found the reflective bits on shoulders actually cause sunburned ears in daylight if outside, so had to get another vest before I could go on site.

I work in IT. Indoors. :roll:

notsoblue

I bet these guys don't have to wear Hi-Viz...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/f ... ker-deaths

anonymousblackfg

Right, I'm calling it, not sure it's tit monday but it's definately Noddergeddon today.

I thought they were relatively well behaved, I thought Allez Man was causing more trouble, almost witnessed one benefiting from a new slimming plan where you place yourself between a pikies flatbed transit and bus and wait for the slimming effect.

menthel

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Right, I'm calling it, not sure it's tit monday but it's definitely Noddergeddon today.

I thought they were relatively well behaved, I thought Allez Man was causing more trouble, almost witnessed one benefiting from a new slimming plan where you place yourself between a pikies flatbed transit and bus and wait for the slimming effect.

Agreed. CS7 was rather full of them. As was Queenstown road etc.

slowbike

I was stood by a main road waiting for my Dad on Saturday and low and behold - a Nodder came past ... it was quite comical ...

Now, I've been known to do a bit of nodding myself - uphill when pushing it as much as I can - but this was on the flat and approaching a roundabout .... I wanted to shout out, but contained myself

jp1970

Can i presume we're not allowed to nod to 'riders' on Electric bikes !!!!!