Your rants here.

Podestrians - like it

The Telegraph wrote:

More than half of accidents involving "podestrians", as they have been called, are described as young people, teenagers or children.

Bit harsh to refer to the kids as accidents! Or am I reading this wrong?

The beauty with bikes - tyres and any number of other parts - is that for relatively small sums you can buy top level equipment bit by bit. The Ultremos are race level but will set you back little more than £20. Obviously the downside is that such small sums are very seductive but there are so many areas you can upgrade they really can pile up after a while

girv73 wrote:

MTB commuters are people too!

I think there's still some debate in the scientific community about that.

fairweatherbiker wrote:

Glass seems to be a pet rant here. I've been using a road bike on the towpath all summer (plenty of glass, and thorns), and after the first puncture my dealer told me about kevlar puncture resistant tyres .

Does anyone have any experience of these - are they better, worth the extra?

I love riding over glass .. it makes a nice crunchy noise like snow

I've had 1 and a half punctures in 10 months, thats riding an average of 15miles a day, my tyres are now 50% rubber 50% glass/other debris , kevlar tyres are the bees knees

Fault with the tube , tyre wasn't pierced by anything.

Always Tyred wrote:

Its an obvious question, but how can you get half a puncture?

it was only flat at the bottom?



I really think i need to go home now..... :?

@zanes I go for some sort of non-verbal acknowledgement, a nod or a smile or something just to say "hey, you're cycling, I happen to be cycling slightly faster, but it's all cool" or whatever. Sometimes I will say "mornin'" or something too. Maybe they think I'm just a crazy guy on a bike though.

I rarely pass anyone that quickly I'd type my version here, but it'd go on for pages...

ride_whenever wrote:

the neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwmmmmmmm is brilliant. It will now be my overtaking noise...

I have a mate who passed a Robin Reliant down a hill in his Fiesta, but he turned his engine off as he went past. His passenger (another friend) wound the window down and shouted "neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwmmmmmmm " as they went past.

Student days..... :roll:

I would like to vent mey spleen about gangster dogs.

I unfortunately live and commute through South East London, where every young male believes himself to be a ganster. Obligatory is the nasty looking dog that is never on a lead and covered in leather and fake gold ( least I assume its fake) Its been a couple of years since I was last knocked off by a dog, it seems it was my turn again this evening.

I am not sure whether the dog was deliberately sent out in front of me, but the dog came for me, anyway me and dog impacted and down I went. Luckily I think the dog was stunned.

I was really cross, the dick head belived it was my fault. I tired to reason with him about keeping his dog undercontrol and on a lead, but he was completely stupid/ brainless and I told him this which he didn't seem to like.

We muct have looked a sight , me in lyrac and him with his trousers round his knees, he didn't look if he had mastered the art of tieing his shoelaces or brushing his hair, and cover in gold.

Anyway things were getting a bit hot, as I said I was really cross, especially as I was now covered in crap and the bike had taken a knock. It then occurred to me that he was probably carrying knife, in this areas if he wasn't he would probably be the only one, and I thought I am now going to bet stabbed.

So I beat a hasty retreat, I did get to shout another load of abuse, but unfortunately I don't think it registered one bit.

Anyway rant over, tomorrow is another day in the war zone..

Commuting in London I am always polite and courteous to other riders but I don't tend to speak to them - it seems patronising to speak to someone you're overtaking, for a start, and I think I'm probably so conditioned by the omerta' of the bus/tube that I don't speak to strangers in any public context as a result

I could rant for Britain about stupid road and cycle path design. My current hatred is the number of stupid speedhumps right before turnings. It makes signalling your intention to turn impossible. You either signal half an hour early and then drop your arm so nobody is sure if you have changed your mind, or you signal after the hump - effectively giving nobody any warning at all or you signal while negotiating the hump meaning you are in real risk of hitting the deck and going under the wheels of the minicab who is trying to attach itself to your back wheel GRRRRR

People talk about making all motorists ride bikes as part of their tests - how about insisting that all town planners, engineers and workmen have to ride the roads that they design, lay etc

The most annoying things in the world are ludicrously complicated gates on a trail and huge clumps of dog sh*t thaat get everywhere!