Cyclists nuisance or not.

[kerny]

Anyone see tonight's program, this clip was shown on the program. I think that this young punk needs his bike wrapping round his neck.

Love em or hate em....

Why are cyclists using video cameras? - YouTube

[mister p]

Originally Posted by kerny

Anyone see tonight's program, this clip was shown on the program. I think that this young punk needs his bike wrapping round his neck.

Love em or hate em....

I cycle in London and it's very much each to their own. I ride a motorbike in London and you've got to accept that it's one of the busiest cities in the world and get on with it.
I used to row on the Thames for my school, sculls, fours and eights.
I now hate cyclists when I'm on the road ( sanctimonious, self righteous planet saving prigs. )
I hate rowers when I'm on the river, ditto.
They are, without doubt the most hypocritical bunch of tossers out there.
When they get off that machine they get into their Range Rovers or even worse Priuses and Defenders and bleat sanctimonious bollocks about traffic, charity,pollution and fuel.
Up their arse.
In answer to your question.........HATE THEM

[Downhilldai]

I saw the programme earlier tonight. A lot of vehicle drivers featured didn't exactly portray themselves, nor their driving skills in a particularly good light.

But then, that's what the media people like to show.

[lukewhiting]

Dont mind them but hate it when you get the 'wanna be pros' riding along in their lycra 3 or 4 wide in the road doing 20mph!

[spartacus]

Saw the programme. Don't agree with some of the cyclists shown, their cycling ability, or their aggresive tactics. The London couriers - that's an accident waiting to happen, and frankly they need to be off the road. However there are a lot of careful cyclists shown too.

I've cycled all my life, and have had my fair share of near misses, including 18 wheelers. The trouble is - our cities and roads aren't really geared up for cycling. It's an after-thought. Combine that with poor driving, impatience and the odd neanderthal and you have a recipe for disaster, with unfortunately a growing number of fatalities.

[EnglishLes]

I cycled up the the city for two years (late 79 to late 81) 11 miles from East London. It was quicker than the train as I had a distance at both ends.

There were far less bike lanes then and far less cyclists, I don't know about the traffic.

The thing that most people seem to forget is that if two cars collide then most of the time it is just bent metal but if a car and cyclist collide then the cyclist might end up dead.

I ride to prevent people trying to overtake me when it is not safe to do so, on a couple of occasions (I don't ride very much now and certainly not in London), idiots have ignored my positioning tried to overtake then had to do an emergency stop to prevent themselves having a head on collision with a vehicle they couldn't see.

I got hit a couple of years ago when I was on a roundabout, the driver said he didn't see me, bright sunny day and only a mini-roundabout. Luckily only cuts and bruises.

Motorcyclists use the acronym SMIDSY - Sorry Mate I Didn't see You.

I don't hold people up on purpose just like buses, lorries, tractors and people towing don't (caravans or RIBS) but we all have restrictions on how fast we can go, accelerate or the line we have to take on bends or roundabouts.

A bit more consideration would go a long way.

[kerny]

Originally Posted by mister p

I cycle in London and it's very much each to their own. I ride a motorbike in London and you've got to accept that it's one of the busiest cities in the world and get on with it.
I used to row on the Thames for my school, sculls, fours and eights.
I now hate cyclists when I'm on the road ( sanctimonious, self righteous planet saving prigs. )
I hate rowers when I'm on the river, ditto.
They are, without doubt the most hypocritical bunch of tossers out their.
When they get off that machine they get into their Range Rovers or even worse Priuses and Defenders and bleat sanctimonious bollocks about traffic, charity,pollution and fuel.
Up their arse.
In answer to your question.........HATE THEM

Speak your mind mister p why not

Rowing for your school on the Thames mmm what school did you go to ehh... . I bet that you are really quite posh mr p yet I do admire your humblness regarding your choice of rib
posh folks usually go for them Ribeye jobies

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by EnglishLes

I cycled up the the city for two years (late 79 to late 81) 11 miles from East London. It was quicker than the train as I had a distance at both ends.

There were far less bike lanes then and far less cyclists, I don't know about the traffic.

The thing that most people seem to forget is that if two cars collide then most of the time it is just bent metal but if a car and cyclist collide then the cyclist might end up dead.

I ride to prevent people trying to overtake me when it is not safe to do so, on a couple of occasions (I don't ride very much now and certainly not in London), idiots have ignored my positioning tried to overtake then had to do an emergency stop to prevent themselves having a head on collision with a vehicle they couldn't see.

I got hit a couple of years ago when I was on a roundabout, the driver said he didn't see me, bright sunny day and only a mini-roundabout. Luckily only cuts and bruises.

Motorcyclists use the acronym SMIDSY - Sorry Mate I Didn't see You.

I don't hold people up on purpose just like buses, lorries, tractors and people towing don't (caravans or RIBS) but we all have restrictions on how fast we can go, accelerate or the line we have to take on bends or roundabouts.

A bit more consideration would go a long way.

Well said.

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by kerny

I bet that you are really quite posh mr p yet I do admire your humblness regarding your choice of rib

Oi! Nothing humbl about a Searider.

[mister p]

I loved rowing.........didn't realise that 20 years later it would turn me into a raving loon hating blinkered arses papering their shitty little hypocastles...........quite proud of that word,
Rowing's cool, cycling's cool, let's keep it at that.
The ranting "WAKE!!!!!" shouters on the river in their sculls can join the cyclists that need to acknowledge real world traffic.
(in a hushed voice) No one gives a shit and just get on with it.
There. That's to the moaning cyclists and rowers out there.

[kerny]

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Oi! Nothing humbl about a Searider.

Sorry Dhd I didn't realise that they are posh..... must be all that gaffer tape

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by kerny

Sorry Dhd I didn't realise that they are posh.....

Have you priced up a new one?

[Poly]

Originally Posted by spartacus

...you have a recipe for disaster, with unfortunately a growing number of fatalities.

Actually cycling fatalities are generally falling in the UK: Is cycling in Great Britain getting safer? We crunch the numbers | road.cc | Road cycling news, Bike reviews, Commuting, Leisure riding, Sportives and more

Originally Posted by kerny

Anyone see tonight's program, this clip was shown on the program.

Interestingly being discussed on the cycling forums too. General consensus seems to be that it was reasonably balanced (nobody there denies that some cyclists are idiots). When I was young and riding in the city centre I used to get would up, shout at and chase down drivers who were stupid; in the end I gave up cycling. 12 yrs later I started again, and almost never get would up; the roads aren't any safer, certainly aren't any quieter, but
I've come to realise people aren't perfect mostly don't drive like idiots intentionally and perhaps most importantly if I get wound up cycling is no longer enjoyable and I'd be as well sitting in the car or on a bus.

[Nos4r2]

I don't like cyclists.

Maybe 5% are ok and actually aware of their surroundings. The rest are something akin to toddlers playing on the M4, with the ipod zombies being the worst.

[paddlers]

Living in the sticks the main problem with cyclists are the occassional rafts (usually blokes) about 4 deep across the road making it difficult to overtake on narrow roads. If they made the effort to allow you to pass there'd be a lot less issues with impatient drivers, even worse are the blokes in tractors with trailers that drive for mile after mile with cars behind at 20mph!! You're unlikely to knock them over though......!

[Poly]

Originally Posted by paddlers

Living in the sticks the main problem with cyclists are the occassional rafts (usually blokes) about 4 deep across the road making it difficult to overtake on narrow roads.

Paddlers, I'm not going to defend cycling 4 deep, although in my experience any group cycling that deep will usually be consistently doing 20mph+ (unless up hill) and may hold you up much less than a fat bloke like me on his own.

There is however a debate even within the cycling community about whether riding two up (or potentially more) is actually safer than 'singling out'. Unfortunately when singled out on narrow roads overtaking drivers tend to squeeze through gaps that don't really exist. That is obviously dangerous. By riding two abreast cyclists become a similar 'size' to a car on the road and thus "force" overtaking using the full road rather the squeezing through. There is a benefit for responsible car drivers too, six riders riding two abreast will take up about the same length of road as a large van, if they single out your overtake (which still need clear road on the other side) is for double the length. Of course the same argument would apply to a bigger group who decide to bunch up to four abreast - they increase the width (but groups riding 4 abreast will usually still be no wider than a car) but shorten the distance of your overtake by 3/4s. Obviously there is an argument to split the group up, but of course there are other arguments that a large group is more visible, its certainly more efficient in terms of cycling, and its probably easiest for drivers to overtake one big group once, than have 4 of 5 overtakes in the space of a few miles.

Unfortunately there is no way for a cyclist to know whether the car / van / bus / truck is being driven by someone with a brain or not so the defensive approach is to assume that its probably not. Generally cyclists don't want a car sitting impatiently behind them, they haven't come out to sit in traffic for fun, so (although there are idiots in all walks of life) won't be holding you up for fun. Most cyclists would welcome the police taking a more proactive approach in policing cycling - red light jumpers, no lights, cutting up the inside of trucks turning left at junctions, and riding on the pavement* are things that generally that should be getting action; whilst obviously balanced against policing of bad overtakes, misuse of advanced stop boxes and aggressive driving etc.

If you've not been on a bike since you were a teenager I'd recommend riding a variety of roads, I think it makes you a better (more aware / understanding) driver.

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by mister p

I used to row on the Thames for my school, sculls, fours and eights.

So did I - but I was mostly sat in the back steering!

[9D280]

Bottom line is there are both responsible and tw@t cyclists and drivers (regardless of vehicle). I used to cycle a lot more athan I do now, and kliek the rest of you have had some near misses & one headlong vault over my handlebars / someones front hedge & a parachute roll in theior front garden as I tried not to pile into the sid eof a Mini Metro who quite obviously either didn't see me or totally underestimated my speed.

So, UI can live with being delayed by a cyclist. I can even live with realising I am on the same road as a cycle race (and with a rib on the back makes overtaking almost impossible)......BUT

WHY WON'T THE NUMPTIES WHO ARE GIVEN A WHOLE NETWORK OF CYCLE PATHS / UNDERPASSES / ROUNDABOUT AVIOIDING ROUTES ETC ETC USE THE DAMN FACILITIES INSTEAD OF TRYING TO TURN RIGHT ON A F****ING DUAL CARRIAGEWAY ROUNDABOUT FROM THE INSIDE LANE!!!!!!!!!!!!

<and breath>...... It is possible to do the whole town on a bike without touching a main road. Rant over.

[dpround]

Originally Posted by 9D280

WHY WON'T THE NUMPTIES WHO ARE GIVEN A WHOLE NETWORK OF CYCLE PATHS / UNDERPASSES / ROUNDABOUT AVIOIDING ROUTES ETC ETC USE THE DAMN FACILITIES INSTEAD OF TRYING TO TURN RIGHT ON A F****ING DUAL CARRIAGEWAY ROUNDABOUT FROM THE INSIDE LANE!!!!!!!!!!!!

<and breath>...... It is possible to do the whole town on a bike without touching a main road. Rant over.

I can tell you the answer to that one. They are generally worse than useless. How would you like to give way at every side road? Be instructed to get out of your car and push at each major junction? Take three cycles of the lights to turn right? Have a protected lane only when you do NOT need it? Generally be a third class citizen? Alternatively, you can take you chances with the traffic, but get the same rights as everyone else. I think traffic planners who are going to design cycle facilities should be forced to use them!

David

[Erin]

Impatience is the problem. Drivers just can't wait to overtake and until you have a crash you don't really understand the consequences of potentially injuring someone.