View Full Version : Cyclists
Tom Cornwall
04-Nov-08, 21:45
Are cyclists the new privileged society?.. they seem to be allowed… to disregard traffic lights… to go the wrong way down one-way streets… to endanger pedestrians by cycling on the pavement... to ride at night without lights…I could go on, but perhaps I’m just being grumpy again!!:):)
The worst thing for me is the fact that none off them have lights! It's unreal how many off them will come out of nowhere with no lights on not giving a damn if you hit them or not!
A cyclist is just a motorist who has been liberated from fuel bills, road tax and insurance, and is simply overwhelmed by joie de vie. Just try it, you may experience the same reckless effect whenever you happen to catch a good Caithness tailwind!
A cyclist is just a motorist who has been liberated from fuel bills, road tax and insurance, and is simply overwhelmed by joie de vie. Just try it, you may experience the same reckless effect whenever you happen to catch a good Caithness tailwind!
But do you use lights whilst enjoying your joie de vie?:)
Wifie, I have a bell and lights that flash front and rear that can generate epilepsy in roadside sheep and things attached to the spokes to reflect any other passing illumination but do confess to switching it all off on a lonely country road when there is no other traffic and the moon and stars are bright enough to see by. That can be pure sensation providing extermities like hands and ears can be kept warm enough.
Confessions from a born again cyclist!
Wifie, I have a bell and lights that flash front and rear that can generate epilepsy in roadside sheep and things attached to the spokes to reflect any other passing illumination but do confess to switching it all off on a lonely country road when there is no other traffic and the moon and stars are bright enough to see by. That can be pure sensation providing extermities like hands and ears can be kept warm enough.
Confessions from a born again cyclist!
Hey now that does sound appealing! (Poor owld sheep tho!)
Wifie, I have a bell and lights that flash front and rear that can generate epilepsy in roadside sheep and things attached to the spokes to reflect any other passing illumination but do confess to switching it all off on a lonely country road when there is no other traffic and the moon and stars are bright enough to see by. That can be pure sensation providing extermities like hands and ears can be kept warm enough.
Confessions from a born again cyclist!
I absolutely love that to bits:)
brokencross
05-Nov-08, 08:47
flash front and rear that can generate epilepsy in roadside sheep
Does that constitute sheep worrying? [lol]
There are lots of jokes and innuendos about what worries a sheep which I won't touch on in this family friendly forum. However the biggest hazard from cycling in the dark around here is running into deer or other wildlife as you silently approach them.
And then there was the highly irresponsible experience of cycling home in the dark after impromptu ceilidhing with neighbours some 5 miles away. Balance seemed to go into slow motion and slight adjustments to the vertical became exagerrated but fortunately relaxation on impact with the road seemed to soften the unexpected landing. OK, so I fell of twice in the small hours of the morning but met no other traffic and what a great night out and of course it will never happen again and hey, don't knock it if you haven't tried it.
The worst thing for me is the fact that none off them have lights! It's unreal how many off them will come out of nowhere with no lights on not giving a damn if you hit them or not!
What frightens me most is the number of children cycling at night without lights. Don't their parents care what happens to them?
what annoyes me is the cyclist that hit my wee girl when she wasnt meant to be cycling on the bridge
the kids who cycle through the street and dont watch what there doing!!!![evil][evil]
Just having a vent...
Today I was in town, sat in my car at a set of temporary traffic lights. There was a junction to my left which I had left clear for oncoming vehicles to turn into or to allow traffic to turn right out of.
As there was a parked lowloader taking up a good part of the road to my right I had to position myself close to the kerb to leave room for the high number of buses using this road.
A female cyclist decides she will try and squeeze down my inside and clatters my door mirror with the end of her handlebar. No acknowledgement she hit my car, just blindly carries on turning left down the side street. So I give her a blast of the horn and next thing is this young guy is remonstrating at my nearside window - I wind it down and he's accusing me of hitting her!!!! Claims that I should have left room for her to get through. I replied that cyclists seem to ignore basic rules of the road and maybe she should have slowed down and dismounted rather than 'barge' her way through regardless.
He cycled off muttering something about if he saw me again I'd better watch out - I nearly answered "why wait until next time" but the lights decided to change...
If she had just stopped to say sorry or indicate her 'error' I would have been happy. But she didn't...
There is definitely a trend amongst todays cyclists to ignore basic highway code - red light jumping is one, as is riding through streets which have 'closed to traffic' times. Pavement riding really gets me and many times I am tempted to step in front of one just to prove a point.
The police or their sidekicks, the PCSOs, seem to do little about cycling bandits even when they are on foot patrol and these eejits ride by them.
I ride a bike, although not as often as I used to, and I obey the rules of the road, perhaps because I have seen the situation from both sides. Just as I tend to give the HGV or PSV drivers a bit of leeway having both of these licences under my belt.
Maybe that is part of the problem - many cyclists have never driven a car so don't have a realisation of the 'risks' that reckless cycling can create. Time for ASCOs (anti-social cycling order) maybe?......
Are cyclists the new privileged society?.. they seem to be allowed… to disregard traffic lights… to go the wrong way down one-way streets… to endanger pedestrians by cycling on the pavement... to ride at night without lights…I could go on, but perhaps I’m just being grumpy again!!:):)
It's funny you say that. I though I was driving in a different country today when I found myself driving towards a cyclist who was on the right hand side of the road.
Just having a vent...
Today I was in town, sat in my car at a set of temporary traffic lights. There was a junction to my left which I had left clear for oncoming vehicles to turn into or to allow traffic to turn right out of.
As there was a parked lowloader taking up a good part of the road to my right I had to position myself close to the kerb to leave room for the high number of buses using this road.
A female cyclist decides she will try and squeeze down my inside and clatters my door mirror with the end of her handlebar. No acknowledgement she hit my car, just blindly carries on turning left down the side street. So I give her a blast of the horn and next thing is this young guy is remonstrating at my nearside window - I wind it down and he's accusing me of hitting her!!!! Claims that I should have left room for her to get through. I replied that cyclists seem to ignore basic rules of the road and maybe she should have slowed down and dismounted rather than 'barge' her way through regardless.
He cycled off muttering something about if he saw me again I'd better watch out - I nearly answered "why wait until next time" but the lights decided to change...
If she had just stopped to say sorry or indicate her 'error' I would have been happy. But she didn't...
There is definitely a trend amongst todays cyclists to ignore basic highway code - red light jumping is one, as is riding through streets which have 'closed to traffic' times. Pavement riding really gets me and many times I am tempted to step in front of one just to prove a point.
The police or their sidekicks, the PCSOs, seem to do little about cycling bandits even when they are on foot patrol and these eejits ride by them.
I ride a bike, although not as often as I used to, and I obey the rules of the road, perhaps because I have seen the situation from both sides. Just as I tend to give the HGV or PSV drivers a bit of leeway having both of these licences under my belt.
Maybe that is part of the problem - many cyclists have never driven a car so don't have a realisation of the 'risks' that reckless cycling can create. Time for ASCOs (anti-social cycling order) maybe?......
Many good points there, that cyclist had no right saying you should have given her room :mad: thats not how it works.
As also a cyclist i see things from both sides, I have recently got new "racing" tyres so have no choice than to avoid pavements. :D
Red lights are good as it gives me a chance to catch a few breaths.
Not sure if a lot of car drivers in town like me keeping up with them tho :lol:
well when the conditions are good for it.
Reason i dont think police will do much about cyclists is there is no money to be made from then.
Well I tend to give cyclists a wide berth most of the time - just because I know the dangers from sunken drains and potholes and high kerbs (catching the left hand pedal on the bottom of it's travel on a high kerb will send you flying all to easily) so will always prefer to sit behind them if there is no passing room rather than squeeze by risking pushing them off the road. So I feel my caring-for-cyclists credentials are pretty good.
This guy just ticked me off butting in like he did. I have a really good memory for faces so will look forward to our next meeting....
BMcGillivray
22-Apr-09, 13:47
Ive been cycling to and from work recently, and i have to say, i hate cycling on roads. Ive gone up onto the pavement once or twice, but only when there hasn't been any pedestrians i could see, and theres a lot of traffic.
You're a lot more exposed on a bike, feels quite dangerous if theres traffic. Cars/vans overtaking is by far the worst, coming far too close, forcing you to edge closer to the kerb.
I know there isn't enough space for it up here, but dedicated cycling lanes would make things a lot better for all involved.
Tom you grumpy never I dont believe it
I've just started again, have to say I've been abiding by all the rules though I dont wear a helmet, and whilst cycling to Castletown, every car that came past, I had the thought in the back of my head "Oh God Im going to die!!!!!"
Stargazer
22-Apr-09, 18:42
Are cyclists the new privileged society?.. they seem to be allowed… to disregard traffic lights… to go the wrong way down one-way streets… to endanger pedestrians by cycling on the pavement... to ride at night without lights…I could go on, but perhaps I’m just being grumpy again!!:):)
Well Tom, you could just as well be talking about car drivers. Parking on pavements, driving round at dusk with no lights and traffic lights - three cars allowed through on red. And there is a lot more car drivers.
Tom Cornwall
22-Apr-09, 18:47
I'm just grumpy :)
Stargazer
22-Apr-09, 18:53
I'm just grumpy :)
Me too, my blood boils every time I see a car parked on a pavement, just gets in everybodys way, other drivers and pedestrians.
--Come the revolution.:evil
Just having a vent...
A female cyclist decides she will try and squeeze down my inside
......
Oh aye!:confused
It's just as well we don't have a cyclist like this running around Wick or Thurso. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hmfckickback.co.uk%2Fshowthr ead.php%3Ft%3D49077&feature=player_embedded We'd have a grumping epidemic
I think some cycle lanes in Caithness would be a good idea. I also think it could be a good idea to convert any inter-town pavements into cycleways, being decided on a case by case suitability. These don't get used by pedestrians very much and the benefits of allowing cyclists to travel safely away from cars between places of settlement would be a good thing. This is already being adopted down south.
I've always thought that a lot of the world's problems can be sorted out if we all decided to travel by bicycle, eg obesity, traffic congestion, carbon emissions.
I think some cycle lanes in Caithness would be a good idea. I also think it could be a good idea to convert any inter-town pavements into cycleways, being decided on a case by case suitability. These don't get used by pedestrians very much and the benefits of allowing cyclists to travel safely away from cars between places of settlement would be a good thing. This is already being adopted down south.
As long as motorists dont park on them like they do here
As long as motorists dont park on them like they do here
I was cycling in Barrow this week and thought that the Abbey road cycle path was ok.
We have dual role paths here - trouble is the cyclists insist on riding on the flipping roads even though there is an empty path right next to them....
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