Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Are they the vile Lycra clad idiots or just normal people having a bike ride?

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Just following "Guvmint’ guidelines... ;)

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...side-your-home

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Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

You could imagine this thread title as a Daily Mail headline ... says it all really.

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Don't read it myself but if you enjoy reading it enjoy.

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We've had an influx of motorbikes and scooters in the village this afternoon. Suddenly living in a seaside village is losing it's shine.

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I live at the seaside and i can go to the beach any time i like,so i have no problem with those less fortunate coming for a day out,we always get lots of bikers and scooter riders coming to town and given that people have been locked away for so long i think they deserve a day out.

Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Cardiff centre is having a revamp to make more space for the MAMILs. They said at first it was to widen pavements to allow social distancing, then the bike lanes started to appear taking up the bus lanes. That means buses will have to stop in the only lane left, and block a major route through the city. Sustrans and the Greens are behind this I'm sure.

I just wish they would stop them riding through the pedestrian zones (signs banning them have been up for years). And why did they put a NextBike depot right in the middle of the pedestrian area?

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They are the future mate, listen to the Govt. you support.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/p...-a4436311.html

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I don't usually but today was really over the top. Social distancing became much harder than usual. The instruction about meeting one other adult not in your household was really being pushed to extremes as well.

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Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Stay home >>> Protect the public from an unsightly view of your ar.. >>> Save lives.

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Good to know you have nothing against assertive Lycra clad sensible cyclists :tu:

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Can't see anything in those guidelines about meeting up with several other planks and make believe like a child that they're a Tour De France peloton.


Save their life, be an awful pity if anything happened to any or all of them

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As soon as you put on Lycra you've lost the argument.

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And your dignity...

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Returning from where? Cycling was always a lockdown exercise option.
Cyclists could become less of an irritation for you in future because you may soon not be able to drive where they ride :naughty:

As Taf says, adjustments have already begun.

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Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Bullbars/ nudge bars that's the answer.

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I love it when I'm out on my bike and rectum-necks tell me I need to get off the road because I "don't pay tax or insurance".

Right, so what is it I do to legally keep my car on the road then?

(for the record I have bike insurance)

Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

I have no issue with cyclists generally.......

However, I do believe that there should be a licencing regime or something, if they are using the “roads” as some show no road sense whatsoever, such as looking behind you before you pull out or join traffic.

You need a different licence for a motorbike because you have to approach things differently to a car and it the same for a bike.

Also think about you clothing more, I know it has to be light and flexible, but live at the bottom of a hill on a rural road and the speed they reach as they go past my house, on skinny tyres, if they came off or Hit something - well it Would probably be the last thing they did.

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The problem I see with some kind of licensing system is how it would affect kids. Would there be a minimum age to cycle? How would that be administered? Would kids therefore only be allowed to cycle with an adult (to deal with any licence enquiries etc)? Plus many other questions.

I’d be in favour of having some kind of licence but I think it would just be too difficult and awkward to manage.

As for clothing, I use my bike for mountain biking and am usually kitted out accordingly so if I’m on a road on the way to a route and come off or whatever I’ll have a degree of protection.

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It's the packs that cause issues, they are the size of a car and down hill they get the speed of a car but uphill that's more like the speed of a very old tractor. But unlike many tractor drivers they don't pull to the side to let faster traffic through.
And when they do have accidents they are more likely to need hospital care than those in a nice safe metal box for the same speed/situation.

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They just don't seem aware of the danger of getting in the way of an impatient motorist.

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Cyclists aren’t the problem, drivers aren’t the problem. HUMANS are the problem.

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I see the roads are returning to normal. Shame as people were being so nice to each other too !
Btw , is this a news story? (I didn't see a link), or just another generic have a go at cyclists thread? I do both, and there are plonkers behind 4 wheels and 2 wheels, but the 4 wheeled ones have potential to do more damage. Some have used the lockdown as an excuse to speed through urban areas, hope the fines/points are double atm.

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Road maintenance is paid for by general taxation so we all contribute. Road tax is a misnomer; it is an emissions tax for motor vehicles and therefore does not apply to cyclists. Cue the farting jokes....:rolleyes:

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If they are going to cycle "on the road" and "unaccompanied" I would say 12 minimum.

I think it is madness that at the moment any child of any age is allowed to ride on the road without any training or any supervision.

It they are supervised and accompanied by an adult then that's OK.

I agree there would difficulties but I think something needs to be done.

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If anything we need to encourage kids to be more active, whether its cycling or something else. Otherwise they'll just get fatter behind their consoles, and just drive everywhere when they get a car - the way the US has gone. We'd have yet another crisis for the NHS in the years to come.

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Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

It may come as a surprise, but they really aren't doing it to annoy you.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cy...-Positioning-0

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There is nothing guaranteed more to get up a normal (let alone irritated/impatient) drivers nose than a cyclist in the middle of the lane trundling happily along and ignoring the stream of traffic crawling along behind them.

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One here definitely was, dawdling-along in the middle of main roads with a sign on his back "20 is plenty".

I wish he had actually got up anywhere near 20mph as he screwed with the bus timetables for hours. :mad:

And we've probably all seen the recent incident where a young girl, very unsteady on her bike, collided with a couple on a very narrow footpath. And then her father, who had been riding behind her, claimed the couple had pushed her over, despite his own video showing they had not.

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Are cyclists exempt from using mobile phones while on the move . . . or is it just my area that has a surfeit of them?

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Around here most are exempt from using the handle bars/stopping at traffic lights/ having the front wheel on the road/ riding on the left.....

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Well yeah, but I didn't want to promote (mainly the younger) cyclists in a bad way ;)

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Yeah, it's a good technique, especially if you're shifting. One of the few times I came off my bike and a big source of near misses is when I am on my road bike and tanking along at 25mph. Drivers often misjudge the speed I am going at, try to overtake and rapidly run out of space when the speed differential in a 30mph zone is only 5mph.

If I see things like bollards ahead, I will start to 'ride big' to stop a misjudged overtake. Being knocked off a bike at 25mph isn't fun!

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"Using a hand held mobile phone whilst cycling is not illegal per se. However, you could commit an offence of careless cycling. It is also not advisable for the obvious safety reasons."

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q604.htm

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What we need is the complete segregation of motorists and cyclists. Cyclists (especially children) will be safer and motorists won’t have to put up with the irritation. We all happy :).

It will mean that as motorists cannot responsibly share road space, less of it would be available to them as more dedicated cycle routes spring up all over the country.

This is the way things are going; I don’t think it’s what motorists really want but they are moaning their way into it. Sigh.

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In some other countries they are already adopting those measures.

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I got quite used to the cyclists' traffic lights in the Netherlands. And the riders abided by them. N.B. don't go driving near any form of junction in the Netherlands if you have a weak heart. Cyclists often have priority and don't even bother looking to see what's coming.

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I didn't which would get me first when I was in Amsterdam, cyclists from every direction, trams from other directions, and of course in a few cars, if they can squeeze in.... . You have to have your wits about you as s pedestrian ! Nice people and coffee bars though ;)

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You are correct but with our challenges on road space and land ownership, expanding roads to include dedicated cycle lanes is a big ask.

What is needed is for Government (Local probably) to stand up to the Luddites and make brave road/urban space planning changes, like they made in Ghent:



However, at the end of the day, some people will just moan at anything. I mean, the Daily Mail built a whole comments section around this principle!

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Try crossing the main roads in Saigon - the traffic doesn’t stop, it just flows around you, and if you stop, you’ll get hit...

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Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Agreed. I recall suggesting on this forum some time ago that a radical re-think is needed. Perhaps a network of some B roads dedicated to cycle/pedestrian use. No solutions are easy but now is the time before gridlock and/or 20mph limits everywhere. No motorist wants that.

I like the Ghent approach; birthplace too of Sir Bradley Wiggins :)

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Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

We’ve designed our lives and living spaces around the car. Perhaps start by making some more of these roads not through routes for motor vehicles?

This is your thread; you are unhappy with the current situation, so what do you think could work?

Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Doesn't really matter what method of transport you are controlling roads are shared space and you need to be mindful to conditions and other road users. Just as motorists should give space to cyclists, allow for wobble or moving away from "obstructions" that would less affect cars and so on, cyclists need to allow for cars trying to get past and so on.
It should also be noted that roads are not race tracks. This applies to cyclists as well as motorists.

Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Fair point. I don’t intend arguing this through to a standstill as has become the norm in Current Affairs.

But with all the brain power exhibited here, seldom are solutions to problems suggested; usually, there’s a kind of one-upmanship posting which just goes around in circles and cycling is regularly, ahem, re-cycled.

If anyone says that’s what forums are all about, to me it’s just bickering for the sake of it.

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Fair enough Seph :D

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Difference between a debate and an argument - debate is usually about what’s right, argument is usually about who’s right.

Debates are usually about exchanges of information, hoping that this information may enlighten/sway others’ viewpoints - arguments are usually just trying to shout someone down.

Re: Return of the cyclist scourge
 

Very true and a mixture of each can be productive but when the shouting takes prevalence, the point of the discussion can be all but forgotten.

Btw, not referring to this thread or any particular contributor but attitudes in general seem aggressively adversarial for the sake of it. It’s as if a debate is going nowhere before it starts because you can see its shape as the sides line up.

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It does seem that way. I suppose time will heal the rift. Eventually :sleep:

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.....and it would be nice if it could be safer for them. I know that when cycling gets mentioned here it is always the “Lycra clad nutter” that meets with the collective disdain whereas cyclists are a much broader range of people and kids.

Surely some can remember the pure glee of having a bike for Christmas or a birthday? Kids deserve a safe place to ride in these complicated times. It’s the least we can do before they get saddled with debt and health problems.