A commute I did yesterday

[Elmer Fudd]

Bonj, PMSL here !
Now let us see how you really do it !

 

[bonj2]

Yes, I thought the beep for the no-right turn turn was quite justified, assuming that was what caused it.

ah right, so you feel it's quite ok to beep just simply to reprimand someone then do you. What about if someone turns left and doesn't signal, do you "reprimand" them for that aswell by beeping?

Another one that left me feeling uncomfortable was that nip in front of two cars waiting at the roundabout, and then only in a half-hearted seconday position.

It wasn't that secondary, if you look at where I am when I get to where the cycle lane starts I'm quite a bit to the right of it. I did once get cut up there by some idiot that decided to turn left from the middle lane so I know what position I need to be in at that junction.

I would have gone behind the cars, and stayed in the middle of the lane all the way around there.

Wait behind the cars? But there's an ASL!?

If it were me I would simply wait behind in the lane, and carry on afterwards. For me the advantages are that there's less exposure to close overtakes, less irritated drivers that have to repeatedly and unnecessarily overtake you, and it's calmer and safer. Plus bonj would only have lost 20-30 seconds over the whole trip, I would guess.

Yeah but over the course of a year, that's nearly 3 hours. 3 hours that could be spent doing something a lot more worthwhile.

 

[bonj2]

He was lucky to just get a beep. Turning onto the wrong side of the road like that, with a roundabout just ahead, he's lucky not to get flattened,

No, because what the camera doesn't pick up is the fact that I could see that red car and the people carrier in front of it a long time before you could see them on the camera. Don't forget it's on the handlebars, not my helmet.
So I knew exactly how long I had to get out, and more to the point how much space I had between the cars and the opposite kerb.
The ford ka on the left hand bend before that was a lot closer...

 

[Arch]

Oh come on. Don't pretend all cyclists don't do it.

I don't.

BTW, bonjybaby, we have to obey the law as well you know. That includes red lights, and no right turn signs, no matter how temporary they are, or how silly you think they are.

It doesn't matter how well you could see, that right turn was flagrant law breaking, for your own convenience. You're quite right that the horn should only be used as a warning, maybe the driver thought you needed warning that you were being a complete prat.

 

[Carwash]

As regards the turning right against the sign, no, I don't. I won't need to, because the road won't always be like this. It's only a temporary thing - that road I came out of probably eventually won't be there, and the road parallel to it and to the side of it will be resurfaced into a proper road.
If it was like that permanently then it would be bad road design, because everyone would be tempted to do what I do - but eventually they won't need to as they will just use the proper road that isn't yet open.

Such prescience! How marvellous it must be to be able to cycle not according to how the road layout and signs actually are, but according to what they will one day become.

I wish I could do this. It would open up a world of possibilities - cycling merrily down roads that haven't yet been built, going the wrong way down streets that, in ten years' time, will no longer be one-way, and over bridges that are still a mere twinkle a civil engineer's eye (take extra care with these!).

But is it not distracting for you, experiencing time in such a non-linear fashion?

 

[BentMikey]

That really was quite bad quality riding bonj.

 

[bonj2]

I don't.

BTW, bonjybaby, we have to obey the law as well you know.

That's a bit of a recursive statement. The law states what we 'have to' do - so to say 'we have to obey the law' is saying 'we have to do what we have to do, which is...' and it could go on and on. But at the end of the day, some people choose to break the law, and it doesn't do anybody any harm.

 

[bonj2]

Such prescience! How marvellous it must be to be able to cycle not according to how the road layout and signs actually are, but according to what they will one day become.

I wish I could do this. It would open up a world of possibilities - cycling merrily down roads that haven't yet been built, going the wrong way down streets that, in ten years time, will no longer be one-way, and over bridges that are still a mere twinkle a civil engineer's eye (take extra care with these!).

But is it not distracting for you, experiencing time in such a non-linear fashion?

But in a normal road layout you wouldn't have a road with only a semi-finished surface ending in a t-junction with a roundabout 10 yards to the left!
It's unrealistic to expect people, certainly cyclists, not to see it as being perfectly safe to use it.
The principle of it not being as it one day will be is not the reason I do it in the first place, that was just used as an attempt to justify it. The reason I do it in the first place is the same as the reason i go through red lights, simply because it's safe to and therefore there's no reason to not.

 

[bonj2]

It doesn't matter how well you could see, that right turn was flagrant law breaking, for your own convenience. You're quite right that the horn should only be used as a warning, maybe the driver thought you needed warning that you were being a complete prat.

Highway code, rule 92, regarding the horn: "Use only while your vehicle is moving and you need to warn other road users of your presence"

 

[bonj2]

That really was quite bad quality riding bonj.

I got to my destination in safety and in a reasonable time, and enjoyed it - I don't really see what else I could have got out of it, so on that basis it was excellent quality riding.

 

[Arch]

Highway code, rule 92, regarding the horn: "Use only while your vehicle is moving and you need to warn other road users of your presence"

Maybe, just maybe, he thought that as you'd ridden out against the flow of traffic, you weren't aware of his presence? Perhaps he thought you had some sort of eye defect that meant you hadn't seen all the stonking great signs?

 

[bonj2]

I wish I could do this. It would open up a world of possibilities - cycling merrily down roads that haven't yet been built, going the wrong way down streets that, in ten years' time, will no longer be one-way, and over bridges that are still a mere twinkle a civil engineer's eye (take extra care with these!).

I was actually thinking of including a step in the "bonj guide to cycling" to this effect, I may dedicate it to you. (magnatom, the ATC2000 is waterproof is it not?

 

[bonj2]

Maybe, just maybe, he thought that as you'd ridden out against the flow of traffic, you weren't aware of his presence? Perhaps he thought you had some sort of eye defect that meant you hadn't seen all the stonking great signs?

Well even if I wasn't aware of his presence, by the time he beeped me I was out of his way so it wouldn't have mattered whether I was aware of him or not by that point. So there was no need to alert me to his presence.

 

[magnatom]

Oh come on. Don't pretend all cyclists don't do it.

I don't. Look at my videos, do you see any where I have gone through a red light. I can honestly say I have never gone through a red light as a cyclist.

(I have as a car driver, but that was when I was learning to drive and I didn't plan ahead in time to stop. It was my first time driving my wifes new car and I was very nervous. Of course a police biker was at the junction and stopped me to give me a telling off. I certainly learned a lesson that day and the nice police man let me off with a stern finger wagging!!)

As others have said, you can't go making up the rules for yourself. The no right turn sign applies to cyclists just as much as it does to any road user. You probably gave that driver a fright. I think he was totally justified hitting his horn. He was warning you of his presence and warning you of the dangers that you faced and would face if you take that course again. I would say that was a very good use of a car horn.

RLJ does affect other road users attitudes. Thank goodness we all don't have the attitude that 'well everyone else does it so my indiscretions won't make a difference'. Yes other cyclists do bad things but that does not justify what you do? Other people drink and drive, does that make it ok for you to do it?

Welcome to the world of posting your cycling videos on the web!

 

[bonj2]

I don't. Look at my videos, do you see any where I have gone through a red light.

Oh, well that's a good defence, isn't it! Imagine if you could use that for any crime:
Judge: "The defendant is charged with the brutal and calculated murder of this defenseless old woman."
Defence counsel: "Your honour, please may I bring forward exibit EM1. A video of my client not murdering the victim. Therefore, he can't possibly have done it."
Judge: "Oh yes - ok. Case dismissed."

As others have said, you can't go making up the rules for yourself.

But if it's safe, I don't see the harm.

The no right turn sign applies to cyclists just as much as it does to any road user.

The 'no straight bananas' rule and the 'no pounds and ounces' rule applies to Britain just as much as it does to any other EU country, but it doesn't mean it's a good rule or even that it's a good idea to abide by it.

You probably gave that driver a fright. I think he was totally justified hitting his horn. He was warning you of his presence and warning you of the dangers that you faced and would face if you take that course again. I would say that was a very good use of a car horn.

Nah, he didn't get a fright at all. There was no danger to him, or to anybody else for that matter. He was just aggrieved that someone had taken a short cut that he wouldn't have dared do and as such was probably getting to their destination quicker than he did.
As I've said, using the horn to warn of presence was inappropriate as by the time he used his horn I was in such a position that meant it didn't matter whether I was aware of his presence or not.

RLJ does affect other road users attitudes.

I hate to play the 'evidence' card, but have you got any evidence for this?
And don't say nethalus.

Thank goodness we all don't have the attitude that 'well everyone else does it so my indiscretions won't make a difference'. Yes other cyclists do bad things but that does not justify what you do? Other people drink and drive, does that make it ok for you to do it?

No, but that can actually be dangerous - although some people are better at it than others.



oh and have you seen the question in my post of 11:58?