A lesson from a coach driver...

[hillrep]

Bromptonfp said

sorry, but as i and others have said, the cycle lane looks on the camera perfectly useable.

I feel nervous about adding to the plethora of opinions on this particular cycle lane, but as someone who regularly travels the same road I feel I should add in some actual facts to the all the speculation .

The cycle lane is narrow, slippery with muck, and with many drain covers etc. The red paint has been carefully laid so that there is a ridge across the lane every few metres, it is like cycling along a rumble strip! The white line at the edge of the lane is, of course, much more slippery than the tarmac.
The lane also narrows varies in width from too narrow to far too narrow and stops abruptly at the back of a (perfectly legally) parked car.

To cycle in the lane is both dangerous and unpleasant.

To cycle on the white line is both dangerous and unpleasant.

Hmm, where should I cycle then....

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

If you can excuse the driver's aggressive fight/flight reaction, then why can't you excuse the same reaction from Magnatom after the coach driver risked his life?

ott?

if we all got upset by every time a moton did something we didn't agree with we would be very stressed and there would be a lot of people in prison (and i am one of the stressed out cyclists who is trying to chill out ( i was a lot worse as a moton)). i just think it was a genuine misjudged overtake. that's all. i think that if magnatom slowed his average mph down a bit, realized that roads are not his own personal race tracks for personal best time trial attempts, looked around a lot more (or had a mirror) and took a little more considerate road position he may not have as many near misses. sorry mags, but you do have an awful lot don't you? please note tho this is my opinion based on youtube videos i have seen posted by you.

 

[BentMikey]

My point is that it's not very fair of you to excuse the coach drives reaction, but not excuse magnatom's. Tut tut!

I must admit I'm tired of seeing how magnatom has so many "close calls". B0ll0cks he does. And why should he have to slow down? I don't think he's slow, but he's not exceptionally fast either. His speed is entirely irrelevant to most of the incidents I've seen in his videos.

 

[Debian]

I post in defence of not always using cycle lanes.

There's one in particular near me, it's on my route home. It's a standard red painted lane about a metre wide on an uphill stretch of fairly main road that has several pinch points by way of keep left islands.

I never use it, instead I cycle to the right of the white line. At first glance one might think it's OK, that's certainly the impression of some of the drivers who pass me making their displeasure clear. On a video it would probably look to be an OK lane to use. However, on close inspection it is always covered in a thin layer of loose gravelly chippings and other small-sized bits of rubbish that gets chucked over by car wheels. It's not a safe surface to cycle on but as I say that may not be obvious to a passing motorist or if on video.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

My point is that it's not very fair of you to excuse the coach drives reaction, but not excuse magnatom's. Tut tut!

I must admit I'm tired of seeing how magnatom has so many "close calls". B0ll0cks he does. And why should he have to slow down? I don't think he's slow, but he's not exceptionally fast either. His speed is entirely irrelevant to most of the incidents I've seen in his videos.

i don't think i made my point correctly. on his videos, he appears not to look around him very often and be concentrating on going tits out. again i have not ridden with him and i am only going off his close call video list. when i learnt to drive and i can drive quite a lot of things thanks to the army, i was always taught to be aware of what is behind me. remember this? mirror, signal, maneuver. i used to ride without looking about which didn't cause me any problems on quiet night roads but now i ride in the city i always look about, there is a lot vehicles fighting for the same road space.

i'm not condoning anyones behavior. but would the driver have had a bad attitude if mags hadn't demanded the doors being opened?

 

[magnatom]

Bromptonfp said I feel nervous about adding to the plethora of opinions on this particular cycle lane, but as someone who regularly travels the same road I feel I should add in some actual facts to the all the speculation .

The cycle lane is narrow, slippery with muck, and with many drain covers etc. The red paint has been carefully laid so that there is a ridge across the lane every few metres, it is like cycling along a rumble strip! The white line at the edge of the lane is, of course, much more slippery than the tarmac.
The lane also narrows varies in width from too narrow to far too narrow and stops abruptly at the back of a (perfectly legally) parked car.

To cycle in the lane is both dangerous and unpleasant.

To cycle on the white line is both dangerous and unpleasant.

Hmm, where should I cycle then....

Thanks hillrep. It;s nice to have another person with local knowledge posting about the cycle lane.

Did I mention the 'rumble strip effect' elsewhere. I may have omitted that.

At the moment there is also a lot of loose stones in sections, probably from potholes. This is all fine on a mountain bike, but not particularly safe on a road bike with thin tyres.

I await someone tell me I should be doing my commute on a mountain bike then....

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Thanks hillrep. It;s nice to have another person with local knowledge posting about the cycle lane.

Did I mention the 'rumble strip effect' elsewhere. I may have omitted that.

At the moment there is also a lot of loose stones in sections, probably from potholes. This is all fine on a mountain bike, but not particularly safe on a road bike with thin tyres.

I await someone tell me I should be doing my commute on a mountain bike then....

tried that once, it did feel slow in traffic.

 

[magnatom]

tried that once, it did feel slow in traffic.

Indeed. So will you conceed, that I may, just may have a legitimate reason not to use the cycle lane, considering that a completely unrelated cyclist (£5 on its way ) agrees with my assessment of the lane?

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

if you think that that cycle lane is bad, you need to see the lane between bury and manchester (a56) it is much narrower than that one seems to be. it has pot holes that would swallow my brommie wheel if i let them. and we have bendy buses. perhaps you are a bit spoilt where you live? or perhaps the camera paints a prettier picture than what reality is?

 

[jonny jeez]

Mags,

I've always taken on board your comments on other’s riding styles (my own included) and have even adjusted my own style a little in light of your's (and others comments.

its all learning.

So without trying to troll or flame or whatever the techno expression is (perhaps "doing a Bruce" is more vogue), I think your position (justified or not) will cause a negative reaction from many road users.

short of buying a tee shirt with the words "I cant use the cycle lane cos its shite and dangerous" written on the back, there is no way to communicate your choice to other road sharers, and therefore they will most probably be left with the impression that you are simply cycling like an arse and look to them as if you are refusing to use the cycle lane because it is beneath you.

I appreciate that neither comment is accurate.

I see some riders refusing to use cycle lanes on my commute, but these lanes that are simply painted white lines set a long way out from the kerb, the road surface is the same as the road and they are effectively just a sectioned off part of the road....the part that a cyclist would normally ride in....but these guys refuse to ride in them for some reason.

and before you suggest it, no they are not a danger, they are well planned and well set out. When I see riders acting like that...even I get annoyed...its just cycle snobbery.

I think you have suffered because of the actions of riders like that

 

[magnatom]

if you think that that cycle lane is bad, you need to see the lane between bury and manchester (a56) it is much narrower than that one seems to be. it has pot holes that would swallow my brommie wheel if i let them. and we have bendy buses. perhaps you are a bit spoilt where you live? or perhaps the camera paints a prettier picture than what reality is?

Ah, so you won't admit that I may, just may, have justification. Fair enough.

 

[magnatom]

Mags,

I've always taken on board your comments on other’s riding styles (my own included) and have even adjusted my own style a little in light of your's (and others comments.

its all learning.

So without trying to troll or flame or whatever the techno expression is (perhaps "doing a Bruce" is more vogue), I think your position (justified or not) will cause a negative reaction from many road users.

short of buying a tee shirt with the words "I cant use the cycle lane cos its shite and dangerous" written on the back, there is no way to communicate your choice to other road sharers, and therefore they will most probably be left with the impression that you are simply cycling like an arse and look to them as if you are refusing to use the cycle lane because it is beneath you.

I appreciate that neither comment is accurate.

I see some riders refusing to use cycle lanes on my commute, but these lanes that are simply painted white lines set a long way out from the kerb, the road surface is the same as the road and they are effectively just a sectioned off part of the road....the part that a cyclist would normally ride in....but these guys refuse to ride in them for some reason.

and before you suggest it, no they are not a danger, they are well planned and well set out. When I see riders acting like that...even I get annoyed...its just cycle snobbery.

I think you have suffered because of the actions of riders like that

Oh, stop pussyfooting around and just tell me I'm a to$$er!

Seriously though, yes I understand that it will irritate some road users, and I am certainly not out to do that. But that isn't my fault. That is the fault of the council who saw fit to put the poor quality lane there. If it wasn't there, there would be fewer problems on that road for all cyclists.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

i just don't see it, sorry mags. there is at least another 2 foot of useable road to the left. if you used it, you would of had a nicer day. are you one of the blokes who drives down the middle lane of motorways because its what the hc calls the fast lane?

 

[beastie]

Thanks hillrep. It;s nice to have another person with local knowledge posting about the cycle lane.

Did I mention the 'rumble strip effect' elsewhere. I may have omitted that.

At the moment there is also a lot of loose stones in sections, probably from potholes. This is all fine on a mountain bike, but not particularly safe on a road bike with thin tyres.

I await someone tell me I should be doing my commute on a mountain bike then....

I commute on a MTB with semi slick kevlar tyres with an ave speed 15.4 mph. last year I had zero p^%$£es and I ride on road, dirt path, chuckies and back on the road (in the cycle lane). Does a couple of mph matter? Well I am just waiting on the new Secteur so I can go faster.

 

[2Loose]

I wouldn't want to venture far into that cycle lane - it looks very similar to one that I normally use, but haven't since the snow because of the amount of silt that has been pushed into it by cars in the main lane.
I am sure a lot of rain will wash it away in good time, but after persevering with it for a week or so, arriving at work completely black up my front and back because of it (got guards now because of it ), I went to take a left turn and had my wheel lose traction. It is like riding on an inch of dirty sand.

The driver seemed confrontational and ready for you though Mags, definitely knew he had cut you up. A simple sorry would have done a lot to smooth things over though.