AK53 ZWK Silver Nissan Micra

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jonny jeez

Legendary Member
Crank.

For what its worth, I think you have reached the correct decision (much as it pains me to admit).

I say this after considering one single point which is, that if you are not enjoying it (or are even fearful of it) then why do it, after all there are many other ways to stay fit and have fun.

Better to enjoy your life than be constantly just trying to extend it, plus I am sure the concern or fear that you experience will inevitably have an effect on the way that you ride, which in itself can be dangerous.

Don't do anything too hasty though (like selling the bikes) I am sure you will find a recreational use for them, even if it requires you to travel a distance from the inhospitable local area and whio knows, one day you may feel up to it and just start riding again.

Good luck
 
User3143 said:
Take up MTBing, then you only have to deal with ramblers rather then cars

+1, they're always softer when you hit them.

On the other hand, there's always a chance you'll encounter Janet Street - Porter. I think on balance I'll take my chance with the homicidal motorists.:laugh:
 

Chrisc

Guru
Location
Huddersfield
slowmotion said:
Doctor slowmotion advises this course of therapy...

Sling the bike of choice in/on your car, and drive to Harwich. Leave the car and ride onto the ramp of the Hoek ferry for an overnight crossing.

You may be surprised at how well this course of treatment revitalises your spirit after a few hours gazing at beautiful Dutch women on cycle paths.

OK, OK, you know this already...:smile:

Yep, tis bliss riding in Holland. Delft particularly for my money. Therapy session seconded.
 

skudupnorth

Cycling Skoda lover
Really sorry to hear that you are giving up cycling but i do understand that it is becoming more and more dangerous with all these clowns who think they have more right than any other road user.I have driven a few more times for that simple fact but even then you get idiots overtaking in built up areas because you are not exceeding the speed limit like them.
Hope you get over this and do not sell the bikes !!!!
 

classic33

Leg End Member
Report it. As you say you were lucky the next person that gets hit by the car may not be. Police can check with just the registration, in case it belongs on another type of car. This gives anonimity to the driver as they cannot be found.

But whatever you decide to do, The best of luck.
 

atbman

Veteran
You must report it. If you don't, nothing will happen. If you do, then, even if the reg. no. isn't on the DVLA database, the car might be picked up by APNR cameras. Should that happen, you should then be invited to identify the driver.

Don't pre-suppose - I reported one piece of dangerous driving on a roundabout and was later contacted by the officer concerned to say that, tho' they couldn't take action (my word against hers), they had visited her, read her the riot act and kept her details on record in case she was ever involved in a collision.
 

NormanD

Lunatic Asylum Escapee
CA don't give up mate, don't let the minority spoil your enjoyment of cycling, we've all had brushes with motorists at some time or other (myself being knocked off twice) but thats down to the minority of idiots being allowed behind the wheel.

I've taken to ordering one of them Muvi mini cameras to record every time I go out on the bike, this way I hope to record any incidents, and then have solid proof I need to give the police any justification to proceed with any convictions.

I know a thing like that will shake you up (it did me) but I'm also happy you weren't badly hurt at all, your confidence has also taken a right bashing.

Get back out he bike mate even if its just short trips around the local area where you know you'll be safe, that way your confidence will build up again and you'll be able to put whats happened to you behind you and enjoy what we do best ... love cycling and the freedom it brings

best wishes
Norm
 
OP
OP
Crankarm

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
I'm knocking cycling on the head before my number is up. I have had a good few years cycling. It has brought immense pleasure and continued good health and numerous scary stories. But I don't enjoy it any more and I have had enough. The constant battle trying to stay alive with morons in cars happy to drive over as well as around you is very wearing. I don't want to end up dead. Since the death of Major Rhys Evans last year, the guy killed in Scotland, other high profile cycling road deaths which seem to be increasing in frequency plus my own daily appointments with death, I have been thinking a lot about giving up. This last weekend's incidents have been the last straw. It simply isn't worth it. I'll still have an MTB which has seen little use in preference to my road bikes. I always planned to do a lot more off road riding than I currently do so perhaps now is the time.

Safe cycling everyone where ever you do it.
 
Crankarm said:
I'm knocking cycling on the head before my number is up. I have had a good few years cycling. It has brought immense pleasure and continued good health and numerous scary stories. But I don't enjoy it any more and I have had enough. The constant battle trying to stay alive with morons in cars happy to drive over as well as around you is very wearing. I don't want to end up dead. Since the death of Major Rhys Evans last year, the guy killed in Scotland, other high profile cycling road deaths which seem to be increasing in frequency plus my own daily appointments with death, I have been thinking a lot about giving up. This last weekend's incidents have been the last straw. It simply isn't worth it. I'll still have an MTB which has seen little use in preference to my road bikes. I always planned to do a lot more off road riding than I currently do so perhaps now is the time.

Safe cycling everyone where ever you do it.

Crank - it's just awful that you've been brought to this point.

I've had similar thoughts myself after my off in January. Half the people I talk to say they would give it up if they were me, the other half say don't let it stop you. I've got a wife and kids (ok, pretty grown up now, but still my kids to me) to think about.

I'd echo those who say don't get rid of your bikes yet. In time, you may feel differently. I'm certainly hoping I do.
 
OP
OP
Crankarm

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
beanzontoast said:
Crank - it's just awful that you've been brought to this point.

I've had similar thoughts myself after my off in January. Half the people I talk to say they would give it up if they were me, the other half say don't let it stop you. I've got a wife and kids (ok, pretty grown up now, but still my kids to me) to think about.

I'd echo those who say don't get rid of your bikes yet. In time, you may feel differently. I'm certainly hoping I do.

It's not as if I am new to cycling. Have ridden for many years over many thousands of miles. I've just had enough of constantly trying to stay alive doing something which should be relatively benign.
 
Crankarm said:
It's not as if I am new to cycling. Have ridden for many years over many thousands of miles. I've just had enough of constantly trying to stay alive doing something which should be relatively benign.

It's such a shame that it's come to this. Someone needs to do some current research into the numbers of cyclists deciding to 'call it a day' I think. The cycling organisations go on about numbers of cyclists expanding, but what about stats on the experienced ones who've had enough and their reasons for going?

Whatever off-road cycling you do in the future, I really hope you get some enjoyment out of it. And do still post - I'm guessing there's a lot of people who don't cycle much (or at all) on here.

Good luck, mate. :cold:
 

Tinuts

Wham Bam Helmet Cam
Location
London, UK.
I can completely sympathise with your point of view having found myself, on occasions, similarly questioning the merits of continuing to cycle on the UK's increasingly crowded and hostile roads.

It seems that not a cycling day goes by without some close call - a too close overtake, a SMIDSY, another example of attempted intimidation or abuse. Cyclists continue to die on our roads and their deaths, usually at the hands of careless motorists, go relatively unpunished. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the motor vehicle is probably the best tool of choice for those looking to commit murder. Don't bother with trying to buy a gun from some seedy supplier in Peckham, just hop in a car and drive over your intended victim. You'll probably end up with a fine and a few months driving ban as opposed to life imprisonment.

Oil prices may be rising, petrol becoming increasingly expensive and the roads more crowded but that doesn't appear to stop people from buying ever larger gas-guzzling vehicles, many of which now insulate the drivers from the outside world so effectively that they could be likened to the sofa-in-front-of-your-TV on wheels. Witness the preponderance of monstrous and totally unsuitable SUVs on our roads. Is it any surprise that, to people whose experience of driving is effectively only one step away from that of playing a computer game, their attitude towards more vulnerable road users should be so careless? Surely if you run over a cyclist they just get up and cycle off, don't they? Just don't scrape the paintwork or dent my bumper, mate. In fact, the last time I was knocked off my bike the young driver got out of the car and, with me lying groaning in the road, proceeded to check his paintwork for damage!

Of course, the total gridlock which the ever increasing numbers of vehicles promises to deliver to our road system has prompted the powers that be to encourage us all to get out of our cars and onto our bicycles. This, or perhaps the relentless rise in petrol and public transport costs, has certainly resulted in a spectacular increase in cycling in the major metropolises. What it has also resulted in is a noticeable hardening of attitudes against cyclists. Like Crankarm, I've been cycling for many years and many thousands of miles and can, with confidence, state that the effects of this anti-cycling mentality, as exemplified by motorised road users, have never been so obvious to me as they now are.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, the main reason I come across for people choosing not to cycle here in London is that they perceive it to be just too dangerous. With the same administration that is exhorting us to get on our bikes being strangely silent when it comes to legislating and implementing measures protecting cyclists' rights to safe passage on our highways , who can blame them?

It would be very easy, at the very least, to legislate minimum overtaking distances (In fact, it amazes me that neither the CTC nor the LCC are campaigning for this when passing too close is one of the major bugbears of road cycling in the UK). It would be relatively easy to train Police officers to take cyclists' complaints seriously rather than with the somewhat dismissive attitude many of us have encountered. It would be relatively easy to legislate greater sanctions against motorists causing death by dangerous driving or using their vehicles as intimidatory instruments. It is, after all, a great many people (not just cyclists) who favour dramatic increases in penalties for the latter. And yet the silence on these matters from our administration is deafening.

We are at a time when there have never been fewer Police patrol cars on our roads and when there has never been a greater perception by motorists that demeanours carried out on those same roads (save those governed by speed cameras) will go unpunished. Is it any surprise, therefore, that there is an increasing number of the more bone-headed type of motorist who are prepared to take the piss with our wellbeing? Especially when the likelihood is that they will get away with it? Sure, we can all go out and get helmet cams; indeed, I've done so myself. That's not much good, however, when you're lying in the road dead at the hands of some idiot motorist! Still, at least your video evidence will help secure them a slap on the wrist and paltry fine.

Yes, Crankarm, I thoroughly sympathise as I've been so close myself on a number of occasions! But I'm still here.......for now.

My apologies to all if this post is too long for anyone. Just be thankful that it's very rare for me to be confined to bed with a temperature and sore throat……..and too much time on my hands.

:wacko:
 
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