I'm a guy in my 40s and have been commuting by bicycle in London for a fair amount of time now. I used to do all sorts of crazy things, like jumping red lights, but since getting my motorcycle licence (also commute by bike these days.. one with a motor, that is..), I don't do that any more and am a lot better behaved on the road.. although that doesn't mean you can't have some fun.. the best part comes when there is a traffic jam and you can just filter through whatever traffic there may be..
Cycling, although not as easy as it used to be when I was in my 20s, is still very enjoyable. Nice fresh air (yes, maybe a bit polluted..) is a lot better than being stuck in a tube train, if you manage to get on one.. In the summer, it's especially nice, unless it's baking hot, but still better than public transport.
So, here you are, in a typical daily commute and then you stop at the lights, as you do, and manage to position yourself in a way in which you don't have anything or anybody in front of you, so you can just go for it when the lights open.. when all of a sudden, some other cyclist arrives and stops inches next to you, or just ahead of you and ahead of where they should have stopped in the first place. I would not mind greatly if they were able to start pedalling quickly and get out of my way, but do they do that? No!, they make you go around them. Why? That's rude! I wish people stopped doing that..
Annoying thing number 2:
The other day I was going home and somehow I was fairly quick to start when the lights opened. There was this guy with a road bike who, as they do, took a couple of seconds to fiddle with his clip on boot before starting, so I always give them that time to get away before I start pushing harder.. but this guy didn't just want to get away.. As he didn't seem to want to go for it, I decided to start pushing. To my surprise, he immediately followed my wheel and got stuck behind me. I do not like anybody to benefit from my effort that way, that again is rude and dishonest.. so I tried to shake him off. I jerked to the right closer to the traffic, he did the same thing. I veered left, he followed. I got annoyed, typical latin me, and told him off...: "no, you're not following me, if you want to ride, ride on your own effort..". He became abusive, and said that I should "watch and learn.. " "Excusez moi. Me learn from you?" I said, "After decades of riding in London I don't think I can learn anything from you" (if anything, I could learn how to be a dick..). So after a while, it became clear that he was not going to be able to have his fun with me. He would not be able to follow me for a couple of miles, with me sweating hard just to try to outrun him, and at the last minute disappear into the distance, using all that energy he had been saving (and I would have wasted) by not having to ride into the head wind (same energy I would have wasted by shielding him from it..). Was this guy bored and wanted a bit of fun? Does he not have any integrity? Is this what he does normally in his life, benefit from somebody else's effort? Why are there people like that? That's annoying!.
Annoying thing number 3:
You try sometimes to be friendly to people, maybe give them some advice, and they laugh it off, like they know what they're doing and you should mind your own business..
There was this other guy on a road bike, but no lycra this time. He's using the highest gear possible to start off at the lights.. so I suggest he changes to a lower gear to make it easier (would you start your car at the lights in the 5th gear?) I used to do that until I thought there was a better way.. Did he acknowledge my advise? no, he just laughed. You know what, I don't need to give advise or be nice to people, I can just continue minding my own business.. And I think that is just what I'm going to do.
Annoying thing number 4:
While riding my motorbike home a few months ago, a guy decided it was a very good idea to jump the red lights and make a run for it across the road. The only problem was that, as the lights had just opened for me, I went for it, just to be faster than the taxi to my right. Unfortunately, I only saw this cyclist(?) after I had already started, and even though I braked hard, we still collided, albeit at a very low speed. He and is push bike were OK. My bike was on the floor, and my gear selector was bent, which made it tricky to ride home afterwards. The question again is why? Why do you do this? Do you want to die? Please stop! Respect the traffic lights and signals, that's what they're there for.
That is it so far.. but that's quite enough..
===
And after all the to-ing and fro-ing, and all the replies, it's time to call it a day.
In any case, this forum served its purpose. I have got an idea of what people think. Haters will hate.. as they do, and that's just how they have their fun I suppose.. I will just ignore those. No point wasting your energy playing their game as they're already experts... But others are more sensible and provide good advice, so thank you to those.
In any case, this has been a one off and I will go back to my life riding push bikes and motorbikes for another 20 years at least. Interesting experience this.. but not for me. I will try to reach my own conclusions, learn whatever there is to learn and move on. And that's that.
Cycling, although not as easy as it used to be when I was in my 20s, is still very enjoyable. Nice fresh air (yes, maybe a bit polluted..) is a lot better than being stuck in a tube train, if you manage to get on one.. In the summer, it's especially nice, unless it's baking hot, but still better than public transport.
So, here you are, in a typical daily commute and then you stop at the lights, as you do, and manage to position yourself in a way in which you don't have anything or anybody in front of you, so you can just go for it when the lights open.. when all of a sudden, some other cyclist arrives and stops inches next to you, or just ahead of you and ahead of where they should have stopped in the first place. I would not mind greatly if they were able to start pedalling quickly and get out of my way, but do they do that? No!, they make you go around them. Why? That's rude! I wish people stopped doing that..
Annoying thing number 2:
The other day I was going home and somehow I was fairly quick to start when the lights opened. There was this guy with a road bike who, as they do, took a couple of seconds to fiddle with his clip on boot before starting, so I always give them that time to get away before I start pushing harder.. but this guy didn't just want to get away.. As he didn't seem to want to go for it, I decided to start pushing. To my surprise, he immediately followed my wheel and got stuck behind me. I do not like anybody to benefit from my effort that way, that again is rude and dishonest.. so I tried to shake him off. I jerked to the right closer to the traffic, he did the same thing. I veered left, he followed. I got annoyed, typical latin me, and told him off...: "no, you're not following me, if you want to ride, ride on your own effort..". He became abusive, and said that I should "watch and learn.. " "Excusez moi. Me learn from you?" I said, "After decades of riding in London I don't think I can learn anything from you" (if anything, I could learn how to be a dick..). So after a while, it became clear that he was not going to be able to have his fun with me. He would not be able to follow me for a couple of miles, with me sweating hard just to try to outrun him, and at the last minute disappear into the distance, using all that energy he had been saving (and I would have wasted) by not having to ride into the head wind (same energy I would have wasted by shielding him from it..). Was this guy bored and wanted a bit of fun? Does he not have any integrity? Is this what he does normally in his life, benefit from somebody else's effort? Why are there people like that? That's annoying!.
Annoying thing number 3:
You try sometimes to be friendly to people, maybe give them some advice, and they laugh it off, like they know what they're doing and you should mind your own business..
There was this other guy on a road bike, but no lycra this time. He's using the highest gear possible to start off at the lights.. so I suggest he changes to a lower gear to make it easier (would you start your car at the lights in the 5th gear?) I used to do that until I thought there was a better way.. Did he acknowledge my advise? no, he just laughed. You know what, I don't need to give advise or be nice to people, I can just continue minding my own business.. And I think that is just what I'm going to do.
Annoying thing number 4:
While riding my motorbike home a few months ago, a guy decided it was a very good idea to jump the red lights and make a run for it across the road. The only problem was that, as the lights had just opened for me, I went for it, just to be faster than the taxi to my right. Unfortunately, I only saw this cyclist(?) after I had already started, and even though I braked hard, we still collided, albeit at a very low speed. He and is push bike were OK. My bike was on the floor, and my gear selector was bent, which made it tricky to ride home afterwards. The question again is why? Why do you do this? Do you want to die? Please stop! Respect the traffic lights and signals, that's what they're there for.
That is it so far.. but that's quite enough..
===
And after all the to-ing and fro-ing, and all the replies, it's time to call it a day.
In any case, this forum served its purpose. I have got an idea of what people think. Haters will hate.. as they do, and that's just how they have their fun I suppose.. I will just ignore those. No point wasting your energy playing their game as they're already experts... But others are more sensible and provide good advice, so thank you to those.
In any case, this has been a one off and I will go back to my life riding push bikes and motorbikes for another 20 years at least. Interesting experience this.. but not for me. I will try to reach my own conclusions, learn whatever there is to learn and move on. And that's that.
Last edited:
