Cycling death

[tdr1nka]

Mrs. Tdr1nka got a sneaky camera ticket for being in a box junction when the cage in front stalled, no way of knowing if the cage in front got a ticket but it's a bit snide when the powers that be can milk every penny from a camera at a box junction but don't have yet, as far as I know, cameras for spotting abuses of ASLs, otherwise why have ASLs in the first place?

T x

 

[mrben]

IIRC, it's a little bit tricky to get a ticket for stopping in an ASL, because it's not strictly illegal. The idea being that if you're approaching the lights, and they turn red, and you're not going to stop in time for the ASL, but will stop before the lights, then it's "ok" to use the ASL.

 

[Tynan]

BM, I like to start from the front because I like to start from the front, easier for me and maximum presence as a bonus

Hear what you say about acceleration and I agree, the faster I go the smoother it is, I can do primary in traffic with no problems at all and on quite a lot of my route but your 25mph wouldn;t cut it on quite a lot of my route and the traffic's 5mph on much of the rest of the route doesn't either, so I do a mish mash of primary, secondary, and filtering

my preferred start position is from the front, simple as that

and it's a fairly roadie hybrid but it's very old and worn and it's carrying a very heavy pannier

 

[tdr1nka]

The major prob in London is the single minded impatience of some cage drivers and works vans, who will always roll as far forward at lights as they can in order to be first away. I've been sat on the trike in lane at many ASLs only to find a cage rolling up beside, me into the box.

In most cases they are happy to be able to get the staggering 2 meters head start on the rest of the traffic to zoom off when the lights change just to join the back of the soild line of traffic 10 yards ahead.

On the odd occasion a cage driver will want that position in order to pick the lane ahead that suits them best when the lights change.
It's noticeable that the more impatient the cage driver, the less they actually pay attention. I'm invariably quicker away from the lights than they are, which then earns me lots of horn sounding, gesticulating, etc. Just for holding my position on the road.

My biggest despondency tho has to be RLJs on velos who frankly let the cycling argument down. It's precicely this kind of rider that has brought about the Governments suggested changes to the Highway Code.

This summer I had a row with another cyclist, on the rather scarey and tricky Goldsmith Collage one-way system at New Cross, he was on his mobile, talking loudly paying no attention in traffic moving at 20mph+ and moving slowly over an entire lane.

As I drew close I calmly suggested he might want to get off the road to take his call and took a hail of abuse in reply.
It was as if I had stormed into his office unannounced!

He wasn't, as I call them, a Catalouge rider(occasional rider of a cheap but flashy looking di-cast hybrid from Argos, no more than 250 miles p/a ), he rode a fixed wheel European racer, Animal shades and a designer courier bag. So one might not have been wrong in suspecting that he was a serious, dedicated cyclist.

This untoucable air of perfect right is as knucleheaded as it is in a cage driver. Coming from a velo rider this says to cage drivers,
'I am far more important than you, I am above the laws and courtesies of the road'.

In turn this enforces the same attitude in the cage driver who in some cases will then make a point of trying to trump you.
Once a cage driver has had a few experiences like this, they will automatically lump this opinion on all cyclists, the truth being that the majority of cage drivers, like the majority of riders, do not drive and take liberties like this.

Grrr.

I was amused to think that fixed wheels are really a totally universal bike as you don't need opposable thumbs to ride one!!

It's a joke, not a dig.

T x

 

[Tynan]

yep, the car that rolls forward is often the one that's in the wrong lane and needs to get out fast to get over, sometimes a good idea to let them go first

 

[Cab]

The major prob in London is the single minded impatience of some cage drivers and works vans, who will always roll as far forward at lights as they can in order to be first away. I've been sat on the trike in lane at many ASLs only to find a cage rolling up beside, me into the box.

Never happens to me unless I'm in a two-lane stop box. If I'm in a single lane stop box then I'm right in the middle, and no one is pulling up in a car next to me.

 

[tdr1nka]

I hear ya Tynan,

My age, responsabilities, size and speed of the trike all dictate that I always let these drivers go first!

T x

 

[gambatte]

Never happens to me unless I'm in a two-lane stop box. If I'm in a single lane stop box then I'm right in the middle, and no one is pulling up in a car next to me.

Tried that, got the bonnet of a L200 next to me....

 

[tdr1nka]

The fundamental problem with all these traffic measures, in Greater London at least, is that these measures would work if there were only less cages on the road rather than more every week.

In my area the A2, London SE14, from the end of the Old Kent Road at New Cross Gate to Lewisham or Deptford, the roads are simply not big enough to accomodate the volume of traffic and at peak hours it often gridlocks.

Throw in the bus garage with busses turning left and right across all 4 lanes, local fire and ambulance stations, it's also the main coach and haulage route to Kent & Dover, from Belmarsh Prison to the Law Courts in London(with Prisoner carriers, Police Land Rovers, Out-Riders all at high speed and sirens wailing)this route has become a totaly mismanaged nightmare.

I've used this route by bike, 5 days a week at least for years and for all the red routes and ASL's it's only the sheer volume of traffic that stops it working.

The most fun I can expect round here is getting to slow down to 10mph and sit wide in the bus lane to slow some cage driver who thought they would use the last 200 yards of bus lane to beat the traffic to the next lights, the bus lane ending at the last 5 yards just before.

For all my moaning, I am genuinely planning to leave London before the Olympics in 2012, to somewhere rural where I can ride in just a tinsy bit more peace!

T x

 

[biking_fox]

"The most fun I can expect round here is getting to slow down to 10mph and sit wide in the bus lane to slow some cage driver who thought they would use the last 200 yards of bus lane to beat the traffic to the next lights, the bus lane ending at the last 5 yards just before.
"

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is fun. I fully acknowledge it's totally irresponsible, but I'm legal while doing so, cagedriver isn't.

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

Haha, I think its rather fun too!

 

[tdr1nka]

Cyclechat, home of guiltless pleasures!

 

[tdr1nka]

Irresponsable, I don't think so.
Foolhardy more like.

When measured, my trike is not that much wider than my MTB handlebars, but cages are far less inclined to attempt to overtake me, which is nice.

T x

 

[Cab]

Tried that, got the bonnet of a L200 next to me....

Then when they start sneaking forward move over and block them.

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

L200 in London means one of two things - if it is gree it is a tree surgeon, if it is black it is a drug dealer. Would you risk it?