Dense Fog, One eyed Monsters, and Stealth Cyclists

[very-near]

In the fog!

WITH AN OWL!!!!

Very good

 

[theclaud]

It would take more than £20 to get me to give up my weekend and cycle 60 miles through the night from London to Brighton, and I don't drink beer at 7am either

I did a local CTC run a couple of years ago - 55 miles (mostly in the dark) and getting home after midnight after a pub stop. It didn't really do it for me as I felt there seemed a lot of rivalry/snobbery and a few looking to prove themselves in front of a newcomer.
Out with another rider, or a couple of riders is plenty for me thanks..

That's the spirit Linf! Only you could see a moonlit ride in splendid company as 'giving up' the weekend.

 

[very-near]

That's the spirit Linf! Only you could see a moonlit ride in splendid company as 'giving up' the weekend.

The prospect also of riding a m/cycle to the south of France, or driving down to Malta does the same for me. Big miles are boring irrespective of company, and if you have to average 15mph over the entire ride, it isn't going to be a leisurely run. Give me 10-15 miles each way and a decent cake stop in the middle and I'm happy. I'm not a masochist you know

 

[fossyant]

I'm not a masochist you know

We can teach you...honest...

 

[upsidedown]

He also said

Originally Posted by upsidedown
Yesterday was mildly foggy here, drivers seem to think that if visibility is less than a mile and a half they should put their fog lights on, AyUps set to stun soon sort that.

My apologies, i should have explained that Ay-Ups do not have a stun setting.The only way to get a set of Ay-Ups to really stun somebody would be to put them in a sock and deliver a blow to the temple.
They're just lights, you see.

 

[tdr1nka]

My apologies, i should have explained that Ay-Ups do not have a stun setting.The only way to get a set of Ay-Ups to really stun somebody would be to put them in a sock and deliver a blow to the temple.
They're just lights, you see.

 

[GrasB]

Does not the Highway code say that you should slow down or stop if dazzeled by oncomming lights.

Say I'm doing 50mph & have good visibility for that speed, I've got a reasonable picture of the road for about 2-3 second in front of me but say someone dazzles me robbing me of most vision. From this point on until I regain reasonable vision (which I've timed with 3 people to be well over 30s with bike lights like a Joystick/Vision 1 aimed badly!) I have to estimate where everything is which slowly gets worse as time goes on not to mention you'll have to guess if the car has drifted to one side or the other of the road. Okay you have been decelerating but all you have to do is clip the verge & really no one has a damn clue what's going to happen or who/what gets in the cross fire from then on.

Oh one should also add that in this situation of sensory blindness doing any aggressive braking could easily pull the car one way or the other with very little visual clue as to where you're going, this means you have also by dazzling the driver substantially extended the drivers effective braking distance!

 

[very-near]

Wuss

My idea of going to London for a decent night out is not to jump on a bike when I get there and cycle away from it through the small hours

It reminds me of yomping for miles through the Forest of Dean in the middle of the night when I was a kid in the Scouts.

 

[aka0019]

Pointless info here but I got told that the switch on Renault Scenics fog lights is badly designed and can easily by knocked on by accident. I do notice a lot of Scenics having them on as well. Might just be because I notice them more now that i've been told that. Yup, told you it was pointless!

 

[snorri]

Pointless info here

Not at all, your post is informative and educational and stands head and shoulders above many in this thread.

 

[very-near]

Not at all, your post is informative and educational and stands head and shoulders above many in this thread.

Waits with baited breath........

 

[stowie]

That's fair enough. I'm talking about people who, through sheer idleness, sit with their brakes on in traffic instead of using the handbrake. Modern LED brakelights are pretty much as dazzling as main beam when you're in the car behind. But a flash of the brakelights to let approaching traffic know you're stationary is fine.

They might drive autos where it is a faff to put it into park and put the handbrake on?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

They might drive autos where it is a faff to put it into park and put the handbrake on?

Tough. It's a faff to sit behind them shielding my eyes with my hand because there's two million watts of bright red LEDs shining directly into my brain. Besides, how is it more of a faff than knocking a manual car out of gear and putting the handbrake on?

 

[very-near]

Added to that, if they're shunted into the car in front while they've only got the footbrake on then they'll be more liable when the claim gets sorted out.

In all fairness to this, the foot brake acts on all the wheels under much greater forces, the handbrake only acts on one axle, and the cable stretch, linkages can sieze . Watch a MOT brake test and you will see that the handbrake efficiency is far lower than the footbrake.

If you still are doubting, apply the handbrake at 30 mph, and see how much weaker it is in comparison to the foot brake.

Whilst annoying, the foot brakes are actually safer for this reason.

 

[very-near]

Going back to the OP, I was nearly taken out by a ninja cyclist this morning as I crossed the road. High viz outfit, but no lights on either end. If I hadn't jumped back, we would have connected. He was moving quite quickly and was quite invisible