Do people like me give cyclists a bad name? If so, sorry

[Linford]

Did I just read right? Linfy admitting to causing accidents??!!!

Bring back the real Linford!!!!

Which one Smeggers ?

 

[Linford]

#87

You mean the dude with the road rage running into the back of me in the borrowed Renault van ?

 

[Bicycle]

How boring. A bmx would obviously be wasted on you. And Bill Shannon on a skateboard would make your head explode. I'm not only a lot faster on a road bike, but I'm notably more "vehicular" in my behaviour, and more law-abiding, than when on an mtb. The vehicular thing is related to speed, of course, but not merely a reflection of it.

Fair point. I lied about the BMX, but I've never ridden one on the road. There was a BMX competition at the 1983-ish Motorcycle Show at Earls Court. I think it was meant for the bored children of sad bikers, but I entered anyway despite being in my 20s.

The course was a series of plywood ramps, berms and whoops. I got MASSIVE air on the first jump, way ahead of the 13-year-olds in my heat. It was then I realised I had no idea how to land. I landed in an absurd heap and sneaked away, limping.

But... I did ride a skateboard in the 70s (before they put gravel down in the Southbank to stop us).

I really, really want to disagree with you about different modes of transport bringing out different behaviour, but I might be weakening... I hop kerbs on my MTB, but not on my road bike. I'm more 'assertive' in London, but that's me rather than the bike.

I do accept that road behaviour might change with vehicle type, but I still contend that it won't turn Doris Day into Ronnie Kray. A motor-brutalist psycho-bobble will probably take that attitude into every vehicle, post-office queue or workplace we are unlucky enough to find him in.

 

[400bhp]

Indeed (I don't mean the dumb thing). It's stranger, in my view, to assume people drive/behave the same way in different vehicles. Do you ride the same way on a bmx, an mtb, a road bike and a shopper with a basket on the front?

Actually, this is one of the riskier aspects of driving on our roads. A lot of people overestimate the performance of their vehicle on the road-that is drive it inappropriately for the purpose it was made. Mainly (falsly) believing the car has twice the performance, braking and handling than the car actually has.

This happens in all different types of car, and one notable vehicle where you see this type of behaviour is a RR Sport. If I was behind or in front of one of these on a back road and I was in one of my previous performance cars I could guarantee that the RR would be driven in a way the driver actually believed it to be race car capable.

 

[Linford]

You mean the driver you had already wound up through your erratic selfish driving, then decided to brake test?

Yeh him.

Well, actually, I was minding my own business having just dropped one of the horses off and was making my way back home. The pinch point is always a scrum, and there are always chancers who try to come banging up the outside. He actually drew level with me before that point, and then swerved towards me in an attempt to force me to brake and give way. I wasn't going to be bullied so I held my ground and he had to capitulate. After the pinch point, I looked in my mirror and saw him with both hands off the wheel giving me the bird. We carried on until I reached the turning, I indicated, slowed and as I made my turn saw him in the middle of the main road. I gave him a smile and a wink as so to gesture that I held no hard feelings, and he then totally lost it and swerved in. With another car coming the other way, and 3 of us on collision course, I took the call to brake and let him through. How was I to know that he had decided at that point to tuck in behind me instead of hitting the other car head on.

He was very angry, and the first thing his girlfriend did was call the police and he went a proper shade of beetroot as he jumped up and down in the road at my drivers window.
I had the dog in the car with me, so I thought best to stay calm until the police turned up.

Really, people who can't control their temper shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel. He could have lost it with a cyclist FFS

His girflriend was very nice though and I did wonder what she was doing with such an angry man. Hewasa bit shorter than me though, but then I'm only 5'2" so I wonder if he had little man syndrome. Perhaps he thought that the 4x4 gave me a bigger willy and he had a bit of penis envy. I don't think I'll ever know

 

[Linford]

Did I just read right? Linfy admitting to causing accidents??!!!

Bring back the real Linford!!!!

THere how was that

 

[Linford]

Self awareness is the path to enlightenment

Roy Chubby Brown ?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Indeed (I don't mean the dumb thing). It's stranger, in my view, to assume people drive/behave the same way in different vehicles. Do you ride the same way on a bmx, an mtb, a road bike and a shopper with a basket on the front?

Elegantly and eloquently put.

 

[fossyant]

Keep the language clean or there will be trouble ! (Linford and Smeggers)

 

[Linford]

Keep the language clean or there will be trouble ! (Linford and Smeggers)

Profound apology Fossyant. Would it make sense at this point to give me access to the CA&D board ?

 

[fossyant]

Profound apology Fossyant. Would it make sense at this point to give me access to the CA&D board ?

Not my call that - that's the Boss - also depends upon time on the forum and post count I thinks !