Do we not deserve our bad rep?

[BentMikey]

Never ridden a bike in South London then?

Apparently he tried being a courier for 5 weeks.

 

[BentMikey]

You're all fart and no poo sunbeam.

 

[col]

Every time those cyclists that put themselves in an awkward position or dont move just to prove a point and get some sort of reaction from motorists,and wont admit it,but come out with the bull of it would have been too dangerous to just get out of the way,add another motorist against cyclists i think.these people are not doing any good for us ,they are making it worse,especially when dubious techniques are used to set up an incident to prove a point,they wont admit this of course.

 

[tdr1nka]

RLJing has in some respects become part of cycling culture now.

Funnily enough so has driving while using your mobile phone in motoring culture, no great comparison I know, but just as lazily self absorbed and ignorant.

 

[mickle]

.

I looked over my shoulder and pulled over (to the left hand side of a white line which marked a slip road) to let him through. There was no requirement to indicate because I was turning neither right nor left. The response to my considerate manouver was to be side-swiped with the side of an ambulance.

 

[mickle]

Every time those cyclists that put themselves in an awkward position or dont move just to prove a point and get some sort of reaction from motorists,and wont admit it,but come out with the bull of it would have been too dangerous to just get out of the way,add another motorist against cyclists i think.these people are not doing any good for us ,they are making it worse,especially when dubious techniques are used to set up an incident to prove a point,they wont admit this of course.

Dubious techniques? Example? Else we haven't a clue what you're on about.

 

[ufkacbln]

Harold Shipman wore black brogues..... he also had a beard and glasses!

Does that mean that anyone working with the NHS and wears glasses, has a beard or wears black shoes murders their patients?

(I actually fit this profile perfectly!)

I take absolute and total esponsibility fr the way Iride, but I will not accept responsibility for anyone else - it is a factthatthere are bad drivers and bad cyslists.

Interestingly there is a n apparent observation that as the number of people converting to bikes for financial or otherreasons the standards droip. Probably because many are simply riding bikes in the same way that they used to drive their cars!

 

[dondare]

There not, motorists can say that they hate cyclists blah, blah, blah. But when it comes down to it I find it highly unlikely that they would in anyway endanger the life of a cyclist just for the sheer hell of it.

"The sheer hell of it" isn't the usual reason. The usual reason is that the cyclist is "in the way." This comes from the driver's attitude that cyclists are not part of the real traffic; a view reinforced by every cyclist who conspicuously breaks the law.

I really must be missing something because I never have no real trouble with motorists at all, don't feel we have a bad rep, and don't feel that the misgivings of every other cyclists is taken out of me when I am out on my bike.

How can you be so totally unaware of public opinion? Do you talk to people and listen to what they say? Do you ever go on forum sites where the majority of members are not cyclists?

 

[dondare]

Harold Shipman wore black brogues..... he also had a beard and glasses!

In my opinion brogues should be brown. Black oxfords have more class than black brogues.

Does that mean that anyone working with the NHS and wears glasses, has a beard or wears black shoes murders their patients?

I can think of nothing more probable.

(I actually fit this profile perfectly!)

I take absolute and total responsibility for the way I ride, but I will not accept responsibility for anyone else - it is a fact that there are bad drivers and bad cyslists.

Interestingly there is an apparent observation that as the number of people converting to bikes for financial or other reasons the standards drop. Probably because many are simply riding bikes in the same way that they used to drive their cars!

I've made this point a couple of times. I also believe that cyclists are safer drivers.

 

[BentMikey]

Yeah there is, if you have pulled over to the left hand side of the road and started to slow down (if you did) then you do have give a signal.

Think of a car puling over the left? Do they give a signal of course they do.

That's certainly true, but don't you think it's a bit scabby to suggest that Mickle is to blame for the punishment dealt him by the driver?

 

[Bollo]

(Sighs and gets ready to get embroiled in an argument that he promised he wouldn't)

There is a difference between riding inconsiderately and controlling your environment. On occasion, neither will be popular with drivers.

The tools to manage your environment while riding are very limited compared to your average driver, but developing the skills (reading ahead, road position, eye contact and, on occasion, the ability to ride assertively) will make you a safer cyclist.

Lee, about drivers not deliberately intimidating cyclists - read my earlier post, its a psychology masterwork . There are is a minority of the driving public that cease to view us as human beings once we're saddled up. And that's the first step to doing things to us that they would not dream of doing in any other situation.

Also, your arguments about "nothing never happens to me". Anyone with kids will recognise this argument.

Dad - "Child, stop playing with that chainsaw, you might hurt yourself"
Child - "But I haven't hurt myself"
Dad - "But you might"
Child - "But I haven't"

In these situations, when the child eventually does auger-in, your feelings of concern are mixed with a sense of schadenfreude that you'd warned the little b%^stard.

In summary Lee, your argument is that of a 5 year old.

 

[dondare]

Yeah there is, if you have pulled over to the left hand side of the road and started to slow down (if you did) then you do have give a signal.

Think of a car puling over the left? Do they give a signal of course they do.

Isn't this a good example of a motorist getting annoyed with a cyclist for (what the motorist regarded as) a traffic violation and then endangering the cyclist because of it?
The cyclist's behaviour influences the driver's attitude which influences his behaviour towards the cyclist.
The same driver, or a driver with the same attitude, might well decide to punish a cyclist for not stopping at a red, or indeed treat all cyclists with a lack of consideration because they think that running reds is something that all cyclists do.

 

[swee'pea99]

Seems to me the only thing of value to have emerged from this entire 'discussion' is that we would all do well to be wary of people working with the NHS who wear glasses, have a beard and wear black shoes.

 

[magnatom]

Guys, what are you doing!?

Lee is a troll. Pure and simple. He has even admited as much (i.e. that he is on the wind up) in other threads. Ignore him. His position in untenable, but that's the challenge for him. To defend the undefendable. He's a debater for the sake of debate. Nothing else.

At university one of the debates teams jokingly referred to themselves as the massed-debaters. I wonder if this applies here...

 

[dondare]

Guys, what are you doing!?

Lee is a troll. Pure and simple. He has even admited as much (i.e. that he is on the wind up) in other threads. Ignore him. His position in untenable, but that's the challenge for him. To defend the undefendable. He's a debater for the sake of debate. Nothing else.

At university one of the debates teams jokingly referred to themselves as the massed-debaters. I wonder if this applies here...

There are always a few people who justify RLJing (for example) and I always argue with them, troll or not.