How do people ride in Cities without getting killed?

[BentMikey]

Oooh, unlucky mate!! Glad you're OK, bit of road rash will heal soon enough. Let's hope they don't get too much of a fright when they find out how much your bike costs to repair!!

 

[dondare]

Bristol scares me even when I'm in a car so I don't know how people cope on a bike, even if you're not worried about crashing you need a helmet to protect your head from flying beer cans.

I suppose Bristol isn't even considered a big City by some people but I find the vast sprawl of roads utterly disorienting and everyone drives like lunatics - thousands and thousands of cars, vans and lorries all trying to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, drivers all seemingly oblivious to the chaos.

I get dizzy in Bristol; Torquay isn't much better and Cardiff is possibly even worse.

If you ride in the City, how do you stay safe?

I cycle in London and don't have a big problem. I've been through Bristol a couple of times and it was horrendous, bad for motorists and worse for cyclists.
But wasn't Bristol named as "Cycling City of The Year" last year?

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Oooh, unlucky mate!! Glad you're OK, bit of road rash will heal soon enough. Let's hope they don't get too much of a fright when they find out how much your bike costs to repair!!

+1 ... I hope I'm wrong, but suspect that it'll all be your fault for cycling too fast when Mummy gets the bill for repairs, and with no witnesses and no Police report there's not a great deal you can do unless you have other evidence (camera footage maybe?).

Good luck.

 

[summerdays]

i might have to revise this statement in light of an incident i had yesterday morning.

was heading into the city centre down the gloucester road and was passing a girl's school on the left. i was in the bus lane as per normal and there was a queue of stationary traffic backed up from a junction about 200m in the normal car lane to my right.

I know where you were ... yesterday was obviously "Step out in front of a bike without looking day" on the Gl rd ... except mine was in the Stokes Croft bit and the pedestrian stepped out from behind a van looking to his left!! Large eekkk let out by me but luckily we missed as I was doing 20 mph after the near miss. Hope you are OK today and not too stiff.

I cycle in London and don't have a big problem. I've been through Bristol a couple of times and it was horrendous, bad for motorists and worse for cyclists.
But wasn't Bristol named as "Cycling City of The Year" last year?

Bristol honestly isn't bad for cyclists (if you pretend you don't hate hills) - though the stuff right in the middle is a bit intimidating for new cyclists.

 

[trustysteed]

I know where you were ... yesterday was obviously "Step out in front of a bike without looking day" on the Gl rd ... except mine was in the Stokes Croft bit and the pedestrian stepped out from behind a van looking to his left!! Large eekkk let out by me but luckily we missed as I was doing 20 mph after the near miss. Hope you are OK today and not too stiff.

thanks summerdays. funnily enough, you know earlier in this thread we were talking about that nice downhill run into stoke croft? well, on monday there were about 4 of us cyclist going down there, a bloke on a fixie in the lead about 50 yards ahead. parked car on the left decided to do a u-turn and head back out of town with no indication. how the bloke on the fixie missed him i don't know, he just managed to swerve around the front of the car. phew.

 

[Davidc]

It's about confidence and cycling assertively.

Absolutely. Knowing the rules, staying alert and being prepared to get out of the way and let morons just get on with it are a good idea too.

I cycle in Bristol once or twice a month and don't find it too bad. It was much worse in the 1970s when I was a student.

 

[trustysteed]

Oooh, unlucky mate!! Glad you're OK, bit of road rash will heal soon enough.

cheers chap, had much worse coming off my bike when i was a kid in chisipite!

 

[trustysteed]

+1 ... I hope I'm wrong, but suspect that it'll all be your fault for cycling too fast when Mummy gets the bill for repairs, and with no witnesses and no Police report there's not a great deal you can do unless you have other evidence (camera footage maybe?).

Good luck.

there were plenty of witnesses including a couple of teachers. don't think i'll have problems getting refunded the cost of repairs, they seemed decent enough. haven't lodged a police report yet as i don't feel i have to at this point, although i have written out what happened and taken photos of my cuts just in case.

 

[Davidc]

Bristol honestly isn't bad for cyclists (if you pretend you don't hate hills) - though the stuff right in the middle is a bit intimidating for new cyclists.

The annoying thing about the central area is that it wouldn't have taken much change to make it reasonably cycle friendly. It's quite clear that no-one in the transport part of the council has ever ridden a bike.

 

[BentMikey]

LOL @ Chisipite! One of my mates went there (a guy) when he was little it wasn't only a girls school.

I would suggest reporting it to the police, and also writing down everything that happened and everything they said to the best of your recall. Then sign and date it and keep it in case they contest your repair bill. Take pictures of the bike and your injuries.

 

[Crankarm]

I had one of a group of kids barge me off my bike whilst I was riding toward them in a cycle lane which was one the road next to a pavement 2 years ago. I suffered very nasty bruising to my upper right leg/thigh and cuts and bruises to my elbow and hand. The police refused to do anything and were going to arrest me for assault after trying to restrain the young thug before he ran off if I insisted they arrested him for assault. So they did nothing and closed the incident. They refused to give me his or his parents name and address so I could sue him for damage to my bike and injuries.

I hazard a guess that the initial promises to pay for damage to you and your bike will evaporate and you will get nowhere. Because it is a child a court will always side with them saying you as an evil cyclist should have taken more care. At best you are probably looking at a 50/50 settlement which you will have to weigh up whether it is worth pursuing.

Helmet cam footage would be invaluable and great to watch.

 

[Captain]

The Cycling City thing isn't really doing much about infrastructure from what I can tell.
If I had that kind of funding (£22.8 million) I would think about just resurfacing a huge amount of our roads as thats what ruins my commute. The potholes, deep manholes, patches and cracks on the roads I ride to work need a fixing.
Does the fill that hole website get results?

Edit: also @TrustSteed: That'll learn 'em!

 

[BentMikey]

The Cycling City thing isn't really doing much about infrastructure from what I can tell.

We don't need cycling infrastructure - in fact most of the cycle lanes I see in London need to be removed as they are an active hazard, and of negligent design.

More cycle parking, yes, and much more traffic enforcement would be good.

 

[summerdays]

The annoying thing about the central area is that it wouldn't have taken much change to make it reasonably cycle friendly. It's quite clear that no-one in the transport part of the council has ever ridden a bike.

I know that as part of the Cycle City stuff, that staff from various departments had cycle training, one of my friends was involved. And lots of council staff cycle ... I can barely find a stand when I go into the office.

LOL @ Chisipite! One of my mates went there (a guy) when he was little it wasn't only a girls school.

If you are talking to Trustysteed (couldn't work out the Chisiipite bit - is someone called that here?) then that school has always been a Girls school - its about one of the oldest in Bristol.

 

[BentMikey]

Good guess, but wrong country.