I think I know why things are going squiffy.

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tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
Since the bun fight(of which I have been part)on the threads, 'Was The Bus Driver Wrong' and 'Was The Cyclist Wrong', I've looked back closely through the postings and have a pretty good idea why opinions(and not just my own)can differ so greatly from others on a thread.

My 20 years of road cycling experience has, primarily, been restricted to Inner London, aside from a few road trips and holidays.
So for to comment on incidents, say in Glasgow or Cambridge I have to basically imagine myself in that position/situation based on the information in the thread and rely on what is my quite region specific experience.

Unfortunatly I find makes for either a generalised view or a somewhat hardend opinion from someone who is otherwise a very experienced and traffic friendly cyclist.

Anyone wanting to come and check out the 1/4mile stretch of the A2 between New Cross Gate station and Queens Road Peckham in either direction, would soon understand that this busy section of two lane dual carriage way has a Bus Garage slap bang in the middle of it, time dedicated Bus Lanes and stops for some ten assorted Bus routes.
This seriously dictates the way I ride safely around Busses in my travels and any views I could give in reply to threads of those uninitiated in London cycling will always run the risk of sounding unecessarily cautious or downright suicidal.

So now I don't know, should I offer an opinion on a thread if I have no geographical experience over that of a rider who faces the question daily?

T x

P.S.
I didn't really enjoy the pathetic exchanges that I glibly and verbosely took part in with Cab but I honestly felt that I had a point in simply(and sadly)saying; a cyclists personal safety becomes their own concern should it come to demanding or expecting full road law complience from traffic, PSV or otherwise, anywhere.
I seriously believe this to be a major contribution to 20 happy years of not yet having been squished.
Please may I retract my unecessary comments posted, except maybe those refering to posts Quixotic in nature? http://www.cyclechat.net/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/dirol.gif








;)
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
yes

people's cam movies of their commute are very instructive, some on here have very very different routes and conditions, and different styles of riding on top of that

some on here that take forceful parts in critique of incidents have routes that seem very tame indeed

mine is a maelstrom of manly madness naturally that qualifies me to criticise with expertise
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
I think there are basic rules we all do well to follow. How bolshie, or assertive or defensive you have to be depends on your route, the time of day, the weather, all sorts of things. I'd like to think that we all have something to offer in the way of advice, but I also like to think that I'd bow to the greater knowledge of someone with more relevant experience.
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
OTOH my view is that driving throughout the UK isn't all that different, enough that anyone with reasonably varied experience should be quite qualified to comment on videos.
 
OP
OP
tdr1nka

tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
Above other riders experience of the routes in question, there only seems to have been a voluable discrepency over how much a cyclist can safely expect other road users to follow the highway code to the letter which, oddly enough, I thought most road riders and commuters might agree upon.

T x
 

snorri

Legendary Member
tdr1nka said:
So now I don't know, should I offer an opinion on a thread if I have no geographical experience over that of a rider who faces the question daily?

Why hold back? No one else does.;)
More seriously I think you make a valid point. Some posters seem eager to comment on what you should do, or not do, from experience they have gained at entirely different locations.
It is mildly amusing the way some posters make quite adamant statements on particular roads and conditions likely to be encountered, based purely on experience gained on a once in a lifetime LEJOG trip.:ohmy:
 
tdr1nka (you must explain that username sometime if you haven't already), as Snorri says it doesn't matter. If you go in with an entrenched position you gain nothing from the debate. If you go in arguing your corner but willing to listen you gain a lot. In both cases, others gain a lot, so a debate is a healthy thing.
 
BentMikey said:
tdr1nka = Tea Drinker!!

Hah! Gawd, that didn't occur to me at all, D'oh.

Mind you for years I used to mentally call Titleist golf balls Tit leist rather than title ist. Actually i think mine's better!
 
Oi BentMikey.You know my video where I cut across that mini-rounderbout?

Well I fell off on it yesterday going round it correctly.

Don't think you criticized me for it at the time but some people said tut-tut.

Asked another cyclist about it at work today and he said he would cut round it as it's too tight.
 
BentMikey said:
Ouch mate, sorry to hear about that. MRABs aren't always the best thing, are they?


Only slow speed.Didn't see any black ice.(It was 10 in the morning)First spill since my collision in Feb 2006.;)

Just goes to show that some cyclists bend the rules for safety if you know what I mean although I don't think RLJing comes into this.

To think how many 4am commutes i've done round the mini rounderbout with no problems.
 
OP
OP
tdr1nka

tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
There are a couple of mini roundabouts to cross on our school run each day and I find it best, as long as I have the right of way, to cut across it on the tandem giving anyone wanting to enter the roundabout to my left a clear view of us and our intentions. I found that not to doing this at what is a busy time for traffic cars will get stuck behind me while I have to bow to drivers who refuse to give way to the right and risk cars overtaking us while on the roundabout itself.

T x
 
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