Is Leeds soooo different??

[andyfromotley]

yup mikey, i do add that i have only been at it for 2-3 months so accept that i have a very small sample size, but it really has been incident free. The suggestion that anyone could bully me, even weilding a 4x4 makes those who know me chuckle! i ride confidently and often lean aginst vans/buses etc at stops...honestly not a single problem. Now you would think that RLJ would get em going, well i doubt if a day goes by that i dont RLJ, no toots no shaken fists, nothing..............unles they just start working themseves into a slow frenzy that erupts when they arrive in magnatoms home town!
I am not niave enough to think that there wont be the odd problem to come but i havent had one yet. Had to laugh at some of the quotes about leeds/the north/places outside london. C'mon we dont have country lanes and haywains in leeds. It's not a replica of the hovis ad.

which brings me back to my original point. Is leeds so different? Seems it might just be.

andy

 

[BentMikey]

Well, I must admit I don't often get problems on my commute, hence the very few incidents despite more than a year of filming, but I certainly do get attempted bullying once in a while. Mostly the sort of revving engine, beeping horn, and too-close overtake that normally comes just before a long wait in the queue ahead for that vehicle.

If you haven't had much in 2-3 months, that's easy to understand, but you're very likely to experience something within the next 2k miles. I doubt it will be serious (and very much hope not), but you'll defo get some bad driving and/or some bullying at some point.

 

[atbman]

Gone round the Armley Giratory loads of times. Its not that scary as its got traffic lights like, unless you are comming out of Tong Road, now that bit I don't like.

Agreed - no lights on the Tong Road access, but even so, I think that Armley Gyratory probably got its reputation when there were no lights on it, altho' even then I didn't find it too problematical. Which isn't to say that I never got the odd numpty. I suspect a combination of speed (don't hang around on the Gyratory) and positioning kept me reasonably free from nasty incidents.

 

[Cab]

I accept that have been commuting a very short time, but i ride past queues of traffic, i refuse to ride in the gutter, i am often distracted by attractive girls and occasionally i even .........RLJ.

Cant say i've had a single bit of grief from a motorist.... nothing but politeness and plenty of room.

May be that its just Leeds drivers are nicer.... but i'm guessing this is the norm for most of us no??

andy

Leeds is generally a calmer place to cycle than many others. Can't say precisely why, but I suspect that in part its because there aren't all that many bikes there; the average anger of the motorist towards cyclists on Britains roads seems proportional to how many cyclists they encounter.

 

[BentMikey]

There are lots and lots of cyclists in London, and I think there's less rage from drivers than there is out here in Kent. Significantly less than some parts of Essex, for example.