Is Leeds soooo different??

[andyfromotley]

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

 

[spandex]

There not like that in york ive had cars 6" from the end of the bars in a 40 zone just so they get to the lights first 400yd's down the road

 

[marinyork]

York's a strange one though, the poplace at large seem to be rabidly anti-bicycle in sentiment and the driving standard is incredibly poor imho. The vale of York is still a very nice place to cycle though and the A64 is the only road I wouldn't cycle on.

Sheffield is just indifferent. I get abuse from "yuffs" on the estates in cars or on foot and that's about it but they give about a million times more to peds or anyone they feel like bullying. Tram drivers have even been known to wave thanks.

 

[mmace]

May be that its just Leeds drivers are nicer....

good to know, I'll going from Horsforth to Hunslet through the town centre soon

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

Leeds is not so bad (as apposed to Bradford which is nightmarish to the point of surreality). The run down into town is mainly cycle path/bus lane and the traffic is quite slow moving.

Not sure of the route you are going to take to Hunslet from town but try to avoid the roads ramping onto the M621/M1 as it may get a bit hairy.

 

[gbb]

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

The trouble is Andy, i reckon it's easy to read these pages and sometimes assume the commuters life is in danger everytime we set wheels to road.

We all know (i hope and assume) that countless commutes pass without incident and are very pleasureable.

 

[Keith Oates]

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

Perhaps the car drivers are also distracted by the attractive girls and don't need to be aggressive to cyclists. Could relays of attractive girls in all city centres reduce aggressive driving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[nethalus]

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

All I can think is that you must be riding round Leeds Castle in Kent, rather than Leeds in West Yorkshire! Leeds has some of the worst driving I have ever seen. Seems most drivers have the notion here that road signs (especially no entry ones) are there to be ignored, speed limits don't mean anything and you can drive which ever way you please up a one way street!

 

[BentMikey]

Those kents aren't much better, I'm sure. I can really notice the difference in driving behaviour when you leave zone 1 London!! Some of the Kent country folk are the most courteous and careful of all, but the rest are a bunch of boy racer twunts.

 

[mickle]

The trouble is Andy, i reckon it's easy to read these pages and sometimes assume the commuters life is in danger everytime we set wheels to road.

We all know (i hope and assume) that countless commutes pass without incident and are very pleasureable.

Absolutely! As we all know, the dangers of cycling are far outweighed by the benefits. A letter to A to B magazine this month quoted research which suggests that 'cycling is 50% safer than walking, with one fatality for every 20 million miles cycled'.

 

[GrahamG]

You know what? It was exactly the same in Birmingham.

Here's my theory, you get less abuse in cities/towns where there is no bike 'culture' and hardly anyone cycles (like Birmingham and Leeds!) because people just think "fair play" to anyone 'mad enough' to ride a bike during peak times on the roads. It also helps if there were shedloads of big wide roads built in the 60's,70's & 80's because the generous carriageway widths mean that you will very rarely (when traffic isn't at a standstill!) be perceived as an obstruction.

By moving to Bristol I've discovered the meaning of pointless, mis-guided, frustration induced abuse

 

[andyfromotley]

Could relays of attractive girls in all city centres reduce aggressive driving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/quote]


i can see a bit of a problem for Hull with that one..........

 

[summerdays]

By moving to Bristol I've discovered the meaning of pointless, mis-guided, frustration induced abuse

I've only really ridden in Bristol, and most of the time its fine. I'm trying to decide if it is dependant on time and place. For example today just pottering, couple of bike shops, down into centre, then to the office to pick up some bits and peices then home. Apart from at least 6 people who cycled through red lights whilst I was left sitting there I don't really recall any incidents. Most noticable thing was that I had my clothing all wrong ... remove buff, gloves, fleece, rain coat etc... So I've come home with a smile on my face and worn out after the first cycle now the school hols have finished (the hols always make me feel a little out of condition).

On the other hand I've had bad days - I don't think I like the Muller Road in the mornings too full of people getting stuck in slow moving traffic. Equally I don't like the centre first thing in the morning. (I think what I'm trying to say is that I think its worst 1st thing in the morning).

I would be interested to know from people who have cycled in different towns and cities alot whether there are places that are "better" for cycling?

 

[summerdays]

Perhaps the car drivers are also distracted by the attractive girls and don't need to be aggressive to cyclists. Could relays of attractive girls in all city centres reduce aggressive driving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If this is true - does driving standards improve in the summer when we ladies wear less?

 

[domtyler]

If this is true - does driving standards improve in the summer when we ladies wear less?

It's hard to say really, could you please post a photo of yourself with little in the way of clothing for 'research purposes'?