It's been a while....

[magnatom]

...since I've had an incident to post. It's been great on the roads. However, normal service has resumed today when I encountered this road user*.

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jSXHDDQoRI[/media]


It has some extra footage at the start and end on purpose. At the start to show that I do sometimes use the lanes. I used it there as I was slowed up due to the headwind and the preceding hill. As soon as I speed up again I get out. It has a number of nice 'features' that I aim to avoid.

I show the end as it demonstrates that the lane is due to end soon, by taking you straight into the back of parked cars (only one there today which was unusual).

Nice chap!

*I've decided not to refer to drivers, cyclists etc any more. It's good v's bad, not cyclist v's driver......

 

[david1701]

not being shitty but asking a n00bish question, why didn't you go back into the cycle lane after the horrid grates and before the parked cars, like a car would change lanes to overtake and move back after on a motorway?

 

[magnatom]

not being shitty but asking a n00bish question, why didn't you go back into the cycle lane after the horrid grates and before the parked cars, like a car would change lanes to overtake and move back after on a motorway?

Nooby questions are good!

I'm not keen on waving in and out of cycle lanes, especially considering at this point I am probably traveling at about 20mph. (The dept for transport themselves suggest that you should avoind using lanes if traveling at 18mph+ anyway).

This cycle lane has a number of problems with it (see here going the other way), and the road is quite wide anyway. Where I cycle in this video is where I would cycle if the lane wasn't there, and to be fair, this road would be safer if it wasn't.

As the video shows however, if I do slow down quite a bit, I will sit in the lane, I'm just not keen being in that lane at 18mph+. Drains, muck puddles etc.

 

[HLaB]

I don't know what it is about Neanderthal passengers. I've had some really good overtakes from vans/ LGV's only to have the passenger lean out and make some N0bbish comment.

 

[upsidedown]

The passenger, obviously not the brightest lad in the world feels it's his duty to clear the road of obstructions for the driver, who he's trying to impress.

 

[magnatom]

Passenger? What passenger? It's the driver who shouts at me. Are you guys safe to cycle on the roads.....?

 

[crumpetman]

I thought the 18mph thing was for shared use cycle paths rather than cycle lanes on the road? I would have chosen the same position as you though given the speed and condition of the cycle lane. The road user in question was probably only delayed because he slowed down to let the passenger shout at you.

 

[magnatom]

I thought the 18mph thing was for shared use cycle paths rather than cycle lanes on the road? I would have chosen the same position as you though given the speed and condition of the cycle lane. The road user in question was probably only delayed because he slowed down to let the passenger shout at you.

Actually you could be right, but I think it is a good rule of thumb for 'facilities' like this. It does occasionally get swept, but it is always full of loose stones etc, and if you look towards the end of the clip, you'll see the surface is broken up (it is poorly laid the whole length of it...almost like a rumble strip!).

 

[HLaB]

Passenger? What passenger? It's the driver who shouts at me. Are you guys safe to cycle on the roads.....?

My apologies, I didn't watch it right the first time I thought I saw a hand coming out of the window

I can't understand why somebody who made an OK'ish pass feels they need to make a comment Unfortunately they do.

Oh and I'm not safe to be on the roads :-)

 

[magnatom]

Oh and I'm not safe to be on the roads :-)

Especially when ambulances are coming the other way....

 

[david1701]

with ya, I've never ridden in a city (the nearest is 50 miles away and like I say noob ) so I hadn't thought of the debris issue, here they don't bother surfacing the edges of the roads but the debris is more organic in nature and everwhere

 

[magnatom]

with ya, I've never ridden in a city (the nearest is 50 miles away and like I say noob ) so I hadn't thought of the debris issue, here they don't bother surfacing the edges of the roads but the debris is more organic in nature and everwhere

To be fair, the debris issue is only part of it. Cycle lanes like this also have issues for negotiation. See something I have written in a previous thread:

This morning on my ride in I got thinking (always dangerous). What is it, exactly, that I don't like about them? Yes, there are the practical issues, debris, drains, too narrow, door zones etc. All reason enough. However, I realised that there was something more. It the effect they have on negotiation.

In the video above there are sections where I almost feel forced into the cycle lane. Why do I feel forced? I feel forced because the presence of the cycle lane takes away my 'right' to negotiate with following drivers. As I approach the lane, drivers 'expect' that you will enter the lane. If you don't they feel their space is invaded. So by having the lane there, I loose my right to decide where on the road is safest for me to be, and I loose my ability to enter negotiation with the following driver with regards to my road position.

As well as this, when I am in the lane and for some reason I need out, I need to negotiate a position further out on the road. However, my ability to negotiate is significantly weakened by the cycle lane, i.e. the following drivers expect you to stay in your lane.....why would you want out!?

Surely all road design should aim to increase the likelyhood of successful negotiation between road users, not hinder it? When road users are aware of the needs and wishes of others, it makes the roads safer. When we are placed in compartments everyone gets caught out when road users need to leave their compartment.

I can understand why new cyclists might see cycle lanes as a positive thing, but I can't help feeling, that they are divisive, and are part of the fuel for the us and them fire.

 

[HLaB]

Especially when ambulances are coming the other way....

 

[david1701]

To be fair, the debris issue is only part of it. Cycle lanes like this also have issues for negotiation. See something I have written in a previous thread:

I see, I'm really not very experienced with traffic hence these questions

 

[Gerry Attrick]

To be fair, it was a white van. White vans are always driven by idiots. Is that a generalisation? Yep, a generalisation built of experience.

I estimate 90% of the hassle I have experienced on the road has been from a white van. The crazy thing is that I used to drive a white van!