Joggers....

[gbb]

Pete, I realise it can be taken different ways, but the TONE its used in dictates what it means. Trust me..i WAS there...it was said in a non inflammatory way.


I could have said, 'c'mon bud, ( bud..a friendly term i use a lot, some say a bad habit, but thats another matter)...give us a break' I would have meant that in an equally non-inflammatory way.

I could equally have said 'you'll get yourself or me killed bud' with genuine concern.


I could have entered into a lengthy discussion with him about road safety, he could have given his point of view, perhaps he may have enlightened me why using the road was better and more important than the safety of cyclists and possibly 10 cars that had to slow down, potentially causing an accident (not likely, but not impossible either)
I may even have agreed with his unlikely reason for being there...perhaps the empty footpath nearby was ...you get the gist.

I could have cycled on and said nothing....perhaps he may have been run over by one of the hundreds of cars that must have passed him within 12inches. One driver not paying attention...bang...your out. Not likely, but theres plenty of people killed by someone not paying attention.

This is quite close to my heart actually. I had to take a girl home once, crying hysterically in the car beside me, because her brother had just been killed on the A1 an hour before. He was walking home from a broken down car, back to the traffic...bang..he never came home. It send shivers down my spine when i remember how she sobbed..what can you say ???. Grit your teeth and get it over as soon as you can.
Perhaps subconciously, this is what irked me about his behaviour.

Dont all jump to conclusions...trust me, i'm not a rude person unless provoked.

This is the trouble with this form of communication, you cant convey emotions or tone of voice. I say again, trust me....i was not rude in the first place.

 

[Pete]

OK, gbb, I accept that you've 'chilled' a bit, so have I perhaps. And sorry about your experience, would have unsettled anyone I think. Some of the others, I'm still unhappy about what they've said here. And I hope folks understand my POV - shared by many cyclists - that these painted cycle lanes can be as dangerous for a cyclist as for - say - a jogger. Most places I know of where they exist, I think we'd be better off without them. Perhaps you agree?

Bus lanes, on the other hand, I think are quite a good thing - you have plenty of room, they are generally safer except at the times when a speeding No.37 comes bearing down on your back wheel (then you just have to hope for the best and that he knows how to overtake). Even when motorbikes are allowed in the lane alongside cyclists, not usually a problem. Overtaking a slow or stopped bus of course needs some care, again you have to be able to insert yourself in the flow of outside traffic with the usual caution.

I might add that over the past few days I've been regularly encountering the same jogger on my lunchtime spins - on country lanes - it seems he does the same circuit as I do, but on foot and in the reverse direction. He always has a friendly 'hello' for me. I don't suppose he - a man seemingly in his seventies - is out to break records, but I admire his tenacity.

 

[gbb]

Its an odd thing. Had there been no traffic on the road, i'd have probably cycled past without a thought...i may have thought 'crikey, i wouldnt do that'

But being forced into traffic on an otherwise narrow road, narrow because of the inclusion of a cycle lane ironically ...focus's the mind a bit.

Even then, i could have chosen not to overtake him. Legally, he may have every right to be there..it'd be interesting to speak to a policeman on this one.
But ride at just over walking pace..for how long ???100 yards, a mile ?
Ironically again, it would have been safer for me to hop onto the empty path and use that..

I would do the same again, without question.

 

[domtyler]

I don't think you get it. He 'inconvenienced' you briefly and you are this bitter and twisted about it? Can you really not see that your attitude is identical in every way to the very worst w@nker "Ged aat o' my fackin' way y'cant" WVM? I am really surprised at this level of intolerance.

 

[KitsuneAndy]

It's like the anti-sustran's argument, surely you can't expect joggers and pedestrians to use pavements. Then people will start to think that they're not allowed to use anything BUT pavements and they'll be forever stuck running around their block. Eventually starving to death because they couldn't go to the shops

To be fair, anyone would have taken your comment as a dig. You obviously meant it as a dig, but put a 'mate' on the end to make it sound like a not-so-nasty dig. If it hadn't really bothered you, you'd have just not said anything...

 

[bonj2]

Not aimed at GBB or the particular incident described, but there are some awful attitudes on here.

I cycle, I run, I do tri's.


'Jogger' is a name which implies someone who runs slowly, for fitness/weight-control reasons, usually wearing a thick towelling track suit.
Call someone who would class themselves as a 'runner' a 'jogger' and you'll really insult them !
There doesn't seem to be an equivalent term for someone on a bike, implying that they're a total numpty and not a 'proper cyclist'


I personally wouldn't run with my back to traffic - in fact our running club are very keen on the importance of not doing this, and on wearing high-viz/reflectives at night, after one member was killed by a hit-and-run on a country lane a couple of years ago.

But some people do, just as some pillocks on bikes ride in dark clothes, no lights, on pavement or wrong side of road, wearing headphones and totally oblivious...

And sometimes as a runner you come-up behind some slower runner or pedestrian who seems intent on getting in your way, or someone with an out-of-control child or dog, or a dog who's got the lead stretched across the path, or one of these unlit pillock cyclists coming the other way straight at you...
...just as you would if you were cycling down that path.

There's all sorts of idiots out there, mostly just oblivious or too thick to realise that what they're doing is wrong or unsafe or just plain inconsiderate.
Some drive cars/trucks/buses/etc, some are on foot, some ride bikes

So you class yourself as a runner then, do you andy. So how have you arrived at the figure for what speed is a runner and what is a jogger - have you just taken your speed minus one?
Anything that you can keep up for multiple miles is in my view bound to be jogging. Running is only one step down from full-on sprinting, e.g. running for the bus, you're going to be going as fast as you can. Jogging, you're not.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

But this is an individual cyclist, who despite having a perfectly good EMPTY cycle path to use less than 6 feet away..decided to act in a selfish manner, jeopardising himself, me and other road users.

No excuses....

Apologies for messing with your post GBB, but this is what your post brought to my mind.

 

[Jaded]

Sharing paths with dog walkers is one of life's great privileges.

Not only do you get to see man and animal in perfect harmony, you also get to practice your hazard avoidance skills and clean your tyres more regularly than you might wish to.

 

[col]

Is a cyclist using the road when there is a perfectly good cycle path there,a similar situation?It just seemed that he was a slower road user,and you wanted to pass on a quicker vehicle,is he forced to use the path?Or should you have just waited for a safe opertunity to pass?

 

[gbb]

I don't think you get it. He 'inconvenienced' you briefly and you are this bitter and twisted about it? Can you really not see that your attitude is identical in every way to the very worst w@nker "Ged aat o' my fackin' way y'cant" WVM? I am really surprised at this level of intolerance.

Dom, i dont think you get it either,
He inconvenienced me, yes, but more importantly, he endangered me and the other road users at the time. Thats far more imortant than the 'inconvenience'. Furthermore, and most importantly it was so unneccessary.
Surely anyone can accept that running on a dark road, with your back to the traffic, completely oblivious to any problems you may cause anyone..is a little silly if nothing else....especially when theres a path within feet of you.

Bitter and twisted....not at all. Just a post relating to an experience i thought wasnt neccessary. Dont think because i complain about an individual, jogger, ped, colleague.....whatever..that i'm turning into a rabid bitter cyclist. I'm laughing as i type this..you got it so wrong.

Identical to someone who shouts 'get out my f'kin way'... we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.

Intolerance....read one of my replys....it stated had the path been full of peds etc, i would have taken a different view. But it wasnt.

This whole post is not about the fact a jogger dared to use my cycle lane...so many of you are jumping to the wrong conclusion.
Its about unneccessarily endangering an individual. Any of the car drivers who probably had to pick their way around him would have probably thought the same as i did.

Its about one individuals inability to realise his actions, although maybe not illegal, will cause danger to himself and others.


Just to clear up a point. Some talk of a cycle path....this was NOT a cycle path...its a cycle lane in the road.

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

I think this highlights one of the most commen riles of cagers really - being surprised by someone travelling a lot slower than you, who causes you to take avoiding action.

gbb, feel free to correct me here if I'm wrong, but guessing from what I've read here and similar experiences myself... you were cycling along happy as larry when almost out of nowhere appears the jogger/runner and you are forcd to take emergency avoiding action. You are surprised by this, and the initial surprise is quickly replaced by a dash of outrage as adrenalin kicks in - #tis not right, but it happens, because thats what heppens. FACT.

If My Jogger had just been weaing a light or something reflective to make him stand out and give gbb some warning, this whole situation and ensuing slanging match could have been avoided.

Good manners breeds good manners.

 

[Pete]

OK, but I think we've done this one to death now. Agreed? Like the same hapless Phaedippides whom I mentioned earlier, who, the legend has it, dropped dead the instant after gasping out the news about Marathon... and like the horse which some contributors to this thread persist in flogging... Yea or yay?

 

[gavintc]

I was a former distance runner before my knees complained too much It may surprise people, that the road is usually a lot smoother than the pavement and was always my preferred place to train on. A runner likes to get into a rythm and can achieve this easier on a road whereas on a pavement, you have far more problems with silly pedestrians, dog walkers and uneven ground.

 

[gbb]

Jacomus...wrong on two points..maybe three
He didnt surprise me, i saw him from 100 maybe 200 yards away. As stated, i slowed down to find the gap in the traffic while he jogged on. By this time, i'm really quite close.

The whole situation wasnt dangerous per se, i managed ok...just POTENTIALLY dangerous...and i still say unneccessarily so. Jogging in a cycle lane in moderately heavy traffic is inevitably going to obstruct said cyclist, (any cyclist, there could have been 10 in the time he jogged on the cycle lane) He would have caused equal potential danger to every one of them.

The fact is, i saw him, i slowed, struggled to find a gap, Audi driver i assume saw my struggle with the moderately heavy traffic, slowed himself to allow me to pass. Traffic behind him had to slow accordingly.
Surprise, no.


Dash of outrage, adrenaline....no. A little miffed by the pointlessness of it perhaps, i'd be a liar if i said otherwise, but outrage....no. I said before, i'll say again. I spoke to the guy, not shouted...I opened our short few words politely...cannot say that enough times.

Ensuing slanging match...not really. It implies a heated, lengthy arguement.

An opening word..politely
He no doubt wasnt concerned with my thoughts or welfare, so he gives a comical (to him) and therefor is i assume a 'couldnt give a fcuk' response.
My response then is equally 'fcuk you then'

2 sentences between us...a quick few words....and on with the ride.

I didnt even post the story as an anti jogger rant...simply a reflection on a pointless, potentially dangerous incident, that was completely avoidable...


Petes right, nuff said i think. No more from me. (but please dont start again...i may have to reconsider )