Not used the cam for a while...

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Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
With my commute being so short and uneventful, and with me more often than not walking, I hadn't used the helmet cam for a while. But now that I have a slightly longer ride in to my one day a week job, I dug it out, and lo and behold actually got something worth filming.



The nearest I've ever had to a left hook - not so dramatic as many, but near enough for me to flinch (and if you listen carefully, exclaim 'self-gratification artist' for the benefit of the camera, but it doesn't come out well)

He knew he'd been prat - you can't see on camera, but as I passed him, I looked in at him, and he was looking out at me, with an expression that suggested he expected an earful. Instead I gave him my very best Hard Stare and passed imperiously on to wait at the lights.

And that bit of apparently staring at the road was me thinking I was pointing the camera at his number plate. D'oh! Still it showed up nicely in freezeframe anyway.
 
Aye, he was a bit of a twat there!:smile:

There is a stretch on my commute where I used to get this a lot. However, I then started taking a more assertive road position (the good ole primary!) and the problem has virtually disappeared.

Looking at your video, the cycle lane encourages you to keep to the left of the lane you are in. This I feel, only serves to encourage drivers to do this. Personally, I would ignore the cycle lane here, sit in primary and pull up behind the bus. Thus he would have to wait behind you and pull into the filter lane after you had passed the entrance to it.

Of course, although I would suggest taking a different road position and that might help prevent this, this does not mean that this was your fault Arch. The twat should have and could have waited.

Another example of a very poorly thought out cycle lane, in my opinion. :biggrin:
 
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Arch

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Looking at it again, I suppose I do go back in a little soon - although I stay out of the cycle lane for the first bit, you notice (I've just turned out of a side road on the left). I'm more used to going right at that junction, in which case of course, I take the middle of the lane as soon as feel I can, traffic behind allowing and so on. Perhaps I overcompensated for the fact that I didn't need to do that. Before I just checked again, as a matter of fact, I'd have recollected it as me keeping a decent position all the way - just shows how you can slip into bad habits without knowing.

The road is widening there after a pinch point - I wonder if being a little further out would have stopped him trying to overtake anyway. And for what it's worth, I think that's the first time I've ever had that happen there.

Incidentally, just over that junction, a car passed me, and on the film it looks close, but to me at the time it actually felt fine - it's interesting that sometimes the camera makes stuff look worse, and sometimes better.

By and large, I have to say, the traffic in York isn't a patch on some of the stuff I see you other guys deal with. Wish I'd had the cam on last week, when I saw a chap change his mind at a set of lights, and reverse about 200 yards down the road, starting on the left, and then swinging over to the other side. God knows what that was in aid of!
 
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Arch

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Tynan said:
uh huh, poor

imperious is a word not used enough

I like to think I am often imperious in these situations. In reality, I am probably sweaty, out of breath and look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards, but inwardly, I'm Queen Victoria.:smile:
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
I thought your position was fine unless that's a problem point, I do have a few places where traffic tends to keep cutting into the feeder lane (at speed natch) and then of course a stronger position is important, in one I hold my right arm out a bit to show (hopefully) that I'm carrying on, they will assume that you're taking the turning as well, how on earth can you not be?
 
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Arch

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Tynan said:
I thought your position was fine unless that's a problem point, I do have a few places where traffic tends to keep cutting into the feeder lane (at speed natch) and then of course a stronger position is important, in one I hold my right arm out a bit to show (hopefully) that I'm carrying on, they will assume that you're taking the turning as well, how on earth can you not be?

It's not normally a bad road, but as I said, I'm getting used to using a route I don't use often.

The upside is, going that way, I avoid the ringroad and get to use a brand new road built to access the back of Morrisons, on which there is hardly ever any traffic at all! And a handy bike path at one point which allows me to quite legally cut past a traffic light if it's red;)
 
Tynan said:
I thought your position was fine unless that's a problem point, I do have a few places where traffic tends to keep cutting into the feeder lane (at speed natch) and then of course a stronger position is important, in one I hold my right arm out a bit to show (hopefully) that I'm carrying on, they will assume that you're taking the turning as well, how on earth can you not be?

I think Archs' positioning was fine, but I think it could have been better. As I have said many times before, I hate these feeder cycle lanes. They encourage you to take a position in the lane that isn't even the secondary position and to undercut traffic, including buses which I think is a risk that is not worth taking. I have seen buses edge forward at lights where they have closed gaps like this, without realising. It's not a risk I like to take.

I think it is much safer to take a strong primary before the start of the filter lane and to hold that all the way to the back of the bus. That would have discouraged the overtake (It works for me at a junction that is worse than Archs' junction) and would place you in a good position to cross the junction.

I'm not trying to criticise Arch (I would get lynched if I did that :wacko:) but I am just trying to explain how I would take that junction and why I think it would be safer.
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
yeah yeah, we're not disagreeing here at all, honest

the lane is well marked out though and does let a cyclist go stright to the stop line in what you'd hope is a clear way

but that car's driving does certainly support your argument, I'd do lane unless I realized that it was that sort of junction, which might be the first time if I was actually there
 
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Arch

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
magnatom said:
I'm not trying to criticise Arch (I would get lynched if I did that :wacko:) but I am just trying to explain how I would take that junction and why I think it would be safer.


I have friends you know. Some of them armed...

Thinking about that bus, in retrospect it would have been more sensible to wait behind it, but I think Volvoman had pissed me off, I forgot all about it being a long vehicle. To be fair to myself, the lights had only just changed and it's a long phase (I was waiting there for maybe 30/45 secs) so I guess I knew I had time to get by, but I know I didn't consciously make that decision. Just shows how a little thing can affect you.

Another factor is that it's a very slight rise to that junction, from all directions, and I'd always rather be starting off from the flat ASL than from the slight gradient. Yeah yeah, I know it's barely visible, but it's a mountain in York terms...:biggrin:
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
try some of the phases I have to endure, I swear some are several minutes long, literally
 
I've been rattled before and then because my mind was elsewhere, nearly come a cropper. It's been a while since that happened, but it can happen.

As for hills :biggrin:. Don't make me laugh. You'll have to come and try the Clyde Tunnel some time;):biggrin:

Tynan, no worries. I didn't think we were disagreeing, just thought I would clarify a bit.

That's the problem with posting videos. People always try and pick holes in your cycling. I should know......:wacko::biggrin:
 
Left feeder lanes are always a hairy bit for cyclists. I've always found them to be a place where cars are lest likely to see you because other vehicles passing you partially hide you and most likely to cut you up.

I once chased a woman 4 miles through a city after she cut me up at a feeder lane. If I hadn't braked..... She was surprised to see me again but I didn't rant, I just asked her what she was up to and whether she knew how close she'd been.

I agree with Magnatom, I'd have been outside of the cycle feeder lane. Also, it's difficult to tell from the vid Arch but from just before the bus stop I'd have been looking hard over my shoulder to see who looked like they might be filtering left, identifying them, eye contacting them and making my intentions of going straight on pretty clear. Looks like from your head movements you've glanced back but only as you've reached the filter lane. Have I got that wrong?
 

domtyler

Über Member
Come on guys, if you cycle right in at the edge of the road or in cycle lanes, especially going through a junction, you will almost always get this or worse. You were not in a secondary position, let alone primary and then you wondered why someone has ignored your presence on the road. It just makes me think that all the stuff written on here that I know Arch has read and reread has just not sunk in. Bad driving, yes. But also bad cycling in this instance.
 
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