Scared another cyclist off the road

[Cab]

And I'd do it again.

Coming home yesterday, spotted an ambulance up ahead signalling to pull out. Slowed and gestured to let it out, with the entirely selfish goal of having a vehicle in front of me that others would mostly clear the road, and which would make a nice square hole in the air to draft.

Made it most of the way through town when I was joined in my draft by another bike, far closer on my right hand side than I'd like. Shoulder to shoulder, basically. Still, ignored him, until the ambulance slowed down and we both had to brake. Not hard braking, pretty gentle at the sedate pace we were going, but his brakes made an amazing scraping noise. I turned to him, said "Thats your brakes?", he grinned, said "Yeah", I replied "You wanna get that sorted, mate".

Still before getting out of the town centre, up by Magdelene college, he was up beside me again, and I worked out why his bike made that noise. His 'brakes' were the soles of his shoes dragged on the road.

"You're braking with your shoes while drafting?" I asked.

"Yeah" he said.

"Get the **** off your bike, and walk it home. And do it now, otherwise you're going to die." I perhaps didn't say so in the most polite tone. I perhaps could have taken on a less insistent and intimidating manner.

"I've survived this long" he replied.

"Well, it was nice meeting you before the funeral".

He dismounted at the junction ahead, got off, crossed the road, and continued along the pavement (on to Chesterton lane) on foot. Just as well, because if we'd been in the ASL together I'd have made damned sure all of the other cyclists up in front of the traffic (there were five of us) knew about it too.

Shoulder to shoulder behind an ambulance with a f***wit with no brakes.

 

[Arch]

Good on you. Still, at least drafting an ambulance he won't have to wait long for his lift to hospital...

I see a fair few chavs with no brakes, stopping with their feet - was this one of those, or did he look like he should know better?

I gather cheap wheels and V brakes are to blame often - the wheel buckles and the close tolerances on the V brakes makes them rub annoyingly, so they get disconnected...

 

[DJ]

The title to your thread could have been a much more positive, " I saved someones life today"

 

[ComedyPilot]

The title to your thread could have been a much more positive, " I saved someones life today"

I bet your glass is always half full?

 

[thomas]

When I was out for a spin yesterday there was an ambulance, with blues and twos on. I was going to draft it home, but some stupid lady in her 4x4 had to get past me to stop, rather than just stopping behind me, allowing me to carry on down the road.

I attempted to catch it up, but these stupid motorists decided that they were going to use the road as well and got in my way

urghh.

 

[Cab]

I see a fair few chavs with no brakes, stopping with their feet - was this one of those, or did he look like he should know better?

Student. So yes, probably should know better but no, pretty much unlikely to know any better

 

[very-near]

I saw this last weekend when I went into town.

Chav on a BMX went banging past me- straight over the top of a busy mini roundabout at about 20mph with his feet on the ground making a hell of a racket and just missing a Taxi coming the other way.

One wonders how many accidents lemons like this cause by trying to avoid ones they create. At least the plonker wasn't on the pavement though

 

[fisha]

Cab, as good as your intentions were, that kind of manner directed at me would have had verbal back at you to mind yer own business. Fair do's the first few comments, but to lord over him in that tone to tell him to get off now, nah, not for me, sorry.

That aside, chav brake bikes ( shoes ) are all the rage round my way on my beat. See kids out on them all the time. Even funnier though is that the area seems to work a community cycle scheme where such chav brake bikes are left lying around for anyone to pick and use as required .... bizarre!

 

[GrahamNR17]

Damn, now you've kept one in the gene pool

 

[Cab]

Cab, as good as your intentions were, that kind of manner directed at me would have had verbal back at you to mind yer own business. Fair do's the first few comments, but to lord over him in that tone to tell him to get off now, nah, not for me, sorry.

He'd have been welcome to give me verbal back. Me and the however many other cyclists on that road, at peak commuting time in Cambridge, would have most likely continued to have words with him.

There comes a point where someone is not only endangering themselves, but me too; want to draft a slowish moving ambulance alongside me? Then have good brakes and sufficient competence that I trust you, or get the hell away from me. If you're a dangerous idiot and you're in my roadspace, it is my business.