The fabled "evil cyclist" (™ angry motorists) spotted!

[User482]

Exactly the same can be said of other motorists.

 

[slowmotion]

Now, we've all heard tell of this ninja, RLJ-er, pavement-cycling, wobbly menace, but we all believed him a work of fiction, invented by angry motons.

And so did I until I met him, cycling up Brixton Hill on Friday night.

I caught sight of him almost knocking over some children on the pavement at first, (he was dressed head to toe in dark grey), then he caught sight of me and my obvious disapproval and thought he would try and impress me with his on-road skills. This may have worked, had actually possessed any.

He bike-flopped down the kerb (on his rather nice 80s road bike), which made me wince to start with, then proceeded to wobble erratically across the entire width of the bus lane, his legs going like the clappers (he'd have been really impressive in a spinning class), making a real meal of it all. He seemed quite peed off when I overtook him, even though I gave him a REALLY wide berth (read: " I moved into the other lane").

He then overtook me at the red lights, where he was nearly hit by several vehicles turning right as they simply couldn't see him.

He then attempted to bunny hop the kerb, but only succeeded in falling back into the gutter and nonchalantly trying to look like he MEANT to do that, before shooting off at about 3 miles an hour across the housing estate.

It took me a while to believe this actually happened, but I feel privileged to have seen this rare creature in his natural habitat.

Alas, he just missed being up on the podium with first prize......




.....he wasn't toking a giant spliff.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Exactly the same can be said of other motorists.

Perhaps. But I'm not trying to persuade pedestrians, who are nearly all motorists, to allow cars to use 'their' paths.

 

[User482]

Perhaps. But I'm not trying to persuade pedestrians, who are nearly all motorists, to allow cars to use 'their' paths.

Pedestrians are safer if all motorists act responsibly. I am a motorist. Am I responsible for the actions of other motorists?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Pedestrians are safer if all motorists act responsibly. I am a motorist. Am I responsible for the actions of other motorists?

If you are trying to promote motoring to others then other make you, by proxy, accountable for them. What you think, or don't think, about yourself is irrelevant to that debate

 

[User482]

If you are trying to promote motoring to others then other make you, by proxy, accountable for them. What you think, or don't think, about yourself is irrelevant to that debate

No it doesn't. I promote responsible behaviour, but that in no way implies accountability.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

No it doesn't. I promote responsible behaviour, but that in no way implies accountability.

A splendid argument but of limited, if any, application in the real world of campaigning.

If one advocates/promotes a cycle/pedestrian shared use facility that is open to misuse by 'people on bikes' without addressing the concerns and merely sidestepping the issue with a 'not me/us guv' approach doesn't really cut it among those one has to influence.

 

[User482]

I advocate and promote obeying the speed limit. That does not make me responsible for those who break it.