It started with writing a letter to the Daily Telegraph

I think we know where this is going

Why are you listening to radio 2 you don't pay road tax 😯

Jumping Red Lights, No Insurance, Don't pay tax by any chance??

The usual "road tax" and Insurance, helmets, agressive bell ringing? you name it, lol.

Its about bells. But we were straight onto 'all the above' within seconds and compulsory helmets

But loads of us do pay road tax! Yet when we cycle rather than drive we use far less roadspace and cause even less wear…

What exactly is "aggressive bell ringing"? So what would constitute "non-aggressive bell ringing"? Lovely imagery.

chiefgrooveguru – Don't you be coming round here with your bloody logic and reasoning. Be off with you! 🙂

But loads of us do pay road tax!

No we don't, we pay vehicle excise duty, none of which goes into repairing our maintaining the highway infrastructure

So why the bile? I don't get it.

There was a clip on Look East the local news programme of a guy with a helmet cam getting knocked over by an inattentive motorist the other day. There was nothing reported other than dozens of loonies texting and emailng about insurance tax and red lights until the following evening when hundreds of cyclist had responded and pointed out that this was a bit unreasonable in the circumstances.

So whats that about then? I'm a nice guy, and I only piss in my lycra when its really inconvenient to stop and do it. Why don't motorists like me??

Road tax has not existed since the 1930s

Ive just bought some Schwalbe tyres for my Roadrat, had a really nice ride in this morning. Went the long way through the Queens Cousins Country Estate, over the ancient footbridge, along some nice back lanes. It was lovely.

I am a leper. I ring my bell aggressively. It's in every one's interests.

Agressive bell ringing???Your **** kidding???!!! 😆 😆 😆

'Aggressive bell ringing'. Can be open to interpretation. Last year I was walking with a non-cycling friend along a shared pedestrian/bike path that was quite narrow, bordered by a canal.

In my view, lots of cyclists riding home rang their bells at a fair distance (from behind us) so that we knew we were there and we could step aside on to the grass, as there was no where much for a cyclist to go to get around us and it was evening rush hour, so there were quite a few bikes. I thought they were being constructive and were mostly very friendly and helpful when trying to pass by.

My friend saw the situation as a load of louts who were taking over the path, ringing bells only to demand we should 'just get out of the way' as they believed they were more important than us and that the bell ringing proved their arrogance.

My fiend got so hostile at being 'bullied' we had to leave the path and go and walk on a main road.

Same moment, wildly different interpretations.

To be fair, there are a reasonable number of people on bikes (I hesitate to use the words 'cyclists') who ride like ****.

While I was out & about yesterday, I saw (in no particular order):

1) a bloke on a BSO who overtook me while I was stopped at red lights by Fairfield; after I'd caught up with him, he then did it again at the next set
2) A bloke on a GT who ran lights by doing the old onto-the pavement-then-go-across-the-pedestrian-crossing trick
3) a bloke on an ancient blue Stumpy who blithely sailed across a red light.

The reason I make such a big deal about this is that there was a thing on NW tonight where a bus had to stop suddenly due to a red light jumping BMX; a passenger fell over & cracked their head & died. Cue the usual anti-cycling hysteria.

Also, it just pisses drivers off. Did people not do cycling proficiency in England?

Andy

The people at the local church are quite aggressive with their bell ringing IME.

Midnight that is quite bizarre…Personally I get round it by using Hope hubs

There's no doubt that plenty of people are idiots on bikes, but the consequences are nothing compared to those from idiot drivers. And we're hardly short of them, are we?

Achtung. Dis ist groundhog day

but as a cyclist, i can ride on the road and get off the bike and walk across the crossing and get back on the other side, that would still annoy people.

If you want bizarre, work recently installed a totally unwarranted cycle lane (just painted markings) across the car park. Its too narrow for the 2 way cycle traffic to use as its only 1 bike wide and its right next to the cars, so they can reverse into you more easily. What intrigues me though is since this narrow walkway has been painted onto the tarmac, all the pedestrians dutifully walk along it in single file, forcing all the bikes to ride where they used to, more safely, in the wider 'car' lane.

I have met several pedestrians (not work related) who tell me they deliberately walk in cycle lanes as an act of hostility towards cyclists.

I do wish pedestrians/ramblers/roadies/MTB and horse riders would stop their sectarianism and co-operate as they all make each others lives worse – for generally, the most weak and stuck up of 'them and us' reasons.

I don't have a bell, so when cycling past London Bridge station last night with the usual gormless pedestrians wandering around, smoking fags, listening to their ipods and suchlike when a particularly stupid idiot stepped off the kerb and wandered straight at me in the bike lane, I shouted as loud as I could for him to "GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU STUPID C*NT!" …

Does that count?

I like a nice long skid behind pedestrians. They move out of the way quick sharp, even if your quite far off. Love the look on there faces. 😉

Mr Woppit… perfectly acceptable in London…..

i like shouting "ching ching" when i'm a long way off – 15-20m. i hate the noise of bells, especially when they come up behind you and ring it. whether they're trying to sound impatient or not, it always comes across as appearing to be the case.

i just use a load OOOOOIIIII!

as im confronted by a ped all google eyed at the capitalist utopia of oxford street as they step out onto the road unaware of anything thats not on sale