Are we about to get someone on a cycling forum say that as a driver he pays for the roads and that cyclists shouldn't be on them?
Bike Forum
terrible accident
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Posted 9 months ago #
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I have seen some red sections in towns which I thought were cycle paths but apparently they are, in fact, reserved parking places.
We have the same issue here in Longridge a stones throw from the police station too! Even upto junctions and roundabouts they are parked on, pretty pointless to be fair. On a recent trip to Scotland I was surprised to see the size of the cyle lanes between Oban and Fort William (I think) an extensive route that was wide and tarmacced, yet for some strange reason cyclists were using the road? They weren't going at pace and were laden with gear so I can't see training as being an excuse for using the road. Anyway hope he gets better soon.
Posted 9 months ago # -
"Why are they not used by cyclists for training?"
Because:
- they are often poorly surfaced compared to roads
- they often have frequent "give way" lines meaning you can't make good progress
- they're often littered with broken glass etc
- anyone doing training will be the fastest person there and will have to dodge/buzz/slow for other cyclistsThey're totally unsuitable for training.
Personally, other than the ones alongside fast dual carriageways (which is the only type of road I won't ride on these days - they're inherently dangerous for cyclists IMO), they're not even suitable for anything other than pootling round to do the shopping or give the kids a ride, for all the above reasons. They serve splendidly to give cars the luxury of fewer bicycles on the road but they also serve splendidly to make cycling a thoroughly tedious and unenjoyable experience. If you want to go at a decent speed (ie anything above jogging pace), and you don't want to stop at every single side road, nearly all cycle paths are completely and utterly unfit for purpose. They're ghettoisation, pure and simple. "Get off my road, second class citizen, have this bit of ropey old subsiding concrete with ill-considered white lines and endless give-way junctions where you have to wait for lovely shiny cars to turn corners, beep beep, OI! and wear a helmet so I don't feel guilty when I mow you down, you piss-poor hippy who can't even afford a hippy's car let alone a proper one that towers over the other traffic, go on, **** off to your muddy little path where you belong."
No. I'm not having it. It's time we all stopped having it. All we need is people to have the patience to wait a few seconds - really, it's mostly a few seconds and if it's much more than that I'll pull in and let you pass, and let's face it you'll get stuck behind a car in a moment either way - to find a safe passing point. Nothing more than that. Just a little bit, an tiny bit, of time and space. Just the time for a single thought.
Instead, as you say, we spend millions of taxpayers' pounds on appalling pieces of box-ticking tarmac that please no-one and make no-one safer, just to satisfy people's urges to never lose momentum. Crazy, no?
Posted 9 months ago # -
Are we about to get someone on a cycling forum say that as a driver he pays for the roads and that cyclists shouldn't be on them?
I know - we're sooo close but it is someone who choose the name of a japanese "super" car as their identity on a cycle forum.
Bez. 8/10. Pretty good rant.
Posted 9 months ago # -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14575975
From todays wales BBC site.
I worked at the UHW ICU Unit, he's in very good hands.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Not sure that aggression is the correct word to use, but definitely ride with more purpose and let the drivers know that you're there.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Yes, replace "aggression" with "assertiveness" and we have a point well made. Unfortunately, the headline now talks about aggressive cycling and that's just an invitation for the narrow-minded to pile in fists-a-pounding and maws-a-drooling via Have Your Imbecilic Say.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Because:
- they are often poorly surfaced compared to roads
- they often have frequent "give way" lines meaning you can't make good progress
- they're often littered with broken glass etc
- anyone doing training will be the fastest person there and will have to dodge/buzz/slow for other cyclistsThey're totally unsuitable for training.
Personally, other than the ones alongside fast dual carriageways (which is the only type of road I won't ride on these days - they're inherently dangerous for cyclists IMO), they're not even suitable for anything other than pootling round to do the shopping or give the kids a ride, for all the above reasons. They serve splendidly to give cars the luxury of fewer bicycles on the road but they also serve splendidly to make cycling a thoroughly tedious and unenjoyable experience. If you want to go at a decent speed (ie anything above jogging pace), and you don't want to stop at every single side road, nearly all cycle paths are completely and utterly unfit for purpose. They're ghettoisation, pure and simple. "Get off my road, second class citizen, have this bit of ropey old subsiding concrete with ill-considered white lines and endless give-way junctions where you have to wait for lovely shiny cars to turn corners, beep beep, OI! and wear a helmet so I don't feel guilty when I mow you down, you piss-poor hippy who can't even afford a hippy's car let alone a proper one that towers over the other traffic, go on, **** off to your muddy little path where you belong."
No. I'm not having it. It's time we all stopped having it. All we need is people to have the patience to wait a few seconds - really, it's mostly a few seconds and if it's much more than that I'll pull in and let you pass, and let's face it you'll get stuck behind a car in a moment either way - to find a safe passing point. Nothing more than that. Just a little bit, an tiny bit, of time and space. Just the time for a single thought.
Chapeau, sir. I'm going to memorise this and deliver it as a monologue to the next dullard who tells me its safer to ride on a cycle path, or that I 'should' be on the cycle path.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Are we about to get someone on a cycling forum say that as a driver he pays for the roads and that cyclists shouldn't be on them?
That MUST be worth a life ban from this forum!!
Posted 9 months ago #
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