[Closed] Cycling in London #2 (RLJ content)

when I was a courier.....you can imagine the rest.... 😳

Heh.. When I worked in London before, in 2000, I was only 24. Needless to say I went for it. Once incident caused me to stop and think though, and I slowed down.

think I've got 22 sets in the nearly 5 mile trip to work plus 4 or 5 zebras

think I've got 22 sets in the nearly 5 mile trip to work plus 4 or 5 zebras

I see everyone doing it, including buses and taxis. If I'm waiting at lights and cyclists fly by I feel kind of stupid.

I was stopped at a red just before Blackriars underpass when 2 idiots jumped the red, I caught them up in the Thames st tunnel and overtook them. When I got to the London bridge/King William st junction one of them was behind me and we both stopped at the red light. When we moved away a cab jumped the lights and mr RLJ'er gave the cabbie a load of abuse. I pointed out that he'd done the same a couple of minutes earlier but he just couldn't get it.

No wonder that some motorists hate us!

Can you cycle through that underpass at Blackfriars btw?

not worth it...people that RLJ are f*cking stupid and have no place riding bicycles on the good streets of London

some little chavy c*nt on a BSO collided with me outside Camden tube station before XMAS, the light had changed in my favour (I was on foot) and he rode through the red light, hit me bruising my jaw and left arm, but he went over the bars and bent his bike, dragged it up the street towards Sainsburys as I chased him, threatening him with physical violence for running me over!

heard a great saying from a friendly Police officer at the pub some years back; "if you ride like a c*nt, you will get f*cked"

he explained further..."you will get f*cked by being run over by a motor vehicle, sued by a pedestrian you have run over and injured, or nicked by the Police, but either way you will get f*cked!"

some months back, 2 roadies in Chiswick high street started giving me lip after I shouted at them for RLJ and nearly hitting an old lady who was crossing on a pedestrian green

should have seen their cocky attitude vanish when the blue lights went on behind and the cops who had seen the entire incident pulled them over...

I have 64 lights on my commute. Some are safe to run, some would be lethal. I gave up caring what drivers think when continually see them doing stupid things every day that knock cyclists over or endanger them . A car hits me, I die, the car ends up with a blood stain and a scratch. It's all relative. They are a lot more lethal than me!

@tin_pin-man

this is what my Police Officer chum shared with me

you may think some light are "safe to run", you won't realise you have caused a fatal accident at that junction, caused by your illegal action, as you are riding away when it happens

and, if you are involved in a RTA, forget any compensation if you are found RLJ, which with the spread of CCTV, is not hard to prove...

if you decide to jump some REDS and not others, you are no better than the motorists you berate..

Can you cycle through that underpass at Blackfriars btw?

Yes you can. On the W/B side the inside lane narrows a bit so you have to get out a bit on the down slope, but otherwise it's fine. Thames st tunnel just after/before is great for a bit of speed as there's no wind.

@tin_pin-man

this is what my Police Officer chum shared with me

you may think some light are "safe to run", you won't realise you have caused a fatal accident at that junction, caused by your illegal action, as you are riding away when it happens

and, if you are involved in a RTA, forget any compensation if you are found RLJ, which with the spread of CCTV, is not hard to prove...

if you decide to jump some REDS and not others, you are no better than the motorists you berate..

I ride to west London with a copper sometimes. He says that it's ok for him to jump reds as he's a trained police driver, I said that he's a dick.

plus 4 or 5 zebras

Cool!

@ spursn17

I agree he is a dick! simply because he cannot decide to break the law because of his training..would be nice to see him get nicked by a fellow copper whilst he is RLJ on his push bike

I met many police whilst working for the 2nd largest police force in London (hint: transport), and soon realise you cannot make up your own rules and expect others to abide by "the" rules

you won't realise you have caused a fatal accident at that junction, caused by your illegal action, as you are riding away when it happens

Hehe, you'd have to be pretty flippin oblivious not to notice a fatal RTA going on behind you.

Good point though - you could cause other people to swerve to avoid you and hit someone else.

molgrips - Member
Can you cycle through that underpass at Blackfriars btw?

Yes, if you're going East try to take he middle of the left hand lane until half way down the slope as there's a nasty sunken drain that can catch you unawares.

Back in my London (Uni + 2 years) days i used to RLJ like a demon with a death wish.
I was well aware how much it miffed folks off, I'd not do it blind, but there's always that magic moment where on certain junctions all lights from all directions are red, including those for pedestrians. It was 'that moment' that I'd chose to jump if I was going. Then the deal was If I got taken out, it'd be by another jumper from another direction.

One day I just stopped doing it, don't know why. I think I hit a point on my London commute (Stokey - Oxford St daily) where I felt my exposure had hit saturation point and I need to slow things down a little. That and my knees started complaining from aggressive acceleration from the lights so regularly during the winter.

not worth it...people that RLJ are f*cking stupid and have no place riding bicycles on the good streets of London

What a pile of poo.

I've bin riding bikes on the streets of That London for over thirty years, and I have never caused an accident or injured anyone as a result of my riding. I regularly jump red lights when it's safe to do so, and only bin caught the once, and that was only cos I was on a 32:16t SS mtb and coon't ride off quickly enough. 😆 Actually since then, I've bin more than getting my money's worth from having to pay the thirty pound fine, and actually run [i]more[/i] red lights than I did previously. Ergo, the fine as a deterrent din't actually work, and I'm proving this. Doing the police and legal system a favour really. 😀 Fining people leads to an increase in crime.

I really don't give two flips what any sanctimonious arse thinks of me. There's Famine and War and Child Abuse and all sorts going on; go and get steamed up about that instead.

Lights just gone red seem to be treated as green by a lot of drivers at the moment. Of course they usually accelerate which would make any accident even worse. Doh!

I'm very careful when I'm driving and I stop when the lights have just gone amber - I want to stop but you really can't be sure the driver behind has the same attitude and, even tho they would clearly be in the wrong when they hit me, I can do without being shunted up the rear end.

I hate cyclist RLJs - but frankly there's so little respect for the laws of the road in London I don't think too many car drivers can have a pop at cyclists for breaking the law...

I've bin riding bikes on the streets of That London for over thirty years, and I have never caused an accident or injured anyone as a result of my riding.

I know of a bloke who regularly drink drives. He's never caused an accident or injured anyone (at least that anyone knows of but I reckon he's too stupid to make a good job of covering it up)...

OK, I kind of agree with your point about whether it's a major issue but really it's not a very good argument to justify it.

OK, I kind of agree with your point about whether it's a major issue but really it's not a very good argument to justify it.

I don't actually care. 😀

No seriously, I really don't.

And a drunk driver is in charge of a ton or more of metal which can travel at very high speeds. An Elf on a bicycle weighs less than twelve stone combined, and moves a lot more slowly.

So it actually is a very good argument to justify it, [i]I think you'll find[/i].

No, you're clearly wrong. I'm clearly right. Anything else you post just further proves my correctitude...

END OF THREAD

😉

Don't be so preposterous.

You are a Silly Billy and fundamentally wrong. 😐

Have you got a tapeworm?

if you decide to jump some REDS and not others, you are no better than the motorists you berate..

this.^ i too have 50-60 sets of lights when i commute (not that often) but if you run one set you have to run them all, you will not get there any quicker by running some and not the others.
why bother?

Spurs - not sure how I can cause an Rta when either nobodys crossing the road or the cars are stationary waiting for nobody to cross. Yawn. Move along. Nothing to see here! 😉

This reminds me of that joke about two brothers who always jump red lights, but stop on the greens, just in case the other brothers coming.....some people like to jump em, some people like to wait...good luck to all.

I've bin riding bikes on the streets of That London for over thirty years

Your odds are shortening all the time then.

Take care

What a pile of poo.

I've bin riding bikes on the streets of That London for over thirty years, and I have never caused an accident or injured anyone as a result of my riding. I regularly jump red lights when it's safe to do so, and only bin caught the once, and that was only cos I was on a 32:16t SS mtb and coon't ride off quickly enough

[b]@elfinsafety[/b]

I hope you don't ever ride into me, and if you do, I am not capable of getting to my feet

because I am going to knock seven shades of sh*t out of you, or any other RLJ'ing c*nt that runs me down in London whilst I am on foot

I am sick of stupid cyclists jumping red lights, don't worry about the Police catching you, a pissed-off pedestrian will do a good job on you first

the only advice I could possibly help you with is "grow up!"

Oh dear. Time for somebody's cocoa, I think.... 😐

Annnnnddd.....relax.....

because I am going to knock seven shades of sh*t out of you, or any other RLJ'ing c*nt that runs me down in London whilst I am on foot

I am sick of stupid cyclists jumping red lights, don't worry about the Police catching you, a pissed-off pedestrian will do a good job on you first

@elfinsafety

its nothing personal, I don't know you, and you're probably a nice bloke...

but when you have cyclists regularly riding through red lights and clipping pedestrians, or skidding to avoid pedestrians who are crossing legally on a green pedestrian light, you start to develop a serious intolerance to these cyclists

since that kid rode into me outside Camden tube station, last year, I've had enough of this behaviour, I was very lucky to escape that collision with only some bruising

years ago, I used to be that stupid tw*t jumping red lights until I got ticketed by the Police next to Aldgate tube station, had a lecture from a Police SGT, realised the impact it was having on other people, and decided to grow up and start paying attention to the rules of the road

yes, I see lots of car drivers, taxis and even buses behaving badly, but that's no excuse for me to ignore the Highway code

its really simple, if you are going to ride a bicycle on the road, follow the rules of the road?

its really simple, if you are going to ride a bicycle on the road, follow the rules of the road?

Punctuation aside ( 😉 ), I agree!

Oh, and I will happily make sure I get very much in the way of any RLJer when I'm a pedestrian, crossing on a green man. I have done so on more than a a few occasions.

Earlier, I said this:

I regularly jump red lights when it's [b]safe[/b] to do so

IE, never when there are pedestrians crossing, or when there are cars about, etc. I always always check what's coming and how safe the situation is. Only if it's 100% safe will I jump the light.

I don't know you, and you're probably a nice bloke...

I am actually. 🙂

Apart from being a criminal....

its really simple, if you are going to ride a bicycle on the road, follow the rules of the road?

I am going to knock seven shades of sh*t out of you, or any other RLJ'ing c*nt that runs me down in London whilst I am on foot

I don't know you, and you're probably a nice bloke...

I am actually.

I regularly jump red lights when it's safe to do so

as bad as TJ speeding on his motorbike when he thinks it's 'safe to do so'

Oh come on, like theres any adult that hasn't broken a law.....in fact, I did one today, oh wait, and yesterday, come to think of it..... 😉

Not as bad cos TJ + motorbike = much heavier and faster than Elf + pedal bicycle. This hath already bin explaineth.

That's not what it seems like after what you admitted about that dog and the owner

[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/would-you-accept-10-to-be-silenced-classifieds-feedback/page/3#post-3379499 ]Not quite with you on that one, you'll have to explain.[/url]

Nice edit, Elfin. Really makes everyone respect you even more than they already [s]do[/s] don't 🙄

Having spent this last summer in London, I'd say that I was jumping half to most of the red lights..
Sometimes it's after a good look, slacking off the speed, another good look and go..
Having said that, it includes rolling in front of the line for a head-start, going when the opposing light has gone red (after checking/clocking any car/bike RLJers!), turning left on a red when there's nobody coming and going when the peds have all cleared the crossing...
There's plenty of circumstances when it's not UNsafe to jump a red.. and when it is, then waiting is fine. Its not hard to do a trackstand, or adjust your speed and wait for the peds to finish crossing either.
It may be illegal, but I don't have pedal reflectors either!

Nice edit, Elfin. Really makes everyone respect you even more than they already do don't

Still havunt a clue what on Earth you're actually going on about, but then again, I suspect neither do you. 😐

Elfin, I love you, will you have my children? 🙂

Still havunt a clue what on Earth you're actually going on about, but then again, I suspect neither do you.

Fred up there got bitten by a dog and the owner offered him £10 if he didn't tell the police about it. The owner was elderly and would be left all on this own if the dog was put down. So Fred, being Fred, took the £10 and still reported him to the Police.

However, he decided to sneakily edit his post that said what's written above because he doesn't want people thinking he's a bad person. He got a criminal record from when he was younger but he's [s]changed[/s] still the same.

Slightly makes your blood boil. 👿

If you can actually prove this, then fair enough. Off you go to collect your 'evidence'.

I'll be expecting a full apology from you if you can't, of course.

Elfin, I love you, will you have my children?

Why, don't you want them any more?

I havunt really got the space for them to be honest. 🙁 I really don't know where I'd put them.

I'm sure kicking the shit out of someone for rlj'ing will make you a true hero of the people, rather than just a violent prick. I guess Saturday night is internet hard men night.