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Last week I was commuting into London, coming up to a set of lights just after the Elephant & Castle they turned red, whereby a chap on a half reasonable road bike, who'd been yo-yoing ahead and behind for a couple of miles did a full on full speed cyclo-cross dismount, picked up the bike and ran (in SPD shoes) across the junction, not on the pavement, remounted the other side and carried on. He'd not done this on any of the preceding 10 sets of lights, and we caught him stopped at the next set, 100 yards further on!
This morning I was stopped at some lights in Balham, when not one, but 2 guys (doubt they were together; one on a Boardman carbon road bike in lycra, one on a BSO in jeans) both rode through the red at full bore, but in a 'scooting' position - not astride the saddle, right foot on right pedal, left dangling. Both were going too fast to start running had someone appeared going across their path, you have to wonder what on earth they were thinking! I'd rather be actually on the bike and able to brake properly in that situation.
Is this a sort of "if I'm not really on the bike it's not illegal" scenario!? Much like those who wobble though at 0.1mph, as if that makes it ok.
Anyone else seen cyclists being more stupid than usual!?
not really, seeing as the cold weather reduces the amount of cretins out on the roads.
I'm surprised by the number still riding in London, no noticeable reduction, except in their number of brain cells.
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Preposterous
The only tactic worth applying for RLJing is to pull a wheelie
In all seriousness I've found my commutes have got completely out of hand since I stopped doing them on a road bike and started using a jump bike. The world's your oyster on an mtb: if anything's in your way you can just jump around it. Traffic jam? bonk, bonk, bonk and bob's yer uncle...
I have seen people doing this - I guess they think they are not breaking the law.
If you want to RLJ just do it - slowly politely and carefully. Pretending you are walking with the bike is stupid
This junction in Edinburgh amuses me - I am really not sure what youare supposed to do legally at the end of the cycle path - there is no cycle light.
http://g.co/maps/y85tr
bonk, bonk, bonk and bob's yer uncle...
Is that the sound of you bunny hopping cars!?
I guess they think they are not breaking the law.
That was my assumption, but it's gotta be far more dangerous than just riding through cautiously! Not that I condone it, it really annoys me actually, mainly for the negative brush we all then get tarred with!
Ha! I used to commute through there for a few years. I just pressed the ped. button and rode across the junction when the green man appeared, giving way to peds as necessary. Never had a problem. Greater problem was the smokey joes hanging around outside the pub just behind the camera, using the bike lane as extra pavement... 👿This junction in Edinburgh amuses me - I am really not sure what youare supposed to do legally at the end of the cycle path - there is no cycle light.
Militant biker - you rotten lawbreaker you. riding on a pedestrian crossing
I didn't say that 😆
I said I rode across the junction. As it's one of those, all-peds-get-green-together junctions the center of the 'box' is 'empty'.
I think people who wobble through red lights at 0.1mph are actually "doing a track stand".
You still rode a vehicle across the crossing when the green man was lit. tut tut tut
green is for "Go", red is for "Go with a wheelie"
Drat!You still rode a vehicle across the crossing when the green man was lit. tut tut tut
I bet you'd never do that 😉
That's next to the shop that junction. You simply get off and walk your bike across the road with peds and remount on the other side or whatever lane you are deciding to end up on. Not that hard...
I just moved house and therefore commute. It was easier than getting off my bike.
Are you then cycling on the pavement? you do have to cross a bit of pavement? or when you get back on the bike?
I can't help but laugh at people who do this.
see people doing it regularly, they either:
- get off and walk
- get off and run
- scoot across
- pick the bike up (!)
If you're going to RLJ, at least have the balls to do it properly.
Mind you, I doubt a policeman would know what to do if he stopped someone for doing it and they challenged him.
Agreed! It was the dismount and run that had me most amused! He was clearly one of those commuter racery types, and saw it as a way of getting ahead of the rest of us who really didn't care.
When we caught him 100 yards later he'd developed an incredible fixation on his computer, rather than look around.
Maybe they are practising their dismounts for the cyclocross season??
Maybe! It would've been less odd if he'd done it multiple times, rather than one of the 10 crossings we went across!
We often had the red light police hanging around the lights outside where I was working this summer... Best spectator sport ever!
There was one particularly chubby one.. Poor lad.. Didn't stand a chance! Half the RLJs would hear the whistle and the shout, take one look at him and stand up and gun it.. He'd start to make the move to go, but then slump back down, all dejected that he knew it wasn't going to happen.. awww!
when you hear the whistle and the shout, there's only one option - dive into oncoming traffic...
This junction in Edinburgh amuses me - I am really not sure what youare supposed to do legally at the end of the cycle path - there is no cycle light.
I think the engineer in the council didn't entirely know what to do either so he just stuck an end sign on the cycle path. I think thebikechain has it though, as the cycle path has ended where there is no on -going right of way by bike you should dismount.
I've treated it as thebikechain described, whenever I've been riding along that road. Dismount at the end of the cycle path, remount after crossing the junction as a ped.