The person walking towards me along the towpath between Viewforth and the lifting bridge who muttered a Rule 2 beginning with 't' in my direction. I can only assume that my light got in their eyes a little because they were keeping to their right... My wittiest quick response was "the same to you".
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
Today's rubbish pedestrians
(219 posts)-
Posted 4 years ago #
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This morning I crashed in the inside lane of George Square, Glasgow, owing to a pedestrian stepping out right in front of me, eyes resolutely welded to his phone as if his very life depended on it. Fortunately for us both it was relatively slow speed (it's central Glasgow - you can't really go fast - traffic lights, nuked tarmac and death-wish peds mean anything above 10mph is insane).
Despite lights, reflective jacket and a bell, it was only my incredulous 'FFS!' that broke the phone's evil spell and caught his attention. Hugely apologetic. No harm done, gloves saved any loss of skin but my hip's gonna be a little tender today...
Ten seconds later a woman walks into the road, hood resolutely pulled up and staring deeply into her phone as if her soul were kept captive in there.
I'm quite seriously now considering walking my bike from Q Street to my office on the Broomielaw from now on. I do wonder what the KSI stats are like in central Glasgow these days?
Posted 4 years ago # -
Just wait til electric cars take off. Average IQ will jump several points
Posted 4 years ago # -
IQ improvement by attrition? That's a bold step...
Posted 4 years ago # -
Equating IQ with situational awareness is certainly a bold move.
Posted 4 years ago # -
There was a small flock of peds crossing Leith Walk from just opposite the Waterworld/Tesco cut-through, two of whom would have walked into the side of me as I waited to turn right if I hadn't yelped.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Fortunately, my habitual exclamation doesn't reach an expletive until the third syllable, so I can usually stop it in time when something surprising and concerning occurs but when it would be inappropriate to be profane. I therefore spared the ears of the toddler whose parent/guardian pushed it into my path going down Brunstfield Place, after they emerged from the stationary traffic in the non-bus lane into the bus lane without looking first.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Not sure if this is rubbish or not. You decide.
Riding down the WOL with the daughter on the top tube saddle on saturday I saw a dog toting pedestrian holding their dog at the side of a big patch of mud. For reasons listed below I failed to say thanks, and she shouted a LOT after me "THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU etc etc" which I felt was a bit unfair...
I was slowing down significantly anyway, and admittedly I do normally say thanks to anyone who moved out the way or avoids things. But:
1) She was holding the dog for a significant amount of time before I arrived therefore I think that signals that she recognises her dog should probably not be off the lead. Therefore I got well away from her and slowed down in case she let the dog off by accident and I ran it over.
2) My daughter was chatting to me and is nervous of dogs so I didn't want to draw her attention to the dog.
3) I was having to ride into mud which is always a bit slippy and was concentrating.
So question- AMTA for not saying thanks? OR should this have been a mutual avoidance and equal recognition of both giving way and therefore no thanks needed?
Posted 4 years ago # -
NTA
It's always nice to say thanks but performative "good behaviour"that really just meets the bar of basic path share etiquette followed by loud & mean-spirited evidence that they actually think they've gone well above & beyond by doing it? HMMM.
(I tend to assume adults engaged in conversation with small children might not have much attention left to apply to other tasks in a timely fashion anyway.)
Posted 4 years ago # -
My rubbish pedestrian of the week was the middle aged guy stomping along in the middle of the Meadows bike path (I was heading east towards the MMW junction) who yelled very aggressively at me for "cycling at him" after I'd changed course onto an arc designed to ensure I passed him with loads of space & at a reduced speed, and kept yelling after I had gone past. He did have the air of someone who'd had special brew for breakfast.
Posted 4 years ago # -
All the runners who apparently missed both the "how long is a metre" class AND the "multiplying by two" class.
Almost all men, all wearing earbuds so they can't hear people like me suggesting they might want to run A BIT FURTHER AWAY.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@unhurt, you already got them back by calling them pedestrians? One of my many infringers well wrapped buff tied round his coupon.
Exercise addicts resolve cognitive dissonance by saying none of this applies to them. I have taken up skipping. Eh bo eh bo EBONETS.
Posted 4 years ago # -
All the runners who apparently missed both the "how long is a metre" class AND the "multiplying by two" class.
Almost all men, all wearing earbuds so they can't hear people like me suggesting they might want to run A BIT FURTHER AWAY.
And this is why I've not left the house for 5 days. I get 30 minutes of peace a day and thanks to the people who would usually drive everywhere taking their state approved exercise (that most wouldn't actually take) the pavements and paths round me are too busy to actually get out without infringing on someones personal space (unless you go out at 11 o'clock at night). Its no good trying to get peace when there is someone tutting at you despite your best efforts especially when there is NO MORE FURTHER AWAY.
I would go for a cycle but the big wide roads are full of stressed, frightened key workers and morons who, without the benefit of heavy traffic to slow them down, are frankly terrifying.
When most paths and pavements are little more than a meter wide (if that) and if you're lucky the old railway paths are maybe 3. So you're left trailing behind someone walking their dog and what stopping everytime the dug does?
Its not cognitive dissonance its placing my actual declining mental health above the slight risk that a person happens to get a big enough payload of a virus I might not have from the literal one stride when I'm closer than 2m (I have a 1m stride length when I run, if I start right beside you I'd be clear in two strides)
But its okay, we all need a bogeyman.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I've stopped running along the canal towpath for this reason. On pavements you can step onto the road and give people space. I'm lucky that I can get to trails where it is possible to give people space. Or I stop and let people through. (If you can get to a golf course there's plenty of space on them at the moment...)
Sounds like you live on busy roads Steveo?
Posted 4 years ago # -
There will be not a citizen left at the end of this doesn't know how little space we allow our non-motorised selves.
@steveo
Maybe the 03h00 cycle beckons? We need to keep you well.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Frankly, the roads never felt safer at the moment. I’d ride your bike if I were you, or move into the road to pass people when you run.
Posted 4 years ago # -
The roads feel empty but the drivers using them are worse than normal on balance I don't feel any safer.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Roads look quiet if fit i would spin out to Harperig, roads are quiet out this way. Might be one hour 5 mins but that would be within margins of error.
As nurse acquaintance said - If the lockdown isn’t hurting you, you aren’t doing it properly.
Lot of resolution of cognitive dissonance all around
Posted 4 years ago # -
Running round the New Town/Inverleith has been okay - the roads are quiet enough to run on them (running on the right hand pavement and stepping into the road if approaching a ped). Approaching motorists have been considerate enough to pull into the other carriageway, which was initially surprising.
Out on the bike, around town and further afield, I've found motorists to be untroubled by me riding in the middle of the left hand lane to allow an appropriate distance between me and pedestrians on the pavement. Almost all went fully into the right hand lane when overtaking me. I hope they're learning from this.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@steveo I was thinking about runners on Silverknowes Prom in particular. And all the other dudes who had vast amounts of space to pass on empty roads round here but preferred to zoom past half a metre from me. I'm sorry you're having a rough time, but I'm also not sorry that I'm annoyed when guys out running make me feel unsafe and anxious because they're "in the zone" and oblivious to me /think I should levitate into a bush because they don't want to slow down.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@unhurt you nailed it. This is a lockdown situation, these men should not be running the same way they always have done they should be staying home and skipping.
THere is an American dude on YouTube who sure can skip. I would love to master the Ali shuffle but my rope is rather heavy
Posted 4 years ago # -
@fimm: We discovered the joys of walking on an empty golf course yesterday. I have now recommended it to my over-60 asthmatic friend who is so wound up by too many people's inability to observe social distancing guidelines that she says she's in danger of turning in to an agoraphobic recluse. Her nearest course is Carrick Knowe - being council run I think she's less likely to encounter irate greenkeepers there (although you have a right of responsible access anyway - more so than usual given that there's no play allowed at the moment).
She would still have to walk about a mile each way along roads/pavements to get to it though. Anyone have a view on whether a short, local car journey would be justifiable in these circumstances, in order to enable a vulnerable person to take outdoor exercise in an environment they felt safe in?
Posted 4 years ago # -
ejstubbs my opinion is that it would be justifiable and it would also get people who don't know the details calling her selfish. (See whoever it was on here who had a bus driver shouting at them for walking next to their other half...)
Posted 4 years ago # -
As nurse acquaintance said - If the lockdown isn’t hurting you, you aren’t doing it properly.
Let's just hope that the long term effects of the lock down don't hurt more.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Anyone have a view on whether a short, local car journey would be justifiable
Of course it would be. People are allowed out for any reasonable purpose. Section 8(5)b of the regulations specifies exercise but any reasonable excuse does it.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@steveo yes, though tai chi, yoga and skipping can all be done in isolation.
My main point is that many people have justification for their not following instructions. As it is not an actual curfew that is up to the indiviidual. THough many are also not 2 metres apart. The carparks at Harlaw and Thriepmuir closed as people going there in their droves.
Someone who is very nervous of being passed by others and drives a mile to walk alone on a shut golf course is OK by me. Carricknowe has a cycle path going through it if anyone is looking for path less used? It sort of peters out then resumes again at the clubhouse and joins Stenhouse path
Posted 4 years ago # -
Carrick Knowe cycle path is hoaching or was every time I went by.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Porty prom also hoaching with folk, and somewhat surprising so is the cycle path between Millerhill and Gilmerton - surprising because it's a fairly long stretch which doesn't have many houses nearby as far as I know.
The amount of traffic in town hasn't been as low as I keep hearing from others, but maybe it's just the roads I use - Leith Walk is very quiet for instance. Very little traffic out of Edinburgh though, I went to Broxburn on Sunday, via South Queensferry, and hardly saw any traffic between South Queensferry and Pumpherston.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@unhurt I don't have the answers but this situation is not bringing out the best in people.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@steveo: The cycle path goes round the edge of Carrick Knowe golf course. The course itself is a wide open space currently not being used for its intended purpose, though I admit I haven't been there recently to check how heavily it is being used for general recreation.
I agree with your second point, although so far my experience has been that enough folks are going along with the guidelines in a friendly and helpful way to just about offset the stress caused by the few <rule 2>ers. But that may be partly because we live in a generally pleasant neighbourhood - although even down the road in Oxgangs people seem to be behaving mostly sensibly. I can imagine it being rather more fraught in areas with a rather greater population density.
Posted 4 years ago #
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