@sallyhinch Yes, I did mean the wrestling move 'clotheslining' although meant it as a theatrically absurd thing to do, not really appreciating that there might be mentalists out there who could genuinely do that to a cyclist.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting
Rise of the idiots
(93 posts)-
Posted 10 years ago #
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"I got really cross when, as a pedestrian, a bike recently went straight through a red light and nearly took me out as I crossed on a green man just round the corner from Salisbury Road."
as you should.
pm me if you want to join Living Streets Edinburgh?
Posted 10 years ago # -
@SRD What is Living Streets Edinburgh when it's at home?
Posted 10 years ago # -
LS was the pedestrians association. LS scotland is their scotland wing. Their former head keith irving now heads up Cycling Scotland. They were fairly cycle-friendly when keith was there. they want to emulate cycling lobby, as they see us as vociferous and effective.
In theory they have local groups, but few of them are very active. I'm on the committee of the Edinburgh one, which we're trying to reanimate.
Posted 10 years ago # -
@SRD Ah, I see! I probably don't really pedestrianise enough to be useful, I just walk the commute back and forth between Strathearn Road and the Commie. It's too short a journey to justify cycling as I'd have to get changed, but I sometimes ride on Fridays due to casual dress code. These days I cycle everywhere!
Posted 10 years ago # -
It doesn't however bother me that, as a cyclist, to do my commute from Strathearn Road to the Commie Pool that I have to take a quick detour up Causewayside and the Streets Preston.
I can't say I've ever bothered to ride up there the wrong way either (in fact I avoid it going the right way too, in car or on bike - I prefer to rat run the residential streets down the hill).
However, the nice thing about having a whole population to watch is that we can see that for a significant number of people, the "detour up Causewayside and the Streets Preston" is worse than riding up Salisbury road, otherwise they wouldn't do it. It's like when you look at a park and see a muddy track across the grass - if it's not the better option, people wouldn't be bothering to use it.
What is done with that info is obviously open to debate :)
Posted 10 years ago # -
@Dave But would people use that muddy track in the park if there were cars coming towards them? :-P
Posted 10 years ago # -
"It's too short a journey to justify cycling"
Never!
Posted 10 years ago # -
It's too short a journey to justify cycling as I'd have to get changed
Diagnosis: need to buy a nice Dutch bike with a proper chain guard etc. No need to change, and N+1...
Posted 10 years ago # -
timely: "If people cycling are breaking the law, there’s a problem with the street"
Posted 10 years ago # -
@Sally - that's the prescription, not the diagnosis!
Posted 10 years ago # -
When I go from the canal to Edinburgh Bike Co-op I go the wrong way up Leamington Road to get to Leamington Terrace. It's less than 100m and the alternative route is about three times longer. If any cars come I stop and lean in. In effect I treat it as a two-way street where oncoming traffic has priority. I cycle it fairly slowly in case a car appears suddenly and I spook them, or a pedestrian steps out.
To be honest, it makes no difference to me whether it says in a book that it's illegal or not. If I'm not inconveniencing anyone in any way, I'm not not damaging anything and I'm not increasing any risks to me or to others, then how could it possibly matter?
In Britain we are often thoughtless rule-followers, except for those rules than no-one follows, like speed limits.
Posted 10 years ago # -
" If any cars come I stop and lean in."
What do you do when cyclists come?"
Posted 10 years ago # -
There's plenty of space for two bikes to pass, but I don't think it's actually ever happened.
I don't know why it's a one-way street, but given that it connects with a bridge over the canal, the first after a long gap, it's not exactly with bikes in mind.
Posted 10 years ago # -
It's one way because of car parking, same as Salisbury Road. Another example of bending over to the car our old city centres.
Reminds me of my hometown in Italy where the 19th century centre is just one big grid of one way streets because of that.Posted 10 years ago # -
May I confess here that I'm having no moral issues with making the illegal right turn from Princes Street Eastbound onto Lothian Road.
The legal alternatives are preposterous for a bicylist.
Posted 10 years ago # -
@calmac, come off before the lift bridge and cycle down the road a little? You seem a bit rule bound in your insistence on this wee street? Or if you need to use that wee street due to rigid route rules, you could push your bike, it is not far?
No big deal, just harder to point out to drivers the error of their ways if they can point to within the brethren and say we just do what we fancy.?
Posted 10 years ago # -
Probably time for me to dig out this thread on Leipzig again. In this former DDR city of roughly the same population as Edinburgh, some very simple measures have made the streets much more cyclist friendly. This is how they do one way streets in Leipzig*:
Quote (from myself):
"I kept noticing one way streets with exceptions for bicycles in the narrower streets of the old town. I like the use of the word 'frei' in this context. Here it would be 'Except bicycles', I prefer the German version."This is how they do shared use:
I think bicycles need to be 'frei' in Edinburgh too.
Instead we get chicanes, gates, 'Cyclists Dismount' signs, cars parked in cycle lanes, and folk telling us off for 'salmon' cycling on one way streets.
I wish we could be 'frei' instead.
* - Notice also the entrance to an underground car park. Very few parked cars littering the city centre, mostly tucked away out of sight, underground.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Leipzig looks to have the right idea. How do the former GDR people feel about reunification with FRG?
See my poet about freedom on the Indyref thread
Posted 10 years ago # -
I'm with calmac That is the one road I always go the wrong way on too.
Posted 10 years ago # -
@SRD nobody is perfect. I used to go the wrong way down that road too. But I noticed how rigid I was on my route and changed it
Posted 10 years ago # -
"But I noticed how rigid I was on my route and changed it"
So, something that works fine has to be changed - for change's sake?
Posted 10 years ago # -
no Thanks
Posted 10 years ago # -
I do agree with Calmac on the Leamington Road thing. By being able to go that way and thence straight up Leamington Terrace, you neatly join the Leamington Walk cycle path via the Toucan crossing on Bruntsfield Place. So for me it makes an awful lot of sense for cycles to be allowed to contraflow up the whole 100 yards of Leamington Road to make that link in the network.
The alternatives aren't the end of the world, sure, although coming off early involves a carry up some steps I think, and dealing with Viewforth-blind-summit-bridge is a pain. Or, going round the whole block and doing the 3-sides-of-square thing round Lower Gilmore Place.
Reversing the direction of Leamington Road would be another option. It's only one way because
cars park all down one side of itit's really narrow, but it's very quiet, so the direction of car flow really makes no difference but could help cycles greatly.Posted 10 years ago # -
I don't disagree with calmac as I said, I used to take the route. But changed routes. Noticing that the route you pick may seem optimal but on stepping back has some flaws. The flaw for me being it is one way and other routes are available
They are one way for cars for sure. Salisbury and leamington not dissimilar with respect to narrowness and parked cars.
I think the Salisbury one is much more dangerous. I also do not think that cycling the wrong way up a one way street is the same as campaigning to have a cycle route put in. Not that anyone is saying it is.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Out of interest, do people think that the important thing is the legal position or the expectation / behaviour of drivers?
By this I mean, suppose an 'except cycles' sign was tacked up on Leamington Road. It's still just as narrow as before and drivers will still expect to be able to turn in and sweep along it. The 'except cycles' sign doesn't really change anything material about the situation in terms of danger to other road users, whatever (you could potentially argue that there would be a difference in expectation but so many people ride up Leamington Road as it is that I don't think this is a very strong point).
Posted 10 years ago # -
Sciennes House Place is similar, except that it has the cyclist exception.
To be honest, it would be better car free, I dont feel particularly happy about turning into it 'against the flow' of cars its so tight at the Causewayside end.
Posted 10 years ago # -
To be honest, it would be better car free, I dont feel particularly happy about turning into it 'against the flow' of cars its so tight at the Causewayside end.
Particularly when a van driver who hasn't seen the sign indicating it's 2 way for cyclists decides to move over and block the road because you're "going the wrong way"
Posted 10 years ago # -
@gembo (et al) - I don't know Edinburgh very well, but on having a look at google earth I see I can come off at Viewforth and along there, at a cost of about 30 seconds maybe for making the turn up the slope and out onto the street. I'll probably do that in future.
But my only reason for doing so will be PR for cycling. Same as why I never RLJ - It can frequently be done perfectly safely on a bike and without bothering anyone, same as on foot, but it gives tumshies some moaning ammunition, so I don't do it.
In principle I have nothing against car drivers breaking rules of the road either, provided they are not increasing the risk to themselves or anyone else, or inconveniencing anyone. Trouble is, it's an incredibly rare set of circumstances for a car where that could be possible.
Lots of the examples of rule-breaking cycling on this thread are due to infrasturcture designed for cars first, and bikes nowhere.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Trouble with coming off at Viewforth is there are steps involved.
Posted 10 years ago #
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