The increase in volume of cycle-users tempted back onto the roads (and footways) by the sun and warmth has previously been noted. As I don't automatically get Bank Holidays off I tend to forget that the roads on the way in will be quiet until I've gone past a couple of roundabouts and schools, but then also forget that (whilst the afternoon roads will still be less full of motor-commuters) there'll be lots of people tempted out onto the roads in their cars for bank-holiday-fun purposes. As they'll have driven as much (if not more) over the winter as they would/will over the summer there's perhaps no direct equivalent of forgetting-how-to-cycle-safely-whilst-the-bike-attracts-dust-in-the-stairwell, except for possibly driving to a spring-or-summer-specific destination, perhaps Dunsapie Loch, perhaps driving along roads not usually driven down to reach it (such as the Cowgate and Holyrood Road) and perhaps encountering traffic types not usually encountered (such as a cyclist). Perhaps inexperience with driving behind a bicycle travelling at the same speed as the car in front explains "Time Hairdressing"-liveried K5 RVK's repeated attempts to overtake me to reach the five-metre stopping-cushion I was leaving in front of me all the way down the Cowgate, beeping when inconsiderate traffic in the opposing lane prevented her from getting past, pulling alongside at the pedestrian crossing opposite Moray House to tell me that there was a cycle lane on the left (presumably with the unspoken qualifier that I was expected to ride in the extreme far left of it so that she could sit an inch behind the bumper of the car in front rather than an inch off my back wheel), attempting to overtake on the inside as I turned right past the Scotsman and finally squeezing past whilst turning left at the roundabout, after which she drove a few car-lengths in front of me until she turned off at St. Margaret's Loch. They don't have a website so I've left them a voicemail just in case it was an employee and not the proprietrix behind the wheel.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Eostre roads
(8 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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sounds rather frustrating! ps - was the wasp sting okay? just saw that post yesterday!
definitely lots of fair weather cyclists - including many family groups and others obviously not that used to being out. spent about 5 min in harrison park near the canal this evening, where there used to be a gap in the fence so cyclists could avoid the gates, and generate a muddy patch. in that 5 min sdaw two bikes try to go that way again. one went back down, the other dismounted and lifted bike over. is this really necessary? are the gates ?chicanes? really that bad? i can go through uphill and down with tandem and trailer, so its not that tight a fit. and surely bikes should already be going slowly through there given that it was packed out with kids, families, tourists, dogs, etc?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Hello Time Hairdressing. Welcome to my blacklist of cycle unfriendly local services and vendors.
Wingpig : no website mebbe, but they are open to reviews on Qype.... ;-)
Posted 13 years ago # -
@ SRD - no they're not that bad: I can do it with an EBC tagalong on the back, so ordinary bikes should be able to manage. However, it is noticeable that there are many more less confident bikes out at the moment. It's easy for regular cyclists to forget that actually riding a bike isn't 'as easy as riding a bike'.
The thing I've noticed improve after 18 months of regular commuting is that I don't need to put my feet down as much. I can now balance a bike that is barely moving, and I'm sure I didn't used to be able to do that. I understand there might be some regular posters on this site who revel in their ability to balance a bike that isn't moving, but I couldn't claim to have their effortless cool.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@SRD All fine, thanks. I was near a pharmacy so I scooted over for some antihistamines (I hadn't replaced my crumbled wallet-stash thereof yet this year) and didn't get anything more than four days of swollen wrist.
@It's_Me_Knees I'd typed a review into Qype only to meet the login/register page, so just left a voicemail instead. Might add something later...
@Greenroofer I'm sure there's a thing in an old .citycycling (don't know if it's amongst those which have been recently re-uploaded) where the editor took slight issue with people who wibbled when trying to not put a foot down when stopped, though I think he later recanted. I don't think I've tried since I started wearing a pannier on Sunday so don't know if it'll help or hinder compared to a rucksack. Must remember to not try when I attach the seat and child.
Posted 13 years ago # -
It is just so unnecessary isn't it? You wonder what goes through the heads of such people. Good luck with your persuit.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Greenroofer "I can do it with an EBC tagalong " - Yes. Tagalong and trailer are articulated and surprisingly easy to manoeuvre aren't they, unless trying to reverse! (well, since tagalonmg won't fit on a bike my size, I've not tried it, but Mr SRD reports well on it. Trailer always amazes me (except for bollards).
"I couldn't claim to have their effortless cool."
Luckily that goes for a lot of us!
Posted 13 years ago # -
More fun this evening. A bloke on a green folder wearing dark pink trousers and with an empty polythene carrier bag flapping from the rear of his saddle was veering to and from the kerb without looking, pulling out to squeak past parked cars without checking behind him or watching out for occupants who might have opened doors, weaving around cars when they stopped or slowed and generally doing Bad Things and looking like he might have also been drunk. The car in front of me started giving him a few seconds to get clear from lights (so erratic had his journey along Comely Bank Rd/Raeburn Pl been, especially after the green foldy man bumped into the back of the car whilst trying to weave around the outside). Evidently the slowness caused by the car in front of me hanging back and thus causing me to hang back frustrated the driver of AV05 KBP who decided to try and left hook me just before we both turned left onto Hamilton Pl as the green folding dodderer continued on his erratic way up Kerr St. I think the presumed child of the presumed mother driving him home from (presumably) school might have heard what I shouted at her, and hopefully relayed it.
Posted 13 years ago #
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