CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
stickyCooncil white van that MGIF'd me on Leith Walk at the Brunswick Street junction only to immediately stop because the inside lane is blocked off. Distance achieved: 5 metres.
When I overtook they honked the horn. I couldn't even be bothered turning round to look at them with disdain.
@Erob's 1st video is a good one to wheel out whenever someone starts going on about cyclists running red lights....
John Lewis delivery van, 9.30pm, on London Road roundabout. Deliberately drove at a female cyclist who was pedalling uphill from Elm Row. Literally inches away from hitting her side on full impact, but the driver braked and sat in the middle of the roundabout until she cleared. Couldn't believe I was seeing that: removal of that roundabout can't come soon enough.
Suggest you report it to JL if you're reasonable sure about the time.
Driver MGIF'd me on the currently-single-lane Leith Walk, effectively barging me through the cones in order to get to the red lights at Elm Row. I was so furious. He totally ignored me when I caught up with him too, like I still wasn't even there.
Bus driver sat on my tail and leaned on the horn while going up Leith Street. Again, there seemed to be no reasonable explanation for his behaviour, just a lot of wild gesticulation and pointing at the red lights up the hill.
They all deserve each other.
A Scottish citylink driver attacked me 3 times in the space of 5 minutes with his coach this morning!
He was partially blocking the cycle lane and fully in the SL box at Morrison Street.
When at the front, I made shure he saw me, pointed to the box he was in, so he gesticulated I was a D***head. Not wanting to be cut off by him as I exited the jug handle, I stayed in Lane on green. That seemed to really annoy him as he undertook me at speed, only 2-3 inches off my left shoulder. He did this only to stop at the red light at Haymarket Yards!
Unfortunately when I came alongside him, I gave him a full volley of my abusive vocabulary.Big mistake.
Desperate for revenge he then swung his bus in as he was passing me on Haymarket Terrace.
I passed him again at Roseburn Terrace. Ignoring him this time. Made no difference, at Rosburn Gardens he again swung his bus in as he was passing me.
I honestly don't ever recall meeting such a dangerous or aggressive bus driver. Apparently, Scottish Citylink are investigating. Their Twitter operator was at least pleasant to deal with.
This could've gone much worse had I turned slightly later:
Any suggestions how to approach this junction? I find it impossible to take my hands off the controls. Maybe signal right before the cobbles?
Maybe signal right before the cobbles?
Sound sensible - it's not too far away from the junction anyway.
Spotted a driving instructor driving whilst texting earlier. See people using their phones every day whilst driving, but expected better of a professional driving instructor.
@EdinburghCycleTraining - Shocking behaviour from a public transport provider. I hope CityLink and the Police act accordingly.
Thankfully there was nothing as sinister for me today but there was a catalogue of selfishness on this morning's commute:
1. A large Mercedes nearly performing a near miss on me as he pulled out of the junction where Abbeyhill meets Abbey Mount.
2. A BMW 1 Series exiting East Parkside spots me, and hesitates, but decides to pull out at me as I was going up Holyrood Park Road.
3. At the traffic lights outside the Commie Pool on Dalkeith Road, a selfish clown in a grey Kia believed that his car was too precious to hold rubbish so threw his paper hanky out of the window and on to the street. He was giggling with his female companion so I tapped his window and reprimanded him. He stopped laughing.
Driver of black LWB VW LT35 with reg RIB **** (4 numbers) - or something like that - probably doing about 45 on Sciennes this morning, overtaking a cyclist and driving straight at us forcing me to take to the pavement. I *think* but I'm not sure, it's the fruit and veg shop on Argyle place again....
Given how much I have been finding myself posting on the rubbish cycling thread this week, I thought that I should balance it out, although the driving this week has mostly been fair - I wonder if 20 mph has anything to do with that? I suspect it is merely conincidence.
Speed was definitely not a factor the other morning as a lady in a Mini stopped at the give-way line at Teviot Place to give way to cars from Bristo Place before she pulled away slowly without looking despite the fact that I was following immediately behind the cars. I swerved around the back of the Mini and then waved at her in frustration as I overtook her on the bike lane. The placement of the festival hoardings is perhaps not ideal for visibility given that it blocks the cycle lane coming around that corner more than anything, but she was clearly in my line of sight as I approached so had she made the effort to look she would have seen me.
@Erob - I completely sympathise. All the fault there is with the impatient driver. There's no empathy there or consideration. I have this problem also quite often - for me it's turning right onto Sciennes after crossing the lights at the end of Hope Park Crescent - the right turn in about 3 metres after the previous one and the road surface on the right is appalling - it's almost impossible to ride one handed with the huge potholes. There are two lanes of traffic technically too so you're getting undertaken as you do it - if you do indicate early people complain they think you're indicating to go down Melville Terrace, if you don't then they get annoyed you're not indicating at all.
What I do, which is not necessarily a recommendation - is to sort of point to the bit of road I'm about to occupy before I turn right and try and get eye contact of anyone following me. I physically can't go over the last bit of road with one hand, but I just hope that was enough to make them at least slow down. I wonder if in your case an early point to the bit of road you're about to occupy - i.e. the right hand side of your lane would allow you a bit of space from the impatient followers.
"
A DISQUALIFIED driver high on drugs who did doughnuts on a dual carriageway while travelling to T In The Park was jailed for nine months today
"
I know I probably sound like a "would you let your servant read this?" judge, but what's a doughnut? Still no wiser after reading the piece. At first thought it might be some kind of legal high, but it seems to involve wheel spinning.
Easiest in a rear wheel drive.
Floor it (from a standstill) so the rear wheels never get full traction, while turning the steering wheel one way (you'll then need to correct and adjust as the car pirouettes).
From on the move I believe it's a case of steer briefly one way, then sharply the other while yaking the handbrake briefly to initiate a skid, which you then control through accelerator and steering tweaks.
Google 'Ken Block'.
Doughnuts: IIRC the front of the car makes a small circle and the back goes round it in a much bigger circle, with much smoking of tyres.
Done by racing drivers in celebration, but apparently its really bad for the car or tyres or something because they don't do it very often (or at least the F1 drivers don't).
From the article: "Defence agent Stephen Maguire said his client had two previous convictions for driving while disqualified, after initially being banned for an accumulation of less-serious traffic offences, and was already banned until 2020."
So they banned him for a further 8 years (as well as sending him to jail).
@fimm it is really bad for the tyres (and probably then for the engine if at all prolonged); more to the point, the race officials do not like it at all when a vehicle is intentionally aimed the wrong way on a race track so drivers are usually fined a few tens of thousands when they do it, not that that is a very effective deterrent.
Young driver with more hair gel atop his head than brain cells performed a ridiculously close pass on Holyrood Road this morning. Didn’t bother to signal either.
Another failed MGIF towards a red light.
Grey Seat Ibiza - SK10 WGJ
Oh, I've a couple...
White van parked to my right facing my direction of travel pulls out - no indicators. Much jamming on of brakes. Don't know if driver didn't check mirrors or wouldn't have seen me even if he had checked them.
Nasty, nasty close pass from the driver of a bin lorry last night. Why is it always bin lorries? I swear they have the worst drivers on the road.
Fed up on ferry rd.Leaving bangholm medical surgery today by bike turning left on to ferry rd to get to Newhaven road. Nice older couple in white car let me out. Cycling quite fast,keeping up with traffic, at 2ishpm so it was not rush hour. I hear this car horn being pressed AND repeated. I'm cycling, thinking who the fxxx is tooting- no blue light etc. Turns out the black SUV which was behind the white car that let me out, is in a rush and wants us all to go faster. I did say to this moron, while we were in a traffic queue- what do you want me to do? do you want me to die? Anyway calm now rant over.
This road is pretty bad for blind corner overtaking:
Was that the Lang Whang, Erob? One for the police, surely? Double white lines, close pass (both ways) into oncoming traffic. Horrible.
To add to chdot's link;
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-37009558
jailed for 6 years and DQed for 7.
Had my first lengthy conversation about Road Tax with a boy racer yesterday. After he overtook aggressively on the inside to get to the red light, we discussed why the several hundred pounds he pays in VED doesn't actually give him extra rights over those of us with less polluting vehicles.
(The mind boggles how his car is a band I or band J for a vehicle of that size.)
He was having none of it and didn't seriously consider my suggestion that he get an electric or hybrid car to reduce his costs. *eyeroll*
At least there were no threats of violence.
Costs won't get through, but maybe the better acceleration will.... I play a game at every major junction with yellow hatch markings on it where, if I'm stopped at red, I try to get to the other side before a car goes past in the next lane.
Probably about a 95% success rate. Beaten this year by a couple of white vans being totally thrashed, a Porsche and.... A Nissan Leaf.
Saw a Tesla the other day as I left Edinburgh Park, the saloon version. Reasonably nice looking car, and I approve of the increase in the technology*, though it seemed to be doing little for the congestion.
This morning a 3ShiresBuilding.co.uk van completely blowing a red on Queen Street in order to swing across the lane in front of me (fortunately I'd stopped, but then it had been red a while) and turn up to St Andrew Sq in order to U-turn and head back towards Picardy.
*I can't stand when folk say 'ah, but what about the energy required to create the electricity, surely that's as bad as using petrol or diesel'. Granted, in some instances, it may be, but as electricity production moves gradually towards cleaner production, and renewable production, it becomes better and better; while petrol engines can only go so far, plus the oil will run out at some point anyway, but I guess it's just another example of people not wanting to give up what they 'understand'.
Electric cars may be better environmentally and be the future of cars possibly, however for cycling and pedestrians safety it may be preferable boy racers stick to petrol and driving in first gear as gives a warning sound. Possibly more for walking than cycling electric cars with no sound may not be ideal for safety may be a sound will be mandated at some point.
I suspect you're right - maybe boy racers in electric cars would simply add on massive engine sound systems.
When Formula 1 changed rules a year or two back on engines people complained they weren't noisy enough and didn't give a 'proper' F1 feel.
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