CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years 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.
Was pondering a Golden Rules piece for citycycling. Been done in loads of places before, but I figured I'd stick my oar in. Looking for the type of thing that points to the contradictory (hypocritical?) way in which cycling is viewed compared to the car.
For instance:
If you speed in a car it's seen as okay because everyone else does it because it's a silly rule; if you ride through a red light on a bike it's bad because all cyclists do it as if the rules don't apply to them.
Fools' Golden Rules??
My favourite:
You must ride in the gutter at all times to stay out of the way until such time as you reach a queue of cars at which point riding in the gutter becomes "queue jumping" and is not allowed under any circumstances.
'You must ride on the path (even though its illegal) as you don't pay road tax'.
errr I do pay road tax on both our cars!! but choose to cycle as it healthier and means I'm not clogging up the road - like you are
Ooh.
You must use the cycle lane.
I can park in the cycle lane because no-one ever uses it.
When riding in traffic, remember that no matter what speed you are doing it is always too slow unless that traffic is stationary or waiting to pull out of a junction in which case no matter what speed you are doing it is always too fast.
The rules change on cyclepaths where your speed is judged too fast under all circumstances unless you are stationary at which point you are in the way.
OT already
Road Tax - as it is universally known - even though it doesn't exist (now VED) should be abolished for vehicles only one person wide.
So bikes would no longer be the only 'don't pay road tax' things on the road.
Might make motorbikes/scooters more popular (mixed blessing), but it would (slightly) show that vehicles more than 1 person wide were taking up too much room - and not paying enough!
"Yet again, almost 75% of private cars contained only a driver – occupying far more of the precious roadspace than a person commuting by bike."
http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2011/11/more-bikes-and-less-cars-in-edinburgh-rush-hour
There's bound to be a few in Bicycling For Ladies (1896 edition). (With hints as to the art of wheeling - advice to beginners - dress - care of the bicycle - mechanics - training - exercise - etc. - etc.) "The Common Sense of Bicycling".
(Such as - "when touring, only a change of underwear and neckwear is required when on the bicycle")
Cyclists are not allowed to ride on the pavement. However motorists are allowed to drive on pavements if it is convenient to them to park their car there or to get past a right turning motorist in front.
If you are behind a slower cyclist you must never EVER overtake as you will be two abreast and slowing down the driver behind who will then be behind you when you filter past them at the next set of red lights and this will make them feel silly.
@chdot "Road Tax - as it is universally known - even though it doesn't exist (now VED) should be abolished for vehicles only one person wide."
GENIUS!Could go a long way to encouraging more efficient (both in terms of roadspace and fuel useage) vehicles.
Add "all new vehicles will be speed limited to 70mph, the penalty for disabling a speed limiter will be a lifetime ban" and you can have my vote ;-)
While a motorist going at up to 150% of the speed limit may be defended as "otherwise law abiding" by the government, police or judiciary, a cyclist who is going at, or above, the walking speed of a pensioner with a zimmer frame shall be condemned as "speeding".
Jumping red lights by cyclists is breaking the law. Not only that but every person who rides a bicycle is personally responsible for any cyclist seen RLJing. Jumping red lights by motorists is fine particularly if they are tailgating the driver in front, are bored of waiting or think that no-one is looking. If anyone mentions this they are "persecuting the poor beleaguered motorist".
If a 55-foot long HGV turns left over the top of someone, first attempt to attribute it to "zombie iPod cycling" and lay blame squarely on the deceased, as it is well known that any auditory input will make vehicles up to and including the size of a row of terraced houses quite invisible.
When a cyclist pulls out in front of a driver, that cyclist is a dangerous idiot who can't see what is in front of them. When a driver pulls out in front of a cyclist, that cyclist is a dangerous idiot who has not done enough to make themselves seen.
(this game is far too easy...)
Regardless of how your inital fitness, commuting distance and finances compares with a non-cyclist when you began, it will be always harder for them to take it up.
Any distance is too far to cycle, unless is it so short that having a bike would be an inconvenience.
No distance is too short to drive. Ever.
I don't have time to cycle to work especially on a Tuesday when I have to go to the gym....
The "traffic" would move so much smoother and quicker if they'd just "synchronise" the lights (so that they're always at green whenever I approach them)
Amber means red is coming - speed up to get through the lights!
The correct approach to finding a pedestrian crossing the road is to speed up, aim for them and honk the horn.
That bike is in the middle of the road! It should be in the gutter where I can pass it without actually having to perform a correct mirror, signal, manoeuvre into other lane, pass, mirror, signal, go back into my lane overtake. Oh well I'll just squeeze past anyway!
Actually, here's a genuine one that I saw on the manufacturer's sticker on a horribly-horribly cheap and nasty "road" bike (the ones built down to a £200 price tag for chain retainlers, with 7-speed gears, grip-shifters on the top of dropped bars, you know the type).
"DO NOT CYCLE AT NIGHT"
Advance Stop Zones allow the alert driver to get ahead of dozy cyclists. This zone is clearly marked by the "no cyclists" pictogram. Cyclists should, for their own safety, be prevented from using this dangerous area - which otherwise would place them squarely between the wheels of following vehicles.
___
Cyclists intending to travel straight on, in a cycle lane, should clearly signal their intent to vehicles turning left across that lane. Signalling by drivers is optional, and only required if cyclists insist in occupying the lane, at which point signalling encourages the errant cyclist to change lanes, hence permitting smooth traffic flow.
Robert
All cyclists should be bald as the rain and helmets mess up your hair
"The "traffic" would move so much smoother and quicker if they'd just "synchronise" the lights (so that they're always at green whenever I approach them)"
I know you sort of mean the opposite, but that's exactly what 'they' try to do.
The problem is that the aim is get 'traffic' going at 'motor' rather cycle speed.
The further problem is of course (especially with Edinburgh's central area grid road system) that this 'progress' doesn't last for long.
I've been told, off the record, that at least one 'radial route' has been retimed recently to favour 'traffic' over pedestrians at push button crossings.
Spending money putting cycling infrastructure onto that bit of road is pointless because no-one cycles there...
(I've always loved that particular bit of logic)
"DO NOT CYCLE AT NIGHT"
You say this as a joke, but a well known manufacturer of not-cheap, small-wheeled utility/child toting tandems actually ships them out with a manual with a similar warning: "it is not recommended to cycle at night".
This is unfortunate since 100% of potential buyers in this country will have to ride at night at least one end of the day, at least a third of the year...
There's no point putting in cycle racks because no-one will use them and besides, they'll always be clogged up with so many bikes there's no space...
Bicycles are toys and therefore for children only.
Cars would be quicker than bikes if it wasn't for the traffic.
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