@IWRATS - she'd be delighted to be nominated I'm sure - when is the awards ceremony? I'll make sure we're free.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Today's rubbish cycling
(4520 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
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cycling home last week, heading downhill on Lady Lawson St, and as the light changes to green i glance left to make sure the taxi driver signalling left is actually going left.
he is. but first he has to wait for a cyclist undertaking himat high speed, who then has to weave around an illegally parked car--and thus undertake me.
he then runs the Castle Terrace red to get onto Lothian road, whips hard through the shared space at Princes St, and jumps the red to head down Queensferry Rd. He continues to ride down Queensferry as though either he desperately needs to get home to sit on the toilet, or he has a WOTD record to beat.
basically, he is exhibit A of the irritating, aggressive, 'rules are for people with baskets' MAMIL.
All week, i meet this guy at the same spot, and all week he rides like this, while i continue to stop for reds, cycle a steady pace and walk my bike across Princes street...
and every day, at the same time, we get to the lights at the top of Orchard Brae where we go different directions.
Why do people insist on ridiculous/risky manoeuvres that save no time at all?
Posted 7 years ago # -
I was one of four cyclists in the ASZ on Tarvit Street on the commute this morning. As the lights for Home St. and Leven St. changed to red, I prepared to set off as our lights changed, but two of the cyclists had other ideas and zoomed off across the junction at this point. Our lights were on red for at least another second or two before I set off on amber/green. I felt the need to chase the RLJers down at this point (bad cycling of my own perhaps). I overtook the first half way towards the turn off for Lower Gilmore Place and all but caught up with the leader as he moved right prior to the turning with barely a glance over his shoulder. Unfortunately for him, traffic was bearing down on us from the west and instead of being able to sweep around the corner at speed, he ended up overshooting by around 10-15 metres before u-turning and coming back to turn left behind me as I turned right after having anticipated the need to wait for the oncoming traffic. In retrospect, I should perhaps have continued straight, like the two cyclists behind us did, then turned right onto Leamington Road.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@jdanielp I saw the start of the Tour de Tarvit this morning waiting to turn right from Gilmore Place. I was wondering what was going on.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@davidsonsdave as far as I'm aware none of us knew each other and it was coincidental that the two chose to RLJ, precipitating the Tour. I merely reacted to their actions with the hope of shaming their RLJing by overtaking them. Feel free to hail me (or cheer me on if this event repeats itself) if you spot me again, although I was running about ten minutes earlier than my usual commute this morning.
Posted 7 years ago # -
So the lights had changed to red for the other direction and knowing the cycle of lights they chose to take off 1 second early?
It's hardly a capital offence is it and if they could clearly see nothing was coming I personally don't have a problem with that. Getting a head start on the traffic was maybe a good idea as well, especially with 4 cyclists together.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@galaxy indeed, it's not a big one (although it might have been nice for us all to have allowed davidsonsdave to have the opportunity to take the right turn; I quite often ease back to allow oncoming cyclists to do that), although the behaviour of the lead cyclist by not properly shoulder checking and then overshooting the right turn onto Lower Gilmore Place was an odd one. I've suggested in the rubbish driving thread that this junction would benefit from advance bicycle lights.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I nominate the guy who has appeared on my route just after 6am in the last few weeks and appears to be doing an "I'm not slowing for anybody or anything" time-trial ride on the NEPN.
I call him the Blue Streak - he comes out of nowhere & streaks past me at double my speed, never slowing where there are dogs/dog-walkers, joggers or blind corners. This morning I got the ting of a bell just milliseconds before he shot by me just as I was negotiating the uneven surfaces at Coalie Park near the Shore. I had to panic-grab the brakes to avoid a collision.
Please - if you're a member on here, SLOW THE HELL DOWN before you hit someone. If you really must do the kind of speed you seem hell-bent on doing, please use the roads instead.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I think, earlier in this thread, someone describes encountering such a cyclist whose response to criticism was, 'It's ok, I'm a trained racing cyclist.'
I dearly hope to meet this person, because I have my 'shoulda gone t'Specsavers!' line ready.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Strava flyby anyone?
Posted 7 years ago # -
I'm not on Strava but would be interested to see what kind of speed that guy's doing & when/if he ever slows down.
Look for him not long after 6am on the WoL path at Coalie park. His route today would have been from Sandport Bridge, heading along then up the Chancelot Path, Fiveways and to the Red Bridge near Crewe Toll (never seen where he goes after that).
Posted 7 years ago # -
Had a meeting at Granton so figured I'd use the NEPN. I've lived in Edinburgh almost all of my adult life but I still got slightly lost.
Poor signs behind vegetation, paths that dump you onto pavements and thundering two-lane highways. Still better than the bus and quicker than the car.
Posted 7 years ago # -
So the lights had changed to red for the other direction and knowing the cycle of lights they chose to take off 1 second early?
It's hardly a capital offence is it and if they could clearly see nothing was coming I personally don't have a problem with that. Getting a head start on the traffic was maybe a good idea as well, especially with 4 cyclists together.
I'd be very careful of doing this at this spot because quite often vehicles will run the red light when coming from your right. If someone sets off too early when the light is still red for them - even for a second or so - there's a chance of being hit from the right if you're not checking properly first.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Someone heading downhill on Lothian Road the other day whilst holding and staring fixedly at their phone in the rain.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@AKen a good point which I should have mentioned, and even more dangerous when turning right from Gilmore Place since traffic will often still be turning right from Home Street well after the Gilmore Place right-turn light turns green.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Not quite "cycling", but the woman using an adult sized scooter to travel east along Princes Street on the westbound side this morning. Eventually desisted but used the pavement instead.
Posted 7 years ago # -
The nature of my job prevents me from saying anything that would reflect poorly on university students, but over the last couple of days I've observed various bebicycled people of a suitably young age
* Staring into their phone and missing the green going on at Tarvit Street, eliciting unhappy revving from the car stuck behind me who was stuck behind them.
* Using the pavement to evade a red light at the left turn from Harrison Road into Polwarth Terrace. Unnecessary in the absence of cars, but more annoyingly the person did not shoulder check when coming off the pavement back onto the road, forcing me to take evasive action into the path of an overtaking car (an instance here I was definitely grateful for the driver did give me enough space)
* Drifting rightwards without shoulder checking and therefore cutting across me on approach to King's Theatre from Gilmore Place
* Blatantly RLJing from in front of the queue at the Grays Loan Ashley Terrace lights.
Sigh.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@Blueth Late response, but do you think the lady's scooter might have been e-assist? A friend of mine tells me they are becoming cool with the kids. But are they legal (even going in the right direction)? Hoverboards aren't legal anywhere, pavement or road.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Not by the amount of scooting she was doing, but I doubt whether other road or pavement users would consider that to be of any importance.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I almost took out a cyclist (on my bike) yesterday morning at Comely bank. He was on a folding bike and totally ignored that he had to give way. You would have thought that the car on his right waiting would have given him a clue but oh no. Just missed him by centimetres!
Posted 7 years ago # -
Light-skipping phone-reading fun on Princes Street this afternoon. It looks quiet, but there were nine buses and four taxis behind at the junction where the main 'seed' turnip drags more across the junction before the lights change, with one stopping when they realise they might get hit by right-turning vehicles.
[+] Embed the video | Video Download Get the Flash Video Posted 7 years ago # -
@wingpig, at least one of those four should be dead?
Posted 7 years ago # -
The phone-reading, drifting, skipping one did half-heartedly look and signal a little bit before turning right up North Bridge.
Posted 7 years ago # -
The skippers lured a feeble minded person to follow them but that person then woke up to the fact that it is a bad idea to cycle through a red light into a busy junction even if other people are doing it
Posted 7 years ago # -
Waiting at a Red (westbound) on Princes St at the galleries.
Just as the light changes I set off, ever so lightly brushing against a bloke on a mountain style bike who thought that was a good time/spot to undertake me.
I was a wee bit lethargic this morning. On most other days i'd probably set off with a wee bit more gusto, and a wee bit more "shimmy" so would maybe have taken us both down.
He didn't seem to appreciate my friendly advice a wee bit of a warning would be a good idea under those circumstances.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Two berks on no-brake BMXs going through Haymarket.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Yesterday I drifted onto the wrong side of the east-west Meadows path whilst distracted by the view. Came nose to nose with a young lady going the other way but that's the joy of cycling no real harm done.....
Posted 7 years ago # -
The reasonably heavily built man I followed for too long on the way home tonight. He was going a bit quick for me to overtake, so I had to stay behind him. The problem was that his shorts were a bit low, and there was too much crack showing, and it was a bit off putting...
Posted 7 years ago # -
I had an interesting interaction on Friday on the railway line between Loanhead and Roslin. Group of lads cycling towards me, two of them side-by-side and one of them decides to pull a wheelie right at my head (clearly intended to intimidate me). I pulled on the anchors and told him to get over to the side. At which point he pulled his bike across my path and his mate pulled alongside and the 2 of them described all the nasty things they would do to me unless I watched myself.
Particularly troubling as I had my 2 young daughters in the bike trailer behind me.
They cycled off eventually with me a left a bit shaken.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I'd be inclined to report that on 101, Lezzles. Even if you don't have much detail on appearance etc. I feel like this is unlikely to be one-off behaviour.
Posted 7 years ago #
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