Today's rubbish cycling « CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

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Today's rubbish cycling

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Started 12 years ago by Kirst
Latest reply from mcairney

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Greenroofer
Member

Watching TV this evening with Mini-Greenroofer (aged 13) we wandered nostalgically into iPlayer to watch Woolly and Tig (which we used to like) and we came across a series we'd not seen called My First, and of course I gravitated to My First Bike. Mini-G had to take active steps to calm me down as my shouting at the TV was worrying her...

I'm not going to list all the many things wrong with the programme: you'll have to watch for yourself. The fundamental problem with it, though, was that the people making it had clearly not consulted any actual experts in how you get a child to ride a bike. The main focus throughout the whole programme was on 'safety', in the spurious sense of putting kneepads and elbow pads (and a h*lm*t, obviously) on child riding a bike with stabilisers in a park, rather than in the actual sense of making sure that her bike was the right size or that the helmet she was wearing at the start of the programme was properly adjusted and fitted or that her mum had her saddle at the right height at the end, or that she'd first mastered a balance bike or that...

A really disappointing missed opportunity here. The BBC could have taken a few minutes to get some proper advice in front of all parents of young children, instead of perpetuating myths about stabilisers, danger and the efficacy of kneepads when you're learning to ride a bike.

Grrr. Rant over. Now I'm off to watch In the Night Garden to calm down.

Posted 5 years ago #
gembo
Member

@greenroofer. Yes The Pontipines will calm you

Posted 5 years ago #
paddyirish
Member

On the bridge, put head down to put in a bit of an effort, totally falling to see the booby trap crash barrier and went over the handlebars. Few bumps and bruises, but hopefully nothing too serious. Not sure the crash barrier came off too well, at least it gave enough to absorb some of my momentum.

Posted 5 years ago #
Greenroofer
Member

@paddyirish ouch! My main concern in that location would be going over the fence into the briny a long way below. I assume that you, as a regular bridge commuter, are more sanguine about that.

Posted 5 years ago #
Morningsider
Member

paddyirish - man, I felt sick just reading that! I always feel like I'll go flying over the alarmingly low barrier at some point when I use the FRB.

Even more alarmingly - when they built the FRB there was no standard for crash barriers on such bridges, so they took a punt on the standard. They only got round to testing whether it was any use a few years ago - all okay, but FETA genuinely had no idea whether it was up to scratch.

Posted 5 years ago #
acsimpson
Member

@paddyirish, I hope you recover quickly. I notice they have put some extra barriers on the railing side of the path to further narrow the constricted part of the path.

Posted 5 years ago #
paddyirish
Member

Cheers all, the crash barrier in question was perpendicular across the path so no risk (this time at least) of any greater fall.

As someone pointed out the main irony of this was that the main purpose of the barrier was to hold a "cyclist dismount" sign.

Posted 5 years ago #
Frenchy
Member

Suppose that settles the "Are these enforceable?" question.

Posted 5 years ago #
paddyirish
Member

Well I did dismount...

Posted 5 years ago #
acsimpson
Member

I always thought they were an instruction. Now I realise they are merely a descriptive noun.

Posted 5 years ago #
wingpig
Member

Deliverooberant trundling through Meadowbank Sainsbury car park holding a coffee or other sort of disposable-cup-borne liquid drink and emitting recorded music, who then continued one-handed through the pedestrian-filled cut-through to Lochend Butterfly Way and eventually onto the footway on Hawkhill Avenue in the direction of Albion Road, though to be fair he had to go onto the footway as he'd otherwise have been flattened by the car he didn't see when he didn't look and couldn't have stopped in time for without full access to his brakes.

Posted 5 years ago #
EdinburghCycleCam
Member

Guy on a bike on Nicholson Street on Wednesday evening who decided to filter past a pus which was indicating right, then stop next to the driver's window instead of using the vacant bike box.
Then, when the lights changed, he cycled off in the outside lane before swerving to the left without looking.

+10 points to the bus driver though.

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Posted 5 years ago #
the canuck
Member

to be fair, nicholson street is good spotting territory for two-wheeled numpties. are they attracted by the cheaper restaurants?

Posted 5 years ago #
Greenroofer
Member

Me, but not rubbish in the 'should know better' sense, rather in the 'how could that happen?'

I was heading from Morningside to the City Chambers (for the Active Travel Forum, since you ask). Heading up Canaan Lane I reeled in the bike in front, which I then overtook with ease on Whitehouse Loan. It is not boasting to say that I comprehensively outclassed this rider, not only in my strength and hill-climbing speed but also in the fact that their bike was a heavy-looking sit-up-and-beg one with a bag hanging off the handlebar, and mine wasn't.

So far, so good. I left the other rider in my dust and headed off along Strathearn Road. I waited a minute or two at the Marchmont Road lights (with a peloton of ERC riders) and then turned left onto Marchmont Road, onto the Meadows bike paths and across the Meadows to the multi-way junction at the bottom of the Middle Meadow Walk incline...

Where, to my surprise, the rider who I had 'comprehensively outclassed' appeared in front of me, heading east along North Meadow Walk.It was without a doubt the same person. They were, without doubt, well in front of me.

I'm still struggling to understand how they did that. I was, as I said, apparently considerably quicker than them. I didn't waste much time at traffic lights.
It was scant consolation that I easily overhauled them (again) on the MMW incline. That was a hollow and sour victory.

What is the really quick route from Canaan Lane to North Meadow Walk that I don't know?

Posted 5 years ago #
Frenchy
Member

Must have gone Bruntsfield Links/Jawbone Walk, and got a bit lucky with traffic lights?

Slightly shorter route than your own, and far less likely to spend time standing still.

Posted 5 years ago #
gembo
Member

Hmmm, up past the Bike co-op and then down the paths to the argyle place junction? Unlikely to be quicker?

Maybe used a jaunt belt fromThe Tomorrow People?

Maybe had a lecky bike that was switched off and on?

Also after gaining the scalp you maybe eased right off?

Posted 5 years ago #
HankChief
Member

Maybe they were trying to mess with your (& CCE's) mind by only started playing the game once you had outclassed them...

Posted 5 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

Probably had food on the hill.

Posted 5 years ago #
Snowy
Member

Is it possible they were just exiting Jawbone walk when you saw them? In which case I'd have said they went past the bike co-op, down Leamington Walk, and then Jawbone walk to the 6-way junction.

If they were definitely on NMW, then they probably went past the co-op, then down the path to the corner of Glengyle Terrace, 50 yards the wrong way on Leven Terrace, and then the cut-through to cross Melville Drive to go along NMW.
This would actually be a fantastic official link if there could be a short bike contraflow on Leven Terrace.

Posted 5 years ago #
Frenchy
Member

Maybe you're going to be in one of those hidden camera shows.

Like this:

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Posted 5 years ago #
gembo
Member

Those mildly amusing québécois are mildly crazee

Posted 5 years ago #
gembo
Member

Those mildly amusing québécois are mildly crazee, maybe greenroofer's guy took La Bomba at top of Canaan and sped through Jordan and the other bits of the levant, skirting argyle and arriving middle meadow back in the lead?

Posted 5 years ago #
acsimpson
Member

comprehensively outclassed this rider, ...their bike was a heavy-looking sit-up-and-beg one

There are plenty of very classy bikes which fit that description.

Posted 5 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

Keep forgetting how close to the ground the pedals are on a 26 inch bike.

Caught one on some ironwork swooping round a downhiller and blasted the whole bike into the air with a loud bang. No harm done but slightly unsettling.

Posted 5 years ago #
steveo
Member

Great one this morning like lorrys on a motorway trying to overtake by going 1% faster than the other. Roseburn path was unusually busy this morning with both peds and bikes.

Runner on the right side of the path followed by two cyclists, cyclist a moved out to over take barely going beyond running pace, cyclist b moved to pass cyclist a with barely any concept of the mechanics involved in passing someone (moving faster).

This would all have been fine were it not for cyclist b was now on the left side of the path with me traveling towards them, displaying no understanding of basic physics and making no attempt to either complete the pass or tuck back in. I slow further to avoid a head-on only for the noise of a locked tyre informing me that cyclist D was too close!.

There really is no difference betwixt person driving and person cycling, unless they're forced to, neither will change their behaviour to suit the conditions.

Posted 5 years ago #
Frenchy
Member

Cyclist coming up Porty High Street this morning towards the King's Road junction cycled at very low speed into the back of the car in front.

Think the cyclist was looking at their front mech (or something around there) at the time.

Posted 5 years ago #
wishicouldgofaster
Member

To the stealth cyclist who thought it was safe do undertake me with about an inch to spare this morning - at least ring your bell.

Very lucky we didn't collide.

Posted 5 years ago #
urchaidh
Member

Me!

Came up behind a stationary van on Links Place, it was a car length or two away from one of the constrictions so I guessed it was waiting for oncoming traffic, though it was indicating left. I couldn't see past it, so leaned out for a look.

I'd been resting go on my left foot and the right was still clipped in so as soon as I leaned over my left foot came off the ground and there I was, wobbling precariously. Turns out there was an oncoming car and for a few moments I really thought I was going to fall over in front of it.

Posted 5 years ago #
piosad
Member

Today at rush hour on NMW going east, I am the second off the Melville Drive lights behind a chap on a distinctive green bike with an inbuilt front rack. Although I am clearly going faster than him, there is no point in overtaking since I know from past experience he is going to get off NMW to go up Chalmers Street. The impatience got the best of one person who undertook us along the pedestrian bit, and another who shot through without so much as a ding at the bottom of Chalmers Street, scattering a crowd of St Thomas's pupils.

Posted 5 years ago #
algo
Member

Last night quite late I waited on the junction of Gray's Loan and Colinton Road here, and the light phase never seemed to change so I ended up just turning left on red cautiously - I was met with a car turning right and deliberately cutting the corner and beeping the horn - I can understand why they were annoyed, but are those lights sensor operated and don't change for cyclists? I waited for two whole phase cycles.

Posted 5 years ago #