There is a silver mentchie obscuring the word dismount now on the west side
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Today's rubbish cycling
(4520 posts)-
Posted 3 years ago #
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The whole dismount furore just highlights the absurdity of having key active travel infrastructure which is actually just a 4 foot wide path fringed by manky water and a massive drop. Best practice in this case should probably come from health and safety guides for scaffolders, not active travel manuals.
If the Lanark Road stuff can't be made permanent (or never even goes in) it would be nice if at least the section up the the WoL bridge was made permanent, to provide an at least partly-protected bypass route.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Red-top-wearing full-suss-riding idiot came within a hand's breadth as he passed me from behind, at speed and with no warning at all as I was pedestrianising along the path through the Hermitage earlier today. (You can see the jump in my heart rate on the Garmin Connect graph.)
Posted 3 years ago # -
I was behind a wee procession of three turnips on the NEPN this morning. I first encountered them at the first bench up from the Balbirnie entrance, where they were spread across the path chatting to a fourth, who went north, his thin tyres slipping on the ice. I wasn't passing them despite them not yet moving as they were blocking the path and there were people approaching beyond them, so kept my distance behind them through the dispersed clouds of walkers, staying two abreast each time and barely looking where they were going until the one on the outside heard me calling him a selfish toad just past the slope up to the school bridge and went to single file at least as far as Craigleith, where I turned off. When I returned and continued as far as Five Ways it was a bit better and less busy, except for the overtaking impatient who dived through three narrow gaps in his quest to not reduce his speed even slightly.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Posted 3 years ago #
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@Frenchy this does sound like poor cycling. But the walking/cycle paths have become so busy around here, mainly with pedestrians and dog walkers (always separated on signs!). The dogs are often not on a leash as per Highway Code, and, as mentioned in this article, folk are often chatting in small groups. Many times the whole path is blocked. This means that these paths are becoming less attractive for some cyclists, forcing them back onto the roads. We really need full on Dutch segregated schemes in busier places. But other just want to plough all the money into Sheriffhall Roaundabout.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Midlothian View - News Worth Reading?
I have added the .? To their strap line.
Of note the dog was not injured enough to go pay a vet.
The cyclist stopped and apologized.
Neither dog has a name that the. gembotron Dog Naming Device declares as one with sounds dogs can hear. Need an Eeeee sound at the end I thinkeeee
Some bells are a bit quiet for dog walkers who are talking to their friends to hear. I often alert them I am passing them on the left;right; through the middle. If they have t heard the bell. A few then ask if I don’t have a bell and I quote the inimitable Mrs Richards from Fawlty Towers Yes but I don’t turn it on as it wastes the battery (I don’t I just laff)
Posted 3 years ago # -
If someone drives through a big sign saying "no through road" or whatever, we tend to be fairly dismissive. Should we be more sympathetic to a cyclist who cycles past a large "no cycling" sign?
Posted 3 years ago # -
@amir indeed I've pretty much abandoned the "cycle network" for the roads due to the abundance of doggers and joggers.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Oh, I've not seen the former @mcairney.
Posted 3 years ago # -
@fimm, you mean in general? Like it used to say on Porty Prom ? Or was that more Cyclists Dismount?
Also you had some grief recently when you were allowed to cycle from Drivers with ignorant opinions? Down South Queensferry?
I think in general I would say yes a No Cycling sign if bona fides should be same as No a through Road.
Specific examples might help me.....
Posted 3 years ago # -
@fimm: No through road <> no entry, or "no motor vehicles" (the motorbike jumping over a car). The first is a rectangular sign giving information: if you come past here, you'll be coming back out again the same way later. Therefore I would not bat an eyelid at a motorist driving past one of those. The latter two are signs giving an order, ignoring which is an offence - and the same goes for the round "no cycling" sign with a picture of a black bicycle on a white background inside a red circle.
Apologies if you already knew that, just clearing up any potential confusion. I shall now go back under my rock.
Posted 3 years ago # -
"...but something needs to be done before there is a tragedy of greater proportions.”
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HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHPosted 3 years ago # -
Man wearing fluorescent yellow jacket and helmet close passed me at speed on Princes Street. You'd think someone so safety conscious would leave more than 6 inches gap when passing another cyclist.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Apologies to the southbound cyclist who had to swerve to avoid me swerving to avoid pedestrians on Waverley Bridge. I should have just stopped.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yeah I was there yesterday.
Princes St to Market St,
Left when the lights turned green, through the pedestrians and round the band.
IS IT ‘shared use’ or should I have got off and pushed??
Posted 2 years ago # -
Electric bike almost killed me on Arthur's Seat a couple of days ago. I'm assuming electric bikes aren't allowed on the part that is reserved for cyclists/pedestrians? I've seen electric scooters on there too but they don't go as fast. This guy must've been going 25mph and came round a fairly blind corner (with the scaffolding) on the right side of the road, I was obviously on the left. I had to brake quickly and stop and he just flew past, didn't even slow down.
Posted 2 years ago # -
An e-bike that's compliant with the EAPC regulations (no assistance without pedalling, no assistance beyond 25kmph, and 250W maximum sustained power output of the motor) is treated the same as a bicycle. Otherwise it's a motor vehicle (as is an e-scooter in any form) and must be registered, taxed and insured, and the rider must wear a helmet (unless they are a Sikh).
Downhill, it's pretty easy to pedal an EAPC sans assistance, same as any ordinary bicycle, up to any speed consistent with safety and consideration for other road users (and remember that speed limits don't apply to bicycles). However, if the e-bike rider you encountered was managing 25mph uphill then they were almost certainly riding an illegal vehicle. (It's a while since I went round Arthur's Seat so I'm not sure where the scaffolding you refer to might be, but from your description of the incident it sounds to me like the e-bike was being ridden the wrong way round the one-way system, which is a no-no whether or not it was road legal.)
I'm seeing more and more e-scooters and non-EAPC e-bikes on Edinburgh's streets at the moment (and unregistered ICE motorcycles, come to that) with about as much visible enforcement of the relevant regulations as is the case for more conventional motor vehicles (i.e. not as much as is needed).
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yeah he was going the wrong way round, although I do see cyclists riding this way a fair amount. It was at quite a level section, between where the uphill ends and the downhill begins. It was one of those really high powered ones with the very thick tyres, and he wasn't pedalling. I wouldn't have had a problem with him had he been going at a normal speed (and on the correct side of the road), but the speed and sound basically made me think it was a motorcycle at first, was pretty scary at a place where you're not expecting to encounter vehicles.
Posted 2 years ago # -
It’s got to the point that it’s unusual to see a delivery cyclist that isn’t on an ebike now - with many of them clearly having no requirement to pedal.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yeah I've seen a few illegal 'electric motorcycle' conversions about recently. When I was in New York pre-pandemic these were absolutely rife (despite also being illegal there.) The UK generally needs to nip this trend in the bud now to stop them becoming similarly common, especially since the illegal ebike riders seem particularly pre-disposed to taking inconsiderate high-speed shortcuts across pavements at junctions etc.
Genuine e-bikes form a really important part of widening access to mobility and unlocking the inclusiveness benefits of cycle infrastructure, so it's vital from a safety and public opinion point of view that they aren't mixed up with these illegal electric motorbikes.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I watch the 'techniques' of the big bag festoooned e-bikers and am never disappointed by their creativity. Agree that the hill road is not a place you would expect to see them but with little effort required and a 1kW powerpack it's just another street to some.
Back in the city...
you'll marvel at their 'risk averse' right turn techniques. In heavy traffic the thing I've seen is they get right over to wrong side of road and use empty bike lane on other side to make progress head to head with opposing traffic. Said traffic will of course generally stay off painted lane but bollarded ones are more useful! Then they do a right turn from the right hand side of road rather than waiting for a gap in middle of road.
Heavyweight bike couriers like FarrOut don't do this of course. I noted lots of over shoulder checks and proper signalling - they are often towing huge trailers though!Posted 2 years ago # -
I've recently started occasionally commuting again and am "enjoying" the varying tactics used by cyclists coming the wrong way down the North Bridge single lane. Some keep left as you would ordinarily expect but others, presumably so they can bail to the pavement if necessary, keep right. Others still just sit in the middle. When there's enough violators at once bunched up at the lights the result is that when you're cycling up the correct way you are faced with a peleton of 3 or 4 unrelated cyclists spread across the whole width of the narrow lane bearing down on you at speed (presumably realising they need to clear the section ASAP) leaving you with absolutely no idea how to position yourself in the road to avoid a head on collision. I basically had to slow to a crawl last time and let them go around me whatever way they chose.
Posted 2 years ago # -
when you're cycling up the correct way you are faced with a peleton of 3 or 4 unrelated cyclists spread across the whole width of the narrow lane bearing down on you at speed (presumably realising they need to clear the section ASAP) leaving you with absolutely no idea how to position yourself in the road to avoid a head on collision. I basically had to slow to a crawl last time and let them go around me whatever way they chose.
Wow.
Experience is key to survival in this new age of increased randomness! Other road users are not your friends just because they're on a bike. Main objective, survival. They can't be educated as they are in flight mode. :-)Posted 2 years ago # -
Yeah, I think flight mode is the best way of explaining it. Presumably they would usually be pushing their bike if there was queue of buses coming in the other direction (riiiight??) so are desperate to take advantage of the empty road while it lasts.
Posted 2 years ago # -
First injury in six months of cycling, as I completely failed to clip out of my pedals when coming to a stop in an unfamiliar situation. At least it was away from traffic, so only my knee and my pride are banged up.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Made a proper boob of myself today turning out of Drysdale Rd onto the citybound cycle lane at Dundee St - was a queue waiting to turn out westbound but the other lane was snarled, so I check over my shoulder and see a taxi not indicating, start pedalling, and then just spot him indicating(late) out of the corner of my eye and stop...and promptly get into a "no no, after you, no no after you I insist" for like, five back & forths hah.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I've recently started occasionally commuting again and am "enjoying" the varying tactics used by cyclists coming the wrong way down the North Bridge single lane.
Which they can no longer do because of the barriers in place, which I, for one, found just slightly terrifying as I puffed my way up what is effectively now a tunnel. Thankfully, my timing was good all summer and I only once had someone breathing down the necks of the cycles in front of him--he waited for the light to barrel past at about 45 mph, and then we all passed him at the pedestrian crossing 100 yds later. he avoided looking at us.
Anyhoo, thanks to the cyclist behind me as we were approaching Dean Bridge on Friday afternoon, when my bungee cord failed and stuff went flying out behind me on to the street. genuinely lucky no one was driving close, as one of the things was my D-Lock.
Lost my trusty bungee at George Sq last month, and the replacement is just a little too long...
Posted 2 years ago # -
not sure if this was rubbish cycling, poor timing, or a sign that infrastructure is getting overloaded...
Was heading north up MMW, preparing to turn right onto George Square Lane.
Was moving fairly well, battery on, but not super fast as I was about to turn. older roadie-ish guy over took me rather closely on my right.
Signalled. Helmet indicator and arm straight out.
Pedestrian waiting to cross right to left.
Several cyclists moving fast downhill.
I was - as far as I know - fairly central in the bike section, although this guy had slightly thrown me by overtaking just as I was preparing to turn.
had to slow a fair bit before turning - because of the down hill cyclists and the pedestrian standing where I was about to turn into.
nearly got rear-ended by at least two cyclists. they didn't hit me, and no harsh words were exchanged.
I did say sorry. Not sure what else I could have done?
Surely they should have been overtaking on my left?
Posted 2 years ago #
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