Between Five Ways and Three Ways, as I feel the Craigleith/Blackhall/Roseburn junction should be called, I was impeded by a male cyclist exhibiting a very wide-swaying honking pedalling-motion in too high a gear, which took up a good two-thirds of the width of the path but which he evidently felt was sufficiently widthfully unobtrusive to be a suitable action to continue when he was overtaking someone when there was someone approaching from the opposite direction.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Today's rubbish cycling
(4520 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
-
On the canal path last night about quarter to seven, on the way to Harrison Park and just after the bridge, I was going over one of the wee speed bumps and did - I acknowledge - lose 'my line' a little and veered towards the right side of the path.
Suddenly, a Rapha-clad road bike past within centimetres of my shoulder, causing me to veer to the left (fortunately avoiding a dip in the canal). In my surprise I apologised, before realising I hadn't actually done anything wrong.
I called out that "A bell wouldn't hurt!", at which point he glanced over his shoulder with a wilting look that I can only presume meant I should know that Rapha don't do bells and that, even if they did, they would be purely ornamental.
Down with that sort of thing!
Posted 11 years ago # -
Me. This morning. Feel a bit guilty about it.
Still haven't changed my p*shy brake pads so bombing it down Wester Hailes Road at 28mph meant I knew I wouldn't have been able to stop when I committed to going across an amber light at the junction for the new Harvester's Way buildings (there may have been a Strava segment influencing my attitude to the amber...).
The amber clearly turned red a split second before I sped through. The white van man managed to drop anchor just in time and he was marginally ahead of me in road position.
How do I hand a QoM back without posting the ride as private?
Posted 11 years ago # -
@MeepMeep: I bought some SwissStop Green Flash brake blocks for my Triban the other week. Huge improvement in braking power, especially in the wet - possibly even a bit too strong if that's possible!
Posted 11 years ago # -
Thanks for the recommendation, Stickman!
Posted 11 years ago # -
Serial red light jumper who may or may not have been commuter racing me. I wasn't returning the favour, partly because I could't be bothered but mostly because I was interested to see how much or little was gained on her part, so I went at my usual pace, erring on the side of slower.
She saved 40 seconds, which includes the time I lost taking Ford's Road rather than Balgreen (assuming she went that way since that's where she headed after Hutchison's) and going along the Broomhouse path rather than the road.
Posted 11 years ago # -
On the 16 bus yesterday heading east front on the top deck, great view.
Two poor cycling episodes witnessed;
firstly, bus ended up behind hipster on single speed bus driver was patient, didn't overtake or even try. At the Chain Pier pub, the cyclist clearly made to pull in to the layby, then changed his mind pulled back out, felt bus driver react by starting to accelerate then brake.Secondly, whilst still on bus, then witnessed two middle aged male cyclists heading west, in outside lane to turn right into Asda, all good. Then cause their lights changed to red they just dodged around traffic island and crossed road onto pavement.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@gdm:
From your location and description, I suspect you encountered a well known Edinburgh based pro rider, so you are probably right, his bell won't have been provided by Rapha. No attachments allowed when racing!
Posted 11 years ago # -
Grey cargobike heading uphill on Leamington Walk, overtook other cyclist heading same direction, despite me on-coming downhill, with other bikes behind me, and a full contingent of pedestrians to my left.
I managed to brake okay, as did other bikes behind me, but...
Posted 11 years ago # -
What on earth is a "a well known Edinburgh based pro rider" doing using the canal path? If they want to go fast, they should use the road! They can hardly claim to be nervous of traffic...
Posted 11 years ago # -
"They can hardly claim to be nervous of traffic..."
Oh I don't know. I ride in traffic every day, know my way around it and how to ride in it, and I still feel nervous about traffic and take routes to work that avoid certain roads...
Posted 11 years ago # -
Yeah, you don't die any less just because you are going fast.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Yeah, OK, but I still don't get why people behave like that. Either
1) you are happy to go slowly and share the towpath with everyone else or
2) you are not willing to slow down - in which case GET ON THE ROAD!!!I am 2) - I hardly ever cycle on the towpath as I find it too slow. I'd rather use the road.
Oh, and while I'm in rant mode, I was running on the towpath last night and would like to know what exactly the point of having front lights on in daylight in a car-free environment is. (Back lights I accept you might want them on the road and you have to stop to turn them off - but front lights are easy to turn off so why keep them on unnecessarily?)
OK, rant over.Posted 11 years ago # -
Dynamo lights, maybe? I understand most hub-powered folks ride around at least a couple of days a week unaware they're on.
If they were on the handlebars, then almost certainly not.
Posted 11 years ago # -
My dynamo lights turn themselves on whenever they think it's dark enough (which still delights me). In practice they come on at dusk and when it gets heavily cloudy, which I think is about right.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Either
1) you are happy to go slowly and share the towpath with everyone else or
2) you are not willing to slow down - in which case GET ON THE ROAD!!!This. As simple as treating others as you would like to be treated.
Feel better now, Fimm? :o)
Turning it on its head though - perhaps a professional racer would be more nervous about traffic given they arguably have a higher exposure to it and their livelihoods can often be more dependent on not being knocked off than someone who could work from home/still get to the office on crutches? Definitely not excusing the behaviour, just playing a bit of devil's advocate.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I've got no problems sharing paths with Edinburgh-based pro-cyclists who are well-known to others.
However, I don't think that whilst said pro-cyclist is on shared use paths where any degree of speed, manoeuvrability and space are significantly limited, the use of a bell would be likely to limit their ability to remain a well-known pro-cyclist.
Fair play if he wants to protect himself from the roads, but a wee heads-up for those tootling along the tow path surely wouldn't hurt. I appreciate that communicating with the Aldi-clad hybrid cyclists of the world may not be 'cool' enough for him, but it's not really, well... nice.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Posted 11 years ago #
-
Controversy Alert>>>
Just noticed, Todays Rubbish cycling: 588 posts in one year. Todays Rubbish Driving: 1661 posts in 2years.
Given there are more than 4 times the number of drivers than cyclist, does this (anecdotal only) evidence suggest that cyclists engage in more minor rule breaking / silly manoeuvres than drivers? Or are we just more honest?
Or to put another way, why do we report (post) more bad cycling than driving?
Posted 11 years ago # -
Some sort of white guilt I suppose.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Todays silly cyclist.. ME!!
I rode in yesterday and smiled to myself as I rode past 2 miles of crawling traffic on Queensferry Road/A90 whilst it queued into the distance, where I leave to rdie over the old Cramond Brig. So why did i take the bus today and then sit in the traffic.... Silly me!!
Posted 11 years ago # -
I usually take Weds as a rest day and ride in from Barnton, luckily traffic report came on whilst I was driving through Aberdour. Parked up at Ferrytoll and rode past all the traffic. Looks like the issue will be there for some time, didn't pay much attention to what that issue was.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Minor road surface replacement across the road (heading into Edinburgh) from and between Parkgrove Road and Parkgrove Street.
Posted 11 years ago # -
*sirens wail and blue lights flash as Uberuce crashes into the thread*
Baldcyclist! Halt! Statistics Police!
Have you counted the number of posts that are reports of rubbish driving and cycling, and how many are replies to each incident or(like yours and this one) tangents to either?
I haven't, but that's a big honking margin of error right there. If I had to bet £1.73 I'd say this thread is chattier.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I was going to say what @Uberuce said, but he got there first.
Posted 11 years ago # -
also the first 3 pages of posts/replies are from 'more than a year ago'. the ones from '12 months ago' start later. So it's 588 posts in a year and some months (can't tell how many).
Posted 11 years ago # -
Hi all. Im new to this though have been lurking for a while! Could not believe the stupidity of a guy I saw this morning c8:45. LRT bus was heading towards the Kings, going past the newsagent opposite the Barclay church. Its a tight corner for buses as the traffic tends to queue thus cutting the angle in the buslane-buses sometime mount the kerb as they try to manouvre. Guy on a road bike (but not full lycra!) absolutely shoots down the inside of the bus just as the driver was starting to straighten after the corner. LRT drivers are generally pretty good with cyclists, but I could understand why this one shook his head!
Posted 11 years ago # -
Holding my hand up to one of these. Working in Warrington yesterday. Quite close to my destination on a minor-ish road that leads past what I think is a kind of back entrance to a massive Industrial Estate/Office Park on the left.
I'd been the same way last week so knew I could expect a long line of traffic queueing to turn left, and then a "mirror" line of traffic on the other side of the junction, waiting to turn right. The road's narrow enough that there's not room for 2 cars plus bike to safely pass each other.
So I filter down the outside of the queue, keeping a close eye out for the occasional car that may be coming the other way rather than making the turn that most of the traffic is queueing for. As I start to pass the 2nd car in the queue, space opens up for the lead car to make his left turn, and I quickly realise that the car on my inside is actually going straight ahead and starting to accelerate.
Queue a very hard sprint from me to get safely in front of him, and a sheepish wave of thanks and apology about 300 yds later when the road eventually widened enough for him to pass me.
Seems I do have 'fast twitch' muscles hidden away somewhere in those thighs.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Am I rubbish because I don't generally dismount at the aqueduct on the canal as the sign before it requests? I tend to dismount as and when required i.e. when there is someone coming the other way.
At the weekend I was told off by an old man with a pram walking along it in the opposite direction to me. I stayed on the bike until I was pretty close, maybe 8 - 10 feet away when I dismounted to allow us both to pass. He said that I should get off the bike as the sign says. I said I have got off, but is there any point in getting off way back there (pointing backwards) when nobody is there but me? He never answered, just walked away.
Is there any point? Am I wrong?
Posted 11 years ago # -
@ Dunny
You're "wrong", but you're right. ;-) (In my opinion of course).
The signs are there for a good enough reason, to avoid accidents, but if you're a competent enough cyclist and there's nobody to bump into, it's all a bit unnecessary to dismount.
I don't use the canal path all that much, but when I do, it's more often on my road bike, and for me that also means road shoes and cleats. So for my own safety, I'm actually better off riding than trying to walk along there as my shoes would likely have me risking a Bambi on ice impression walking on that surface!
If I happen to encounter someone coming the other way, I will stop and hold onto the handrail to let them past, as I know that I am "wrong" to be riding (very slowly) over the viaduct. I'm slim, so I take up less room doing that than walking beside my bike anyway. Never had any complaints, usually a thank you, smile of some degree or just a silent pass, but no scowls or negative words. Any reasonable person will see I've given them right of way.
If I notice someone on - or about to be on - the viaduct before I get there, I'll wait till they've crossed - I'm not using the canal path for racing on.
Posted 11 years ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post.
posts
