CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years 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.
I can't imagine how standing beside my bike would take up less room than straddling it
I can, because what I do is hold my bike over the canal itself, while standing as close to the edge as possible. This means I take up no more room than a standard pedestrian, and I don't force a pram-pusher to the canal side.
Or actually yesterdays.
Wearing my fluorescent cycling jacket, shorts and spd-equipped shoes, walking back to my flat having bought lunch to stick in my pannier bag and head off to work, I was clipped on the pavement by a young female student who lost control slaloming around other pedestrians, in part because she had carrier bags on her handlebars. Not the slightest slowing down, or apology afterwards. Perhaps I should have been wearing my helmet.
When I'm on my fully loaded tandem, in my view the safest way to get across is by continuing to straddle my bike - and the fastest way to get across is to pedal.
Too much high up weight to balance it off the bike and I don't trust the little chiefs to walk across off the bike by themselves.
I also hog the barriers but stop well ahead of meeting anyone else. Gets me plenty of comments about dismounting which I tend to say "I know" and then try to explain why I do what I do but by that time they have usually passed.
@ WC - please will you offer an explanation for us non-legal-eagles on the difference between giving way and ceding priority that you alluded to earlier.
I get that when I'm on a road with a junction on my left I have 'priority', not 'right of way' over the car in the road on my left. We both have 'right of way' to use the road. My bike also has right of way on the bridlepath, but the car doesn't.
I'm not clear there's a difference, though between 'giving way' and 'ceding priority'. Can you explain?
It's nowt to do with a legal distinction really, but rather it's perhaps the single most pointlessly pedantic things I could have posted on this forum. The two are sooooooo closely related as to have been twins separated at birth and the only distinction being one likes Star Trek, the other Star Wars.
Been trying to formulate a satisfactory examination of the difference and tying myself in knots (there will be give way signs and lines and singletrack roads with passing places). Will have another crack today when I've not had a couple of large alcoholic beverages...
I'm no drunk lawyer, but would not ceding priority simply be giving way despite having priority?
Saw a double for Rubbish Cycling and Rubbish Pedestrianing: I was riding behind a chap on Sensible hybrid, with sensible lighting, Sensible hi-viz/helmet/trouserclips and sensible lane positioning* who appeared to have no awareness whatsoever of the shambling figure with many of the trappings of an uncontrolled substance abuse problem who had walked into the road with his head turned away from us. Cyclist didn't alter his path one iota, and collision wasn't avoided so much as miracled away from.
We then carried on down to the road, serenaded by idiomatically rich descriptions of the violence intended upon the gentleman in front, and happened upon a terribly nice Radio 4 looking woman who was so busy saying cheery goodbyes to her pavement-housed friend that she was walking backwards round the boot of her car, and certainly not checking to her left to see if anything was coming before heading to the driver's door. Another miraculous collision avoidance ensued.
After the first I said to myself: Uberuce, let's not be hasty; whoop-de-doo for you for discerning that bloke was a jakey, not a backpacker, but that doesn't mean the fella on the hybrid is a Rubbish Cyclist for not expecting the latter's road smarts. After the second, I thought: eejit.
*capital letter to denote controversial ones
Maybe sensible cyclist is a disguise for ninja cyclist, as he missed both jakey and jenny
There were no reflexes on display at all, catlike or manateelike.
Yeah but the true ninja does not reveal reflexes, turtle style, just ghost through seemingly inevitable collisions
Yeah but the true ninja does not reveal reflexes, turtle style, just ghost through seemingly inevitable collisions
Shouldn't there have been sound effects, though?
Also, I didn't go into slow motion during either near-miss, and that's usually a dead giveaway.
Yeah but you only think you didn't go into slow motion because he employed ninja deflection moves to speed up your perception of the ninja slow motion matrix manoeuvres
I had to teach some 3rd years about mutation today… ohhh yes, it's all about Ninja Turtles isn't it?
Me, three times this morning. Firstly a stupid amber gamble. Then managed to totally misjudge speed/distance and nearly left hooked another cyclist (if you are the lady with the Merchiston backpack on Manor Place - sorry!). To finish off I almost had a head-on with another cyclist at the cut through at Scottish Widows.
Don't know where my head was today. Will be taking it very easy on the way home.
Speaking of Widows... There was an eejit (I know it wasn't you Stickman!) came down the ramp and completely cut across the cars moving down the ramp who were turning right, hooking across left in front of an Audi (to go into Steveo's work car park, though I know it wasn't Steveo either).
Was me in the cowgate heading west at 7.30 tonight. Big tail back caused by red London bus parked on the street. I cut up inside and then undercut a car that had been waiting for the eastbound traffic to clear. Big jam then ensued as east bound westbound and southbound cars all congregated at once.
When the car that I undercut caught up with me the passenger gave me the finger. Kind of horizontal finger so only very slight. I thought I am sorry for my misdemeanour. and I do hope you are going back to ask the people who own the bus what they were up to?
Also tonight but earlier on way up broughton st, skinny fixie trying to take on the buses, jumping and squeezing and being a nuisance and risking life and limb all the way round Picardy place and up leith st. When I caught up at royal mile he was in middle of road going round and round in circles waiting for the lights to change.
Word to wise, my friend. If you're going to ride a bike in town during the tail end of the rush hour in the dark on your dark-coloured bike in your dark-coloured clothes then you would have been better spending the money you'd spent on the dark-coloured helmet on some *&%£$ lights.
I wonder what (if any) thought processes go on under that helmet. Perhaps "I've got a helmet on, I'll be safe. It provides a magic force field that makes lights unnecessary"
…he was in middle of road going round and round in circles waiting for the lights to change.
Those people make me laugh. "I'm a real cyclist! I can trackstand!" while actually wobbling all over the place and trying not to jump the light too much. If you're going to trackstand, do it properly.
"Those people make me laugh. "I'm a real cyclist! I can trackstand!" while actually wobbling all over the place"
+ 1
I gave up trying to trackstand after I saw Dave do it on a Circe Morpheus.
Even if I was any good at it(which I never have been) I'm beaten by that.
Agreed but this guy was literally cycling round and round in quite a big circle, over and over. More like clown in a small circus ring than a trackstander
A plethora of cyclists with no lights on their bikes or selves last night. None in particular stick out for further idiocy, though all apart from one looked like they should have known better.
Yarp. Now that my lid-light is back on I see people and think they have rubbish lights, only to discover it's their reflectors.
The rowing coaches on the canal are serial ninjas.
Over the course of twice/thrice weekly trips to the Longstone Sainsbury since it opened a month ago, I've seen one with lights so far. It's not a shock given how rarely they show any other form of consideration for other towpath users, and with their low speed and the offroadness, it's not as big a safety concern as road ninjas, but as Marge Simpson is wont to say: hrrrrgmgmrmm.
2 instances on the Meadows this morning, fist on North Meadow walk heading East, a chap decides to turn right in front of me to head for Chalmers St, just as I'm on the WET rumble strips. Thought if I brake on here it's going top be messy, so I concluded hitting him would be better (for me). I whimper "where are you going" (can never think of anything witty to say in these circumstances) as I brace for impact. Luckily he manages to straighten up to avoid the collision.
There was really nothing I could have done because of the textured paving, braking = fall, turning = fall, go straight on = crash.
Think he phoned his mate further back that he'd missed, as another one attempted the same manoeuvre at the junction at middle meadow walk, luckily this time I had traction (underrated) and managed to take avoiding action.
@Uberuce if the rowing coaches are only cycling on the canal towpath, they're not breaking any law by doing so unlit... do you have a similar problem with runners on the towpath? (I've come back after it has got dark a couple of times recently - it was still light enough for me to see where I was going, though. I'll start wearing my headtorch to run soon, mostly to a) look at my garmin watch and b) warn cyclists coming towards me that I'm there. I only do a rear light on the very rare occasion I'm running beyond the bypass in the dark.)
if the rowing coaches are only cycling on the canal towpath, they're not breaking any law by doing so unlit
Playing within the rules but outwith the spirit.
Do the boats have lights(?)
Yep, the boats have lights. I noticed it last week and thought it might make a cool photo.
It'd be good if pedestrians on the canal path at night have light, both front and rear...
@Fimm, I scare easily so anything suddenly appearing out the gloom is alarming.
The rowing coaches are the worst since they're periodically silent, occlude the UFO landing lights the least and rarely have any retroreflective.
Runners are always audible to pootlers like me, and rarely without at least a flash of Scotchlite somewhere.
Dog walkers are also silent and rarely wear 3M, but handily their canine charges see out of a pair of reflectors.
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