As I cycled to the canal from Morningside this morning, I had to wait at the red light at the junction between Gray's Loan and Polworth Terrace. Another cyclist was at the front of the queue which I was in while two cyclists waited to get going from the front of the queue in the opposing direction. Following the end of the green man phase, but a good few seconds before the lights changed to green for us, one of the cyclists heading towards me decided to set off and slowly cycle across the junction.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Today's rubbish cycling
(4520 posts)-
Posted 9 years ago #
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Not sure what this person thought they were up to. Maybe they've only ever encountered people turning into the south bank of the canal before,and so were puzzled by my carrying on round the road...
[+] Embed the video | Video Download Get the Flash Video Posted 9 years ago # -
Travelling the reverse route of wingpig from the video above, this morning I took the tight, left-hand corner on Lower Gilmore Place to be confronted with a cyclist heading straight for me as he overtook another cyclist who was heading towards me on the correct side of the road. Luckily, the overtaking cyclist managed to move out of my way, seemingly without interferring with the correctly positioned cyclist, rapidly. It was still a bit of an unwelcome surprise, especially in the wet...
Posted 9 years ago # -
I'll nominate myself from this morning. Waiting at a set of lights behind two other cyclists, the lights turn green and neither goes. So I set off, moving right to pass them. On seeing they'd both realised the lights were green I should have slotted back, but carried on, and the chap behind the girl had a wobble to the right as he set off, which brought us very close (not sure how my pannier didn't connect), with me unable to move further right due to a passing car.
Impatience and a lack of forward planning on my part.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Was me on Saturday, descending Henderson Terrace with the expectation of being able go 'straight on' to the right on to Murieston Road (heading for the start of Roseburn Path off Russell Road). As I stopped at the red lights at the junction in the right-hand lane, I noticed the large "no right turn" sign painted onto the road... The lights changed to green whilst I was wondering if heading to Murieston Road counted as a right turn or not. Due to the volume of traffic that was by this time heading from Gorgie Road on to Dalry Road and also up Henderson Terrace, I ended up rolling across the junction to the traffic island at the start of Gorgie Road, jumping off the bike, crossing when there was a gap and pushing round to Murieston Road. All in all it was quite confusing, espeically since I had remembered being in a car that drove across that junction as I had hoped to do so not all that long ago (possibly this was not entirely legal in retrospect!).
Posted 9 years ago # -
@jdanielp - I've always thought that meant you can't go right up Dalry Road, but Murieston Road counted as straight on - there are two lanes at the end there, so I've assumed that's one for Gorgie Road and one for Murieston Road - the other two being left and right and prohibited by the signs. I may well be wrong though - I do share your confusion though as traffic heading from Gorgie Road up Henderson Terrace is led to believe by the traffic lights that it is straight on, but crosses the line from Henderson Terrace to Murieston Road, so one of them has to be a technical right turn I suppose yet the road marking seem to suggest both are straight on...
Posted 9 years ago # -
A triple-whammy on the towpath this morning. Despite a higher volume of traffic due to the return to school, all was going surprisingly well as far as Meggetland.
The first was a woman who was joining the towpath from the next bridge west, who abruptly rolled out onto the towpath after presumably having bounced down the bumpy steps there just as I was heading under the bridge. I braked and took partially evasive action to avoid her.
Next was poor aqueduct etiquette. About a third of the way across the aqueduct heading west, with the woman from above quite close behind me, a guy on a mountain bike joined the aqueduct heading east. He proceeded to cycle straight at me with no indication that he was planning to give way so I ended up coming to a halt to avoid a collision. Luckily he also came to a halt and, quite begrudgingly, leaned in to the railings to give way to the two of us. Not sure what he had expected...
Finally, having rung my 80mm ding-dong bell loudly and heading under the Kingsknowe railway bridge, just as I was about to exit I heard another bike bell ring and a woman appeared heading under the bridge in the other direction just as I was running out of space to safely exit due to the relatively poorly joined surface. If she had just waited a brief moment it would have been far better for us (the woman from earlier was still right behind me at this point - she later passed me and pulled away, which quite impressed me given the relatively beaten-up old mountain bike she was riding).
Posted 9 years ago # -
@algo @jdanielp I've always read that junction as no right turn onto Dalry Road, going to Murieston road is fine.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@algo @geordiefatbloke yeah, that's what I had assumed, but the middle of that junction suddenly seemed like a precarious position to be as a cyclist when the lights went green and the traffic from Gorgie started moving towards me. A traffic light filter/different timing or an obvious waiting area could improve the situation.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@jdanielp - I totally agree - the main problem being that there are two ostensibly "straight-on" lanes which cross - meaning that going on to Murieston Road is effectively a right turn. I have seen people nearly come a cropper there assuming (as you would) that it's a straight on so there will be no crossing traffic….
Posted 9 years ago # -
It's definitely not the best laid out junction I've ever seen. Also, be wary that quite often I've seen people (ok, drivers) ignore the no right turn completely and actually turn right on to Dalry Road from there. Maybe they too are confused :)
Posted 9 years ago # -
Not today but Friday. Bloke in Ardbeg cycling jersey on a red MTB, exited Haymarket station by way of cycling wrong way along the 'orrible new red paint, hopped onto the pavement infront of Ryries Bar and then cycled through the rush-hour pedestrians to effect a right turn onto Dalry Road.
Clearly pushing round the corner was too much to ask.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I have seen people nearly come a cropper there assuming that it's a straight on so there will be no crossing traffic
I suppose this is because the majority of traffic exiting Henderson Terrace heads to Gorgie and not Murieston, whereas about equal numbers of vehicles exit Gorgie heading to Dalry or up Henderson. Henderson to Murieston isn't a manoeuvre I've done very often and you do need to be careful given that there are two lanes of oncoming traffic.
Posted 9 years ago # -
This guy...
[+] Embed the video | Video Download Get the Flash Video Yes, it's annoying when people cross against the red man, but certainly watching real time he speeded up slightly, moved to his left slightly, all so he could deliberately pass more closely to the lady crossing and shout 'Look out!' at her loudly causing her a massive jump (off camera), as he carried out with a sanctimonious smug look on his face. Possibly makes him feel all manly or something. Considered changing my route and chasing him to point out the obvious lack of fulfilment in the trouser department, but life is too short to stoop to the level of the cretinous.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Warning that YouTube clip contains bagpipes.
The boy was certainly moving at speed.
Along with all the festival driving and bad festival cycling there has been an upsurge in bad festival walking. People with earphones in texting on their phones, crossing roads with traffic coming at them etc.
Crossing Lothian road heading west towards the bingo hall is a very good spot for all of the above. Also bad parking at kebab shop. I passed a car that had followed a lorry taking a right possibly after they should have in the light sequence as the lorry stopped to make delivery and the car was stuck behind it as the traffic from the east moved through.
Posted 9 years ago # -
bad festival walking
Had a driver's eye view from the buggy space of the lower saloon of a firstbus heading in and out of town on Sunday. Given how infrequently it stops in town, it was much faster than your typical Lothian bus.
From where we were sitting it looked like people were just hurling themselves infront of a fast moving vehicle.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Accident blackspot? They're throwing themselves into the middle of the road (with nail)
Posted 9 years ago # -
Without any further detail I might be prepared to give our boy on the bike a little bit of sympathy. It may not have been the first pedestrian to wander across the road in front of him on that journey now the Festival is on. Patience is a much tested virtue at this time of year.
Posted 9 years ago # -
"Patience is a much tested virtue at this time of year."
One reason I'm not prepared to give sympathy in situations like this is that it didn't require anything more than a slight shift right. He speeded up, moved towards the pedestrian, all very very very deliberate. It wasn't someone scurrying out last minute that almost took him out, he put himself in the position to pass very closely so he could shout at her. Yes, his patience may have been gone by that point due to other things on the ride, but those were his deliberate actions (and what's not on the video is the look of satisfaction on his face as he carried on).
Also.... Next time I'm beeped at by a motorist, or suffer an MGIF, I'm not going to give them the 'patience is a much tested virtue' get-out, I don't see why that should be any different for a deliberately aggressive cyclist.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Festival visitors come from far and wide, including from countries where big painted symbolic bicycles down one side of a wide path are unintelligible.
Posted 9 years ago # -
including from countries where big painted symbolic bicycles down one side of a wide path are unintelligible.
You mean Scotland? ;)
Posted 9 years ago # -
@WC that IS a bad area.
I think that to be honest the lady shouldn't have been crossing the road anyway (we'd all be up in arms if it was a car which ran a red light) and maybe the speeding up was gravity taking hold on the downhill and momentum. He also might have moved towards her slightly as he was looking at her, and the body follows the head.
Shouting "Look Out" might give her pause before running a red next time and save her from something more serious in future.
DISCLAIMER: I had a number of peds jump out on me today so I'm with @Stiltskin in the lack of patience camp. Bloody
cycliststourists etc etc. :-)Posted 9 years ago # -
"(we'd all be up in arms if it was a car which ran a red light)"
...but that car's driver would have been breaking a law. A pedestrian crossing without a green man is legal.
Having just crossed at least one set of tram tracks (he looked too far away to have been tucked in on the right between the central island and eastbound rails) the cyclist was presumably exerting some degree of control over his bicycle, and presumably had some prior experience of both pedestrians and inclines, unless he had just jumped on a bike for the first ever time just before he entered the shot.
Whilst there is no corresponding treacherous and unexpected downward slope along Torphichen Street I often encounter similar clouds of pedestrians crossing without a recommendation from the green man when turning right thereinto from West Maitland Street, over the tracks. I find it quite easy to not deliberately buzz them, shouting.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Trust me, I watched him all the way, the speeding up wasn't just gravity, the move towards her was very deliberate, the shout calculated, and the look of pleasure on his face at making her jump clearly identifiable.
And I'm afraid I do see a massive difference between a pedestrian crossing on a red man (as long as there's time and space to do so, there really was here, and it's legal) and a car running a red (which is illegal).
But to use the motorist side of things. If a driver had deliberately sped up towards a pedestrian, driven closer to her than necessary, and honked their horn at the last minute causing the pedestrian to run out of the way, would we make excuses for the driver around patience running out?
Hierarchy of road users, pedestrians have priority over cyclists have priority over motorists in my head.
Posted 9 years ago # -
(plus, on 'gravity', I'm pretty sure his bike was equipped with brakes)
Posted 9 years ago # -
Another vote for 'nobber' here. He had plenty space to navigate round the pedestrians so no need to shout at them to make them aware of his presence/let out a shout of surprise.
Point blank bully and will one day no doubt come up against someone who's more than willing to take him up on the challenge he is issuing.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I'd agree that was pretty unpleasant behaviour. By contrast cycled behind someone on a white and blue Scott road bike with toe clips from the Mound to George Square this afternoon whose patience and road craft was exemplary…. nice to see
Posted 9 years ago # -
Had to post this, could easily have led to a fatality. Was in my car behind a bin lorry heading down the Mound and then up Hanover Street. As a cyclist I am well aware of the cycle lane to my left, and sure enough there was a gaggle of three or four cyclists heading in the same direction.
As I headed up the hill I slowed down, as the bin lorry braked and indicated it wanted to turn left. After five of six second the lorry was about to execute it's turn when an IDIOT of a cyclist shot up the cycle lane on the left side of the lorry, which was still indicating. The lorry driver did really well to brake in time, otherwise that cyclist was toast.
Also have to mention a couple of RLJs who steamed through pedestrians crossing on a green man at Potterrow, utter berks.
This is a busy city at this time of year and we all have to share the same roads, but some city cyclists really test my patience.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I know I agonise about this intermittently on here, but I very nearly threw caution to the wind and pulled a cyclist over today to say "You'd really benefit from a bit of training or reading Cyclecraft. It would help stop all those close passes you're getting".
I joined Colinton Road at Meggetland heading into town, and she was just in front of me. As we passed the line of parked cars just before the mini-roundabout at Polwarth Terrace she moved out round them without a backward glance and proceeded to ride along beside them with her handlebar almost grazing the wing mirrors.
At the approach to mini-roundabout she took the left lane and hugged the kerb. By this time I was in the right lane to go straight on, and as I moved across the roundabout I suddenly found her beside me, because it transpired she was going straight on too. Had I been a car she would have been toast, and she would at best have been pinched out the same way Snowy was (but probably worse because she started so far to the left).
I know we've discussed it before, and I know that the consensus is that any advice is very unlikely to come across as anything other than patronising. The trouble is that the EEN commentators are sometimes right: there genuinely are some cyclists who are a menace on the roads because of their lack of awareness and the impact that lack of awareness is having on the other road users around them.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Bit confused about this one.
Joining Union Canal from Fountainbridge, there's a shared use cycle/people sign and a dip in the kerb just before the traffic lights. Lights were red, looked around the pavement and a cyclist passes me quite close coming off the pedestrian crossing. Let out an expletive with surprise, responded telling me he was "using the correct route".
Was fairly certain from the dipped kerb perfectly cycle sized and the shared used sign that I was using a correct route, but am I the rubbish cyclist here?
Posted 9 years ago #
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