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.
Me.
Overshot the Give Way line at the bottom of my street this morning, causing a cyclist approaching from my right to wobble and brake in case I actually cycled into him. I called "Sorry" and he acknowledged my apology.
In my defense, I was distracted by three guys to my left wheeling a shopping trolley containing a traffic cone and a For Sale sign...
Me squeezing passed a pedestrian up a space that, with hindsight, was always going to be narrowing given the likely destination of said pedestrian was most likely going to be the steps up to Balgreen Tram stop.
I also evidently need to clear my vocal chords out in the morning so my 'on your right/left' calls are actually heard*.
*headphones not withstanding, obvs.
I think a large proportion of RLJ-ing is just really bad track standing. I watched a chap in London on Sunday have to ride around in a big circle to get back into the ASL having wibbled out of it. Possibly I was looking at him in a slightly sardonic manner as he then wibbled back across the white line, gave it up as a bad job and cycled off. Both I and the very slow man on a Boris Bike I had overtaken caught up with him at the next light.
There's often a creeping-trackstander on London Road heading west past Meadowbank shops in the mornings. I can't trackstand properly but I use my brakes and step off sideways if I lose my balance, rather than creep forward.
I totally agree with the track standing comment. I was guilty of it once at the bottom of Clermiston Road at the pedestrian crossing on St Johns Road. After I realised I had edged to far forward whilst trying to track stand, rather than admit defeat and put my foot down, I just creeped through to the next set of lights. I ended up getting abuse from a taxi driver and the wife gave me pelters when I told her about it. I reckon being seen to fail at track standing is not an option.
People give so much abuse for trying-and-failing to track stand it's obvious why people would rather just keep moving. I've never known something so tricky that so many people will mock you for not being good at. I have no ability to track stand but I know it's only through practice that people will gain the skill.
Out of interest: if you aren't on a fixie then why track stand?
For the record. The Ped crossing was empty but I felt really bad about it and will not do it again.
I do it so that I don't need to unclip (laziness)
It's not just failed trackstanders - this chap rolled past me and through the empty ASL at two successive sets of lights. Have no idea why.
Yes, I've seen people do that, urchaidh, and I don't really know why they do it. Something about getting an even better start on traffic, I assume?
"People give so much abuse for trying-and-failing to track stand it's not obvious why people would rather just keep moving stop."
FTFY.
I do it so that I don't need to unclip (laziness)
Isn't that basically the same reason fixies do it? Although they have the added disadvantage of having to lift the rear wheel to reset the pedals if they do stop.
Why track stand?
Quicker get-away from lights (feet already on pedals)?
The irritable road biker who admonished me for not squeezing through a ~1/2 metre gap between a vehicle parked on the cycle lane and a coach in the queue of traffic on the mound. He then proceeded to cycle down one of the narrow shared use entrances to gain access to Waverley - I got off and pushed.
Why track stand?
I don't even understand this question. Why ride bikes, why climb mountains? I spend my evenings being flattened and choked by half-strangers while paying for the privilege. By comparison balancing on a bike with both feet off the ground seems a fairly benign personal challenge.
@dougal I think the question is better re-worded as "why attempt to track stand when you aren't able to do it in a manner that allows you to actually stay relatively still on the spot."
I'm ambivalent to anyone wanting to do it, if they're actually able to do pull it off. It's not that different to the "acceptable" practices of holding onto a lighting column or bit of guard rail or putting a foot on the kerb.
But... a busy road at a red light is probably not the best place to commence practice. There's not a huge amount of room in an ASL and it can be distinctly annoying for other stationary, 2-wheeled occupants of the box to find that 1 person is moving around all over the place due to a lack of acumen.
I also disapprove of drivers unwilling to find and use their handbrake and who hold the car on the clutch at the lights, inevitably creeping ever forward and usually into the ASL. They seem much less prone to suddenly deciding they've rolled far enough forward that it's acceptable to proceed past red though.
Why trackstand?
Because the asl is lava!
dougal/kaputnik:
My question wasn't meant to sound so accusatory. I'm not able to trackstand so I was wondering what the advantage was (not unclipping, faster get away, the general challenge of it!).
I regularly see people try and fail at red lights.
It's not faster away from the lights, not even a mid-road ped crossing going straight from red to flashing-amber.
@wingpig, for those who have difficulty clipping in it may be faster away from lights than having to go along one legged until you can get sorted, such as people new to clipless.
I try, and usually fail, to trackstand at reds when there is sufficient room (eg I'm there alone). I do it to A) Stay clipped in B) It passes the time C) It's a personal challenge to see how long I can, before unclipping and admitting defeat.
I'm with Dougal.
For the next potentially divisive question to the panel,
for those who have difficulty clipping in
should those who find it difficult to clip in/out persist in using clipless pedals?
My question is of course semi-facetious. I find SPDs very easy to use and use them for 95% of all my cycling, to the point where I get flummoxed at lights now if I'm on the bike with flat pedals. However I find the Look "road"-type cleats to be much less easy for constant clipping in-and-out and as such I have always avoided them for any commutey/around-town type cycling where you're constantly having to put a foot down. (also, the nylon of the cleats wears out rapidly on the foot-down side. also, they're a b****r to walk about it)
I use road cleats on my summer bike which is not so good on hills and I use it sparingly, partly as struggle to get unclipped.
I use mountain bike clip in pedals in my winter bike which also has a granny and mudguards so really three seasons. I can normally get unclipped but fell off the other day still clipped in when distracted. Nice cog tattoo lacerated on calf.
I use toe clips on my commute.
On my bike that does the shopping I have one toe clip and one flat pedal.
Watched chap with strava gran fondo Jersey (think this means he has done loads of cycling in shortish time) struggle to clip in. He had overtaken me to the lights down Salisbury but I had to wait for him whilst he faffed about but I was not bothered. Nice day had time to get to next meeting etc.
Also @dougal, what is it you are doing of an evening?
"Nice cog tattoo lacerated on calf."
Sounds like judo. I can still just see the purply bits from where I stabbed myself with a chainring two years ago. My theory about ultra-roadies not being quick away from the lights is that they don't want to build up dense acceleration-muscles.
That and their huge macho gears don't allow for it. :-)
@gembo It was a purposefully dismissive description of Brazilian jiu-jitsu for comical effect. As you might guess, from me being on the receiving end of a bit of punishment, I am not very good at it.
Came across what looked like a couple of bikes set alight on the Restalrig path below my flat last night as I headed off to catch a bus. Phoned the Fire service and waited to make sure they found them. Certainly rubbish actions by local neds (I'm guessing) and even more rubbish for whoever's bikes they were. May have been a couple of front loader cargo bikes, didn't get too close as they were well alight by the time I left. Got some video/photos (trying to upload) to help identify, if anyone knows of missing bikes/trikes.
Just along from the burnt-out car that appeared last week. Seems to be a popular spot these days...
@dougal, like wingpig, I thought judo. But this Brazilian martial art is all the rage, capybara is it called? (I know it isn't that as that is I think a large South American rodent).
@gembo- I think you'll find it's called Caipirinha - lethal it is too...
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