CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting

Complacency strikes again!

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  1. Dave
    Member

    Had a bit of a rough commute this morning.

    I had just left the flat looking forward to a nice freewheel down the Roseburn path, when I met one of the Turiff transit vans (who are digging up literally outside our flat) coming the wrong way down the one-way street by Kings Buildings.

    I figured perhaps he couldn't find the right way into the estate (my parents have driven up and down for a while, baffled) so I said, quite politely, "Hey dude, it's a one way street", thinking he might reply "yeah, can you tell me how to actually find the entrance" and the world would have been improved a tiny notch.

    Instead he shouted "except for access" and roared down into the estate. Now, there are many things in life I'm probably wrong about, but spending 9 years not noticing that I could actually just turn down the one-way street so long as I was planning to park was a bit hard to believe (and anyway, it's wrong).

    So, I duly turned around in order to record the vehicle details and pen a tedious letter to someone, but the driver just kept going, past our house, through the estate and then turned right onto Mayfield Road, back up to KB. Funny sort of place he must have been accessing (or had he noticed an invisible bike following him?)

    My interest piqued by the thought of white van men rally driving round our estate all day, I rode round the block hoping to find him parked up, at which point my day got even worse because a motorcyclist thought he would amuse himself by shouting that I was invisible on his way past. I do find it amusing that motorcyclists are second only to cyclists in fearing unusual bikes.

    I caught him easily in the traffic and explained with a choice combination of four-letter words how much I valued his contribution, given that he was wearing black leathers and I a particularly violent white/pink shirt! (Irony fail!)

    Anyway, I then returned to the flat, to find a suspiciously familiar looking Turriff van parked outside, whose details I entered into my phone to vague grumbling (there were two vans, one 'innocent' whose boys were a bit confused, and the driver of the second was keeping quiet).

    Too late now to do the Roseburn circuit, I rode straight in via the bridges, and had some vaguely dodgy driving by a taxi (who kept trying to squeeze past in the bus lane, despite the fact that I was keeping up with traffic) and then some random utilities van (who tried to make three lanes at the lights half way down Leith St, and then cut across me to turn left at Picardy Place).

    Of course, in all of this I didn't have a camera rolling (which is probably why it happened, eh).

    So now I'm sitting here all grumpy, instead of beatifically calm as usual. GRRR.

    Posted 13 years ago #
  2. recombodna
    Member

    I just about got taken out by one of the parents at my kids nursery yesterday.He pulled out of a parking space without checking his mirrrors and almost had me.He only lives 3 streets away from the nursery and we were both going to pick up........I still beat the bu**er up the road though by a good 2 minutes!

    Posted 13 years ago #
  3. Stepdoh
    Member

    If it's any consolation I made a complete cock of myself at the top of dundas street Hanover Street by going a over t when my chain slipped off the small cog, then got grumbled at by an old lady for riding on the pavement (about 3 feet of pavement between mcdonalds and the road).

    Think it's the alignment of mars in uranus or something.

    Posted 13 years ago #
  4. I had a good commute - karmic balance restored... :P

    What's particularly good about the motorcyclist explaining you're invisible is that, well, he must have seen you to register the fact you were invisible. Or something. It's like a Back to the Future paradox!

    Posted 13 years ago #
  5. Min
    Member

    You shouldn't mock the afflicted. People who see invisible people need help. Preferably helped off the road for a start.

    Also see my post here for a long list of stupidity in the space of 26 minutes and 5 seconds.

    http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=731

    Posted 13 years ago #
  6. Dave
    Member

    I made a call to Turriff's transport manager, having been stewing all morning - they're going to get back to me.

    I hate this sort of stuff. Although it might seem from youTube that I enjoy conflict on some sort of entertainment basis, actually I'm never so pleased but to get about the place in peace and harmony.

    Which reminds me, I also have to moan to taxi licencing... groan!

    Posted 13 years ago #
  7. Stepdoh
    Member

    What a difference a day makes, yesterday's abortive trip to Wellington coffee went well, my files got delivered safely to Minuteman in Sighthill and I still made it to my desk before 9.

    Oh, and there seemed to be a tailwind helping my haul my ass up the uphill bit at the end of Gorgie Rd/Calder Rd.

    Posted 13 years ago #
  8. gembo
    Member

    Dave I am going to make an observation here and I hope I do not cause offence. Of course if I do, feel free to flame my sorry carcass. If you rewind back to the top of your story (BTW I am obviously 100% against road traffic violations and see your point of view) - you say

    "I had just left the flat looking forward to a nice freewheel down the Roseburn path, when I met one of the Turiff transit vans (who are digging up literally outside our flat) coming the wrong way down the one-way street by Kings Buildings.

    I figured perhaps he couldn't find the right way into the estate (my parents have driven up and down for a while, baffled) so I said, quite politely, "Hey dude, it's a one way street", thinking he might reply "yeah, can you tell me how to actually find the entrance" and the world would have been improved a tiny notch.

    Instead he shouted "except for access" and roared down into the estate."

    If at this point you had thought "What an idiot I'll leave him to his trail of wanton destruction and have a nice freewheel down the Roseburn path" then quite possibly his completely mental behaviour would have flushed its way out of your system as you freewheeled down the Roseburn path.

    I am not saying you did anything wrong what I am saying is that some days you eat the bar and other days the bar eats you. I feel sure dude you have days like me when you let things go and other days when you need to pursue it - that is how I work. So good on you for chasing the fecker and come monday the roseburn path will be there for freewheelin [unless tram company start digging it up]. Also can we have a picture of your shirt?

    Posted 13 years ago #
  9. wee folding bike
    Member

    The Dude abides.

    Posted 13 years ago #
  10. spytfyre
    Member

    pretty sure this doesn't happen...

    Posted 13 years ago #
  11. gembo
    Member

    the guy on the bike would not be looking at the camera if this was real.

    I had a very different experience one xmas day morning on water of leith path, I did the little 90% downhill spin out of balerno up harlaw round torduff, bonaly, colinton, turned onto water of leith - jogger in middle of path taking a dump. Would have thought he would have looked for a bush.

    Posted 13 years ago #
  12. spytfyre
    Member

    @gembo - yeah I reckon she has a strap around her neck underneath the hair holding up a bikini top

    Posted 13 years ago #
  13. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Gembo, he might if his wife was taking the photograph. And that little boy grin would soon be wiped off his face. :-D

    Posted 13 years ago #
  14. spytfyre
    Member

    @Arellcat - maybe the camera person was in the buff too...

    Posted 13 years ago #

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