my nomination

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Burt

my nomination for idiot of the day: cycling along a road
over the Downs in Bristol this pm, bright daylight and I'm
wearing bright yellow. Car at side turning on the right
ahead of me, waiting, it appears, until I've gone past b4 he
pulls out. Except that he waited until I was almost opposite
the turning and then pulls out, and because of the car
approaching from his right, he has to pull way over to the
left, right into my path. The passenger's window was down,
and I think his passenger, probably his girl friend, learned
a few new words, none of which are suitable for this group.

What can you do? broad daylight, bright yellow clothing
and they still can't see you. I'm tending to the goolie-
removal solution, if only because they can't then breed
any more morons.

--
cheers

Rich

Mseries

burt wrote:
> my nomination for idiot of the day: cycling along a road
> over the Downs in Bristol this pm, bright daylight and I'm
> wearing bright yellow. Car at side turning on the right
> ahead of me, waiting, it appears, until I've gone past b4
> he pulls out. Except that he waited until I was almost
> opposite the turning and then pulls out, and because of
> the car approaching from his right, he has to pull way
> over to the left, right into my path. The passenger's
> window was down, and I think his passenger, probably his
> girl friend, learned a few new words, none of which are
> suitable for this group.
>
> What can you do? broad daylight, bright yellow clothing
> and they still can't see you. I'm tending to the goolie-
> removal solution, if only because they can't then breed
> any more morons.

Happens all the time. Probably did see you but thought 'its
only a cyclist'

James Annan

burt wrote:

> What can you do? broad daylight, bright yellow clothing
> and they still can't see you.

Ah well you see that is your mistake. You were disguised as
a sunbeam. How sneaky of you. Of course you can't expect
them to see you under those conditions. You need to dress up
as an uninsured unlit cyclist wearing black clothes and
jumping red lights while riding the wrong way along a
pavement at night in a stupidly low gear, we all know they
are easily spotted.

James

Adrian Boliston

Sky Fly

"James Annan" <still_the_same_me@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:40582eb4$0$23290$44c9b20d@news3.asahi-net.or.jp...
> burt wrote:
>
> > What can you do? broad daylight, bright yellow clothing
> > and they still
can't
> > see you.
>
> Ah well you see that is your mistake. You were disguised
> as a sunbeam. How sneaky of you. Of course you can't
> expect them to see you under those conditions. You need to
> dress up as an uninsured unlit cyclist wearing black
> clothes and jumping red lights while riding the wrong way
> along a pavement at night in a stupidly low gear, we all
> know they are easily spotted.

You forgot to add "with the saddle height adjusted to just 1
metre above ground level".

James Annan

Sky Fly wrote:

> You forgot to add "with the saddle height adjusted to just
> 1 metre above ground level".
>

I thought about it, but it seemed like a lot of words for
one stereotype.

James

Bens

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 19:48:52 +0900, James Annan
<still_the_same_me@hotmail.com> wrote:

>burt wrote:
>
>> What can you do? broad daylight, bright yellow clothing
>> and they still can't see you.
>
>Ah well you see that is your mistake. You were disguised as
>a sunbeam. How sneaky of you.

I realise you're joking but there is an element of truth in
that statement.

Wearing bright clothes in bright light makes you less
visible not more.

A similar phenomenon happens to motorcycles riding with
headlights on in brilliant sunlight. The combination of the
headlight and the sunlight causes the bike to disappear when
viewed from the front.

Studies have shown that in bright light, riders with white
helmets (as recommended by Roadcraft) are less visible
than riders with dark helmets as the helmet disappears
against the sky.

You need contrasting colours to the surroundings. In dark or
dull conditions that means bright clothes. On brilliant
sunny days you want darker clothes. This way you'll always
standout against the background.
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to
prevent life escaping from us." http://www.bensales.com (http://www.bensales.com/)

Mike Gayler

BenS <urc@bensales.com> writed in
news:k6ig501t794c5p0ihmktedg9k003gu1vo3@4ax.com:

>
> You need contrasting colours to the surroundings. In dark
> or dull conditions that means bright clothes. On brilliant
> sunny days you want darker clothes. This way you'll always
> standout against the background.

While this sounds like an impossible conundrum, my cheapo
Aldi jacket has yellow sleeves and a black body, it seems to
fit the bill - I'm told that from behind the yellow sleeves
are quite visible - counter-intuitive I know , but....

Mike - Leicester

Jon Senior

"burt" <burtthebike@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:w7N5c.17570$ra4.543@news-binary.blueyonder.co.uk...
> my nomination for idiot of the day: cycling along a road
> over the Downs
in
> Bristol this pm, bright daylight and I'm wearing bright
> yellow. Car at
side
> turning on the right ahead of me, waiting, it appears,
> until I've gone
past
> b4 he pulls out. Except that he waited until I was almost
> opposite the turning and then pulls out, and because of
> the car approaching from his right, he has to pull way
> over to the left, right into my path. The passenger's
> window was down, and I think his passenger, probably his
> girl friend, learned a few new words, none of which are
> suitable for this
group.

Experience has shown that if you can make a female passenger
aware of their driver's mistake, the driver will get an
earful for the next few miles. Although you wont be there to
see it, just the idea leaves a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
Conversations at the next set of lights (Only really works
in cities) which begin: "Can you see me?" often lead to an
apology and / or a brief period of awareness.

Re-educate them, one-by-one. Use force if necessary.

Jon

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Burt

"BenS" <urc@bensales.com> wrote in message
news:k6ig501t794c5p0ihmktedg9k003gu1vo3@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 19:48:52 +0900, James Annan
> <still_the_same_me@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Wearing bright clothes in bright light makes you less
> visible not more.
>
All well and good, but I was also wearing black cycling
tights and had a black pannier on the offside, and the bike
is dark green.