Four sets of essential points for cyclists to remember
View Full Version : Four sets of essential points for cyclists to remember
As promised 10 days ago here are the pithy points.
To recap: The object is to have memorable phrases to cover
the important issues.
You can see a pretty web page at
<http://www.eminent.demon.co.uk/pedalpoints.htm> (http://www.eminent.demon.co.uk/pedalpoints.htm) and from
there you can get to an expanded list.
Rules of the ride
* See and be seen
* You are traffic
* Space doesn't hurt
* Prepare for junctions
Traps of the trip
* Junction jumpers
* Rubbish Road
* Never overtake lorries
* Loony left hookers
Bits of the bike
* Size suits
* Wheels work
* Brakes bite
* Mechanical mischief
Joy of the Journey
* Beauty of back routes
* Speed of commute
* Fun of fitness
* Independence or party
Please remember when explaining them to somebody that the
FIRST important thing is to remember the points themselves
and ONLY THEN can you hang the more detailed meanings onto
the mantra.
Comments to the (spamtrapped) address in the sig.
--
PETER FOX Not the same since the deckchair business folded
peterfox@eminent.demon.co.uk.not.this.bit.no.html
www.eminent.demon.co.uk/wcc.htm Witham Cycling Campaign
www.eminent.demon.co.uk/rides East Anglian Pub cycle rides
Peter Fox <peterfox@eminent.demon.co.uk.not.this.bit.no.html> wrote in
news:KoiLXLAckXgAFwIr@eminent.demon.co.uk:
> Bits of the bike
>
> * Size suits
>
> [From the website:] Adjust the height of the saddle so you
> can touch the floor with the ball of one foot but not both
I used to set the saddle this way, but found it was a long
way out, and gave me all sorts of knee trouble and saddle
(pressure) sores. Using the "heel on pedal, leg straight"
sets it much lower and is much more comfortable. And I can
put the balls of both feet on the ground.
> Joy of the Journey
>
> * Speed of commute
>
> [Website:] Buses and cycles go about the same speed
> in towns
Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. £1.20 saved
and five minutes faster. I love it!
>Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. £1.20
>saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
What I love about cycling..
It's a form of exercise I find enjoyable - much more so than
spending a fortune to join a gym and be surrounded by sweaty
bodies all staring into nothing and hearing loud music. Much
nicer to be out in the open air and changing scenery.
As a way of getting me to and from town when I've only a
little bit of shopping to do, it gets me exercise and saves
on the fuel bill for the car - noticeably so.
It blows the cobwebs away, so to speak, and if I've been
stuck inside all day, it's a sheer joy to get in the
fresh air.
I'm sure it makes me a more considerate driver, as when
cycling, I'm a more vulnerable road user, and this helps me,
when I'm in motorist mode, be more aware of the needs of non-
motorised road users.
It puts things in perspective - closer to the outside world
than when behind the wheel of my car - I hear the birdsong
when I'm cycling - I don't when driving :-)
Cheers, helen s
--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get
correct one remove fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$
--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel
is switched off--
"Iain Jones" <iain.jones1980@NOSPAMbtinternet.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94CEDE0F8D249iainjones1980btinter@217.32.252.50...
> Peter Fox
> <peterfox@eminent.demon.co.uk.not.this.bit.no.html> wrote
> in news:KoiLXLAckXgAFwIr@eminent.demon.co.uk:
> > Joy of the Journey
> >
> > * Speed of commute
> >
> > [Website:] Buses and cycles go about the same speed
> > in towns
>
> Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. £1.20
> saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
Perhaps the OP meant when you're drafting ;) Overall I would
beat a bus over the same route by a long way on my commute,
but between stops there's often an opportunity to travel at
the same speed ;).
Rich
wafflycathcs@aol.comcomcom (dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers) wrote in
news:20040417165935.05550.00000059@mb-m28.aol.com:
>>
>>Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. £1.20
>>saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
And that's only a 3 1/2 mile journey as well.
>
> As a way of getting me to and from town when I've only a
> little bit of shopping to do, it gets me exercise and
> saves on the fuel bill for the car - noticeably so.
If I used to bus, to and from work ... £1.20 each way =
£2.40 per day. 228 working days per year = £547.20 per year.
The bike was only £370.
>
> It blows the cobwebs away, so to speak, and if I've been
> stuck inside all day, it's a sheer joy to get in the
> fresh air.
I even enjoy riding in downpours and howling gales. Well,
maybe not at the time I don't.
>
> I'm sure it makes me a more considerate driver, as when
> cycling, I'm a more vulnerable road user, and this helps
> me, when I'm in motorist mode, be more aware of the needs
> of non-motorised road users.
I'm not a driver (haven't been in a driver's seat since I
passed my test 2 years ago) but I like to think most of the
skills and observations I use on the bike I can use in a car
as well. Like you say, on a bike I'm more vunerable so I
have to be aware of everything. Unlike some drivers who seem
to be aware of nothing.
Richard Goodman wrote:
> "Iain Jones" <iain.jones1980@NOSPAMbtinternet.com> wrote
> in message news:Xns94CEDE0F8D249iainjones1980btinter@217.-
> 32.252.50...
>>Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. £1.20
>>saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
>
>
> Perhaps the OP meant when you're drafting ;)
Oh, yes, I used to do that in my youth. It's quite exciting
provided the driver doesn't know you're there. If he/she
realises, you're toast when they hit the brakes.
"Zog The Undeniable" <hrothgar19@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:40828838.0@entanet...
> Richard Goodman wrote:
>
> > "Iain Jones" <iain.jones1980@NOSPAMbtinternet.com> wrote
> > in message news:Xns94CEDE0F8D249iainjones1980btinter@21-
> > 7.32.252.50...
>
> >>Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. £1.20
> >>saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
> >
> >
> > Perhaps the OP meant when you're drafting ;)
>
> Oh, yes, I used to do that in my youth. It's quite
> exciting provided the driver doesn't know you're there. If
> he/she realises, you're toast when they hit the brakes.
Well, one can never discount the possibility of an emergency
stop I suppose, but I can't imagine any driver with
passengers on board, some of whom will be standing,
deliberately hitting the brakes very hard just for the
specific purpose of causing problems to a drafting cyclist.
Rich
"Richard Goodman" <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> wrote in
news:4081b572$1@news1.homechoice.co.uk:
>
> "Iain Jones" <iain.jones1980@NOSPAMbtinternet.com> wrote
> in message news:Xns94CEDE0F8D249iainjones1980btinter@217.-
> 32.252.50...
>> Peter Fox
>> <peterfox@eminent.demon.co.uk.not.this.bit.no.html> wrote
>> in news:KoiLXLAckXgAFwIr@eminent.demon.co.uk:
>
>> > Joy of the Journey
>> >
>> > * Speed of commute
>> >
>> > [Website:] Buses and cycles go about the same speed in
>> > towns
>>
>> Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. £1.20
>> saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
>
> Perhaps the OP meant when you're drafting ;) Overall I
> would beat a bus over the same route by a long way on my
> commute, but between stops there's often an opportunity to
> travel at the same speed ;).
>
> Rich
>
>
I've tried drafting but on my route to work there's a bus
stop every 100 yards which spoils my fun :-(
> It blows the cobwebs away, so to speak, and if I've been
> stuck inside all
day,
> it's a sheer joy to get in the fresh air.
Absolutely. I've had a cycling free weekend but I'm itching
to get out and now the clouds are disappearing I might just
go for an early-evening whizz round my 10-mile route. If I
need an excuse, it's to try out my new specs which arrived
from Wiggle on Thursday (complete with sweets - hurrah!) -
Madison D'Arcs, cheap and cheerful but with interchangeable
lenses, and after getting a fly in my eye at the top of a
17% descent last weekend I know I definitely need them.
Specs are something I would now add to any list of essential
cycling kit... along with bib shorts. ;)
> I'm sure it makes me a more considerate driver, as when
> cycling, I'm a
more
> vulnerable road user, and this helps me, when I'm in
> motorist mode, be
more
> aware of the needs of non-motorised road users.
I've found that too - I've always tried to give cyclists and
horses a wide berth but now I find I'm quite happy to sit
behind them pottering along at 5mph for a couple of minutes
just to make sure that when I do pass them there is *plenty*
of room and I'm not just squeezing by.
> It puts things in perspective - closer to the outside
> world than when
behind
> the wheel of my car - I hear the birdsong when I'm cycling
> - I don't when driving :-)
I'm gobsmacked to discover how much actual wildlife there
really is out there. The most amazing thing I've seen to
date is an albino squirrel, which I spotted in a hedgerow
just a couple of weeks ago. I had to stop and rub my eyes to
check I wasn't imagining it.
d.
davek wrote:
> I'm gobsmacked to discover how much actual wildlife there
> really is out there. The most amazing thing I've seen to
> date is an albino squirrel, which I spotted in a hedgerow
> just a couple of weeks ago. I had to stop and rub my eyes
> to check I wasn't imagining it.
Same here. I've lost count of the number of squirrels and
rabbits that have run across the trail in front of me.
That's not even counting the hundreds of sheep, that I
forget are just a few hundred feet away from the house.
--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/ "I've seldom seen
a horny player walk into a bar and not let out exactly what
he did for a living." - Johnny Bench
"davek" <david.nospam.kenning@which.nospam.net> writes:
> Absolutely. I've had a cycling free weekend but I'm
> itching to get out and now the clouds are disappearing I
> might just go for an early-evening whizz round my 10-mile
> route. If I need an excuse, it's to try out my new specs
> which arrived from Wiggle on Thursday (complete with
> sweets - hurrah!) - Madison D'Arcs, cheap and cheerful but
> with interchangeable lenses, and after getting a fly in my
> eye at the top of a 17% descent last weekend I know I
> definitely need them.
My Madison D'Arcs, cheap and cheerful but with
interchangeable lenses, arrived from Wiggle on Thursday
(complete with sweets - hurrah!) too...
And I'm just off for a 10 mile 'first time this
weekend' ride...
You haven't just ordered a Kryptonite wall thingy, cable and
D lock from them as well, have you?
David
Richard Goodman wrote:
>
> I can't imagine any driver with passengers on board, some
> of whom will be standing, deliberately hitting the brakes
> very hard just for the specific purpose of causing
> problems to a drafting cyclist.
I never underestimate the psychopathic tendencies of bus
drivers ;-)
On 18/4/04 4:37 pm, in article c5u7bd$q67$2@titan.btinternet.com, "davek"
<david.nospam.kenning@which.nospam.net> wrote:
> I'm gobsmacked to discover how much actual wildlife there
> really is out there. The most amazing thing I've seen to
> date is an albino squirrel, which I spotted in a hedgerow
> just a couple of weeks ago. I had to stop and rub my eyes
> to check I wasn't imagining it.
I took the bike out early on saturday. Most of the ride is
on minor roads and I would reckon I saw more live pheasant
on the road than cars..
Absolutely gorgeous morning, pottering through minor roads
to fill in some of the blanks on the map.. Oh what the heck,
here's a quick outline.
Left home about eightish.. up past B&Q and out towards
Bridgefoot. Took a left there on the off chance that a
friend was mucking out her horse as I'd been trying to get
hold of some more manure for the allotment. For some reason
I was feeling good and pushing fairly hard.
Turned right at the end of the road, up a short bit I'd not
been before. Then onto known territory to turn right up
towards Auchterhouse. I wanted to check out the roads around
Dronley wood as an evening circuit. Definitely rolling! Saw
a milk tanker plodding along.
Nipped down to the Broad to newtyle for a few hundred metres
to take the Lundie road. I last took this about a year ago
and the climb nigh on finished me off. This time I cruised
it feeling really good.
Drop down into Lundie, this time following the road right
the way to the end of the village (I'd turned left too soon
the last time). A sharp rising hairpin bend and a short
climb leads up eventually to the Coupar Angus road. I'd seen
an ermine here last time I came along.. no such luck today.
Not long on this road before I turn left. After a short rise
there is the descent towards Abernyte. Fairly long, fast and
twisting, magical descent alongside a stream. Definitely one
for the brakes to get a good workout. I saw a couple of deer
at the bottom last time through.. not here today.
Down into Abernyte. As I'm taking the short ride today I
turn left rather than right. Just past the antiques centre
is where I saw a buzzard by the road last year. I looked. It
wasn't there.
It is a fast drop down to the Horseshoe cafe (didn't stop),
then over the A90 (great that they put the new bridge in,
saves playing frogger on a road that is motorway in all but
name) And now it is flat back to Dundee. And as ever,m it is
into the wind. Caught a glimpse of bright fluo yellow ahead
and pushed the legs to catch up and pass.. It felt really
good until I looked at the speedo and it was a struggle to
keep it up to 30 .. kilometers an hour.
I'd been careful to try some neck tension relieving
exercises en-route and was feeling good except my legs.
They just gave up on the climb past ninewells hospital. I
was crawling up in my lowest gear then dropped my
sunglasses. Got off to pick them up and found I could
hardly walk. But walk I did to the top of the hill and then
it is only a mile to home and breakfast. 45km on a good
morning and feeling fine..
..d
"Richard Goodman" <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> writes:
>"Zog The Undeniable" <hrothgar19@yahoo.com> wrote in
>message news:40828838.0@entanet...
>> Richard Goodman wrote:
>> > "Iain Jones" <iain.jones1980@NOSPAMbtinternet.com>
>> > wrote in message news:Xns94CEDE0F8D249iainjones1980bti-
>> > nter@217.32.252.50...
>> >>Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. #1.20
>> >>saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
>> > Perhaps the OP meant when you're drafting ;)
>> Oh, yes, I used to do that in my youth. It's quite
>> exciting provided the driver doesn't know you're there.
>> If he/she realises, you're toast when they hit the
>> brakes.
>Well, one can never discount the possibility of an
>emergency stop I suppose, but I can't imagine any driver
>with passengers on board, some of whom will be standing,
>deliberately hitting the brakes very hard just for the
>specific purpose of causing problems to a drafting cyclist.
Bus brakes are deliberately hobbled for that reason. Much
better to hit one errant pedestrian than to knock over a
dozen inside the bus.
--
Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]
> Quotes like that, you bad boy, means you are unlikely to
> be considered
good by
> the PSF, which means no sweeties for you from now on *and*
> a slabbing ;-)
Sorry, couldn't resist. I don't mean it really. Honest.
> It's lovely isn't it, when life is at that quieter, slower
> pace, and you
are
> still in contact with what is going on around - not
> insulated from it in a motor vehicle.
I saw the funniest thing when I was out this evening -
laughed so much I almost fell off my bike.
I was passing a field full of sheep and I noticed that one
was lying on its back, legs in the air, completely still.
Several other sheep were standing in a group nearby looking
at it and gradually creeping closer towards it. They could
tell something was up, and I was a bit concerned - should I
try to find a farmer and let him know one of his sheep was
lying dead in a field?
Just as I was mulling over what I should do, the 'dead'
sheep just rolled over and leapt up, scaring its mates half
to death. I could almost swear it was standing there
laughing as all the other sheep ran away...
d.
> And I'm just off for a 10 mile 'first time this
> weekend' ride...
Spooky. Actually, my 10 mile ride turned into 26 miles -
mainly because my 10 mile route would have involved a return
leg into a stiff-ish headwind. Instead I went the other way
and had the wind behind me all the way home... WHEEEEEE!
The D'Arcs are nice - quite comfortable and don't obscure
your vision at all. Already very glad I got them.
> You haven't just ordered a Kryptonite wall thingy, cable
> and D lock from them as well, have you?
I don't think so, but maybe I'd better check... ;)
d.
> Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. £1.20
> saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
Ride past taxis and save a tenner :-)
Robert
davek wrote:
> Just as I was mulling over what I should do, the 'dead'
> sheep just rolled over and leapt up, scaring its mates
> half to death. I could almost swear it was standing there
> laughing as all the other sheep ran away...
You've either been reading too much Douglas Adams or smoking
those "herbal" tabs again ;-)
--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk (http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/)
88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University
Chris Malcolm wrote:
> "Richard Goodman" <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> writes:
>
>
>>"Zog The Undeniable" <hrothgar19@yahoo.com> wrote in
>>message news:40828838.0@entanet...
>>
>>>Richard Goodman wrote:
>
>
>>>>"Iain Jones" <iain.jones1980@NOSPAMbtinternet.com> wrote
>>>>in message news:Xns94CEDE0F8D249iainjones1980btinter@21-
>>>>7.32.252.50...
>
>
>>>>>Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. #1.20
>>>>>saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
>
>
>>>>Perhaps the OP meant when you're drafting ;)
>
>
>>>Oh, yes, I used to do that in my youth. It's quite
>>>exciting provided the driver doesn't know you're there.
>>>If he/she realises, you're toast when they hit the
>>>brakes.
>
>
>>Well, one can never discount the possibility of an
>>emergency stop I suppose, but I can't imagine any driver
>>with passengers on board, some of whom will be standing,
>>deliberately hitting the brakes very hard just for the
>>specific purpose of causing problems to a drafting
>>cyclist.
>
>
> Bus brakes are deliberately hobbled for that reason. Much
> better to hit one errant pedestrian than to knock over a
> dozen inside the bus.
> --
> Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk +44 (0)131 651 3445
> DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings,
> Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
> [http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]
>
That doesn't sit with what I experience recently as a
passenger on said bus. Brakes were FULLY capable AND being
used to attempt to convert passengers into unguided missiles
launched down the length of bus and out through front
window... repeatedly.
Velvet
robert@earthsci.gla.ac.uk (Robert McDonald) wrote in
news:91b5bf6f.0404190006.77014383@posting.google.com:
>> Each morning going to work I pass about 5 buses. £1.20
>> saved and five minutes faster. I love it!
>
> Ride past taxis and save a tenner :-)
>
> Robert
>
Overtaking buses is fun. Overtaking taxis ... my life's
worth more than a tenner ;-)
vBulletin, Copyright ©2000-2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by
vBSEO 3.3.0
