New Sub-species of Stealth Cyclist

[Mark Thompson]

Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag, but
hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

 

[Richard Goodman]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
> with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
> but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!
>
>

Ha! Weeell, this last week my two rear lights have been in the mesh pockets and not on the bike,
albeit that I do switch them on. The reason they've been in the mesh pockets is because someone
nicked my saddle & seatpost with the light brackets on and I'm still waiting to see if LBS can get
replacements (not Cateyes, unforch) rather than buying whole new lights. Of course, the front light
is still mounted on the bars!

Rich

 

[Richard Goodman]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
> with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
> but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!
>
>

Ha! Weeell, this last week my two rear lights have been in the mesh pockets and not on the bike,
albeit that I do switch them on. The reason they've been in the mesh pockets is because someone
nicked my saddle & seatpost with the light brackets on and I'm still waiting to see if LBS can get
replacements (not Cateyes, unforch) rather than buying whole new lights. Of course, the front light
is still mounted on the bars!

Rich

 

[Arthur Clune]

Mark Thompson <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote:
: Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
: with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
: but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

Actually, not all that un-sensible. Maybe the lights were flat?

Maybe he'd come to the (not unreasonable) conclusion that standard bike lights are so poor a good
hi-vis jacket is better round town?

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org "Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

 

[Richard Goodman]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
> with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
> but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!
>
>

Ha! Weeell, this last week my two rear lights have been in the mesh pockets and not on the bike,
albeit that I do switch them on. The reason they've been in the mesh pockets is because someone
nicked my saddle & seatpost with the light brackets on and I'm still waiting to see if LBS can get
replacements (not Cateyes, unforch) rather than buying whole new lights. Of course, the front light
is still mounted on the bars!

Rich

 

[Dave Larrington]

Seen yesterday: Stealth cyclist with a difference. On cleser examination, she /did/ have a rear
light, but the large and, frankly, opague bag she had slung round her neck and hanging down below
seat level rendered it invisible.

Another example of this sub-species was spoted on a foul wet winter evening in Tottenham Corpse
Road. Same thing with the rear light, save that this was obscured by a jumper tied around the
rider's waist. A WHITE jumper. She was riding a mountain bike. With no mudguards. Oh dear.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

[Arthur Clune]

Mark Thompson <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote:
: Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
: with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
: but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

Actually, not all that un-sensible. Maybe the lights were flat?

Maybe he'd come to the (not unreasonable) conclusion that standard bike lights are so poor a good
hi-vis jacket is better round town?

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org "Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

 

[Michael Green]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
> with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
> but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

I propose the name 'doners' for the group of cyclists comprising 'stealth' and 'exempt
traffic regs'.

 

[Dave Larrington]

Seen yesterday: Stealth cyclist with a difference. On cleser examination, she /did/ have a rear
light, but the large and, frankly, opague bag she had slung round her neck and hanging down below
seat level rendered it invisible.

Another example of this sub-species was spoted on a foul wet winter evening in Tottenham Corpse
Road. Same thing with the rear light, save that this was obscured by a jumper tied around the
rider's waist. A WHITE jumper. She was riding a mountain bike. With no mudguards. Oh dear.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

[Chris Malcolm]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> writes:

>Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
>with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag, but
>hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

I often (bad weather, you know) commute on the top of a double decker bus. This has enabled me to
spot another species of stealth cyclist concealed from observers at ground level. These cyclists
wear rucksacks and attach their flashing rear red light to the top of the rucksack. When they then
lean forward onto the handlebars, the light points straight up into the sky.
--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] +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/]

 

[Michael Green]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
> with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
> but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

I propose the name 'doners' for the group of cyclists comprising 'stealth' and 'exempt
traffic regs'.

 

[Arthur Clune]

Mark Thompson <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote:
: Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
: with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
: but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

Actually, not all that un-sensible. Maybe the lights were flat?

Maybe he'd come to the (not unreasonable) conclusion that standard bike lights are so poor a good
hi-vis jacket is better round town?

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org "Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

 

[Chris Malcolm]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> writes:

>Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
>with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag, but
>hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

I often (bad weather, you know) commute on the top of a double decker bus. This has enabled me to
spot another species of stealth cyclist concealed from observers at ground level. These cyclists
wear rucksacks and attach their flashing rear red light to the top of the rucksack. When they then
lean forward onto the handlebars, the light points straight up into the sky.
--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] +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/]

 

[Dave Larrington]

Seen yesterday: Stealth cyclist with a difference. On cleser examination, she /did/ have a rear
light, but the large and, frankly, opague bag she had slung round her neck and hanging down below
seat level rendered it invisible.

Another example of this sub-species was spoted on a foul wet winter evening in Tottenham Corpse
Road. Same thing with the rear light, save that this was obscured by a jumper tied around the
rider's waist. A WHITE jumper. She was riding a mountain bike. With no mudguards. Oh dear.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

[Nick Kew]

In article <[email protected]>, one of infinite monkeys at the
keyboard of Simon Brooke <[email protected]> wrote:
> ... or invest in that nice 'dynamo' technology?

Heh. My dynamo died a couple of weeks ago, leaving me to get home on a combination of off-road and
walking (since the battery on my front LED was *also* flat) :-(

--
Finally, someone takes a stand against Humbug. Three cheers for Austrian shop workers!

 

[Michael Green]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
> with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
> but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

I propose the name 'doners' for the group of cyclists comprising 'stealth' and 'exempt
traffic regs'.

 

[Nick Kew]

In article <[email protected]>, one of infinite monkeys at the
keyboard of Simon Brooke <[email protected]> wrote:
> ... or invest in that nice 'dynamo' technology?

Heh. My dynamo died a couple of weeks ago, leaving me to get home on a combination of off-road and
walking (since the battery on my front LED was *also* flat) :-(

--
Finally, someone takes a stand against Humbug. Three cheers for Austrian shop workers!

 

[Chris Malcolm]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> writes:

>Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
>with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag, but
>hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

I often (bad weather, you know) commute on the top of a double decker bus. This has enabled me to
spot another species of stealth cyclist concealed from observers at ground level. These cyclists
wear rucksacks and attach their flashing rear red light to the top of the rucksack. When they then
lean forward onto the handlebars, the light points straight up into the sky.
--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] +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/]

 

[Russell Fulker]

Mark Thompson wrote:
> Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
> with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
> but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

I spotted a rather odd stealth cyclist the other morning - at 6:45, so it was still dark.

He was dressed in dark clothes, had no lights - but was wearing a helmet!

 

[Howard]

"Mark Thompson" <[email protected] (change warm for hot)> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Didn't know what to make of this one. Seen at 6.45pm (so well dark). Was wearing a fl. jacket but
> with no lights. As I got closer I noticed he did have lights in the mesh sidepocket of his bag,
> but hadn't bothered turning them on and putting them on his bike!

Come on, what sort of 'stealth cyclist' is it who wears a flourescent jacket! I also notice that you
were even able to tell what he had in the pockets of his bags so he seems very unstealthy to me!

It seems to me that in order to be a genuinely stealthy cyclist one needs to put at least £100 worth
of high power halogen lighting onto ones bike. I find doing so renders me (supposedly) invisible to
many drivers. Wierd thing is drivers seem to have no problem seeing unlit cyclists - this must be
the case as they are always reporing seeing cyclists riding without lights!

Perhaps BUPA should re-run their TV ad where they say 'the human eye can see a candle flame 5 miles
away' adding 'but cannot see a cyclist 20 yards away even when they are dressed like something from
outer space'!

By the way, I wonder were the term 'Stealth cyclist' comes from, maybe the Sun (originator of the
term 'Lycra Nazis' firt seen in Jeremy Clarkson rant) or perhaps the Daily Mail who it seems
introduced the term 'Lycra Lout' to the English language?