Nights of the week ...

[Nick Kew]

Pedalled home tonight, about 10pm from Plymouth.

That's by no means unusual - I ride in to town for the
evening quite often. But going on a Tuesday is exceptional.

Coming home, was the worst ride I've had in a long time.
Traffic (and pollution) was *much* higher than I am
accustomed to at that time of evening, mostly coming in the
opposite direction (into Plymouth). And it seemed most of
the buggers wouldn't dip their headlights for me, so I spent
half the time shading the eyes:-( Add to that a
disproportionate number of them passing me far too close,
and a very high pollution level, and I was not happy.

Now, I wonder if there's any kind of weekly thing here, that
might make some days more trouble than others? I regularly
make that journey on Mondays and Fridays, and not
infrequently on Wednesdays, but I don't recollect it ever
being as bad as this. It's Fridays I tend to think I should
avoid cycling, due to the risk of more drunks, but when in
practice Fridays don't seem any worse than the rest of the
week, except for the immediate area of the nightclubs.

--
Nick Kew

 

[David Martin]

On 2/6/04 1:57 am, in article [email protected], "Nick Kew"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Pedalled home tonight, about 10pm from Plymouth.
<snip>
> And it seemed most of the buggers wouldn't dip their
> headlights for me, so I spent half the time shading the
> eyes:-(
<snip>

Ah! that's because you are too far south. Didn't even
need to think about lights till gone 10.30 last night
and it wasn't dark enough to worry about car headlamps
till gone 11.

..d

 

[Doki]

Nick Kew wrote:
> Pedalled home tonight, about 10pm from Plymouth.
>
> That's by no means unusual - I ride in to town for the
> evening quite often. But going on a Tuesday is
> exceptional.
>
> Coming home, was the worst ride I've had in a long time.
> Traffic (and pollution) was *much* higher than I am
> accustomed to at that time of evening, mostly coming in
> the opposite direction (into Plymouth). And it seemed most
> of the buggers wouldn't dip their headlights for me, so I
> spent half the time shading the eyes:-( Add to that a
> disproportionate number of them passing me far too close,
> and a very high pollution level, and I was not happy.
>
> Now, I wonder if there's any kind of weekly thing here,
> that might make some days more trouble than others? I
> regularly make that journey on Mondays and Fridays, and
> not infrequently on Wednesdays, but I don't recollect it
> ever being as bad as this. It's Fridays I tend to think I
> should avoid cycling, due to the risk of more drunks, but
> when in practice Fridays don't seem any worse than the
> rest of the week, except for the immediate area of the
> nightclubs.

It's a TUESDAY. It's long been observed that more bad things
happen on Tuesdays. It's the worst day of the week. What
were you expecting?

 

[Simon Mason]

"Nick Kew" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Pedalled home tonight, about 10pm from Plymouth.
>
> That's by no means unusual - I ride in to town for the
> evening quite often. But going on a Tuesday is
> exceptional.
>
Maybe people going home after a long Bank Holiday weekend.
You should see the hordes of West Yorks people from Leeds
and Bradford heading back from the East Coast resorts on a
Bank Holiday, although Tuesday would be a day late.

--

Simon M.

 

[Danny Colyer]

Doki wrote:
> It's a TUESDAY. It's long been observed that more bad
> things happen on Tuesdays. It's the worst day of the week.
> What were you expecting?

That would explain why Cliff Hanger (a story published in
School Fun, an early 80s comic) had at least one panel in
each strip where a sign appeared in one corner, or a mouse
holding a placard, or something similar, with the slogan
"Abolish Tuesdays".

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my
reply address)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/> "He who
dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

 

[Wirral John]

"Danny Colyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Doki wrote:
> > It's a TUESDAY. It's long been observed that more bad
> > things happen on Tuesdays. It's the worst day of the
> > week. What were you expecting?
>
> That would explain why Cliff Hanger (a story published in
> School Fun, an early 80s comic) had at least one panel in
> each strip where a sign appeared in one corner, or a mouse
> holding a placard, or something similar, with the slogan
> "Abolish Tuesdays".
>

Mondays - everyone hates them. Wednesdays - middle of the
week. Thursdays - Pay day? Nearly over. Friday - phew!

Tuesdays ............. Argggggh

Cheers John

 

[Nick Kew]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Wirral John" <[email protected]> writes:

> Tuesdays ............. Argggggh

Well, for the record, the same journey tonight was
*much* better

--
Nick Kew

 

[Jon Senior]

Nick Kew [email protected] opined the following...
> In article <[email protected]>, "Wirral John"
> <[email protected]> writes:
>
> > Tuesdays ............. Argggggh
>
> Well, for the record, the same journey tonight was *much*
> better

While riding home last night, I came across another cyclist
getting grief from a driver. He had apparently stopped in an
ASL and when the driver started to enter the ASL he shook
his head. She responded by beeping her horn. This led to a
"conversation" about them and her getting increasingly
agressive. He did at one point attempt to remove her wing
mirror which I considered a little excessive, but her
attitude was to keep pushing into the ASLs and to undertake
on a bus lane (Out of hours) while leaning out of the window
and shouting abuse. Another daft eegit who'd obviously seen
some of this decided that overtaking and shouting abuse from
his window would help matters. The funniest moment was when
she threatened to call the police. After a period of
comparatively calm cycling that has lasted a few months, the
madness seems to have begun again!

Jon

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 08:00:08 +0100, Jon Senior
<jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote (more or less):

>Nick Kew [email protected] opined the following...
>> In article <[email protected]>, "Wirral John"
>> <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>> > Tuesdays ............. Argggggh
>>
>> Well, for the record, the same journey tonight was *much*
>> better
>
>While riding home last night, I came across another cyclist
>getting grief from a driver. He had apparently stopped in
>an ASL and when the driver started to enter the ASL he
>shook his head. She responded by beeping her horn. This led
>to a "conversation" about them and her getting increasingly
>agressive. He did at one point attempt to remove her wing
>mirror which I considered a little excessive, but her
>attitude was to keep pushing into the ASLs and to undertake
>on a bus lane (Out of hours) while leaning out of the
>window and shouting abuse. Another daft eegit who'd
>obviously seen some of this decided that overtaking and
>shouting abuse from his window would help matters. The
>funniest moment was when she threatened to call the police.
>After a period of comparatively calm cycling that has
>lasted a few months, the madness seems to have begun again!

Yesterday I was overtaken by two cars as we approached a red
light uphill.

One was turning right.

The other pulled in in front of me to cover both th eleft
han-side of the ASL and to cover completely the approach
lane, making sure he got his left wheel right over the
inner-most of the double-red lines, just to make sure it
was covered.

Mind you, he was driving a Nissan Micra, so possibly felt he
had to make up for it...

Red Nissan Micra reg. K331 LsomethingS (Could be N or V. I
really wish I'd had the digicam on me then. For the first
time, something that happened that didn't require me to have
already taken the picture by the time I realised I ought to
take a picture.)

--
Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122 Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

[Dave Kahn]

Jon Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> He did at one point attempt to remove her wing mirror
> which I considered a little excessive...

Foolish thing to do. Windscreen wipers are so much more
convenient.

--
Dave...

 

[Dave Kahn]

Gawnsoft <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> The other pulled in in front of me to cover both th eleft
> han-side of the ASL and to cover completely the approach
> lane, making sure he got his left wheel right over the inner-
> most of the double-red lines, just to make sure it was
> covered.

Approaching a car waiting behind a right-turning car is
hazardous at the best of times. The fact that there is
clearly not room to pass on the left does not stop the
driver from moving to the extreme left edge of the road
as though there were. In addition many eejits will first
stop in a sensible position and then suddenly dart left
without warning, generally when a cyclist is planning to
ride through.

> Red Nissan Micra reg. K331 LsomethingS (Could be N or V. I
> really wish I'd had the digicam on me then. For the first
> time, something that happened that didn't require me to
> have already taken the picture by the time I realised I
> ought to take a picture.)

After my experiences with the Harrow Egger and one or 2
others I'm seriously thinking of using a h*lm*t cam.

--
Dave...

 

[Jon Senior]

Dave Kahn [email protected] opined the following...
> Foolish thing to do. Windscreen wipers are so much more
> convenient.

Brilliant... just pop one or both up so that they wave
uselessly in the air. That conjures up a wonderful image.

Jon

 

[Gawnsoft]

On 3 Jun 2004 07:00:04 -0700, [email protected] (Dave Kahn) wrote
(more or less):

>Gawnsoft
><[email protected]> wrote
>in message
>news:<[email protected]>...
>
>> The other pulled in in front of me to cover both th eleft
>> han-side of the ASL and to cover completely the approach
>> lane, making sure he got his left wheel right over the
>> inner-most of the double-red lines, just to make sure it
>> was covered.
>
>Approaching a car waiting behind a right-turning car is
>hazardous at the best of times. The fact that there is
>clearly not room to pass on the left does not stop the
>driver from moving to the extreme left edge of the road as
>though there were.

In this case, the car had enough room. In fact, by dint of
driving onto the ASL, he had effectively undertaken teh right-
turning car that was ahead of him in the road marked as one
lane (plus thin ASL lead-in).

>In addition many eejits will first stop in a sensible
>position and then suddenly dart left without warning,
>generally when a cyclist is planning to ride through.
>
>> Red Nissan Micra reg. K331 LsomethingS (Could be N or V.
>> I really wish I'd had the digicam on me then. For the
>> first time, something that happened that didn't require
>> me to have already taken the picture by the time I
>> realised I ought to take a picture.)
>
>After my experiences with the Harrow Egger and one or 2
>others I'm seriously thinking of using a h*lm*t cam.

--
Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122 Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk