The joys of Cambridge

[Clive George]

I got to tell a motorist to turn his lights on Made oi very pleased.

Less pleased at the WVM who hooted me. Red lights, so I stopped and asked
what the problem was - initially I thought it might be that I was in the
middle of the lane as I approached the queue ahead. "You hit that car back
there, I saw you". Unfortunately there wasn't really enough time to
elucidate that this wasn't exactly news to me - I don't forget about lightly
rapping the wing of a car (in a "hi, yes, I'm here" fashion) which has just
cut me up. I'd love to have a longer discussion with the guy, but it
probably won't happen.

cheers,
clive

 

[Martin Dann]

Clive George wrote:
> I got to tell a motorist to turn his lights on Made oi very pleased.

> Less pleased at the WVM who hooted me. Red lights, so I stopped and
> asked what the problem was - initially I thought it might be that I was
> in the middle of the lane as I approached the queue ahead. "You hit that
> car back there, I saw you". Unfortunately there wasn't really enough
> time to elucidate that this wasn't exactly news to me - I don't forget
> about lightly rapping the wing of a car (in a "hi, yes, I'm here"
> fashion) which has just cut me up. I'd love to have a longer discussion
> with the guy, but it probably won't happen.

The problem is that WVM saw you hit the car, he did not "see" the car
cut you up, even if it was right in front of his eyes.

 

[tam]

Hi all
I just cannot get used to the UK agro bike thing.
The only agro I have had cycling in Europe is in my native Scotland.
A huge truck backed up 100 yards after passing me and the driver rolled down
the window and invited me to disappear only days after I started riding my
recumbent.
I have been run off the road at roundabouts in Edinburgh so often I have
given up cycling there-then off around Europe.
Even the bus driver who ran me over in Berlin and demolished my offside
wheel apologised for not looking- emptied his bus- and drove me 10 miles
home in it.
In fact the most dangerous things for a cyclist to watch out for in Berlin
are other cyclists I have been hit head on by one- it certainly proved that
an upright is going to come off worst in a head on with a trike.
Being a 1/2ton Volvo owner I try never to antagonise my fellow drivers
while triking I just know they can kill me sooooooooo easily.

Tam


> Less pleased at the WVM who hooted me. Red lights, so I stopped and
>> asked what the problem was - initially I thought it might be that I was
>> in the middle of the lane as I approached the queue ahead. "You hit that
>> car back there, I saw you". Unfortunately there wasn't really enough time
>> to elucidate that this wasn't exactly news to me - I don't forget about
>> lightly rapping the wing of a car (in a "hi, yes, I'm here" fashion)
>> which has just cut me up. I'd love to have a longer discussion with the
>> guy, but it probably won't happen.
>
> The problem is that WVM saw you hit the car, he did not "see" the car cut
> you up, even if it was right in front of his eyes.
>

 

[Paul Boyd]

tam said the following on 07/11/2007 02:02:

> I just cannot get used to the UK agro bike thing.

It isn't helped by the steady drip-feeding by the media of anti-cycling
articles. If politicians had any real interest in encouraging people
out of their cars they would be a little more assertive in dealing with
these sorts of problems.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

 

[Adam Lea]

"Paul Boyd" <usenet.is.worse@plusnet> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> tam said the following on 07/11/2007 02:02:
>
>> I just cannot get used to the UK agro bike thing.
>
> It isn't helped by the steady drip-feeding by the media of anti-cycling
> articles. If politicians had any real interest in encouraging people out
> of their cars they would be a little more assertive in dealing with these
> sorts of problems.
>
> --
> Paul Boyd
> http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

What can the Government do about the media?

 

[Paul Boyd]

Adam Lea said the following on 07/11/2007 08:27:

> What can the Government do about the media?

"Encourage" them to view cycling as an environmental Good Thing.
Besides, I actually said "politicians", not Government. Local MPs get
their views on other matters across in local papers, so why can they not
attack any anti-cycling stories they see?

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

 

[wafflycat]

"tam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Hi all
> I just cannot get used to the UK agro bike thing.
> The only agro I have had cycling in Europe is in my native Scotland.
> A huge truck backed up 100 yards after passing me and the driver rolled
> down the window and invited me to disappear only days after I started
> riding my recumbent.
> I have been run off the road at roundabouts in Edinburgh so often I have
> given up cycling there-then off around Europe.
> Even the bus driver who ran me over in Berlin and demolished my offside
> wheel apologised for not looking- emptied his bus- and drove me 10 miles
> home in it.
> In fact the most dangerous things for a cyclist to watch out for in Berlin
> are other cyclists I have been hit head on by one- it certainly proved
> that an upright is going to come off worst in a head on with a trike.
> Being a 1/2ton Volvo owner I try never to antagonise my fellow drivers
> while triking I just know they can kill me sooooooooo easily.
>
> Tam
>

Got to remember that as this is a cycling newsgroup, it's highly likely that
people feel this is an appropriate place to 'have a moan' about bad
experiences, as we can empathise and as such, perhaps the bad stuff is well,
over-emphasised rather more than the good stuff. I know what I mean but I'm
not sure I've explained it properly! The UK isn't perfect by any means, and
yes, there is a nasty streak to our media that paints cyclists in a bad
light and in a 'fair game' way that is obnoxious, but in my everyday
cycling, the reality is that the aggro thing is very much in the minority,
and that much of it can be minimised by assertive (not aggressive) cycling -
see Cyclecraft by John Franklin. Last time I cycled in Cambridge, only a few
weeks ago, I had no problems at all cycling in said city.

 

[Ben C]

On 2007-11-07, Paul Boyd <usenet.is.worse@plusnet> wrote:
> Adam Lea said the following on 07/11/2007 08:27:
>
>> What can the Government do about the media?
>
> "Encourage" them to view cycling as an environmental Good Thing.

It's probably better that the Government doesn't "encourage" the media
too much.

And there's quite enough bleating about environmental Good Things as it
is.

Anyway that article itself said something about "green halos"-- I think
that actually was a reference to cycling being an environmental Good
Thing.

> Besides, I actually said "politicians", not Government. Local MPs get
> their views on other matters across in local papers, so why can they
> not attack any anti-cycling stories they see?

I have no problem with that.

 

[JNugent]

Adam Lea wrote:
> "Paul Boyd" <usenet.is.worse@plusnet> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>tam said the following on 07/11/2007 02:02:
>>
>>
>>>I just cannot get used to the UK agro bike thing.
>>
>>It isn't helped by the steady drip-feeding by the media of anti-cycling
>>articles. If politicians had any real interest in encouraging people out
>>of their cars they would be a little more assertive in dealing with these
>>sorts of problems.
>>
>>--
>>Paul Boyd
>>http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/
>
>
> What can the Government do about the media?

Presumably, the PP thinks the British government should take a few
lessons from the governments of Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

 

[Dave Larrington]

In news:[email protected],
Clive George <[email protected]> tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell
us:
> I got to tell a motorist to turn his lights on Made oi very
> pleased.


Did a 200 in Cheshire on Sunday. The number of idiots driving around unlit
in the dense morning fog was matched only by the number of idiots who
believed the best way to see in the dense post-sunset fog was to use main
beams.

These people need to be sent to the camps for "re-education".

--
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.

 

[jen]

On Nov 7, 12:21 am, "Clive George" <[email protected]> wrote:
> I got to tell a motorist to turn his lights on Made oi very pleased.
>
> Less pleased at the WVM who hooted me. Red lights, so I stopped and asked
> what the problem was - initially I thought it might be that I was in the
> middle of the lane as I approached the queue ahead. "You hit that car back
> there, I saw you". Unfortunately there wasn't really enough time to
> elucidate that this wasn't exactly news to me - I don't forget about lightly
> rapping the wing of a car (in a "hi, yes, I'm here" fashion) which has just
> cut me up. I'd love to have a longer discussion with the guy, but it
> probably won't happen.
>
> cheers,
> clive

Cambridge drivers are just aggressive - the **** road layouts
encourage bad driving. You'll be cut up whether you're in a car or on
a bike.

I saw a great cyclist yesterday going down Milton Road towards town
from the A10/A14 roundabout. He was wobbling about all over the place
as he had his tescoes shopping bags slung over the handlebars. Why he
decided to ignore the lovely Jane Coston Bridge and go instead round
the roundabout and along the dual carriageway to there at 5.30pm I
have no idea.. Mind you, if he had gone that way he probably would've
taken out some pedestrians with his wobbly cycling, so maybe he was
better off just playing with the traffic.

 

[Paul Boyd]

JNugent said the following on 07/11/2007 09:07:

> Presumably, the PP thinks the British government should take a few
> lessons from the governments of Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

Why do you always take everything anyone says to some ridiculous
extreme? If I'd said "the government should dictate what the media can
print" than you would be justified in what you said. I didn't say that,
and I'd already pointed out to another poster that it wasn't me that
mentioned the government at all. I said "politicians", and that means
actions like local MPs writing in to papers to express their views, as
happens all the time already. I simply suggested that those views could
include not agreeing with anti-cycling articles in the media.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

 

[Mark McNeill]

Response to Paul Boyd:
> JNugent said the following on 07/11/2007 09:07:
>
> > Presumably, the PP thinks the British government should take a few
> > lessons from the governments of Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
>
> Why do you always take everything anyone says to some ridiculous
> extreme?


Because that's pretty much his schtick: it's what he does these days. I
used to read his crossposts with interest, even when I didn't agree with
them [and of course it's the people one disagrees with who one *should*
be reading]; but these days he seems more and more to rely on the same
old trick. Ignore.


[Cue JN: "So you're saying that everything I've ever written since the
11-Plus is a strawman?" ;-)]


--
Mark, UK
"He who hesitates is sometimes saved."

 

[Tony Raven]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> I saw a great cyclist yesterday going down Milton Road towards town
> from the A10/A14 roundabout. He was wobbling about all over the place
> as he had his tescoes shopping bags slung over the handlebars. Why he
> decided to ignore the lovely Jane Coston Bridge and go instead round
> the roundabout and along the dual carriageway to there at 5.30pm I
> have no idea..

Perhaps he was trying to avoid a) the extra detour that using the bridge
involves and b) the industrial estate with lots of manoeuvring trucks
that you need to pass through to get to the bridge.
http://www.camcycle.org.uk/map/location/8738/

Wobbling can be good - cars give you extra room if you wobble.

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

 

[tam]

What I was getting at was the "nasty"-homicidal? behaviour of a very small
percentage of UK drivers.
On the continent I have experienced thoughtlessness-opening passengers
door-embedding my chain ring in it-etc.
In Edinburgh time and time again wanting to turn right at a roundabout the
car on my immediate right realises he/she is missing their exit and promptly
tries to drive right over me!.
In my opinion its all about perception of the cyclist/pedestrian.
In Germany France etc money is poured into cycle roads paths traffic lights
etc and backed up by very annoying-for the motorist- laws.
Drivers know that if they hit a cyclist they are going to spend the next 24
hours in jail with junkies drunks murderers etc-this seems to have a very
positive effect on them especially regarding the potentially lethal right
turn onto your cycle path.
In the USA I found owners of SUVs would target pedestrians and cyclists when
they turned right-almost a right of passage to knock a cyclist off their
bike.
The UK govt. could do a lot more to get cycling centre stage given the
astronomically expensive obesity issues down the line eg spend just a little
of the annual £500 billion govt tax on cycling say 10% of Trident
budget--------.
I do not expect our overpaid bone idle[intellectually] journalists to get
creative with their cycling copy they seem to write their cycling pieces on
*** packets in 10 minutes on the London underground.
Tam

 

[jen]

On Nov 7, 10:49 am, Tony Raven <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,

>
> Perhaps he was trying to avoid a) the extra detour that using the bridge
> involves and b) the industrial estate with lots of manoeuvring trucks
> that you need to pass through to get to the bridge.http://www.camcycle.org.uk/map/location/8738/

Possibly, although the trucks are more of an issue going into Milton
from Cambridge than coming from tescoe via the roundabout. I hear the
double yellow lines in that area may finally go ahead too..

>
> Wobbling can be good - cars give you extra room if you wobble.

This is true. And his lack of helmet or high-vis jacket also meant he
got given more room. Maybe he was doing it on purpose?

Jen

 

[Ekul Namsob]

jen <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Nov 7, 10:49 am, Tony Raven <[email protected]> wrote:

> > Wobbling can be good - cars give you extra room if you wobble.
>
> This is true. And his lack of helmet or high-vis jacket also meant he
> got given more room. Maybe he was doing it on purpose?

A couple of days ago, driving my daughter back home, I spotted a chap,
wearing tweeds and sporting a fantastically bushy white beard, who was
cycling without lights but with a couple of plastic shopping bags over
the handlebars. Interestingly, everyone seemed to give him acres of
room. Indeed, when he signalled to turn right, the traffic on the other
side of the road stopped to let him pass.

I don't think this would have happened had I been doing the same with my
panniers, lights and jacket with reflective trim. I'll not change my
wardrobe though: I'm really not a tweeds person.

Cheers,
Luke


--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>

 

[Alan Braggins]

In article <[email protected]>, Tony Raven wrote:
>In article <[email protected]>,
>[email protected] says...
>>
>> I saw a great cyclist yesterday going down Milton Road towards town
>> from the A10/A14 roundabout. He was wobbling about all over the place
>> as he had his tescoes shopping bags slung over the handlebars. Why he
>> decided to ignore the lovely Jane Coston Bridge and go instead round
>> the roundabout and along the dual carriageway to there at 5.30pm I
>> have no idea..
>
>Perhaps he was trying to avoid a) the extra detour that using the bridge
>involves and

Look at the map you linked to - from Milton Tesco roundabout to the
first junction on Milton Road south of the A14, the Jane Costin bridge
and Cowley Road is a much straighter route than detouring via the A10/A14
roundabout. Unless he was coming down the A10 not from Milton, and his
Tesco bags hadn't been filled in Milton Tesco.


> b) the industrial estate with lots of manoeuvring trucks
>that you need to pass through to get to the bridge.
>http://www.camcycle.org.uk/map/location/8738/

That can be a real problem, but the turning to the bridge is behind the
photographer in that picture, someone coming from Tesco doesn't have to
go past the trucks shown to get to the bridge.

Another possibility is that he was one of the many Cambridge cyclists
who apparently can't make it up bridges because they don't know how to
use their gears.

 

[Artemisia]

On 7 nov, 10:52, jen <[email protected]> wrote:

> Cambridge drivers are just aggressive - the **** road layouts
> encourage bad driving. You'll be cut up whether you're in a car or on
> a bike.

Cambridge is way overpopulated in relation to its infrastructure. Even
pedestrians are at gridlock. It's the only place I've lived where you
have to queue to use the sidewalk.

And circulate for half an hour to find a place to park a bike.

EFR
Ile de France, but missing Cambridge nonetheless.

 

[JNugent]

Paul Boyd wrote:

> JNugent said the following on 07/11/2007 09:07:

>> Presumably, the PP thinks the British government should take a few
>> lessons from the governments of Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

> Why do you always take everything anyone says to some ridiculous
> extreme?

What's "extreme" about "a few lessons [in politicised censorship]"?

Either you want people like the FT article-writer censored or you don't.

Which is it (just to be clear)?

> If I'd said "the government should dictate what the media can
> print" than you would be justified in what you said. I didn't say that,
> and I'd already pointed out to another poster that it wasn't me that
> mentioned the government at all. I said "politicians",

Oh, yes. There's a HUGE distinction between "politicians" and
"government", isn't there? No-one could possibly perceive any overlap
between those disparate categories.

> and that means
> actions like local MPs writing in to papers to express their views, as
> happens all the time already. I simply suggested that those views could
> include not agreeing with anti-cycling articles in the media.

So why don't they do it?

You KNOW why they don't do it.