Unicycles on the London Underground

[JNugent]

Ian Smith wrote:

> On Tue, 24 May 2005, JNugent <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Ian Smith wrote:

>>> Oh, _road_dirt_? You mentioned hardened steel spikes meaning that
>>> well-known sub-class of hardened steel spikes, "road dirt". Or is
>>> "road dirt" a superset of hardened steel spikes? I forget.
>>> Whatever.

>> Road dirt. The stuff that fouls translucent grease and turns it
>> black, as it does to most of what it comes into contact with, not
>> excluding clothing.

> Really? I did actually have some vague notion about what you might
> mean by the term. What I'm more confused about is why, if road dirt
> is what upsets you, you decided to start the conversation by
> complaining about non-existent hardened steel spikes.

Yes... "spikes" was a bit OTT.

I should have made it clearer that I was referring to cogs. Not quite
spikes, but still hard and fairly pointy. And almost always greasy and dirty
(relative to clothing).

 

[JNugent]

JNugent wrote:

> Ian Smith wrote:
>> JNugent <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> Ian Smith wrote:

>>>> Oh, _road_dirt_? You mentioned hardened steel spikes meaning that
>>>> well-known sub-class of hardened steel spikes, "road dirt". Or is
>>>> "road dirt" a superset of hardened steel spikes? I forget.
>>>> Whatever.

>>> Road dirt. The stuff that fouls translucent grease and turns it
>>> black, as it does to most of what it comes into contact with, not
>>> excluding clothing.

>> Really? I did actually have some vague notion about what you might
>> mean by the term. What I'm more confused about is why, if road dirt
>> is what upsets you, you decided to start the conversation by
>> complaining about non-existent hardened steel spikes.

> Yes... "spikes" was a bit OTT.
> I should have made it clearer that I was referring to cogs. Not quite
> spikes, but still hard and fairly pointy. And almost always greasy
> and dirty (relative to clothing).

....and in fact, I *did* make it clear!

Re-reading the post you refer to, I am reminded that I made no mention of
"spikes", but of "hardened steel sharp bits".

Hmm...

 

[JNugent]

Ian Smith wrote:

> JNugent <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Ian Smith wrote:

>>> Oh, _road_dirt_? You mentioned hardened steel spikes meaning that
>>> well-known sub-class of hardened steel spikes, "road dirt". Or is
>>> "road dirt" a superset of hardened steel spikes? I forget.
>>> Whatever.

>> Road dirt. The stuff that fouls translucent grease and turns it
>> black, as it does to most of what it comes into contact with, not
>> excluding clothing.

> Really? I did actually have some vague notion about what you might
> mean by the term. What I'm more confused about is why, if road dirt
> is what upsets you, you decided to start the conversation by
> complaining about non-existent hardened steel spikes.

You are wrong.

If you care to re-read the relevant posts, you will see that the
"non-existent" thing is any mention of "spikes" (except by your good self).
If unicycles have no hardened steel parts (or bits), please accept my
apologies (though I don't think it will be necessary).

 

[JNugent]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

> You admitted you'd not even seen a unicycle in 30+ years. I own one.

Actually, now that I have reflected on it, that latter fact explains a lot.

I accept that the machine comes in handy in your profession - in fact, it
may have been you I saw riding that one thirty+ years ago.

 

[Clive George]

"JNugent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> If you care to re-read the relevant posts, you will see that the
> "non-existent" thing is any mention of "spikes" (except by your good
> self).
> If unicycles have no hardened steel parts (or bits), please accept my
> apologies (though I don't think it will be necessary).

Which parts of a conventional bike are made of hardened steel then?

clive

 

[Tim Woodall]

On Tue, 24 May 2005 09:51:50 +0100,
Just zis Guy, you know? <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Mon, 23 May 2005 23:34:41 +0100, John Hearns <[email protected]>
> wrote in message <[email protected]>:
>
>>Bicycles are banned on the deep sections of the Tube.
>
> Up to a point, Lord Copper. I have seen Bromptoneers with their
> trusty steeds in the folded state on the deep lines.

Not only that but I've taken my Bromton on the Northern Line (Bank
Branch) once during rush hour. Not only did the LU staff not raise an
eyebrow, one of them opened the barrier to let me through so I didn't
have to post it through the "baggage" slot and then go round through a
normal entrance and retrieve it.

(Since bought waterproof overtrousers - one of the things I didn't
consider when I changed jobs and started cycling in work clothes - when
you change at work getting wet really isn't a problem)

Done it one other time when I got a puncture but that was late enough in
the evening to be after the worst of the rush hour.

Tim.


--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Tue, 24 May 2005 16:50:03 +0100, "JNugent"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
<[email protected]>:

>>>> You obviously don't see them, or look at them then. Unicycles are
>>>> driven directly without gears, cog or a chain...
>>> Not all of them, clearly.
>> Only giraffes have chains, and they are not the kind you'd use for
>> commuting.
>But (if I read between the lines clearly) such a unicycle is the only sort I
>have ever seen.

So you were posting from ignorance. What's new?

>>> I have not seen another these last... thirty+ years?
>> You might be surprised how many urcers own them. Most can even ride
>> them...
>Perhaps I would be surprised. In fact, if there are many around at all (and
>you seem to be saying so), I am already surprised.

Indeed.


Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Tue, 24 May 2005 16:52:39 +0100, "JNugent"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
<[email protected]>:

>>> Whatever your views on where the balance should be struck between
>>> the rights of cyclist passengers and the rights of pedestrian
>>> passengers, you *can* see why bikes (and, if appropriate, unicycles)
>>> are banned on the Underground?

>> Er, except they aren't.

>They are.
>Not *completely banned*, but there is a partial ban which is complained of
>in this thread.

But *bikes* aren't banned, *non-folding* bikes are banned on *some*
lines and permitted on others some or all of the time.

>> Non-folding bikes are banned on deep lines,
>> and from subsurface lines at some times of day, folding bikes are not
>> restricted and there is no evidence of any restriction on unicycles.

>Except for what the (assumed) LU employee said.

You think an unnamed London Underground employee is better informed
than TfL's printed conditions of carriage? It could happen, I
suppose...


Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Tue, 24 May 2005 22:05:31 +0100, "JNugent"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
<[email protected]>:

>> You admitted you'd not even seen a unicycle in 30+ years. I own one.

>Actually, now that I have reflected on it, that latter fact explains a lot.
>I accept that the machine comes in handy in your profession - in fact, it
>may have been you I saw riding that one thirty+ years ago.

Unlikely, since 30+ years ago I was still at primary school. And I'm
sure the yike would be handy in my profession, involving as it does
regular trips to London including using the Tube, if only I could ride
it. But I can't yet, so I am using a nice new Brompton instead.


Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Tue, 24 May 2005 20:13:59 GMT, "Malcolm & Nika"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
<bWLke.14505$V%[email protected]>:

>OK...so those of you who have endured the crush on , say, the Victoria line
>between Finsbury Park and Victoria, everyday at about 08:30 or any other
>line for that matter, what do you suggest should be allowed on and what
>should be banned? Only people who use the service should be allowed to vote.

Been there, used it. Folders and yikes, no problem, I'd say - neither
half as bad as the wheelie-cases some people use.


Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, JNugent
('[email protected]') wrote:

> I should have made it clearer that I was referring to cogs.

Which unicycles (other than giraffes) do not have.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; in faecibus sapiens rheum propagabit

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Clive
George ('[email protected]') wrote:

> "JNugent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> If you care to re-read the relevant posts, you will see that the
>> "non-existent" thing is any mention of "spikes" (except by your good
>> self).
>> If unicycles have no hardened steel parts (or bits), please accept my
>> apologies (though I don't think it will be necessary).
>
> Which parts of a conventional bike are made of hardened steel then?

I don't think there's _any_ steel on either of my favourite bikes except
for the brake and gear cables and the bearing internals. Plenty of
aluminium, plenty of carbon fibre, some titanium... but that's kind of
twisting the issue, because what he meant to say was not '...hardened
steel pointy bits...' but 'hard pointy bits', and those bikes
admittedly do tend to have. But we're not talking about bikes, we're
talking about unicycles, and all the bits of a bike which are hard and
pointy are bits a normal unicycle just does not have.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; no eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn.
;; Jim Morrison

 

[Tony Raven]

Malcolm & Nika wrote:
> OK...so those of you who have endured the crush on , say, the Victoria line
> between Finsbury Park and Victoria, everyday at about 08:30 or any other
> line for that matter, what do you suggest should be allowed on and what
> should be banned? Only people who use the service should be allowed to vote.
>

You need to spend a few weeks in Tokyo rush hour to know what a crush
is. My test there of whether a train is crowded is whether I can lift
both feet off the ground without sinking downwards. Plenty of room on
Victoria line trains in rush hour for a few more passengers and a unicycle.

--
Tony

"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord
Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)

 

[Dr Ivan D. Reid]

On Mon, 23 May 2005 23:59:58 GMT,
Call me Bob <[email protected]>
wrote in <[email protected]>:
> On Mon, 23 May 2005 23:41:14 +0100, "Clive George"
><[email protected]> wrote:

>>> Never read uk.transport?

>>Do we get lions on newsgroups?

> Only in Kenya!

> (Forget Norway)

How could I forget Norway? Especially now you've mentioned it...

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. [email protected] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

[Dr Ivan D. Reid]

On 24 May 2005 10:36:13 GMT, David Nutter <[email protected]>
wrote in <[email protected]>:
> On 2005-05-23, JNugent <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Do rucksacks also have hardened steel sharp bits sticking out and/or covered
>> in black grease as well?

> One of mine does (lots of buckles, a metal frame etc). Grease-wise, it's
> cotton duck (I think) covered in some stinky wax waterproofing that is wont
> to smear everywhere.

> It's highly amusing to use the beast on the tube, especially on a hot day
> when the wax melts, smells and runs.

Um, what does it smell? And why does it run from it?...

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. [email protected] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

[Ian Smith]

On Tue, 24 May 2005 21:51:21 +0100, JNugent <> wrote:
> Ian Smith wrote:
>
> > On Tue, 24 May 2005, JNugent <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Road dirt. The stuff that fouls translucent grease and turns it
> >> black, as it does to most of what it comes into contact with, not
> >> excluding clothing.
>
> > Really? I did actually have some vague notion about what you might
> > mean by the term. What I'm more confused about is why, if road dirt
> > is what upsets you, you decided to start the conversation by
> > complaining about non-existent hardened steel spikes.
>
> Yes... "spikes" was a bit OTT.
>
> I should have made it clearer that I was referring to cogs. Not quite
> spikes, but still hard and fairly pointy. And almost always greasy and dirty
> (relative to clothing).

And, of course, almost always entirely absent from unicycles.

regards, Ian SMith

 

[Tony Raven]

David Nutter wrote:
>
> when the wax melts, smells and runs.
>

There's a book on punctuation waiting to get out of that phrase ;-)


--
Tony

"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord
Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)

 

[JNugent]

Tony Raven wrote:

> David Nutter wrote:

>> when the wax melts, smells and runs.

> There's a book on punctuation waiting to get out of that phrase ;-)

LOL

 

[Tom Anderson]

On Tue, 24 May 2005, Tom Anderson wrote:

>> Tom Anderson wrote:
>>
>>> Can you take a unicycle on the London Underground?
>
> I know, i'll email TfL.

TfL said:

"You will be able to transport a uni-cycle as long as it is less than 2
meters in length and if you can handle it easily in he event of an
emergency."

So now you know.

tom

--
The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will be live.

 

[David Hansen]

On Thu, 26 May 2005 00:38:02 +0100 someone who may be Tom Anderson
<[email protected]> wrote this:-

>TfL said:
>
>"You will be able to transport a uni-cycle as long as it is less than 2
>meters in length and if you can handle it easily in he event of an
>emergency."
>
>So now you know.

Basic knowledge for all readers now.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.