Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
i wouldn't like anyone touching my bike.
i notice some cyclists put their hands on stationary vehicles - for some reason that irks me too.
Cycling 101....
- Thread starter Treacle Toes
- Start date
i wouldn't like anyone touching my bike.
i notice some cyclists put their hands on stationary vehicles - for some reason that irks me too.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
can't say it's ever happened to me
sim667
All aboard the 303 bus.
I dont go riding the most regularly but even i know to check behind me
Its probably a habit i picked up riding a motorbike tho
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
yes in general but it shouldn't really be necessary to have to continually check behind your left shoulder for undertaking cyclists.
Treacle Toes
Time
I am too busy checking over my right shoulder and watching the traffic in front PLUSSSSSSSSSSSS watching out for any falling trees, dive bombing birds and kamakarzee pedestrians running out in front of me
Treacle Toes
Time
stupid dogbot
Haughty and Superior
Yep.
Sure.
I'm actually not suggesting you do it continuously - that would be daft as you really should be focussed in the direction you're going. Just that occasionally doing it might help some people was all...
*like*
sim667
All aboard the 303 bus.
Yeah
I couldnt remember....... I have ridden a motorbike in years and only ever my CBT
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
I was told this by a passenger while driving on the 210 in LA, having just been through a mobile canyon of having two 18 wheelers overtake me on either side of my car...
tommers
Currently in investor / advisor mode.
It means when one cyclist is cycling right behind another. Drafting. It's easier to cycle in the slipstream of somebody else.
It really bothers lots of people.. I imagine because the guy behind is getting an easier ride than the guy in front. My thinking is that it doesn't affect the guy in front so why get uptight about it?
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Ah, like what they do in bike racing!
I have reservations about that, mainly based on 'How much can they see in front of me?' thoughts of me slamming the anchors on and them all piling into me. No issues other than that tho, so long as the dudes behind skim up to the front and reciprocate, esp if it's windy.
I have reservations about that, mainly based on 'How much can they see in front of me?' thoughts of me slamming the anchors on and them all piling into me. No issues other than that tho, so long as the dudes behind skim up to the front and reciprocate, esp if it's windy.
Biddlybee
making knots with sticks
Ah ok. Doesn't bother me - as long as they're paying attention - I don't signal when I'm slowing down
I find that if I do it when coming away from lights (tis inevitable) then like kyser says - you can't really see what's coming, pot holes...etc.
sim667
All aboard the 303 bus.
tommers
Currently in investor / advisor mode.
Yeah, when i do it I cycle slightly to the right of the person in front so i can have a bit of a view... I am wary of it though.
It's just that sometimes you don't want to get into that whole passing/racing thing and just want a nice quiet ride to work... and if you're cycling about the same speed then it makes it difficult to expend the effort to get ahead....
ringo
Macaroni cheese controller
Yup, they're the ones that annoy me. I overtook the same crap cyclist 3 times this morning, and she was so far away from the kerb I had to go quite a way i to the middle of the road to get round her.
mattie
missing in inaction
Yeah, when i do it I cycle slightly to the right of the person in front so i can have a bit of a view... I am wary of it though.
It's just that sometimes you don't want to get into that whole passing/racing thing and just want a nice quiet ride to work... and if you're cycling about the same speed then it makes it difficult to expend the effort to get ahead....
It's not always the visible things that cause risk - I ride down a very flat, very open cycle track to work and I saw a semi-crash where someone being drafted stopped to answer their phone. He just pulled the brakes, matey behind swerved and clipped him and wobbled across just short of the hedges, almost taking me out head-first en route.
I was almost rear-ended when my chain jammed when shifting, thankfully bloke behind had good reactions but I was pissed off he hadn't at least told me he was there.
I've no real bother with it - I reckon they'd just get bored and overtake, the geriatric pace I ride - but I have problems with people assuming it's OK, especially if I don't notice they're there.
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
O, shit, I owe you a PM mattie.
On it's way this evening...
On it's way this evening...
Boycey
juvenile rave slut
if it's someone i don't know then i don't know how good their brakes, reactions or general bicycle handling skills are. lots of people haven't the foggiest how to ride in a pack, when i ride with friends really fucking close i will communicate what's coming up and whether it's likely i'll be slowing down sharply way ahead of actually having to do so. even then i assume my riding buddies will be looking ahead of me to see what may be coming up. one notable occasion some dick on a disc brake equipped hybrid slammed into the back of me on bloomsbury street- i was doing 20ish then dropped my speed as i came to filter traffic, the guy behind me didn't. no one fell off but my rear wheel became stuck in between his rotor and spokes, he didn't say a fucking word as i picked up the back end of my bike and bounced it off the floor to release it. impolite fucking dick.
basically it's about communication, if we've been racing each other through traffic and had a chat at the lights then no prob. it's different if someone just decides that 2" from my arse (lovely though it is) is the place to be. how would you feel if someone started drafting your car in that manner?
tommers
Currently in investor / advisor mode.
Well yes, the car example had occurred to me.
Fair enough. You'd have to be an idiot to think the line of traffic isn't going to make somebody put the brakes on though.
Open Sauce
Active Member
Isn't that one of the rules of the game?
Ah slipstreaming......
some twat crashed into the back of me doing that once
Had that myself, car turning right in front of me, I brake, he rides over my back wheel, broken rear wheel and finger.
Treacle Toes
Time
Overdeveloped Calf muscles..
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
Depends entirely on the context.
Note the open back headphones of my own design .. music is ambienty and overplayed so not requiring much attention. Been trudging the same 8 mile loop daily for 20 years ...
It simply takes the boredom out of negociating the suburban traffic I haven't been able to avoid.
If I wasn't wearing headphones I would need some sort of earmuffs anyway - come the winter... in fact I plan to add a little foam at the front to keep the wind out.
In-ear phones on texting urban pedestrians is much more problematic ...
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
that's just bollocks
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
and there's nothing boring about cycling as you are supposed to be concentrating
mauvais
on reddit or something
I've had this discussion too many times before, but I often find it quite boring and that music motivates me. I listen with earphones at low volume - for instance I can hear emergency vehicles before drivers can - I check behind me regularly, and even without it I can't hear much above 15mph anyway. I don't know if I'd wear them in London.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
i was thinking about it the other day on the way home as i was on a long one-way stretch - i could hear cars approaching me from behind and from the sounds of their engines i could tell which ones were coming up a bit near to me and how quickly they were accelerating to overtake me and felt it was good to know this and that it would be folly to deliberately obscure this sense.
