Cycling in Waterford

wobbles

Anyone else notice the extreme lack of cycle paths in waterford. The only ones i know are on the ring road (which have to be there otherwise they would never have gotton EU funding) and the little one on the way up to templers hall. When i started cycling in waterford, i always used the road, but after 1 to many close calls (with cars AND trucks) i now refuse to cycle on the road unless theres not many cars on it. Which then leaves me cycling on the path. Now i know there are laws against it, but its just too dangerous to cycle on the road these days. Drivers never give enough room for cyclists and have never done.

Theres not even cycle paths heading up to WIT from the manor, riverwalk direction. Its the only institue i have ever seen with no cycle paths and its on the main Waterford-Cork road for gods sake. AND the road gets very narrow at one of the entrances to the college. Truck barely missed me there one day and then beeped the horn as if it was my fault. Anyone else have any thoughts on this.

Mossy Monk

wobbles wrote: »

Anyone else have any thoughts on this.

This should be on the Waterford City board. But I do agree with you.

Sully

Moved to Waterford City..

Topic Moved.

Cabaal

Always thought this myself, its some joke that they've never put down cycle paths leading to WIT from any place in Waterford, in all the 16km or so of cycling I used to do in Waterford on a daily basis I never got to use any cycle paths....closest one's to my route used to be out at the woodlands.

As for coming up the Cork road, while I never had any problems really going into town, however I used to end up going up on the path when going out to the IDA when passing WIT at the new nurses building due to the island in the middle of the road and how trucks and van drivers used to drive dangerously close to me....lots of fun :mad::mad:

robtri

I do agree that cycling in Waterford is dangerous and that there should be cycle lanes, especially around the city and up to the college.
As a driver its bad for us as well, having to overtake cyclists on these narrow roads, we don't like it either, we would much rather have wide roads with cycle lanes...

Dum_Dum

If the Planning Department hasn't the gumption to force developers to put in footpaths and street lighting then what's the chance of cycle lanes?

Nolanger

What happened to Waterford cyclist Declan Lonergan? Is he still racing?
He competed in the Olympics back in the '90s.

Mossy Monk

What has your serious question got to do with this thread?

Sully

Mossy Monk wrote: »

What has your serious question got to do with this thread?

Ill take a wild guess and assume that because the topic is about Cycling in Waterford... and that poster is asking about a somewat famous local cyclist*... ya know, one topic and all

*No, its not Brendan McCann!

Mossy Monk

The thread is about cycling lanes in Waterford rather than cycling from what I can see.

lugha

I used to cycle around the town a bit but no longer. It's just too dangerous.

I can understand folks cycling on footpaths, illegal though it may be but many of them could slow down a tad. On more than one occasion I shuddered to think what might have happened if I suddenly took a step across a footpath.

Cabaal

Other then where I stated I cycled on the footpath I never did it anywhere else as it was only for my own safety, the thing about cycling in Waterford and other large towns and citys is to cycle defensively.

For example: when you get to a junction the safest thing you can do is plant yourself in the middle of the lane so that a car has to see you and can't run you over because it didn't see you when it started to turn left.

I'd recommend Cycle Craft to anyone who wants to cycle more safely - http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/248029/Cyclecraft/Product.html

As for Waterford and cycling, to be honest I wouldn't call it dangerous...atleast not anymore dangerous then any other place in Ireland, you get people changing lanes on the quays without looking alright which is fun but sure that even happens when your driving.

One of the thing that used to wreck my head the most in Waterford is the amount of people walking that used to cross the road with their ears instead of with their eyes, the problem is that many people listen for the noise of a car engine and if they don't hear it they assume its safe to cross....what they forget to think about is people on bikes who have the right of way and who don't make the noise of a car

The amount of people I missed by an inch or two when going around corners in town and around college street up towards bunkers hill, I actually felt one girls scarf hit of my hand she came so close to being knocked down as she just stepped out even though she was looking the other direction altogether :mad:

At the end of the day though there's alot of muppets on bikes that break green lights in and around Waterford and this is extremely dangerous, everyone of them should be beaten with a stick...same goes for people in cars that do this!

Tragamin2k2

Cycling after 11pm at night is good because theres no traffic around...cant stand cyclin in the day on roads.find meself creepin along footpaths on the bike tryin 2 avoid the traffic

Junior

Nolanger wrote: »

What happened to Waterford cyclist Declan Lonergan? Is he still racing?
He competed in the Olympics back in the '90s.

He's a brand manager for Oakley in the States I think.

magick

agreed, its not as good as it used to be, i used to go cycling to tramore a lot all year round and since the by pass came with so much traffic ,its not worth it anymore. more cycle lanes would be nice

BBM77

I don’t think Waterford is too bad when it comes to cycle lanes. All the new roads in the city have cycle lanes. There is a lot more work to do of course. In Budapest for example they even have separate traffic lights on the cycle lanes. It was not too long ago that the car was all that roads were built for; the mistakes of the past will not be fixed overnight. I have to say I think the Old Kilmeaden road is fantastic. It is the benchmark for cycle lanes on city roads.

I don’t see why the city council could not turn the grass verges around the city into cycle lanes. All along the Inner Ring Road, Cork Road, Outer Ring Road at the Ardkeen end and other places have grass verges just laying there. If they retro fitted cycle lanes on these roads the space would be put to much better use. All the above roads are in residential and employment areas the areas were cycle lanes are needed most.

My pet peeves when cycling is middle aged drivers, traffic calming road layouts (they may calm traffic but they are a hazard to cyclists) and all the glass on the cities roads.

aboyro

Junior wrote: »

He's a brand manager for Oakley in the States I think.

true:D

Trotter

I'm going mennnnttaaalll!!!

Why on earth do IDIOTS in cars treat cyclists like sh1té?

Big balls drivers beeping like mad just because they feel big in a car. I was cycling down a hill near town today and signalled with my right hand that I was about to pull across and turn into a gateway to the right. A speeding idiot started beeping from miles back and of course then I stopped and just let the tit past. Cue the abuse signals from a very brave girl in the back of the car.

I'm glad I'm not like that.


Ahhhh..... I love boards. All better now.

Cabaal

Trotter wrote: »

I'm going mennnnttaaalll!!!

Why on earth do IDIOTS in cars treat cyclists like sh1té?<snip>

luckily i've had very little of this kinda crap happen to me

mang

i think a critical mass shoiuld be held, all the cyclists in waterford get together and slowly cycle around the city making sure no1 can take us over and to remind people that cyclists are here and that we are unhappy about the lack of safety regarding cyclists, the lack of facility's.. even to lock up your bike in town.. they should totally have a few bike racks around.. places like sweden and denmark are bike dominant, theres a bike lane on every street, bike traffic lights, and massive places to lock up your bike..
so critical mass... whos up for it?

lugha

Sully wrote: »

Seems the Guards were not happy how this turned out either - according to this weeks News & Star.

What would 'this' be?

Cabaal

lugha wrote: »

What would 'this' be?

also curious about this?

AdMMM

It seems to me that cyclists just don't register in the mind of either drivers or pedestrians! I don't cycle often, but I've had very bad experiences whenever I choose to with pedestrians just walking right out in front of me resulting in me having to swerve to avoid clouting them!

The last time I cycled, I had a very close call coming down the Racecourse Hill in Tramore with a car flying straight across my path while I was going straight through the roundabout! How I didn't hit him is beyond me!

Sully

lugha wrote: »

What would 'this' be?

Completely wrong topic I posted in - excuse me

lugha

mang wrote: »

i think a critical mass shoiuld be held, all the cyclists in waterford get together and slowly cycle around the city making sure no1 can take us over and to remind people that cyclists are here and that we are unhappy about the lack of safety regarding cyclists, the lack of facility's.. even to lock up your bike in town.. they should totally have a few bike racks around.. places like sweden and denmark are bike dominant, theres a bike lane on every street, bike traffic lights, and massive places to lock up your bike..
so critical mass... whos up for it?

I can understand the frustration but you won’t get anywhere antagonizing drivers. And as a sometimes cyclist sometimes motorist the point by AdMMM is spot on. I have to fess that before I took up cycling and when I was out driving, I would check at junctions for traffic which had right of way over me, observe a cyclist and my brain would process this as “nothing coming”. Its only when I started to cycle that this changed.

So what can we do? Ideally all motorists should occasionally go for a cycle to appreciate things from the other perspective. That won’t happen of course so the next best bet would be to demand a high profile safety campaign. And it wouldn’t do any harm to try and persuade our fellow cyclists to obey the rules of the road. Perhaps I imagined it but did somebody actually post here wondering if cyclists had to observe traffic lights?????

kayaksurfbum

you can spot the drivers who cycle by the amount of room they give you when passing out and turning near you.

As for the rest, a good wack on the roof sorts them out usually.

Lately some wan*ers are trowing stuff out windows to try hit bikes, usally boy racers on the tramore road. caught up with a guy once who threw a bottle out of his window at me. he cryed when i shouted at him to get out of the car! hopefully the scare will stop him doing it again.

Heard of some guys in Dublin who smash the window of people who cut them off. bit harsh but if they put your life at risk!

robtri

There are some bad drivers out there, that don't give enough room or attention to cyclists, and I think that drivers who purposely throw things at cyclists deserve whatever happens,
But as a driver I dislike a lot of cyclists around town and find that they have no regard for other road users, swerving in and out around cars, cycling on paths and straight onto the road without looking, approach junctions and change lanes without using hand signals and this attitude by some cyclists that traffic lights are there to be ignored, too many incidents to remember numbers where cyclists just cycle up to lights and continue through a red light.....
I have seen more cyclists putting their own life at risk than drivers putting them in danger...

Traumadoc

Actually cyclists who obey red lights are probably more likely to be seriously injured or killed.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1695668.ece

lugha

Traumadoc wrote: »

Actually cyclists who obey red lights are probably more likely to be seriously injured or killed.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1695668.ece

There is a way to deal with the real danger described in that article. While a bicycle won’t match any motor vehicle for speed it will take all comers in acceleration over the first few meters and it will certainly take a large truck. What I do in such circumstances is anticipate the green light and will be on my way as soon as the lights change. I would usually be several meters in front of a truck and thus visible before the truck has even begun to move. I find women drivers who are first stopped at traffic lights are not as impatient as men to get moving when the lights change. Perhaps to their cost, they are the same when cycling.

And I certainly wouldn’t conclude that a cyclist is safer breaking the lights. The article referenced neglected to say how many more men than women were killed by cross traffic who hit them when the did break lights. And I am sure there were more.

Traumadoc

If you are stopped at the traffic lights , waiting to go straight, the vehicle to your right may get a feeder arrow to turn left. If that vehicle is a HGV they may not see you and you could be crushed.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-5977235.html

http://www.movingtargetzine.com/article/cyclist-killing-lorry-driver-fined-300

lugha

Traumadoc wrote: »

If you are stopped at the traffic lights , waiting to go straight, the vehicle to your right may get a feeder arrow to turn left. If that vehicle is a HGV they may not see you and you could be crushed.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-5977235.html

http://www.movingtargetzine.com/article/cyclist-killing-lorry-driver-fined-300

In such circumstances (as noted in the original referenced article) trucks tend to first swing right before making the left turn to avoid mounting the footpath with their rear wheels. So it is not entirely clear to me how exactly the two unfortunate victims were hit. From my reading of them it would appear that in the case of the woman cyclist that the truck driver was simply reckless in not leaving enough room and would have hit the railings even had he not hit her. I can't quite figure out what happened the man that was killed. (What's a cycle box exactly?). Perhaps he was a little ahead of the lights which cyclists often are and which can be disastrous if there is a left filter.

I have to admit that I am much more nervous cycling with trucks anywhere around. Cars are nippier and all in all I expect you are more likely to be hit by them. But if a truck hits you you stay hit!

Only a few months ago I partially witnessed a cyclist having his bike mangled by a truck at the pedestrian lights at the bottom of the Folly. Didn't see the whole incident but it appears the cyclist was in the truck's blind spot. Fortunately he jumped (or was thrown!) clear.