Buffalo & Doozerie - The mild musings of two grumpy old men!

CramCycle

Kav0777 wrote: »

New bar tape.....You're lucky, I've to get a new bike!... and i really liked that trek as well

You've improved immensely in the past 48 hours, no need to change the bike when you can change your behaviour :pac:

Weepsie

"Bippity-bip, bip, beep" ah the familiar croak of the Dublin taxi, it's been sometime since I had one call at me.

This occurred when in gridlocked traffic, I waited in line, slightly to left of the bus lane. Let the car in front go ahead lest it be planning on turning left up ahead, so there's a little delay on my part as the car made up all of 5 metres.

It was this moment when the call came. I turned my head and gave a pointless part wave, part shrug, part "ah would you stop"

He pointed to the grass, and then behind it to the cycle path which has cyclists going both ways and walkers, often kids. I told him I'm allowed use the road, its a bus and cycle lane etc etc.

He tells me I'll cause an accident, I tell him he's the one being aggressive. He points at the lane some more, and I reiterate my point. Neither of us are looking great anymore. I said I'd have no problem I'd take his plate and ID to report it if he wanted, he told me to go ahead, hell get the gardai.

It was going nowhere (the row and the traffic which was still in gridlock) so I set off. As soon as i did he lets a van into the bus/cycle lane. I turned around and told him he wasn't to be in the lane (he didn't have a problem with the dozen cars in the lane either, just me) to which he shrugged and I showed him some fingers and got on my way.

I shouldn't have reacted at the end, but he was a arse. The spectre of me reporting him (I'm not going to as it was all silly) probably doesn't help his mood. Maybe he was having a bad day I thought, let it go he may be perfectly pleasant every other day, I don't know what news he had that morning, but I'd worry for that level of anger so quickly and why he went for the easy target

Leroy42

The problem is that some vehicle drivers do not see cyclists as part of the traffic but a nuisance that if only something would be done about this messers on bikes the traffic would move much quicker.

On the other side you have some cyclists that see themselves as different from other traffic and that the rules only apply to others and others should simply accept whatever they do.

Until both of these are made to be the very fringes of both, rather than IMO the current situation whereby I would class it as a sizeable minority of both, the problems will persist.

CramCycle

I had similar from a driver in the Pheonix Park the other day. There was no oncoming traffic, plenty of room to overtake, I was in the bike lane/hard shoulder/parking spaces most of the time. They slowed to beep me, then gesticulated wildly to the bike lane (which when I glanced over had plenty of slower moving bikes, pedestrians etc.).

I ignored them, they overtook, they got stuck in traffic a minute later. I overtook them on the left and I could see their head turned waiting to give out. I slowed, turned, gave the biggest smile and a salute that would have insinuated I flew with Goose and Maverick and should have been in my Navy whites.

They exploded and I continued on, never to see them again. It felt good.

Weepsie

Leroy42 wrote: »

The problem is that some vehicle drivers do not see cyclists as part of the traffic but a nuisance that if only something would be done about this messers on bikes the traffic would move much quicker.

On the other side you have some cyclists that see themselves as different from other traffic and that the rules only apply to others and others should simply accept whatever they do.

Until both of these are made to be the very fringes of both, rather than IMO the current situation whereby I would class it as a sizeable minority of both, the problems will persist.

True enough. Id have nearly agreed with him if I'd been weaving in and out, or if it was flowing and I was just sitting there holding it up but all of done was taken a place in line and prevented him being bumper to bumper. It was the letting a private vehicle into the bus lane after his moan that pissed me off most.

Re: CramCycle. I have to work on my reaction too. A wave, a smile, a thumbs up. Even asking them a question would be better but ill do thst should there be a next time. The one time I was ever hit I was very pleasant and "you're grand". Turns out I was in shock but still. I also think there's a way of beeping. A little bip to say hi, I'm here so we both know is fine to me, but a continual or loud one is just stupid

Bloggsie

I plan to get back cycling to work in the next day or so, and my route takes me through the phoenix park @ about 6.50-7.00am, last time i cycled to work at that hour the park wasnt very busy and the cycle path was pretty clear, the only issue I have ever come across is with cyclists, exiting the park onto Parkgate St breaking red lights and the next junction just at the courthouse, one guy in particular bombs past as you wait at the lights and just keeps going down onto the quays. IMHO he is going to end up as a statistic that no one wants to be!

buffalo

Cycling in this morning along the canal, my bike suddenly starts making a harsh clicking noise. Stop to investigate, figure out it's something stuck in my tyre, spin the wheel and find a big nail.

I was reminded of that scene from the Simpsons with Lenny and Carl. My first instinct was "take it out, take it out", so I grabbed the end of it and withdrew it from the wheel. Instantly there's the hiss of escaping air and the wheel deflates. "Put it back in, put it back in!"

cdaly_

Got abuse this morning from a cyclist for taking the lane at the Clontarf cycleway road works. He reckoned I should have ridden up against the fence and be subject to multiple close overtakes instead of leaving the cars behind travel faster than they would have had I been a bus.

Oh, and I had to stop in the middle of it so show the car behind (who was leaning on the horn) how there was not enough room...

smacl

cdaly_ wrote: »

Got abuse this morning from a cyclist for taking the lane at the Clontarf cycleway road works. He reckoned I should have ridden up against the fence and be subject to multiple close overtakes instead of leaving the cars behind travel faster than they would have had I been a bus.

Oh, and I had to stop in the middle of it so show the car behind (who was leaning on the horn) how there was not enough room...

Amazing how stressed some people will get for what amounts to 10-20 seconds of their time, makes you wonder how they'd react under some real pressure.

Bloggsie

same last nite from a numpty in a vw golf going through the phoenix park, the cycle path was very busy with peds as well as cyclists so along with a few other cyclists I stayed on the road, got past the 1st roundabout to get german horn technology at its best for about 5 seconds, wouldnt mind while numpty over took me, I still passed him before I got to the turn for the farmleigh exit.
#pressureisfortyres!

stecleary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgOuAowp_1Q&feature=youtu.be

Not me but what a bell end copper

Fian

stecleary wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgOuAowp_1Q&feature=youtu.be

Not me but what a bell end copper

The benefits of having a recording. The roads will be safer when most drivers expect cyclists to be recording them rather than expect the opposite.

eeeee

stecleary wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgOuAowp_1Q&feature=youtu.be

Not me but what a bell end copper

****ty guard.


Had a garda car pull in on a friend and I on our way back from Corkagh one night and tell us to ride single file. I had dropped back as he squeezed me in (i was on the outside). My friend quite rightly pointed out we were allowed to ride like that. And so we continued as we were. They said nothing. :rolleyes:

Seve OB

gadetra wrote: »

****ty guard.


Had a garda car pull in on a friend and I on our way back from Corkagh one night and tell us to ride single file. I had dropped back as he squeezed me in (i was on the outside). My friend quite rightly pointed out we were allowed to ride like that. And so we continued as we were. They said nothing. :rolleyes:

garda a dick telling you to ride single file of course you can ride 2 abreast

common courtesy though would be to stop being a dick and ride in single file though to allow the traffic to pass, then go back to your side by side

eeeee

Seve OB wrote: »

garda a dick telling you to ride single file of course you can ride 2 abreast

common courtesy though would be to stop being a dick and ride in single file though to allow the traffic to pass, then go back to your side by side

Oh god not this again. Of course you must be considerate, but we were in an empty bus and cycle lane around half 8/9pm on a Tuesday night - the traffic was....non existent in said lane.
But yeah sure we're total assholes for doing what we're legally allowed to do without impeding anyone :rolleyes:

Seve OB

gadetra wrote: »

Oh god not this again. Of course you must be considerate, but we were in an empty bus and cycle lane around half 8/9pm on a Tuesday night - the traffic was....non existent in said lane.
But yeah sure we're total assholes for doing what we're legally allowed to do without impeding anyone :rolleyes:

you didn't make that clear. i'm with you in that case. all I was saying is if you are holding traffic up move in and let them pass

CramCycle

Seve OB wrote: »

you didn't make that clear. i'm with you in that case. all I was saying is if you are holding traffic up move in and let them pass

In some cases yes, in other cases, it is seen as an invitation to overtake. Alot of cyclists will hold the 2 abreast formation because if you can't overtake two, then you don't have space to overtake one.

I can see cases for both, but understand it is not too be dickish, it is for their safety and for the drivers as well.

smacl

CramCycle wrote: »

if you can't overtake two, then you don't have space to overtake one

Even cycling solo, I'd often hold a wide position on the lane if I don't think the car behind can overtake safely. I'd rather get beeped at than barrelled off the road, but generally no issues as I'd pull in slightly once the road is clear and most drivers suss what I'm at.

Leroy42

Where in the rules of the road is the section which gives vehicles and entitlement to pass a cyclist, and the cyclist must cede to that entitlement?

My understanding if that it is courtesy for slower moving traffic to facilitate others to pass if possible but no obligation. Where it gets possible and offence is when it is being done deliberately or without due care or attention (holding up 20 cars or whatever on a straight road).

is that where the problem stems from? Vehicles believe they have an entitlement to pass and therefore the cyclist is at fault for not getting out of the way rather than the driver having to wait?

buffalo

Funny cyclists on the way in this morning. The lad with the helmet cam, presumably to capture footage of dangerous law-breakers, who mounted the kerb at the Five Lamps to shoal to the front of the queue, then back to the road to try to merge with me from the left. I could've pressed the point, but it being such a nice morning, I let it slide and slowed down. Good deed of the day! Hopefully I make his youTube highlight reel.

Second dude... I don't know. I'm stopped at a red light, arm extended to indicate right. He came around my outside, struck my hand with his body, and continued through the red to turn left. Whatever about a bizarre position/manoeuvre, if you don't have the coordination not to hit a stationary object, maybe cycling isn't for you?

CramCycle

buffalo wrote: »

Funny cyclists on the way in this morning. The lad with the helmet cam, presumably to capture footage of dangerous law-breakers, who mounted the kerb at the Five Lamps to shoal to the front of the queue, then back to the road to try to merge with me from the left. I could've pressed the point, but it being such a nice morning, I let it slide and slowed down. Good deed of the day! Hopefully I make his youTube highlight reel.

There is a guy on my commute with a Contour helmet cam. Same thing, constantly running lights, jumping on the pavement to skirt around stopped cyclists (who have often overtaken him). I find it funny if he is using it for insurance/safety as any solicitor worth their salt would ask for the unedited video, show how poor a cyclist he was and that reasonably he was a contributing factor in an accident. Court is not like youtube, you cannot edit out the bits that do not suit your story (well your not meant to be able to anyway).

In a similar bizarre maneuver, I was stopped at the lights behind a cyclist when a person we overtook a minute earlier, came around the outside of the car to our right, cut across the two of us and looked like he was going to turn left (which was weird as there was a filter turn just behind us). He proceeded to move into traffic coming across the junction (sort of doing a left turn), then push through traffic on the other side, which while not heavy, was still moving, to mount a pedestrian island. He then turned right on the filter lane on the far side to end up on the road he would have been on if he had just waited, maybe 20 seconds.

This 20 seconds saving time involved him breaking numerous rules, but far more importantly, putting himself in reasonable danger, twice, if not three times.

traprunner

CramCycle wrote: »

This 20 seconds saving time involved him breaking numerous rules, but far more importantly, putting himself in reasonable danger, twice, if not three times.

But he got to get out of bed 5 minutes later!

jive

Cam cyclists are often the worst. I especially like how all anticipation gets thrown out the window just so they might get a little clip on YouTube. It's as funny as it is sad.

CramCycle

traprunner wrote: »

But he got to get out of bed 5 minutes later!

Could have done that if he just used a higher cadence between stops, might increase his fitness and length of life, he'd get more than five minutes back.

magicbastarder

reminds me of the time i was waiting at a red in ranelagh - at the junction with marlborough road - and a cyclist zipped past me at speed and was clipped by a car coming through on the green. i can't remember what damage there was to his bike, but enough to render it uncyclable.
i think the cyclist was more annoyed at me than he was at the motorist - his immediate reaction was to look to me to support him because i was a fellow cyclist, and lost the rag a bit when i expressed incredulity at the notion.

Bloggsie

buffalo wrote: »

Funny cyclists on the way in this morning. The lad with the helmet cam, presumably to capture footage of dangerous law-breakers, who mounted the kerb at the Five Lamps to shoal to the front of the queue, then back to the road to try to merge with me from the left. I could've pressed the point, but it being such a nice morning, I let it slide and slowed down. Good deed of the day! Hopefully I make his youTube highlight reel.

Second dude... I don't know. I'm stopped at a red light, arm extended to indicate right. He came around my outside, struck my hand with his body, and continued through the red to turn left. Whatever about a bizarre position/manoeuvre, if you don't have the coordination not to hit a stationary object, maybe cycling isn't for you?

on the way home last nite going up the quays, this charlie on a foldup, over takes about 5-6 of us on road bikes & hybrids goes through the red light at O'Connel Bridge, same again at the halpenny bridge and at least twice more before turning at Hueston. In between each traffic light, everyone of us over took him without trying to hard to do so, reminded me of the kid in the snapper, the fat little one on a banger of a bike, at the back of the group of kids!

Weepsie

There is someone who does that every time I'm at the five lamps . I once saw a guy do it three mornings in a row so I told him to stop it as he was delaying me and others and that even if he wasn't he wasn't there first.

He got uppity and next time I saw him he was narrowly missing going over the front of a car that I could see from ages back was turning.

doozerie

buffalo wrote:

Second dude... I don't know. I'm stopped at a red light, arm extended to indicate right. He came around my outside, struck my hand with his body, and continued through the red to turn left. Whatever about a bizarre position/manoeuvre, if you don't have the coordination not to hit a stationary object, maybe cycling isn't for you?

If he had a camera too I predict an outraged YouTube video proclaiming that a “reckless cyclist assaulted me for no reason” with suitable editing to show your arm appearing from nowhere, possibly containing a (crudely phototshop’ed in) baseball bat. With protruding nails. In the comments sections a massive movement will form as the moral outrage falls in behind the “argument” that this is why “socially responsible” cyclists have no choice but to ride on the pavement due to the prevalence of psychopaths on the road. …and all because of your unconscionable adherence to a common set of rules designed to keep us road users safe from each other kill cyclists. I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY!

My commute this morning was interesting too. It had more than its usual share of cyclists that chose to play chicken with buses. No risk was too great for them apparently, whether it was riding up the inside of a bus that was indicating left or riding up the outside of a bus indicating right while changing lanes. The fact that I had stopped behind these various buses apparently didn’t flag for those cyclists behind me a possible reason to do likewise, it simply seemed to fuel their ire as they now had to shove past me in order to throw themselves under the wheels of the bus. I’m quite the bollix, apparently.

’Twas like someone had cloned Finian McGrath and sent them all out on bikes. “I accept that science clearly shows that I may die if I throw myself in front of, or under, moving traffic, but sure feck science, I’m right and you’re all wrong. Now outta my way! You’re the problem with the world, YES YOU, NOT ME!”

Bloggsie

doozerie wrote: »

If he had a camera too I predict an outraged YouTube video proclaiming that a “reckless cyclist assaulted me for no reason” with suitable editing to show your arm appearing from nowhere, possibly containing a (crudely phototshop’ed in) baseball bat. With protruding nails. In the comments sections a massive movement will form as the moral outrage falls in behind the “argument” that this is why “socially responsible” cyclists have no choice but to ride on the pavement due to the prevalence of psychopaths on the road. …and all because of your unconscionable adherence to a common set of rules designed to keep us road users safe from each other kill cyclists. I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY!

My commute this morning was interesting too. It had more than its usual share of cyclists that chose to play chicken with buses. No risk was too great for them apparently, whether it was riding up the inside of a bus that was indicating left or riding up the outside of a bus indicating right while changing lanes. The fact that I had stopped behind these various buses apparently didn’t flag for those cyclists behind me a possible reason to do likewise, it simply seemed to fuel their ire as they now had to shove past me in order to throw themselves under the wheels of the bus. I’m quite the bollix, apparently.

’Twas like someone had cloned Finian McGrath and sent them all out on bikes. “I accept that science clearly shows that I may die if I throw myself in front of, or under, moving traffic, but sure feck science, I’m right and you’re all wrong. Now outta my way! You’re the problem with the world, YES YOU, NOT ME!”

you have to admire the moxy of some of these numpites, seroiusly though, I hate to be the driver who enevitably "meets them" as they do their version of running with/against the bulls.
That poor divil will have to live with the fact they mangled or worse, a numpty!

buffalo

From the Rás back to reality with a bump. Some ****er pulled in on top of me this morning. After overtaking a working bin truck, I guess I didn't return to the gutter as quickly as he would like. I got a beep and then he pretty much ran me down from the side. Only for my Sagan-skillz, I'm pretty sure my bike would have been under his back wheel. I had to push from his car to keep my balance.

I'm just in shock about it. No idea where it came from. There was a line of motor traffic ahead and behind the truck, so it's not like I was holding him up. I was so surprised I just got the **** away from him and forgot all my witty one-liners.