Wicklow gap..WARNING

AndrewJRenko

stewygriffin wrote: »

Yep,when they blatantly cycle through all those red lights that everyone else stops for.

Cyclists guide to the road.........RED means just ignore the big red light and GO.:rolleyes:

Ah to be a cyclist eh....:pac::pac::pac:

The lights that everyone else stops for? Really?

You need to up your observation game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc5VGuJvOVk

D0NNELLY

Brooke Skinny Schoolhouse wrote: »

Sorta like motorcyclists so.

not like motorcyclists when they're crawling along, quite the opposite

D0NNELLY

Lumen wrote: »

Are you fed up being overtaken by cyclists when you're on your burger bun?

go on then, whats a burger bun?

beauf

Interesting that the road traffic reports like aa watch don't mention the Wicklow 200

Max Headroom

GOAL.......

Beta Ray Bill

Max Headroom wrote: »

MMMM...tbh i'm not seeing a lot wrong there...tandem guys wer'nt really an issue, loads of room to pass...second one the overtaking car was the problem as far as i could see....:o

Its actually the jeep in front.
Go Pro bugeye makes long distance stuff a bit difficult to see.
The white jeep overtakes the cyclists forcing the oncomming black jeep off the road into the end of a grass verge and on to the beginning of a drive way.

The tandem cyclist moves out into the middle of the road, again hard to see from far away on the go pro. Yeah I'd plently of space to maneuver out of the way. But it was the failure to check over the shoulder, slow speed and irratic maneuver that got to me.

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Interesting conclusion. Cyclists are involved in about 5% of road deaths and research shows that motorists are generally at fault in motorist/cyclist collisions. Motorists are involved in 99% of road deaths, and kill four or five people each week on the roads.

But cyclists are the biggest hazard?

Sorry, when I say biggest Hazard, I mean an obstacle you are most likely to hit.

Is there really 160 cyclists dying each year?

I cycle myself (commute). I keep as far left as I can, have the brightest lights and full hi vis etc.
What I've noticed though is that even at low speed any sort of collision can be lethal, the brakes on push bikes arent worth a f**k. Even with the disks the tyres just lose grip especially in the wet. There is no way to stop, yet i see some people in the moring at full pelt on the long downhill road between rathgar and rathmines.
If they were to fall off at that speed they will seriously injure themselves and possibly die.
If they know they cant stop and could die travelling at that speed, why the hell do they risk it?

stewygriffin wrote: »

Yep,when they blatantly cycle through all those red lights that everyone else stops for.

Cyclists guide to the road.........RED means just ignore the big red light and GO.:rolleyes:

Ah to be a cyclist eh....:pac::pac::pac:

There is a hell of a lot of that going on too.

legrand wrote: »

Grow up. Former biker (15+ years), like to think I understand road conditions, awareness of others, defensive as required. Also a cyclist, keep in a much as I safely can, ride single file on most cases. Yes I over take, you know like bikers need to on occasion. Also, having done a hill walk had walk part of Wicklow Gap road with my kids only to meet a f'ing k##t on a motor bike clocking over a ton, scrambled into the ditch. But hey he's a biker and that's okay he can do no wrong. Right?

That in my opinion is the correct way to cycle, keep left and single file. I saw none of that today.
Yeah you get the loud and proud brigade every sunday over the gap. They are dickheads.

Lumen

grahambo wrote: »

I cycle myself (commute). I keep as far left as I can, have the brightest lights and full hi vis etc.

Cycling on the extreme left is often a terrible idea. I'd have thought as a motorcyclist you'd know more about road positioning than that. :pac:

grahambo wrote: »

What I've noticed though is that even at low speed any sort of collision can be lethal, the brakes on push bikes arent worth a f**k. Even with the disks the tyres just lose grip especially in the wet. There is no way to stop, yet i see some people in the moring at full pelt on the long downhill road between rathgar and rathmines.
If they were to fall off at that speed they will seriously injure themselves and possibly die.
If they know they cant stop and could die travelling at that speed, why the hell do they risk it?

Cycling really isn't very dangerous. I've come off maybe 20 times in the last decade, the fastest crash was 53kph (in a race) and the worst injury I've had is road rash and that's wearing lycra.

The reason that motorcycling is so much more dangerous than cycling is that the risk of death or serious injury is highly correlated with speed (probably the square of speed), and 50kph just isn't very fast. You lose speed very quickly when hitting the tarmac at 50kph, so the chances of coming into contact with another vehicle or piece of road furniture is very low.

Anyway, I don't know why cyclists seem to wind up some motorcyclists so much (yes, I know there's some baiting in this thread from people who ride both). They're easy to overtake and as for the law breaking, find me a motorcyclist who sticks to the speed limit and I'll eat my back protector.

stewygriffin

D0NNELLY wrote: »

go on then, whats a burger bun?

Maybe he means burgman,or as i call it....my burgerman....lol


Handy àuld yoke for a chipper run too.

stewygriffin

Doing anything has risks involved.

Sure i nearly chocked on a tayto crisp there earlier on while watching Ireland get the equalizer.

I must have been doing at least 50kph from the sitting room to the kitchen sink for a glass of water. Thank god i didnt come into contact with any other objects or i might have gotten injured or scuffed my buttocks.

No red lights were broken though.

AndrewJRenko

grahambo wrote: »

The tandem cyclist moves out into the middle of the road, again hard to see from far away on the go pro. Yeah I'd plently of space to maneuver out of the way. But it was the failure to check over the shoulder, slow speed and irratic maneuver that got to me.

Just to clarify, he moved out to the middle of the lane, not the middle of the road. Certainly, a lifesaver check over the shoulder is always a good idea. Cyclists often have to adjust their position, or it could be a simple as a gust of wind pushing them out. That's why the RSA tell you to leave 1.5m when passing a cyclist, to allow for adjustments like this.

grahambo wrote: »

Sorry, when I say biggest Hazard, I mean an obstacle you are most likely to hit.

Is there really 160 cyclists dying each year?

If you think that you're likely to hit a cyclist, you need to adjust your riding style. No, there aren't 160 cyclists dying each year. About 3/4 of those killed on the roads are motorists, there is a good bunch of pedestrians and then a small number of cyclists 10-15 in recent years.

So cyclists are not the most likely things to be hit on the road.

grahambo wrote: »

I cycle myself (commute). I keep as far left as I can, have the brightest lights and full hi vis etc.
What I've noticed though is that even at low speed any sort of collision can be lethal, the brakes on push bikes arent worth a f**k. Even with the disks the tyres just lose grip especially in the wet. There is no way to stop, yet i see some people in the moring at full pelt on the long downhill road between rathgar and rathmines.
If they were to fall off at that speed they will seriously injure themselves and possibly die.
If they know they cant stop and could die travelling at that speed, why the hell do they risk it?

That in my opinion is the correct way to cycle, keep left and single file. I saw none of that today.
Yeah you get the loud and proud brigade every sunday over the gap. They are dickheads.

Honestly, if you can't stop your bike fairly sharply in urban traffic, you need to need to change your brakes or your tyres or both. I have disk brakes, and never have trouble stopping sharply, except maybe on extended steep descents where I might be going over 50 kmph. Otherwise, I can stop on a dime, even if I have to do a bit of manual ABSing to avoid a skid, by pushing the brakes on and off.

The correct way to cyclist is most definitely NOT left and single file. Keeping left encourages crap overtakes. The RSA tell cyclists to stay well out from the kerb, and reminds all road users that cyclists are as entitled to their road space as all other road users. Two abreast is legal, and it is often easier and safer to overtake two abreast than two in line.

The dickheads are those that are unable or unwilling to share the road nicely.

Pugzilla

If you look at the statistics, cycling is nearly as dangerous as motorcycling. People tend to underestimate the risk because it's so much more common here than motorcycling.

You can be seriously injured or killed from a motorbike crash at 40 km/h. Now try that again on a bicycle with likely no helmet or other protective gear.

Fighting Tao

Pugzilla wrote: »

If you look at the statistics, cycling is nearly as dangerous as motorcycling. People tend to underestimate the risk because it's so much more common here than motorcycling.

You can potentially die from a motorbike crash at 40 km/h. Now try that again on a bicycle with likely no helmet or other protective gear.

What stats are they? Deaths per billion km?

Grassey

Since when are cyclists classed as 'obstacles'? A neutral inanimate item?

Surely you mean people? As in 'the mother/father/son/daughter you are most likely to hit?'

Perhaps you'd have a better time not hitting cyclists if 'ALL' motorcyclists stopped using mandatory cycle lanes to weave through traffic and tailgate cyclists? Or stopped illegally using bus lanes?

Lumen

Pugzilla wrote: »

If you look at the statistics, cycling is nearly as dangerous as motorcycling. People tend to underestimate the risk because it's so much more common here than motorcycling.

Yes, per billion km cycling is "only" a quarter as lethal as motorcycling, but I'd guess that cyclists would tend to do a lot fewer kms than motorcyclists.

(UK stats but assume Irish risks would be similar)



edit: I think I can live with the risk of one death in 46 million km, since that's about 5,000 years for me.

duskyjoe

Wicklow Traffic: Road is closed from Laragh to Sallygap Cross Rd until further notice.

Uh oh......

Del2005

duskyjoe wrote: »

Wicklow Traffic: Road is closed from Laragh to Sallygap Cross Rd until further notice.

Uh oh......

That's not for an RTC, there was a body found.

GBX

duskyjoe wrote: »

Wicklow Traffic: Road is closed from Laragh to Sallygap Cross Rd until further notice.

Uh oh......

As much as you might like to blame the cyclists on that one, the fact they found a human torso up that way might have something to do with this.

Lumen

GBX wrote: »

As much as you might like to blame the cyclists on that one, the fact they found a human torso up that way might have something to do with this.

Possibly, but that was on the other side of the mountains, off Military Road in Enniskerry.

GBX

Lumen wrote: »

Possibly, but that was on the other side of the mountains, off Military Road in Enniskerry.

Ah ok ... Maybe his legs and arms are up the other way so

stewygriffin

GBX wrote: »

Ah ok ... Maybe his legs and arms are up the other way so

Thats exactly it,they just found more human remains this morning,about 20k away from where they found the torso.

Pinch Flat

I was on the Wicklow 200 yesterday, as I have been for several years now.

We had lots of motorbikes pass us, there was no issue. Group of German touring bikes looked pretty cool on the Wicklow Way. The motorbike marshals were also excellent as they are on these type events. If everyone is behaving and not acting the dick, can't really understand what the issue is.

ILIKEFOOD

Max Headroom wrote: »

sweaty ball lycra brigade.

zero issues with bikers at all - but who are you to mock us in yer leather pants! pot calling the kettle black!

Max Headroom

stewygriffin wrote: »

Thats exactly it,they just found more human remains this morning,about 20k away from where they found the torso.

I believe they only found the torso by mistake...it got stuck under the speed camera van up the gap...:p

Guess now the Gardai will be putting out an appeal to all motorcyclists for any information....:rolleyes:

Max Headroom

ILIKEFOOD wrote: »

zero issues with bikers at all - but who are you to mock us in yer leather pants! pot calling the kettle black!

Yeah...but i look gooood in me leathers..so the lads say...:o

frozenfrozen

Pinch Flat wrote: »

I was on the Wicklow 200 yesterday, as I have been for several years now.

We had lots of motorbikes pass us, there was no issue. Group of German touring bikes looked pretty cool on the Wicklow Way. The motorbike marshals were also excellent as they are on these type events. If everyone is behaving and not acting the dick, can't really understand what the issue is.

there is no issue. I pass cycly bikes every time I'm out and I give them loads of space and a nod and will get the nod in the other direction from them most of the time too.

Then again I pass tractors and cars and horses and all sorts of everything on the roads and never have an ounce of trouble these days at all. So either the roads around me are very friendly or if you go out on the roads and treat everyone as being a person just trying to go about their day that they're not trying to purposefully piss on your cornflakes, sprinkle on a bit of allowing them to make mistakes or not do stuff 100% correctly, then everyone can get on grand.

motorbikes and pushbikes have to be the most accommodating road users to each other in my experience. The amount of times a cyclist has ever endangered my life is zero.

I obviously can't speak on behalf of someone in a city dealing with red light breakers but out in the sticks it is all gravy

Smoothrider

Thought it might be useful to clear up the 'frustration with cyclists' problem. If you have this problem then you're a dopey knacker who doesn't deserve the licence to be on the road. It may not be clear to you right now but it is a fact. Cyclists have a right to cycle on the roads, two abreast if that is their election, motorists have a permission or a licence. You see the difference there? It's a right, so get over it and be a man, or a woman, and try to understand, and assimilate, that fact and how the the world works outside your fetid little bubble.

frozenfrozen

Smoothrider wrote: »

Thought it might be useful to clear up the 'frustration with cyclists' problem. If you have this problem then you're a dopey knacker who doesn't deserve the licence to be on the road. It may not be clear to you right now but it is a fact. Cyclists have a right to cycle on the roads, two abreast if that is their election, motorists have a permission or a licence. You see the difference there? It's a right, so get over it and be a man, or a woman, and try to understand, and assimilate, that fact and how the the world works outside your fetid little bubble.

<snip - language>

Hodge32

Cyclists have "a right to cycle two abreast" Where did you pull that one from as a matter of interest?

AndrewJRenko

Hodge32 wrote: »

Cyclists have "a right to cycle two abreast" Where did you pull that one from as a matter of interest?

Probably from the Rules of the Road. Give it a read sometime.

Hodge32

Another smart arse! Must be the bad weather keeping them all indoors!!