Cycling, is it very dangerous? (1 Viewer)

[magicbastarder]

i once knocked a five year old down. his fault though - he was standing on the kerb and kicked me as i went past, caught me in the shin. i was doing over 20mph, and spun him like a top.

 

[Sufi]

I cycle every day to and from work and friends houses.
I love it. The First few weeks were scary, drivers in dublin can be pretty unforgiving but once you keep your wits about you you'll be fine.
Also get lights for your bike. I know from driving in dublin that without them cyclists are pretty hard to see.

I also listen to music while cycing, its one of the more pleasurable aspects of cycling. Once you can still hear the traffic its grand.

I cant recommend cycling enough. its brilliant and makes you feel so good.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

Just walked quite a bit of the prospective route from Santry to Swords, saw 4 cyclists, not one of them had a helmet on and only 2 of them were what I would call properly visible.

 

[flashback]

There was a pack of almost wild dogs about Newtown Mt Kennedy a while back.
They used to go fucking spare when you came through, and sruface was dodge too, so you couldnt go more than say about 30mph.

I caught one of them very hard with a pair a pair of plastic Sidi shoes, cause I thought the lad behind me was going for my achilles tendon. I am not sure what state he was in, but I think he might have been very much worse for wear.

Appart from that few enough actual hits.

Cycling every day is great though. You get to watch your legs grow into mental shapes, and you can scare people with your "two knees" on each leg.

 

[carbide]

There was a pack of almost wild dogs about Newtown Mt Kennedy a while back.
They used to go fucking spare when you came through, and sruface was dodge too, so you couldnt go more than say about 30mph.

I caught one of them very hard with a pair a pair of plastic Sidi shoes, cause I thought the lad behind me was going for my achilles tendon. I am not sure what state he was in, but I think he might have been very much worse for wear.

ouch. i was chased by a dog in crumlin a few months ago, and the little fucker was keeping up and lunging at my feet while its owner, who looked about ten, screamed, "keep going and he won't hurt you!" from far behind. i was so sure it was going to bite me and send me flying that i was trying to figure whether, if i kicked the dog, the kid would be traumatised permanently and just whimper quietly or instantly enraged and would start legging it after me too.

(a car came up behind us and scared the dog off before i got to make my mind up.)

 

[Buzzo]

Whatever happens, if someone is a psycho fuckbag, they're a psycho fuckbag and there's nothing you can do about it. Just there, this evening I was coming home from college. I was off the main roads, on the last stretch down the Pitts towards my gaff. I have lights and a high vis jacket and the streets are well lit. As I come down a straight main stretch, there is a car pulled up to come out of a junction on the left. They are watching me, I have one eye on them as you do, except I got a creepy feeling, because they creeped. I pedalled on nonetheless because obviously I had the right of way, it being a road I was going down and them coming in from a junction.

Then the FUCKS decide to drive out at me as I am cycling past the junction. There is NO WAY they could have not seen me. They hit me in the back wheel and I managed to stay up as I wasn't going that fast anyway. I was genuinely scared because it was clearly a purposeful act of aggression against me. They drove behind me and I was totally creeped out. Too creeped out to stop and give them shit because it wasn't just negligent driving on their part. I was honestly afraid, judging by their behaviour, that they were going to give me a chase and try to ram me again. They turned off soon after but I did get a fright.

 

[тхеодоре кацзынски]

i once knocked a five year old down. his fault though - he was standing on the kerb and kicked me as i went past, caught me in the shin. i was doing over 20mph, and spun him like a top.

ha ha,i knocked a school girl down,about 20 of them trying to cross leeson street,they all seen me except the one at the end,proper wiped her out i did.shes lying in the gutter and im lying ten yards further down the road while all her mates are screaming their heads off.poor gurl.

 

[Eddie Gorilla]

I cycle from cabinteely into stephens green and back in the evenings.

Mwahaha. I am soon to live near you. Mwahahahahahahaha.

 

[ernesto]

ha ha,i knocked a school girl down,about 20 of them trying to cross leeson street,they all seen me except the one at the end,proper wiped her out i did.shes lying in the gutter and im lying ten yards further down the road while all her mates are screaming their heads off.poor gurl.

heheheheh

 

[тхеодоре кацзынски]

i felt bad.definitely one of those "you got knocked the fuck out" moments.

 

[mr pharmacist!!!!1]

Just walked quite a bit of the prospective route from Santry to Swords, saw 4 cyclists, not one of them had a helmet on and only 2 of them were what I would call properly visible.

dude, i was only thinking about this shit the other day.
i walk pretty much everywhere since the start of the summer, hate the buses but invariably end up having to get them the odd time.

the amount of people who dont wear helmets is kinda scary. i mean i know you dont wanna mess the "do" up and all but jeeeesus. im sure people can rock the jack nicholson gold helmet ala easy rider. glide through the city centre in style.

 

[SONYMEGADRIVE]

Whatever happens, if someone is a psycho fuckbag, they're a psycho fuckbag and there's nothing you can do about it. Just there, this evening I was coming home from college. I was off the main roads, on the last stretch down the Pitts towards my gaff. I have lights and a high vis jacket and the streets are well lit. As I come down a straight main stretch, there is a car pulled up to come out of a junction on the left. They are watching me, I have one eye on them as you do, except I got a creepy feeling, because they creeped. I pedalled on nonetheless because obviously I had the right of way, it being a road I was going down and them coming in from a junction.

Then the FUCKS decide to drive out at me as I am cycling past the junction. There is NO WAY they could have not seen me. They hit me in the back wheel and I managed to stay up as I wasn't going that fast anyway. I was genuinely scared because it was clearly a purposeful act of aggression against me. They drove behind me and I was totally creeped out. Too creeped out to stop and give them shit because it wasn't just negligent driving on their part. I was honestly afraid, judging by their behaviour, that they were going to give me a chase and try to ram me again. They turned off soon after but I did get a fright.

give it a rest, you sound like jane

 

[Squiggle]

give it a rest, you sound like jane

The quality of insults around here has just gone right down... that sounds more like a compliment.

 

[shidheat]

pretty much everything's been said there but i just want to throw in my general appreciation for cycling. i've been cycling to and from work (town to blanchardstown) for the past 6 months and it's made such a difference to my life. it's given me so much energy and i feel great the whole time as a result.

one thing in particular someone mentioned was about taking control of the road, and i think it's a very important point. if you move out into the centre of the road in certain circumstances e.g. when approaching junctions or in slow moving traffic, motorists have no option but to a) notice you and b) give you space, so you're generally in a much safer position by doing this. you really have to second guess every motorist though because most of them see cyclists as a nuisance and often do really stupid or aggressive things around you.

 

[billygannon]

Don't do drugs

 

[Buzzo]

you sound like jane

You wish

 

[HMD]

there's a lot of people cycling that shouldn't be aloud out on their own never mind on a bike. I drive a motorbike to and from work and you see some people and wonder how they're alive. a lot of cyclist i see have no regard for the rules of the road and these are the ones that have people saying that cyclists are cunts.

i think any car in a cycle lane at rush hour is looking to have their mirror kicked off. It's so much easier to do when your on a bike as you've no reg plate.

I used to cycle to work years ago so I'm very conscious of cyclists but not very sympathetic to the fools, which are easily spotted. i hated cycling down the canal and there'd be loads of fuckwads in front of you that won't get out of the way.

so there

 

[Donkey OJ]

i love cycling and have been doing quite a bit of it in vancouver which is a very pleasant cycling city. its funny - you think you're a confident cyclist until you have to turn your brain inside out at junctions cos they drive on the right over here obvioulsy. SUVs are a serious problem. the bus drivers are very respectful of cyclists' space but those fuckin SUVs by their sheer size are a horrendous hazard. speshly in traffic at speed. you do have to be aggressive when cycling in the city tho. if you're too timid car drivers wont even notice you. "own" as much space around you as you think you need, take front and centre at the head of traffic at red lights, move into the centre of the road, signal your intentions as much as possible and always be alert and try and predict the intentions of drivers. also get as expensive a bike as you can afford cos the components will be better. disc brakes and fast response gears allow you to get out of dodgy situations and generally enable you to respond more quickly and safely to danger. i personally dont like using headphones outdoors partly cos i like the sounds around me and partly cos i feel music would dull my animal like responses and cause my life force to be quenched ignominiously by a fucking Fiat Punto.
i've been on a couple of critical mass bike rallys over here aswell and they're great fun. the last friday of every month 500-1000 cyclists play follow the leader down city streets at rush hour - whoevers at the head of the posse at a large junction politely blocks the junction so no traffic can pass until the rally gets through. people dress up, cycle naked, dolly up their bikes, make noise, pull full on soundsystems around on trolleys behind them, smoke blunts and generally have fun at motorists expense for a change. course its a lot more fun in the summer. is there a critical mass in dublin?

​

this shit is strictly unecessary and pretty tough depending on how heavy your bike is but they love it over here, speshly on bridges and at the top of hills. "I am a cyclist, see me hernia".

 

[rettucs]

pretty much everything's been said there but i just want to throw in my general appreciation for cycling. i've been cycling to and from work (town to blanchardstown) for the past 6 months and it's made such a difference to my life. it's given me so much energy and i feel great the whole time as a result.

one thing in particular someone mentioned was about taking control of the road, and i think it's a very important point. if you move out into the centre of the road in certain circumstances e.g. when approaching junctions or in slow moving traffic, motorists have no option but to a) notice you and b) give you space, so you're generally in a much safer position by doing this. you really have to second guess every motorist though because most of them see cyclists as a nuisance and often do really stupid or aggressive things around you.

Like that, I've a 20-mile round trip every day, but wouldn't travel any other way. To drive would take twice the time.

Helmets are a must, as is the high-vis stuff.

Cyclists have to assume everyone on the road is against them. Motorised traffic, pedestrians and other cyclists. The latter can be the biggest pain in the hole at times. When you pass someone by, then at the next set of lights you stop at they go in front of you again and get in your way.

I've been hit twice in recent times. Way more over the years. The worst was when a car door opened and I impailed myself on the corner of it. I was in a jock for about 3 weeks after it.

As others have said, you can take all the precautions you want but theres no legislating for some gomb in a car that can't drive for shite. You can help yourself an extent though. Pick a reasonably quiet route with cycle lanes and bus lanes. Don't cycle aggressively. If theres a chance something can pop out of a sideroad of a driveway, assume it will. Assume pedestrians will drop down off the path onto the road and go at a speed where you can feel you can stop quickly.

Keep your bike serviced, especially the brakes.

Personally I think music is a no-no. Then again I'm half-deaf and need the little bit of hearing I have for the road.

Best of luck with it.

 

[Space]

You'll also increase your life expectancy by a few years over car drivers even with all the exhaust fumes and risk of injury.

I heard that on the radio over the summer. I think it was a guy from the
Dublin Cycle Campaign or something like that.