Jaysus cycling! (5 Viewers)

[Pantone247]

I just everyone the finger

at least three times a day

 

[Froog]

is it the one at Leonards Corner? I got knocked down at that junction back in my college days. A taxi ran a red light and smacked into me. I don't know how I didn't come off worse than I did. Wrecked my bike but I was ok.

thats the one, total chaos in the morning, sandwiched between two lanes of angry cunts in a hurry that beep and try to run you off the road. and now someone is dead.

 

[flashback]

he should do that. In America you see that 'how am I driving' shit everywhere with a number. Let them know how their guy is driving. Like a prick.

Imagine that here, ringing up some company to complain about a driver. Some Irish prick that couldn't give a shit cos basically, we don't give a shit.

America is different though.

I got run off the road on Lower Mount Street one morning by a bendy bus (which are way too long for the streets of Dublin). It wasn't the worst cos I could just pop up onto the path into the clear. But I figured if there were parked cars there I was a gonner, so I chased him. At the next bus stop I pulled up next to the door and politely (seriously, I was polite - its kind of a rule with me now to be polite as much as possible when on the bike) informed him that he ran me off the road and to please have consideration for other road users. I expected him to tell me to fuck off, but he simply nodded, apologised, and that was that. He wasn't Irish. An Irish bus driver wouldn't have done that.

yeah. I'll have to hassle him about it. I never seen him shaken before, when you are riding with him he's just absolutely rock solid on the bike. The lads all rip the piss out of him saying the reason he never comes off is he just doesn't how to crash. The truck was really tear assing along, basically it was a duck and cover move.

The thing is though that drivers honestly dont see riders.
There is not much point being in the right if you're also dead, and a lot of the time thems your options.
I have talked to people that nearly took me out, and they were just baffled. They had no idea I existed until I knocked on their window. A lot of them were really nice about it, and sorry and things. I was t-boned by a lad on Newtownpark Avenue, lovely lad, sculptor I think, but it was a rainy day, and it was 8.30 am, and he just didn't see me.
It happens.
You do have to ride like you are invisible / everyone is out to get you.
And you do have to get one of those really bright epilepsy inducing new obnoxious LED lights.
And you do have to wear a lid.

You really fucking do.

 

[Lolo]

I got run off the road on Lower Mount Street one morning by a bendy bus (which are way too long for the streets of Dublin). It wasn't the worst cos I could just pop up onto the path into the clear. But I figured if there were parked cars there I was a gonner, so I chased him. At the next bus stop I pulled up next to the door and politely (seriously, I was polite - its kind of a rule with me now to be polite as much as possible when on the bike) informed him that he ran me off the road and to please have consideration for other road users. I expected him to tell me to fuck off, but he simply nodded, apologised, and that was that. He wasn't Irish. An Irish bus driver wouldn't have done that.

I didn't realise there were still bendies in Dublin, my entire route in London is worked out so I can avoid them for this reason. The driver thinks he's given you enough room but you'd need a degree in physics to work out what the other end of the bus is doing.

I've probably posted about my run-in with Dublin Bus before but here goes (I remember it in great detail for reasons that will become obvious). I was cycling to work on the painted cycle path beside Jury's hotel in Ballsbridge, as it was still called then, when a bus came right up on the lane and forced me to jump off my bike and drag it out of the way. The pavement goes in at this point to make room for taxis to park but the cycle path stays in a straight line.

I caught up with him at the next bus stop and told him what he'd just done and he said "You were in the middle of the road!". I replied "I was on the cycle path!" and he just put his eyes up to heaven and drove off.

As soon as I had a minute to spare in work I started writing an angry letter to Dublin Bus.... and then somebody told me to switch on the telly cause a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Centre.... which is why I remember it all in such great detail, it's my "what were you doing when...." story.

Dublin Bus did write back saying they were monitoring his driving, so at least it meant he did probably get a bollocking and would think twice about doing something so stoopid in future.

 

[CinnamonBoy]

And you do have to wear a lid.

You really fucking do.

I don't know about that.
Some people reckon drivers see the helmet and drive by you etc. less carefully.
Also, I think most people don't fall on their noggin.

That said, I wear one when cycling anywhere close to town.

Interesting article on the pros and cons here;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/11/healthandwellbeing.transport

 

[minka]

I don't know about that.
Some people reckon drivers see the helmet and drive by you etc. less carefully.
Also, I think most people don't fall on their noggin.

That said, I wear one when cycling anywhere close to town.

Interesting article on the pros and cons here;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/11/healthandwellbeing.transport

pretty interesting, the linked discussion as well. i am a terribly sporadic helmet-user, and veer between "i should be more careful and use it every time i hop on the bike, it is only a matter of time before SOMETHING AWFUL HAPPENS" and "it is uncomfortable and does it really help?".

also given that (afaik) proportionally more pedestrians incur head injuries from traffic accidents than cyclists, should we be encouraging pedestrians to wear helmets? in fact, should we all don full protective gear as soon as we leave the house? or get out of bed, given the injuries that can be incurred in the home....?

 

[minka]

Also, I think most people don't fall on their noggin.

yeah, all my (minor) cycling-related injuries have been to limbs: hands, elbows, knees, shins.

that said, presumably i only have to land on my head once to be deaded...

 

[flashback]

I've come off bikes a fair bit, motorbikes and bicycles. Say more than 10 tims on the motorbike, and a fair number of times more again on the pushbike.
I've never hit my head (off the road, atlthough stuff has hit my head during crashes.)
That's not the point though. The point is I never crashed hard enough to hit my head. You will protect your face and head to the extent that you will break bones doing so. But if you cannot do this, you will likely hit your head off the ground, and if this happens this means you are probably having a bad crash. Almost by definition the only time you need a helmet is for the really bad crashes where you completely lose control. And thats when you really need one.
to say I'm on the fence about lids because I never hit my head off the deck is like saying I'm on the fence about seatbelts because I never went through the windscreen. Its absurd.

Anyone that really thinks drivers are looking at riders so closely that they are seeing if there is a helmet on them and driving more dangerously as a result of this is talking bollocks.

 

[Bold Lump]

Anyone that really thinks drivers are looking at riders so closely that they are seeing if there is a helmet on them and driving more dangerously as a result of this is talking bollocks.

Maybe it's just that the adverse is true, in that if you're weaving across the road like a careless feckwit drivers may give you a bit more room.

I've had a helmet save my face a bit. Wouldn't of been more than a few scratches though. Also it should be noted that I was hammered at the time and shouldn't of been anywhere near a bike.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

The thing is though that drivers honestly dont see riders.

And the reason they don't is because .......
THEY AREN'T FUCKING PAYING ATTENTION LIKE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO!!!!!!

 

[flashback]

yeah, I think thats true alright. Providing they see you.

I think also think its true that if you twitch the bike and watch a driver to see if he reacts before you put yourself in a position that he could conceivably hit you, its more likely that you will be noticed.
I would do this when I am able to. You can make a bike look like its moving out without it actually moving out.

 

[flashback]

And the reason they don't is because .......
THEY AREN'T FUCKING PAYING ATTENTION LIKE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO!!!!!!

exactly.

You're still dead or paralyzed for the rest of your life o something though when they fuck up though.
Its just the reality of the situation. They are in big fast metal boxes, and you aren;t.

 

[Bold Lump]

Bikes aren't as obvious as you might think though.
I'd agree that every driver should spend some time cycling in the city, but also cyclist should spend some time driving too, it's impossible to see everything.
All you can do really is presume that you're invisible to everyone.

 

[Pedronimus]

Anyone that really thinks drivers are looking at riders so closely that they are seeing if there is a helmet on them and driving more dangerously as a result of this is talking bollocks.

A driver doesn't consciously make the decision on how close they will pass. Like most things in life you do it subconciously.

 

[Pedronimus]

I'd agree that every driver should spend some time cycling in the city, but also cyclist should spend some time driving too, it's impossible to see everything.
All you can do really is presume that you're invisible to everyone.

I agree with all this, but most humans are incapable(or unwilling) of seeing a situation from another person's perspective.

People cycling at full tilt through stopped traffic because they feel they are entitled to really baffles me. A person could check their mirrors and easily not see you before opening a door or pulling out.

 

[classic seanc]

A few months back I emailed century 21:

Hi,

Are there any plans under century 21 for the development / improvement

of cycle lanes in Dublin?

A month later:

My sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your mail.
The Strategic Planning and Policy Division of the Department of Transport is currently conducting a public consultation for a Sustainable Travel and Transport Action Plan (STTAP) (see sustainabletravel.ie for details and to make submissions).
An element of the STTAP is likely to require significant modal shift from the private car to walking, cycling and public transport and, in parallel with the preparation of STTAP, the Department commissioned research to help in the development of a National Cycle Policy.
The Department has recently received the outputs of the research, including a draft National Cycling Policy. However, as there is a close inter-relationship between the development of a National Cycling Policy and delivery of STTAP, detailed policy consideration must be undertaken of the research output to ensure that it will ultimately be a good fit with STTAP.
I hope this information is of benefit to you.

eh....

It's gets to me this, the way government policy is based around "People in cars" and "People not in cars". I don't know what I'm getting at exactly, but cycling is not at all the same as riding on a bus. I'll have to think about this...

a mate of mine who is a proper cyclist, (olympics / Ras / used to train with Stephen and Laurence Roche type) just talked to me about how he got the biggest scare in his life last week on the bike.
He nearly, like *really* nearly got milled by a construction truck on sixth avenue. He was saying basically he ended up pushing a pedestrian back and leaning the bike over and the truck literally brushed past him. He was saying he just would have been dead if he hadn;t been able to make space and get out of the way.

He followed the driver, and caught him at lights, and just pulled up behind him, pulled out his phone, and took a shot of the reg plate and then put it up to the window and took his picture.
Your man went fucking apeshit of course and freaked out completely.
But now he's wondering what the hell he can actually do.
I mean, the driver will without doubt kill someone. I was saying that it was his duty to go to the company that ran the trucks and tell them what was happening.
But realistically, what can you do?

That was the real reason I fucking blew up at that asshole riding the wrong way up the road in the cycle lane, and pushed him out of my way...

He absolutely should go ahead and call the company at least.

chinkychento

That's racist.

Imagine that here, ringing up some company to complain about a driver. Some Irish prick that couldn't give a shit cos basically, we don't give a shit.......He wasn't Irish. An Irish bus driver wouldn't have done that.

That's racist.


What else......I've grown weary of the bicycle helmet debate. Sufficit to say, you should wear one for your own safety and I do. Gloves are more important though.

Also, a screw fell out of my cleat. My LBS had a spare screw. Hooray for the local bike shop, try ordering something like that off the internet.

 

[magicbastarder]

I've had a helmet save my face a bit.

i've had a helmet probably prevent my nose from being broken. i replaced the helmet, it took a bit of damage.

"it is uncomfortable and does it really help?"

might be worth trying a different helmet. my new one is more comfortable, and better ventilated than the last one. in hindsight, had i known, i'd have replaced it anyway.

 

[rettucs]

Dublin Bus did write back saying they were monitoring his driving, so at least it meant he did probably get a bollocking and would think twice about doing something so stoopid in future.

thats kinda cool. I'd feel well chuffed with myself if I was involved in something like that and that was the outcome.

 

[rettucs]

that said, presumably i only have to land on my head once to be deaded...

I've mentioned it here before but I reckon I'd be dead, or at least badly brain-damaged but for my lid.

I got doored in Rathmines a few years ago. I was going pretty fast at the time and hit the ground very hard. My body weigh, plus all my momentum, landed on my hip, and as a result my head was flung backwards and hit the road with an almighty bang.

When I got up I couldn't see a thing. The blow had caused my vision to blur something awful and it took me a few minutes to come to. I was actually gonna ask the person who did it to call me an ambulance, but in the end didn't . I was in a heap for about 3 weeks after that incident. It left me with a chipped hip, a nasty scar at my shoulder where I hit the door, and an awful bad fucking headache.

I wouldn't even cycle across the road without a helmet after that.

 

[Pantone247]

A driver doesn't consciously make the decision on how close they will pass. Like most things in life you do it subconciously.

WTF?!

how do you know when to stop at traffic lights? When The Force tells you to?

If you're going to get into a ton or two of metal powered by explosive liquids and point it at other people in similar killing machines I hope to fuck you're concious of every little thing you do!!!!