BS: Bleeping Cyclist

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 04 Sep 23 - 04:40 AM

I was in Lodon at the weekend and visited the West End theatre land. The cyclists are well provided for with their own cycle lanes and pretty much behaved themselves, from what I could see, apart from one young lady who let the side down by hurtling downhill on Haymarket and went straight through the red light at great speed when pedestrian were actually using the crossing.

Most of the pedestrians seemed to recognise their vulnerability and waited for the green signal to cross, although there were a few who crossed to islands against the red man if there were no cars bearing down on them.

What did give problems were the roller skaters on Victoria Embankment. They were old enough to know better but hopped on and off the curb, from the footpath to the cycle lane, at will, zig-zagging in front of pedestrians and cyclists alike.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: BobL
Date: 04 Sep 23 - 04:07 AM

Too many points for comfort are a good incentive to self-train in speedo watching...

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Sep 23 - 03:52 AM

My car dashboard shows the speed limit on the road I'm on, except when it's the national 60/70 limit, when it doesn't. .

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Mr Red
Date: 04 Sep 23 - 03:16 AM

Well, Nigel, I don't watch my speedo enough I suppose but I don't exactly hare manically around the place.

Fit a dash cam and you may well find you do notice speed limits. In the event, if Mr Plod sees the camera, he would commandeer the SD card. And knowing that is a sobering thought. IME

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Aug 23 - 05:28 AM

from the main road. Sheesh!

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Aug 23 - 05:25 AM

Well, long before the era of dashcams, helmet cams or handlebar cams (or whatever cams), I was cycling home from Holsworthy to Bude one afternoon and had just reached Holsworthy golf course when the no 9 bus overtook me so close that I had to tuck my elbows in, ride in the gutter and shut my eyes praying for deliverance until he'd passed. I'd clearly been invisible to him despite my hi-viz Sam Browne belt. My shaking at this near-death encounter turned to rage and I rang the police when I got home, thinking that the bus driver could easily be identified (there were only four buses a day).

Nothing happened for weeks, then one night as I was putting the cat out (it was 11.45 pm!) a police patrol car pulled into our drive. Oh my God, who's dead, have they finally twigged which four-year-old shoplifted that licorice Penny Arrow in 1955...

"Er, everything OK, Chief Inspector...?"

"Yes, I just happened to be passing at the end of me shift so I thought I'd report back on your complaint about the bus driver...." (We are over half a mile down farm lanes from tge

The police had contacted the bus company, who had tracked down the driver and questioned him. He'd said that he had no recollection of the incident and didn't remember seeing a cyclist (!) Unfortunately, as there'd been no witnesses the police were unable to take the matter further.

I was very impressed with the police's response - but a cop car pulling into your drive at quarter to midnight!!

(I made up the Penny Arrow bit, by the way...)

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 03:35 PM

BTW, before you ask, I did send the footage to the police. This was their response.

Thank you for your submission to Op Snap, sent on:
2023-05-29

This submission has now been reviewed and the following decision has been made :
No further action to be taken

As no further action will be taken, our justification is below along with any other comments:
Reference DV66EYA, MF15WWV & CN22BWA. Unfortunately this submission has gone time expired due to resource issues and a rapid increase in submissions so we have been unable to process this within the time limit. Please note it has still been logged for reference purposes.

Kind regards,

OpSnap

So basically, the police get so many reports of shit driving that they cannot action them all. :-(

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 03:31 PM

Just remebered a little incident I had only a couple of months back locally when 3 drivers decided to try and kill me!

Nutters

It is little wonder that cyclists feel safer off the road when drivers cannot give way to cyclists even when the cyclist has the right of way.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 26 Aug 23 - 06:44 AM

There's an entanglement of history to Linux's logo brand character ....

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Aug 23 - 04:05 AM

Ahah. I knew about the Linux bit but not the penguin bit... Every day's a school day!

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Aug 23 - 02:53 AM

Techie joke, Steve. Torvalds developed the operating system Linux. The symbol of which is a penguin

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 06:05 PM

I'm struggling a bit with that, MJTF (may I call you that?)...

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 04:34 PM

> aren't nuns on roller skates and penguins on skateboards virtually the
> same thing?

Try asking Linus Torvalds that .... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 01:52 PM

Damn! I have been rumbled.

Transfer to the joke thread

What is back, white and red?

A sunburnt penguin

An embarrassed nun

Or, if you excuse the spelling

A newspaper

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 12:57 PM

Hey, Dave, aren't nuns on roller skates and penguins on skateboards virtually the same thing?

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 12:56 PM

1969: fined £8 for 47/30 in Bolton (Moss Bank Way) in my dad's Viva. I'd only just passed my test. I was extremely miffed when my dad was fined only £6 in the same month for doing the same speed on Bury New Road.

2002: fined £60 for 47/30 in Wiltshire, two minutes after I'd been tearily tending a grave. The nice cop asked me the unanswerable question: "Did you see the speed limit sign, sir?"

2010: speed awareness course with Dixon of Dock Green clone for doing 60 in an M5 roadworks with average speed cameras.

2019: fined £100 for 87/70 on A30 near Bodmin. Sunny morning, long straight downhill, no traffic. Mobile camera in police van. Saw him too late. That was the only one that significantly put up my insurance premium.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 12:54 PM

Like I said before, SPB, there are 'brain dead' in every group. I doubt very much that the proportion in cyclists is any higher than that in pedestrians, dog walkers, mobility scooter riders, drivers, nuns on roller skates or penguins on skateboards. Not whataboutery or making excuses. Just putting things in perspective. The other thing of course is that inconsiderate cyclists rarely cause death or serious injury. The same cannot be said about drivers. I tend to save my energy for the more serious transport abusers!

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 12:26 PM

Todays 'brain dead' cyclist - rode in the wrong direction along a one way street, on the right hand side (for the cyclist) of the road. When he/she got to a delivery van stopped he/she instead of swerving into the path of the oncoming traffic decided to endanger pedestrians my mounting the pavement instead. I was safe, observing this all from yards away at a bus stop!!!

What is worse is their is no clause in the Highway Code instructing to only use the pavement with extreme caution when approach stopped high sided vehicles as oncoming cyclists going the wrong way down a one way street on the wrong side of the road may not be in a pedestrian's line of sight until too late. Worse than that, the local authority failed to put a hazard warning sign for pedestrians where the vehicle was stopped. (end of very random, possiblevery passive-aggressive stream of consciousness).

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 10:32 AM

Your choice! It's a tool - you are still in charge.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 10:18 AM

Four times in 55 years, Doug...

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 09:54 AM

Why should I have to investigate things that I wouldn't want in a million years, Doug?

Because it could save you a fine, points on your licence and possible increased insurance premiums. You have been caught 4 times. Why make it a 5th?

If you want to take account of the 10% under-reporting of your speedometer, then nudge it up a couple of mph. It's easy enough to flip it off, using the buttons on the steering wheel, if you need to get past a slow moving vehicle and then re-set it once you have completed your manoeuvre. Like all things, the more it is used, the less you have to think about it.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 06:49 AM

Vignale? Showoff! :-)

Mrs Steve has a 2018 Fiesta ST-line which is a delight. Oddly, though it's a smaller, lighter car than mine and is 100HP as opposed to my 125, it's slightly less economical, even in eco mode. And she's no speedster either! The one thing I don't like is that it's not happy in 6th gear unless you're doing at least 60.

Why should I have to investigate things that I wouldn't want in a million years, Doug? Life's too short. You'll be telling me next to get an automatic (I'd sooner rip me top off and staple me tit to a beehive...)

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 05:20 AM

Mine is a C-Max with inbuilt satnav and has no speed limiter at all. Mind you it is 7 years old now although it is the last model of C-Max they made. The inbuilt Ford Sync satnav and sound system is crap!

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 25 Aug 23 - 04:12 AM

The most unintelligent thing about my car is .....

I always heard it as "..... the nut holding the steering wheel".
;-)

My wife has a Focus Vignale and its speed limiter system is even more sophisticated than mine. If you drive a Focus, then I’m amazed that you had to ask how the speed limiter would cope with the varying speed limits on your journey into town. Even if you don’t want to use the various driver assist functions, I would have thought that sheer curiosity would have made want to find out how they work. Such an outmoded attitude to the benefits of modern technology surprises me, given your scientific background.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 07:11 PM

I had you down as a Honda Jazz man, Doug. We had one when it first came out. We traded it in when we realised that everybody else who had one was at least 30 years older than us. Anything more than an hour's drive in that thing had me needing back surgery and the short gearbox made the engine whine on the motorway. Awful thing, even though the clever back seats would let you fit a Ford Ka or something inside. I'm sure they've improved.

My Focus Titanium reads road signs but it lets me decide what to do about them. I haven't investigated whether the car can be set to decide what to do and I haven't got the faintest interest in finding out. I don't want lane assist, pre-crash assist, cruise control, telling me what gear I should be in or any of that paraphernalia. The most unintelligent thing about my car is the intelligent windscreen wipers. The problem seems to be that they don't actually know what rain is. And. The "automatic" headlights come in without fail in low, bright sun but never in fog. I do find parking sensors to be quite useful, though my son regards them as "a bit girlie." I can lock, unlock, start and stop my car without taking the key out of my pocket. My tailgate unlocks so that I don't have to put my shopping down in the dogshit while I grovel for a key. That's quite cool.

George Carlin:

"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 06:30 PM

The speed limits on that route are 20, then 60, then 50, then 30, then 40, then 30. ........ I'd be interested to hear how your speed limiter would handle that.

My car, a Honda Jazz, has two speed limiter settings:-

one where I set the limit manually, starting at the current road speed and then moving up or down in either 1 mph (short push) or 10 mph (longer push) using buttons on the steering wheel;

an 'intelligent' setting which reads the speed limit signs and adjusts the limit accordingly.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Bill D
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 06:06 PM

HuwG:

"Cyclist fails to sign in to Google when he fails to recognise any image containing traffic lights."

I love it!

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 06:06 PM

There's something very moral about doing your best to prevent serious overtaking accidents once you've managed to recognise that human beings behind the wheel can be impatient and inclined to take risks when, as they see it, they're stuck behind you. To take your argument into the absurd, you might as well say that you're aiding and abetting speeding by staying at home to watch the telly instead of going out in your car when you could be leading a convoy. It's safer all round to pull over and let them pass.

As for speed limiters, well it's four miles from my house into Bude. The speed limits on that route are 20, then 60, then 50, then 30, then 40, then 30. On the way home, the same in reverse. I'd be interested to hear how your speed limiter would handle that.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 04:51 PM

if you're an absolute stickler for the speed limit, it could mean that you're obsessed with watching your needle instead of the road ahead and behind.

Most modern cars have speed limiters. Once set, there is no need to keep watching the needle.

It's a limit, not a target. There is nothing moral about expecting someone to aid and abet others to break the law.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 03:54 PM

So you refuse to exceed the speed limit...what could that mean?

First, cars in the UK must have their speedos adjusted to be optimistic about speed. That's the law. Typically, a speedo will show around 10% above your actual speed. If your needle is stuck on 30, you are doing 26 or 27.

Second, so many of the non-speeders don't drive AT the speed limit as shown on their dial: they drive BELOW the speed limit.

Third, if you're an absolute stickler for the speed limit, it could mean that you're obsessed with watching your needle instead of the road ahead and behind.

Fourth, look in your mirror. If you're dragging your heels with an impatient convoy behind you, pull over. That's the morally correct thing to do. If you don't, you simply don't understand the failings of human nature that could lead to a horrible overtaking accident.

Fifth, you're not a policeman (unless you are a policeman). You don't have the right to impose your moral high horse on anyone else. Pull over. End of politically-incorrect rant.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 01:17 PM

Driving at the speed limit can get one into more trouble than speeding would.

In this part of the world, drivers routinely exceed the speed limit by about ten percent, and often push it more. The pedant who cleaves to the magic number at all costs will provoke fellow motorists into some spectacularly risky behaviour, especially on a two-lane highway such as Highway 7 or 8, the main drags of Perth County.

I once witnessed a motorcyclist ride the white line between such a pedant and an on-coming tractor hauling a harrow, so desperate was he to get in front of that bastard determinedly doing 79 kph in an 80 kph zone.

As for cyclists, most of them scare me when I'm driving in the city. It's not just their blithe refusal to follow the rules of the road, but also their tendency to unpredictable -- and unsignalled -- movement. The last time I nearly killed a cyclist, he was riding toward me (the wrong way) on a one-way street, in the dark. His bike may have had reflectors, but I could not see them. Fortunately, he was wearing a light-coloured tee shirt. Otherwise, he'd be dead and I'd be in court, if not jail.

Children on bikes who abruptly jink off the sidewalk to cross the street in the middle of a block -- don't get me started.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 10:45 AM

There is definitely something about getting into a car that can change some people's personalities for the worse. I was in town this afternoon when I saw a whole stream of cars moving slowly in convoy up the high street failing to let a young woman with a baby in a pushchair cross the road.

Well, Nigel, I don't watch my speedo enough I suppose but I don't exactly hare manically around the place.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 10:30 AM

It's quite clear that it is putting people in cars that causes them to become law-breakers.

Steve has assured us that back when he was cycling thousands of miles per year he never once broke the rules of the road. But put him in a car and he regularly disregards speed limits (even if he's only been caught 4 times).

It is clearly the cars themselves that are the problem.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Mr Red
Date: 24 Aug 23 - 03:17 AM

I had words from a lady as I was cutting her hedge. My reply was "Am I a citizen? Is this a right of way?" no more explanation.

narrow enclosed footpath, she was more worried about her privacy, to the point she didn't lop the tops of the fir trees and thus promote growth down lower, she still has privacy. I was concerned about kids hooning around on bikes that could be motorised. Health & safety, principally mine.

UK law allows any citizen to improve a public right of way and demands that landowners maintain their borders.

She slunk off saying "I don't like it" - I suspect she was a local councillor. She knew the law on both counts, that was clear.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Aug 23 - 08:04 PM

By the way, my background (and university degree from Imperial College) is in science. I taught science in schools up to 'A' Level for decades and I was a chief examiner at the University of London in 'A' Level biology. There is no claiming going on here, just a statement of how it actually is. I've never "claimed" to be a scientist because I do not need to. Suck it up, John, and try not to be so rude, eh?

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Aug 23 - 04:21 PM

I know that two wrongs don't make a right, and I've never held back from criticising badly-behaved cyclists (check my posts!). But, like motorists and even pedestrians, (and dog-walkers), cyclists are street/road users and all street-users need to show tolerance and understanding. Mostly they do, but in this thread we're singling out cyclists for special excoriation. I'm not sure that's entirely fair, though I wouldn't hold back on criticising the few badly-behaved ones. I think it's fair, and not thread drift or whataboutery, to point out that cyclists as a genre may not be the worst street offenders, not by a long chalk.

A few years ago I'd just emerged from the superb Bude butcher's shop (sadly, John the butcher died last year) with a couple of pounds of sausages in a carrier bag. As I made my way up towards Sainsburys a thuggish type of chap, somewhat Neanderthal in appearance, scruffy, hoodie, sort of thing, was heading towards me. He had a huge, vicious-looking dog on a heavy metal chain lead. As we passed each other his hound smelled the bangers and made a sudden lunge for my carrier bag, behind his owner's back. The chain wrapped itself round the chap's legs and he was well and truly decked. Excellent...

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 23 Aug 23 - 03:21 PM

Shout at the blatant rule-breakers by all means, ...

Take heed of my post of 19 Aug 23 - 07:28 AM.



Of course there are many drivers who will break the law if they think that they can get away with it, but two wrongs don't make right. Cyclists get away with breaking the rules because they are not generally enforced.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 23 Aug 23 - 03:19 PM

Rant on, Professor - your blustering rants and acreage of script don’t disguise the fact that you’re indulging in Whataboutery because you know you can’t ‘win’ with regard to the thread topic, and ‘winning’ is what matters most to you.

You’ve claimed, on more than one occasion, to be a ‘scientist’, yet you have no evidence whatsoever to support the claims which you always make that good dog owners are ‘in a minority’, or that owners only pick up after their dogs ‘when someone is watching’ - those are nothing more than inventions - the only evidence you do have is that **some** dog owners don’t clear up after their dogs, and you have no evidence at all of what proportion of dog owners that **some** represents. Some ‘scientist’!

You take every opportunity to post your spittle-flecked, hate-filled rants about dogs and their owners, and you started this spat with your standard anti-dog/dog owner rants, for no other reason than to draw attention away from the, in many cases, well-deserved criticism that cyclists receive. You’ll note that I don’t say ‘all’ or even ‘most’ cyclists - I’ll leave that kind of unjustifiable, broad-brush exaggeration to you.

And, if you don’t like my reaction to your attacks on dogs and their owners, don’t make those attacks. And don’t be surprised, when you do make deliberately provocative posts, that the target of your provocation reacts. When I encounter someone who’s behaved like a bell-end, I tell them to their face that they’ve behaved like a bell-end. You’ve behaved like a bell-end, so suck it up, or STFU.

Any further occurrences of you posting your know-it-all horse-shit will be treated with the contempt they deserve.

Now back to the thread topic, and people’s experiences of cyclists’ bad behaviour.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Aug 23 - 04:54 AM

Well rules of the road, Doug. Don't tell the cops but I generally break the speed limit somewhere or other most times I go out in my car. In 55 years I've been "done" just four times. The speed awareness course was hugely entertaining. The guy who ran it was a cardboard cutout of Dixon of Dock Green, knee bends and pelvic thrusts included. I see plenty of drivers speeding up to get through lights on amber, dangerously cutting corners, displaying terrible road positioning when turning right, ignoring pedestrians who are trying to cross, tailgating, undertaking...

Cyclists are easy meat. They are flesh and blood out in the open, they can hear you shout, they will always come off worse in any accident with other vehicles. Shout at the blatant rule-breakers by all means, but, generally, you can't shout at the bad drivers. Their windows are up, they can speed off, they're often elderly, etc. and there are plenty of 'em.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Aug 23 - 04:44 AM

"...we’re all sick and tired..."

"All"? Have you asked everyone on the forum, or are you a psychic, a mind reader, God? Now listen. I've already explained the connection between cyclists impacting pedestrians and dogs impacting pedestrians (and everybody really). Making that link isn't even thread drift, and, as I said, 'twas not I who introduced dogs to this thread. I'm not a profligate thread-starter, but when I do start threads I actually welcome thread drift. You don't like doggie criticisms and you're resorting to accusations of "thread drift" in order to try to shut down that criticism, even when it's nothing personal directed at you. I could suggest that your tirades of insults actually prolong these sour-faced discussions. Most human beings resent being insulted and will often bite back. So, as you claim, you're a responsible dog owner. Why wouldn't I believe you? But you are in a minority as far as I can glean from the bad behaviour of huge numbers of dog owners round here and from the undeniable evidence of the mounds of dogshit that you see everywhere. I refuse to believe that dog-owning Bude residents are any different to those anywhere else. I don't like cyclists on pavements or who jump traffic lights either, but (observational evidence again) this is an extremely popular area for cyclists, both locals and holidaymakers. Almost all of them behave as they should and are non-threatening to pedestrians. They are also quiet, non-polluting and they don't leave their poo or poo-smears everywhere. The few who do break the rules fully deserve to be shouted at, of course. I suppose it could be different in some urban areas.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 23 Aug 23 - 04:30 AM

Most cyclists are law-abiding and considerate to pedestrians and road-users.

To use your words upthread, it's a very subjective observation. I don't have any figures so I want say 'most' but many cyclists seem to think that the rules of the road are for guidance and open to their personal interpretation. I used to cycle a lot before I got my free bus pass and, like you Steve, I always followed the rules of the road. I used to find it just as annoying as a cyclist as in my car, to see other cyclists threading their way through crossing traffic against red lights, ignoring no-entry signs or cycling on pedestrian-only paths.

Our local paper is reporting that, this week, seven people have been fined for breaking the cycling ban in the pedestrianised area of the town centre.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 23 Aug 23 - 02:42 AM

The thread is about cyclists. Whataboutery is the refuge of a scoundrel who knows he has no case. If you want to discuss dogs, their owners, and their shortcomings, feel free to start another thread instead of fucking this one up?

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 23 Aug 23 - 02:34 AM

Whatever you claim to ‘feel like’, you sound like an over-opinionated, big-mouth hater who never grew up and got over his childish fear of dogs, nor his hatred of both dogs and their owners. Change the record, Professor Knowitall, we’re all sick and tired of that cacophony.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Aug 23 - 06:10 PM

Cyclists are using an environmentally-friendly mode of transport. Most cyclists are law-abiding and considerate to pedestrians and road-users. As in every walk of life, there are a few rogues. Fair enough. Have a go. The vast majority of dog-owners cannot control their dogs and many of them behave with a completely unjustified sense of entitlement. Their pets shit and piss in the streets that the rest of us inhabit. You can't clear up your dog's piss and even if you pick up the shit (which most don't if no-one's looking) you leave a nice smear that can spread disease. My bike cost me thousands but your dog cost you next to nothing and you don't need to pay for a licence, to pay for collecting the shit from those revolting bins or to pay for getting your dog properly trained. Hotels, pubs and cafes have got to be "dog-friendly" or else risk losing custom. The dog lobby is untouchable. One false anti-dog move by a politician would get them thrown out of office, rather like those anti-gun lobby politicians in America. Yet, in this great dog-loving nation of ours, it's those cyclists who get the flack every time. Sometimes, I feel like a still, small voice...

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: HuwG
Date: 22 Aug 23 - 05:27 PM

Some of my friends keep trying to get spoof news items into mainstream news.

One of their efforts was:

"Cyclist fails to sign in to Google when he fails to recognise any image containing traffic lights."

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 22 Aug 23 - 12:22 PM

And Madcap Maud was there, me boys, a fearsome sight was she
With her turbo ton-up trolley, a dreadful sight to see
With not a care for life and limb, she sped along the aisles
And many a poor shopper's life, each week was brought to trial.
.....

So I drew out my chequebook, and the tension I could feel
As Madcap Maud behind me rammed her trolley in my heel.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Aug 23 - 06:36 AM

It's a very subjective observation, but I can't help thinking that there's a general increase in selfishness and downright philistinism all round. Even in good old friendly Bude, a supermarket trolley will head towards you at speed in the veg aisle and, as you jump out of the way, the perpetrator will say "Oops, sorry!" I always tell them that they're not sorry at all...

Maybe it's the world getting more crowded or people getting more miserable or something. Or me getting older and slower.

We use the Camel Trail and the Tarka Trail a lot on our bikes. The trails are intended for all and sundry: cyclists of all ages, pedestrians, runners, joggers, kiddie pushchairs, invalid scooters, the lot. There's a tacit understanding among all users that everyone shows tolerance, consideration and good manners to everyone else. It works.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 22 Aug 23 - 05:56 AM

... parents would do something to make sure that their little darlings behaved themselves when they are out on their bikes.

As I said above, it's cyclists of all ages who use the pedestrian-only footpath. In fact, when they are going to and from school in their uniforms, the kids generally use the cycle track. At other times, the youngsters tend to be the ones who are prepared to go 'off-road' and go round you on the grass verge. The nearer to retiring age, the more likely the cyclist is to head straight for you.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 22 Aug 23 - 05:27 AM

If we had the confidence, we could stand our ground, it would be the cyclists who would be held accountable, and the insurance companies picking up the tab through their uninsured drivers claims premium they charge to motorists. If that means that motor insurance premiums were under threat to double or triple then parents would do something to make sure that their little darlings behaved themselves when they are out on their bikes.

Subject: RE: BS: Bleeping Cyclist
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 22 Aug 23 - 05:10 AM

I think that most cyclists ............. would not wish to harm or inconvenience pedestrians.

I live on a main road. It has a segregated cycle/pedestrian path on one side, marked by a white line and separated from the road by a grass verge. The other side of the road is for pedestrians only, who walk next to the kerb with a grass verge on the inside. There is not really enough room on the footpath itself for pedestrians and cyclists to pass safely. Despite the provision of the cycle path, cyclists of all ages use either side of the road as they want and many seem to expect pedestrians on the footpath to step aside.

DC