On Yer bike!

[pSinatra]

Excellent, cheers for the tip. I was going to try the other City Cycles branch in Thurmaston but I think I'll give them a miss - Raleigh haven't exactly got a great reputation anymore

 

The place looks a right shithole from the outside (& it ain't much better inside).  It's like going back in time, but the bloke seems to know his stuff.

If you're looking for the basics & your bike isn't worth thousands - he's just the job.

 

 

As for cycling being dangerous, how I got away with one accident I had, I'll never know.  It was 100% my own fault.

I was cycling along a cycle path at around 7 in the morning in a quiet residential area.  I had cycled along the same path hundreds of times, it's flat & you can build up some good speed.  There are a few junctions, leading into cul de sacs.  I was flying along doing 20-25 mph as I approached a junction.  I was free-wheeling, but I didn't really slow down.  I had never had to stop at that junction before at that time of the morning.  From behind a fence, a car suddenly appeared at the junction & stopped.  I didn't even have time to hit the brakes & I slammed into the passenger door.  I don't know how, but I was vaulted up & over the car's roof, landing on my back the other side of the car.......with the bike still in my hands.  The driver (a young lad) got out to check I was alright.  He was shitting himself.  I told him I was fine & asked how his car was?  He told me not to worry about it.  To both our amazement, I simply got up & carried on cycling to work.  I twisted my knee slightly & had grazed my back, but apart from that I was fine & so was the bike.

 

That was my fault, but I've been hit/clipped several times that weren't.  As others have said, people turning right out of junctions & a couple of times by people reversing out of their drives.  It has made me a more careful driver though.  Not that I ever considered myself dangerous, but I'm almost OCD about cyclists when pulling up at junctions.

[Zingari]

That was the easy bit, the hard part was pissing on them as they lay in the gutter.

[Rincewind]

do you like anyone but yourself Matt?

[Alexikokopops]

You've got to be bonkers to want to cycle through London every day, I've knocked two over whilst being in Taxis down there in a very limited time.

 

One of them not just content with being pushed on his arse also had the indignity of being kicked in whilst still on the floor by a fat bald headed West Ham supporting cabbie after giving him some mouth.

 

I like to think about this since I spend 100 minutes a day on the roads of London. My current theory is that the biggest problem cyclists are those that don't drive (of which you get a lot more in London since I'd say a lot more people don't drive than elsewhere) and so they don't realise the things that can me really pissing annoying when you're driving a car. The biggest problem drivers are those that never cycle because they don't know the seemingly small things that can piss of a cyclist. I have no idea whether this is actually the case but I have a lot of time to think about things.

 

Obviously the above doesn't include Addison Lee drivers. They're all cunts. It's not a surprise when their owner is an absolute helmet.

 

Oh, and another theory is that people don't spend enough time planning their route and will go the most obvious way past the most mental junctions when a small change can make a world of difference in both safety and enjoyment.

[promised land]

Excellent, cheers for the tip. I was going to try the other City Cycles branch in Thurmaston but I think I'll give them a miss - Raleigh haven't exactly got a great reputation anymore

If you're thinking of independent bike shops in that area then Cyclops in Syston beats the lot.

I'm not associated with them but have been using them for years now, very good service, cheap and friendly and always got time for a chat, show you new kit etc. Family run as well.

[hackneyfox]

Why are people with a child allowed? If there is space for someone with a child to cycle on a pavement, why not someone without a child but cycling just as carefully?

 

If people are sensible then there is no harm in allowing cyclists on the pavement, as long as they respect pedestrians and use some common sense, unfortunately all common sense has been regulated out of people.

You can't expect most kids under 10 to be able to ride on a main road (my lad has received loads of training so is confident and capable enough at 8 to go on the road), if the kid is on the pavement then the adult should be there with them.

There isn't enough room for both pedestrians and cyclists on the pavement, it's easier and safer to keep them on the road, cyclists are not going to keep their speed down to 4mph on the pavement.

[Bert]

Well if they cycle on the road then that wouldn't be a problem

If they don't have a helmet on they're permitted to cycle on the pedestrian area.

[hackneyfox]

If they don't have a helmet on they're permitted to cycle on the pedestrian area.

Only bikes with small wheels are allowed on pavements, bikes with full size wheels are not allowed on the pavement whatever the cyclist is wearing.

[ADK]

You can't expect most kids under 10 to be able to ride on a main road (my lad has received loads of training so is confident and capable enough at 8 to go on the road), if the kid is on the pavement then the adult should be there with them.

There isn't enough room for both pedestrians and cyclists on the pavement, it's easier and safer to keep them on the road, cyclists are not going to keep their speed down to 4mph on the pavement.

 

It's not safe at all on the road for cyclists, that is the point. And at < 10 MPH you have plenty of time to manoeuvre around pedestrians. I don't see why an adult should be allowed onto the pavement or even a child if it is so unsafe.

 

The absolute best solution would be proper cycle paths that are physically separated from both the road and the pavement.

[Alexikokopops]

It's not safe at all on the road for cyclists, that is the point. And at < 10 MPH you have plenty of time to manoeuvre around pedestrians. I don't see why an adult should be allowed onto the pavement or even a child if it is so unsafe.

 

The absolute best solution would be proper cycle paths that are physically separated from both the road and the pavement.

 

To be honest as someone who cycles 20 miles a day on London roads I don't think it's so dangerous we all need to decamp onto the pavement.

[hackneyfox]

It's not safe at all on the road for cyclists, that is the point. And at < 10 MPH you have plenty of time to manoeuvre around pedestrians. I don't see why an adult should be allowed onto the pavement or even a child if it is so unsafe.

 

The absolute best solution would be proper cycle paths that are physically separated from both the road and the pavement.

 

 

To be honest as someone who cycles 20 miles a day on London roads I don't think it's so dangerous we all need to decamp onto the pavement.

Spot on, it's a lot safer than it used to be, pisses me off in spades seeing cyclists on pavements especially when wearing a helmet.

If people think cycling is dangerous they shouldn't make walking dangerous by cycling on the pavement.

At 10mph you don't have time to stop should a pedestrian suddenlt stepa round the person in front of them and just how many cyclists restrict their speed to 10mph.

[hackneyfox]

The absolute best solution would be proper cycle paths that are physically separated from both the road and the pavement.

If we were building new towns and cities I'd agree but that isn't the case. In London tere are a few areas (Bloomsbury Sq) where they have created seperated cycle paths, the only problem being that they aren't wide enough so you can only go at the speed of the slowest cyclist hence me using the road.

[Alexikokopops]

If we were building new towns and cities I'd agree but that isn't the case. In London tere are a few areas (Bloomsbury Sq) where they have created seperated cycle paths, the only problem being that they aren't wide enough so you can only go at the speed of the slowest cyclist hence me using the road.

 

Have you seen what they've done on Royal College Street up near Camden Town? I used to cycle up it on the way home (before I moved office) and it's great. There's enough room to overtake slower cyclists and you're segregated from the traffic. Top notch.

http://www.camdencyclists.org.uk/newsitems/ccc/royal-college-street-cycle-track

 

Are you talking about that bit of cycle lane on Tavistock Place? That is truly awful. There's a campaign at the moment to improve it which has a video that gives an idea of how bad it can be.

http://camdencyclists.org.uk/camden/campaigns/ssl-upgrade

[Alexikokopops]

In my opinion cycling on the road is largely fine if you isolate two factors:

1. HGVs - the visibility is poor for drivers when it comes to seeing cyclists, and I think not enough cyclists realise how bad it is and do stupid things around them
2. Cycle Super Highways giving cyclists a false sense of security

They're more pressing issues than starting to come up with solutions involving cyclists on pavements.

[ADK]

I walk and cycle and drive and I would feel more comfortable as a pedestrian with cyclists going slowly on pavements than as a cyclist on roads with cars.

 

You can still get hit by cyclists on pavements anyway because the sort of people who cycle irresponsibly on pavements aren't going to care about the 0.0000001 % chance of receiving a £30 fine.

 

I suppose at the end of the day there will be people who are ok with the risk of road cycling and those who are not. I am not and therefore I don't cycle often which is a shame as it is healthy and less environmentally disruptive.

[Alexikokopops]

I walk and cycle and drive and I would feel more comfortable as a pedestrian with cyclists going slowly on pavements than as a cyclist on roads with cars.

 

You can still get hit by cyclists on pavements anyway because the sort of people who cycle irresponsibly on pavements aren't going to care about the 0.0000001 % chance of receiving a £30 fine.

 

I suppose at the end of the day there will be people who are ok with the risk of road cycling and those who are not. I am not and therefore I don't cycle often which is a shame as it is healthy and less environmentally disruptive.

 

I think while it would be nice if cyclists could cycle on the pavement and it all worked out, in practice it would probably end in tears. That's why more effort should be put into addressing the reasons why you (and many others) feel unsafe on the road. I can't say enough positive stuff about what they've done on Royal College Street in London (I know I mentioned it earlier but it's ace!) because it's a solution that works for both cyclists (segregated area from cars that you're not trapped in) and works for cars too (cyclists are out the way and aren't tempted to ignore the cycle lane because it's wide enough to over take).

 

I think one thing to look at, if the Government really is serious about improving cycling (London in particular) would be banning HGVs from city centres in rush hour (like they do in Paris). The vast majority of cycling fatalities involve HGVs, and not necessarily through any fault of the driver or cyclist. They're just awful for visibility when it comes to someone on a bike.

 

I'm probably repeating myself in this thread a lot so sorry to everyone if I am!

[hackneyfox]

Have you seen what they've done on Royal College Street up near Camden Town? I used to cycle up it on the way home (before I moved office) and it's great. There's enough room to overtake slower cyclists and you're segregated from the traffic. Top notch.

http://www.camdencyclists.org.uk/newsitems/ccc/royal-college-street-cycle-track

 

Are you talking about that bit of cycle lane on Tavistock Place? That is truly awful. There's a campaign at the moment to improve it which has a video that gives an idea of how bad it can be.

http://camdencyclists.org.uk/camden/campaigns/ssl-upgrade

Shows how you can improve things and what putting an idiot in charge of things can do.

[Captain...]

To be honest as someone who cycles 20 miles a day on London roads I don't think it's so dangerous we all need to decamp onto the pavement.

 

It's not about getting all cyclists onto the pavement, it is about giving cyclist the freedom to assess the dangers of a situation and take the safest action. I would cycle more if I knew that on one horrible section of road I could just hop on the pavement and trundle along at 5mph to get past a junction/stretch of busy road where I don't feel safe.

[Guest Col city fan]

The biggest joke about cycling around the City have been the cycle lanes on roads. Not the ones that take you away from roads (Like the Great Central Way), they are fine. But the ones on roads have become so faint that they are no longer safe. They seem to have been done, then basically neglected. They also seem to make such little sense, stopping at random points, then starting again half a mile later.

Finally, the big green boxes at traffic lights? Well, they were green, they are now pretty much grey. What are they about? I literally never see cyclists filling those boxes. Maybe one at the side of the road, but they never seem to be used?

[FoxesAreBlue]

Plus the road surfaces in the bus lanes are fvcking awful

[Rincewind]

This is about cycling but it is also a video so I' could post it in videos as well. It's only a couple of minutes long.

 

[hackneyfox]

It's not about getting all cyclists onto the pavement, it is about giving cyclist the freedom to assess the dangers of a situation and take the safest action. I would cycle more if I knew that on one horrible section of road I could just hop on the pavement and trundle along at 5mph to get past a junction/stretch of busy road where I don't feel safe.

You could hop off your bike and walk on the pavement with it at 4mph.

[Captain...]

Today a woman cycled past me today laden down with shopping almost in tears, crying out for the bus to "stop it" as it was very close to her and not slowing down. It was unable to go round here due to a traffic island, but then it was a bus lane, I'm not sure if cyclists are permitted to cycle in a bus lane, but to not cycle in the bus lane would mean having to cut across the traffic and get in the right lane. I couldn't help thinking the bus driver was being a bit of a dick because she was a cyclist in his bus lane.

 

Not sure what my point is, but I thought I would share.

[Alexikokopops]

Today a woman cycled past me today laden down with shopping almost in tears, crying out for the bus to "stop it" as it was very close to her and not slowing down. It was unable to go round here due to a traffic island, but then it was a bus lane, I'm not sure if cyclists are permitted to cycle in a bus lane, but to not cycle in the bus lane would mean having to cut across the traffic and get in the right lane. I couldn't help thinking the bus driver was being a bit of a dick because she was a cyclist in his bus lane.

Not sure what my point is, but I thought I would share.

In London at least cyclists and motorbikes are allowed in bus lanes

[Captain...]

In London at least cyclists and motorbikes are allowed in bus lanes

 

In London it was, so it was just a bus driver being a dick.