I really need to get a few recent incidents off my chest and thought that STF would be a good place to vent. I cycle to work, my route taking me down Sydenham Road, then through Catford, Lewisham and Greenwich to Canary Wharf. Just this week:
- Riding along Sydenham Road, outside the library, I see a couple of people on the pavement. One counts "1, 2, 3, now!" at which point his friend spits a huge ball of snot/phlegm into my path. It misses, just. They laugh and the spitter comments "start counting a bit later next time".
- Riding along Queensthorpe Road, I am run into a parked car by an oncoming car doing ~40mph and zig-zagging left-to-right as it drives along the road. A head pops out of one of the windows and laughs.
- Riding towards Sydenham on the very narrow part of Catford Hill, a car is following close behind. Traffic queueing in the opposite direction means there's not enough room for him to pass safely. I'm no slouch, but he still gives me seven or eight quick blasts of the horn before passing so close that his wing mirror touches my elbow, then speeds off. I catch him up as he waits in a queue of traffic at Bell Green.
These incidents really depress me and make me want to move out of the area. I don't want to have to put up with people like the ones above. I don't see what they get out of it, or why they think they have the right to do it, and most importantly of all, I don't see how it's going to change.
Rant over. On the positive side, I had a lovely, sunny ride to work this morning.
Some People
Stuff like that is depresing Chazza, but look on the bright side - it's like that everywhere! 
My mum lives in a quaint little village in the countryside. You can't even go for a walk there as you will probably get killed. One time we were walking along the road, right close to the hedge and a car very nearly ran us over as it turned the corner at 90 miles an hour, and it then had the cheek to beep at us angrily and give us rude gestures as though we were in the wrong for walking down the road.
My mum lives in a quaint little village in the countryside. You can't even go for a walk there as you will probably get killed. One time we were walking along the road, right close to the hedge and a car very nearly ran us over as it turned the corner at 90 miles an hour, and it then had the cheek to beep at us angrily and give us rude gestures as though we were in the wrong for walking down the road.
999Gaz wrote:I get really annoyed with cars that do not stop at zebra crossing - esp when I've planted one foot off the kerb!
Is there a phone-line, or better still, an email address at the cop-shop where you can complain about the cars and supply their registration number?
if the car is driving dangerously - which would cover not stopping at zebras or swerving about - then call it up immediately.
There's not much that can be done after the event, but if its out and about at that time there is a fair chance a patrol car might pick them up.
It''s not so much the attitude to cyclists that gets me, it's the attitude to other people in general. For example, someone threw a lit cigarette butt onto my drive on Monday, just as I arrived home. I said, "I'll pick that up for you" and was swiftly told to f*** off.
I think you're right Tim, it's probably just London, or big cities in general.
I think you're right Tim, it's probably just London, or big cities in general.
WOW!!!! Are you saying that you cycle from Orpington to London Victoria everyday??????Ginge wrote:I've recently bought a place in Orpington and cycle to work in Victoria everyday and its exactly the same, I just shout rude things at them in the hope the lights won't change to red and they catch up!
I think he's saying that they'll catch up WHEN the lights change to red and he has to wait at them... the only way any cars catch me up in London when I'm on the bike is when we both have to wait at reds.bensonby wrote:you're not implying that you cycle through red lights are you?!Ginge wrote:I've recently bought a place in Orpington and cycle to work in Victoria everyday and its exactly the same, I just shout rude things at them in the hope the lights won't change to red and they catch up!
Chazza,
I would love to cycle around and about, but i couldn't even cycle till i was about 40+ (never had a bike as a kid--AHHHHHHHHH) but i am far to nervous to even try in London, I think if the cycle lanes were somehow seperated ( Line of bricks?) I and i'm sure loads of others would get out of their car and cycle.
Not very practical i know.
I would love to cycle around and about, but i couldn't even cycle till i was about 40+ (never had a bike as a kid--AHHHHHHHHH) but i am far to nervous to even try in London, I think if the cycle lanes were somehow seperated ( Line of bricks?) I and i'm sure loads of others would get out of their car and cycle.
Not very practical i know.
Can I shock you - I don't like cycle lanes. They're usually full of debris, they force you into the side of the road (which might not be the safest place to be) and they reinforce some drivers' impressions that bikes don't belong on the road. London traffic might seem quite scary at first sight, but it moves so slowly that it's actually not too bad to cycle around in! Get on a bike and give it a go...!
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danstevens
- Posts: 116
- Joined: 6 Oct 2004 09:46
- Location: Sydenham
Chazza wrote:It''s not so much the attitude to cyclists that gets me, it's the attitude to other people in general. For example, someone threw a lit cigarette butt onto my drive on Monday, just as I arrived home. I said, "I'll pick that up for you" and was swiftly told to f*** off.
I think you're right Tim, it's probably just London, or big cities in general.
I think that's the key really.
I ride bikes (pedal and motorised) and drive cars and trucks, and I find road manners to all users have disappeared completely these days.
I tend to confine my pushbike riding to quiet roads and offroad areas, but I get squeezed around on my motorbike (and we aren't talking about a moped, it's a big bugger that would leave a serious dent in your car!) and I recently got tailgated in my car, whilst adopting the astonishing tactic of sticking to the speed limit as I approached a speed camera.........
I also got spat at a few weeks ago, when I was forced (by temporary traffic lights) to drive slowly past a gang of 'yoofs' outside the shops in Wells Park Road; I might have had some understanding as to why they felt they should evacuate their sinuses on my bonnet, had I been driving a Bentley Continental GT, but I was in my 20 year old Volvo estate, so their motivation escapes me.
But my favourite move is when it's obvious that two vehicles cannot pass but, although normal etiquette would suggest that I have right of way, the oncoming driver presses on as though their life depends on it, then gets all shook up when they find I'm not giving way, because I can't.
I particularly enjoy this when I'm in my loaded recovery truck; notwithstanding the fact that I make it quite clear that I am a potential hazard, by having more flashing lights than a West End nightclub, how they expect me to pull over into a space barely big enough for a Smart, when I'm in a 25 foot long, 4 tonne truck, is anyone's guess.
A car maliciously swerving about may well warrant a 999 call; however, I think I'd be the one more likely to be arrested if I were to call the emergency line every day to say yet another car has just gone over the zebra without stopping!bensonby wrote:999Gaz wrote:I get really annoyed with cars that do not stop at zebra crossing - esp when I've planted one foot off the kerb!
Is there a phone-line, or better still, an email address at the cop-shop where you can complain about the cars and supply their registration number?
if the car is driving dangerously - which would cover not stopping at zebras or swerving about - then call it up immediately.
There's not much that can be done after the event, but if its out and about at that time there is a fair chance a patrol car might pick them up.
You make it sound like I use main roads just to be awkward. I use them because they're the fastest way to get from A to B and, usually, the only way. I pay my council tax, so I should be allowed to use the road network.danstevens wrote:If you insist on cycling on main roads you should expect to experience all the nastiness that goes with it
Why should I "expect to experience" people spitting at me?
Ermmm,
I also cycle, daily to town.
I have a confession, last week I may have ran a red light in forest hill just as a group of people with learning difficulties where crossing. I widely missed them but the carer with them shouted at me that there was a red light.
I am so so sorry ( if you are reading ), i will pay more attention from now on.
The day after I was narrowly missed by a local children's nurseries mini bus.
Karma.
I also cycle, daily to town.
I have a confession, last week I may have ran a red light in forest hill just as a group of people with learning difficulties where crossing. I widely missed them but the carer with them shouted at me that there was a red light.
I am so so sorry ( if you are reading ), i will pay more attention from now on.
The day after I was narrowly missed by a local children's nurseries mini bus.
Karma.
You're clearly not aware of lots of the dross that comes over the 999 system... Its hardly wasting police time to inform them of vehicles that are driving in a dangerous fashion then and there. It is, after all, a crime in progress. A car not stopping at a zebra is, at the very least, driving without due care and attention.Gaz wrote: A car maliciously swerving about may well warrant a 999 call; however, I think I'd be the one more likely to be arrested if I were to call the emergency line every day to say yet another car has just gone over the zebra without stopping!
I'd have to agree with Chazza, some cycle paths do have a knack of taking you round the houses a little, fine if you're on a nice pootle but not necessarily what you want on your way to and from work.danstevens wrote:
If you insist on cycling on main roads you should expect to experience all the nastiness that goes with it
You make it sound like I use main roads just to be awkward. I use them because they're the fastest way to get from A to B and, usually, the only way. I pay my council tax, so I should be allowed to use the road network.
Why should I "expect to experience" people spitting at me?
As someone who cycles from Sydenham up to Mile End each day it does baffle me someday's quite how pushy and rude some drivers can be.
I'll also take the opportunity to vent about dog owners who make no effort to control their dog when they're walking it on the cycle path from Sydenham/Catford/Ladywell, happy to share the space with you but please don't make me come to a grinding halt because your dog is running around the path and you don't feel you should in any way control it. I'll happily slow down when passing people and dogs but stopping is just tiresome.