Would be interesting if the worlds petrol reserves ran dry, then amidst the anarchy perhaps bicycles would arise triumphant?
It’s called the VAMPIRE index. Check it out.
In the book “It’s all about the Bike” Robert Penn argues that the redevelopment of roads from muddy tracks into surfaces covered in tarmac was due to the rise in popularity of cycling at the end of the 19th century. Therefore cyclists have an historical stake in road ownership. I mentioned this to a young chap in a ute the other day who hailed me with the expression “Get off the road faggot!”
You’re lucky he didn’t call you a goose faggot.
Some blog I was reading the other day raised this question: the point was made that society would be in such a state of calamitous meltdown that bikes would be the last thing on anyone’s mind. But it sure would be fun on the roads until we hit ultimate chaos and people started eating each other.
Does that support my theory?
This describes every day of my morning commute.
I used to see more badly behanved drivers than I saw bad cyclists, now, with the recent influx of new riders, it’s actually the other way around.
There’s the problem… the arseholes are taking up riding and leaving the car at home!
Nexus said “There’s the problem… the arseholes are taking up riding and leaving the car at home!”
This is a real problem.
I reckon most of us have a live-and-let-live attitude to other cyclists, and no-one really wants to ruin their own ride by getting into an argument with some f#ck-head cyclists (hereafter known as ‘FHCs’) who has just done something stupid and dangerous on their bike. At the same time:
[ul]
[li]if we want drivers’ perceptions of cyclists to improve (if only because we want drivers to be more careful of cyclists);
[/li][li]if we don’t want to be associated with the FHCs; and
[/li][li]given that there aren’t enough police around to keep the FHCs in line (what boyracer said about this makes a lot of sense),[/ul]
[/li]then I think we all have a vested interest, if not a moral obligation, to ‘police our own’.
So the question is: what should you say to a FHC when you see them doing something stupid and dangerous? Any suggestions?
PS - I’m not talking about any vigilante action here. I’m just talking about telling a FHC who’s done something stupid that they’ve done something stupid so that they recognise their own behaviour, so they realise its not cool and, hopefully, so that they won’t do it again.
^ tough one.
One thing I HATE, is riders leaning on cars at lights.
Or other cyclists pulling up at the lights when you are already there, and then pulling in front of you, and taking off veeery slowly.
EDIT:actually, that’s just a whinge and added nothing to the discussion…
trigger’s bro (hereafter known as TB) was telling me about a chat he had recently with a FHC.
he basically pulled the guy up after he ran a few reds and said “i’m not telling you how to ride your bike, but running reds makes the rest of us look bad in front of the very people we complain about all the time (motorists). i’m not trying to have a go or start an argument, but it seems pretty pointless running reds in the CBD as you always get caught somewhere else anyway, so maybe just have a think about it next time instead of breezing through the lights just coz it happens to be safe to do so.”
i may have paraphrased that somewhat, but from what TB tells me, the guy was a bit miffed at first, but i think he was rather receptive in the end.
i think in the end, if you’re going to pull someone up for it, it’s all about how you do it. if you come across aggressive, people will immediately get their back up and go on the defensive. it’s the same with motorists, the best results i’ve had have come from a calm approach, as opposed to the ranting and raving “rangfury” approach i used to employ.
that said, i am tempted every day to scream at fellow cyclists “what the fuck is wrong with you, are you fucking colourblind or just retarded?!?!?!?!?!?!?!”
I’ve pulled riders up for being shit before. Rolled up next to a recumbent rider and gave them a serve for not riding a real bike – it was very easy.
I suggest starting with a compliment like “I like your beard and high-vis vest” and then frame your complaint as a polite question “But seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you people?”
Why don’t you look it up and see?
Timely article from Carlton Reid on the same topic in the UK
19th century cyclists paved the way for modern motorists’ roads | Carlton Reid | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Excerpt from Punch in 1907
“The roads were made for me; years ago they were made. Wise rulers saw me coming and made roads. Now that I am come they go on making roads – making them up. For I break things. Roads I break and Rules of the Road. Statutory limits were made for me. I break them. I break the dull silence of the country. Sometimes I break down, and thousands flock round me, so that I dislocate the traffic. But I am the Traffic.”
Agreed. You have a civic duty to a) lead by example and b) politely draw the attention of FHCs to the error of their ways.
Bikes don’t (usually) come with instructions about how to use them safely and responsibly on roads. You just buy a bike and dive in to the melee. There aren’t many places for novice riders to find out how to use them safely and responsibly or how the road codes/laws/acts apply to them, at least not without some voluntary, conscious effort on their part. Club riders get shown good habits in races and training rides but we’re not talking about them.
If we’re honest most of us would have to admit admit to being an FHC or indulging in FHC behaviour in our early evolution as riders and somebody at some stage would have called us on it, whether here on a forum, out on a group ride with mates or a stranger out on the street. Or maybe we learned good habits by osmosis or by watching what was going on around us and learning from it.
In the absence of any formal education about bike riding, or a rider license/permit scheme* with appropriate testing, we ought to pass on our good learning. A FHC might give us a two-word response if you point out their error or politely suggest a better alternative but they’ll never get the message if we don’t give it to them.
*I don’t endorse this BTW