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• #152
I used to have a bit of time for that Tom Hodgkinson guy, but time has suggested him to be an over-privileged fool, whose woes revolve around the tribulations inherent in finding the perfect enclave in which to live out his Idler fantasy.
But let's leave his face out of it, shall we? One's face is one's face, and there's not very much one can do about that.
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• #153
This (to morgan)
Now that you have a proper light get yourself down there after 1800; its lovely without traffic.
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• #154
Banning cars is not the answer as it will fill the road with pedestrians, children on balance bikes, stabilisers, dog walkers etc.
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• #155
there's quite a lot I would like to do to his face
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• #156
@amey my back is still a little to temperamental for the 30km of there-and-back to get to Richmond and do any significant riding, unfortunately.
@will_s there are small tracks by the side of the road, eh? they get used now, don't see why people would forsake the park just to walk on the tarmac cause there are no cars.
p.s. half the bastards wobbling around Richmond could do with stabilisers anyway, no worries there.
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• #157
@will_s there are small tracks by the side of the road, eh? they get used now, don't see why people would forsake the park just to walk on the tarmac cause there are no cars.
It's human nature to spread out and use up as much space as possible, especially if it's a novelty that you can walk 'where the cars used to go'. I agree with @will_s in that banning cars completely would make it far worse for cyclists wishing to do laps on the road.
My theory is that the majority of hassle in the park comes from motorists who are using it as a short cut to get from A to B and they're annoyed at being 'held up' by cyclists.
The majority of people who have parked up and wandered around (walkers, runners, cyclists, twitcher-botherers, etc) have less of a sense of urgency to get through the park when arriving/leaving (there are, of course, exceptions).
One of the best ideas I can think of is to have some system of tickets or ANPR cameras and barriers at each gate that charge a small fee for exit except:
- Vehicles leaving by the same gate they came in through
- Vehicles who have stayed in the park for more than, say, 30 minutes
This allows free use of the park but charges for people using it as a cut through.
- Vehicles leaving by the same gate they came in through
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• #158
One's face is one's face, and there's not very much one can do about that.
I disagree
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• #159
My theory is that the majority of hassle in the park comes from motorists who are using it as a short cut to get from A to B and they're annoyed at being 'held up' by cyclists.
Yet they always drive a little over 20mph, sometime 25mph generally.
Unfortunately there have been some campaign to not "fine" people for parking (!).
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• #160
My theory is that the majority of hassle in the park comes from
Different model use in shared spaces:
- People on bicycles and people in cars, on the roadway
- People on foot and people on bicycles, on the Tamsin trail
The default, as ever, is that it is the people on bicycles that are the problem, whereas the truth is probably closer to it being the people that are the problem, irrespective of how they move around.
- People on bicycles and people in cars, on the roadway
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• #161
The Idler used to be a good magazine, that's just lazy reactionary piffle, it's a shame they don't have comments btl.
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• #162
It's weird, because if you're walking around Richmond Park generally, you're not going to notice how much traffic there is on the road - the place is pretty big and the speedy cyclists perceived to be the problem are only interested in doing laps, so they stick to the Park's main road. So aside from the moment your average pedestrian wishes to cross the road into the park's interior, how is the amount of traffic even an issue?
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• #163
In about 5 years of 'doing laps' i haven't even once visited the park for any other reason .. haven't been to/seen the pond or Isabella plantation either ..
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• #164
You should, it's really very nice.
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• #165
Ah you should, its great, and much of it is completely isolated. One may as well complain about people walking dogs or the presence of deer, so innocuous is it all. In fact, the only people with genuine cause to complain about the cyclists are other cyclists (indicate when you're turning into that cafe near Roaehampton Gate, for Christ's sake).
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• #166
Probably best to direct comments to his tweets here - https://twitter.com/idleracademy
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• #167
They've tweeted a link to the article saying "we've angered cyclists with this piece".
So basically they don't give a fuck, and assume no one who reads their shit rides a bike.
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• #168
Mmmm, that suggests it was click-bait, which is just journalistic, well, if not whoring it's at least like dancing like a monkey in an Iceland advert with Kerry Katona. It's not adding anything, what was the point of the article "some people went fast in the park"? Counter-culture my arse.
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• #169
I've never attained a 20mph speed in the park. I did once overtake an old chap on a knackered hybrid that looked to welded from scaffolding tubes and managed a frisson of excitement.
Can't recall any unpleasantness from motorists. I like the park it creates a feeling of relaxation. A bit like living in an ambient fog. -
• #170
Actually, from a cycling point of view, the 'Möbius Strip' grows old pretty quickly.
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• #171
On the other hand, every_time I ride there someone in a car does something douchey, usually the old close overtake at 30mph with a cut in and sudden slam on the brakes, because, FRONT I MUST BE IN FRONT, I MUST GET TO THE SHOPS.
I actually had a run in with a driver pulling an bonkers-dangerous overtake in plane sight of the po-po there that was subsiquently handled so cack-handedly I received a grovelling excuses laden but someone apologetic call from the head of parks police several days later. There is a problem with RP, but it's not the cyclists, no mater how douchey they may seem.
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• #172
Actually, for much of it, it's hard to go at anything other than 20 mph +, no?
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• #173
I've been to RP once, it was full of cyclists riding like wank-canoes, it really irritated me. I assume it's one massive strava segment, judging by the knobbery I saw.
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• #174
Strava has fucked things up no doubt.
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• #175
I will ask WAc Goldsmith to ban Stravar in RP.
anyway, the answer is obvious. Ban cars apart from necessary park business.