Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

I plan to!

Good.

I'd dread the think what the consequences would be if our DS got such a report.

Your DS? You'll probably get fined 200CHF and/or given a 30second penalty on the day's commute.

We can only wish for such leniency. It normally involves a hot poker.

Had a bit of a moment today coming through se1 where two riders waited until a 90deg right bend to overtake me, a narrow bend so they were fully on the 'wrong' side of the road. Made me seethe a bit, if only cos they're putting me in danger as well as themselves.

But I seethed silently.

FFS

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/11940680/Why-do-cyclists-think-they-can-do-anything-they-like.html

P.s. Nice pic of tweed ride tho, any "on here"?

I especially like the photograph captioned 'Inner city cyclists clearly hold the Highway Code in contempt,' that shows everyone waiting patiently at a red light.......

let me guess: angela epstein, ghost writer of books on how to avoid legal proceedings as a driver and another in a seemingly endless parade of low rent semi-pro rent-a-gobs with zero credibility given a platform for her naked idiocy by a failing newspaper in desperate need of some ad-click revenue. sadly her fuckwitted, unchallenged opinions will merely embolden the sorts of aresholes that feel it's acceptable to intimidate people on bikes to 'teach them a lesson'. depressing shit.

Classy article. Good comments section too.

And there's a Corbyn mention too, wahheyyy!

Team FECC

What the feck is fecc?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e9Y023-mnc

?

Out on a hill session yesterday and a van passed dangerously close. Ended up giving the parcelforce driver (in a swift van) a huge ear bashing.

Later on after the session, right by the house, a car came round a parked one on a bend (parked car is always there) so wide I had to skid, even though I was at zero mph.

I was stopped, and the driver didn't pull in, just carried on straight toward me, forcing me ( from stationary primary) into the gutter.

Anyway, it was a learner, and I felt a bit guilty, since she could have knocked me off, but I could have really knocked her confidence by chasing them down to argue.

Must chill out. Maybe I need a "be nice!" Sticker on my handlebars to remind me I'm probably being a cunt.

http://www.fecc.co.uk

Ironically, I first passed them when they were stopped at the top of a short rise.

.

Road rage accusation against a cyclist:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/baby-sprayed-with-glass-after-cyclist-smashes-car-window-with-bike-lock-a3094726.html

Link not working for me, did they take it down?

Is it time to stop calling out bad cyclists?

I've got to the stage where people riding like tossers just should be laughed at. Righteous indignation is really fucking yawn. If someone needs to ride on a footway (Old Kent Road anybody?) then let them. If no decent provision / traffic conditions allow people to want to ride on a road, then wtf, why shouldn't they ride on a footway if there's room?
Or jump ahead on a light to get an early start on motor traffic?

Maybe it's not even worth discussing. But I'm so over criticizing people for minor infringements, when I see hgvs at 35mph in a 20mph zone, people in minivans switching lanes into my path with not even a signal, close passing school run cunts, etc etc every day of the week.

Like Corndog once said, everyone on two wheels is a friend, let's quit this didactic competitive roadie 'I'm better than YOU, no YOU'RE a nodder' business.

Fully agree with you (would rep) but that was never the intent of this thread....I guess dashing bikeability leaflets in the faces of those less confident/not so good is the logical conclusion?

Tomo187
Ignoring minor infringements is one thing. But I watched a guy blast a red light on a pedestrian crossing to then immediately ride on the pavement for about 50 metres, for no reason at all - the road was clear (because we were sat at the lights)
I rode up to him at the next lights (who knows how he decides which lights to actually stop at) and called him out. He gave exactly zero fucks. He's no friend of mine.

**I draw the line at fucking with pedestrians. Zebra, pelican, whatever the pedestrian crossing is - don't fuck with it.

I will continue to call out riders that cross that line.**

No women, No kids. Fuq that

BobbyBriggs
Network Rail are doing some work on the railway bridge that crosses Martello Street just to the north of Pub on the Park. They've had to close the road and restrict through passage to pedestrians on the pavement only. So you get the 'cyclists dismount' signs - fair enough.

As you know this is a very busy cycle route. What pains me is that it seems NR have had to employ 2, and possibly 3 extra people just to ask cyclists not to be utter dicks and actually dismount.

Is this the first case of professional callers out?

I always give a cheery 'good morning' to the fellow I see - I think he probably has to put up with a lot of abuse from entitled pricks who feel that their cycle commute is much more important than the parent pushing a buggy the other way up the pavement under the bridge.

My theory on this: I do ride pavements with the dismount sign BUT at ≤ walking pace. On foot I'm double the width (my handle bars) and I'm fed up with uppity walkengers that hate having to budge up and try the shoulder barge.

If people could do that to those in Brent, Harringay, Tower Hamlets and Croydon that would be sweet.

Yeah, it looks like it.

Remember when booking write clockwise in the notes lol

Ten-4!

I found a copy of the article here (second item): http://ansteyresidents.org.uk/news_listings.php

No copy of the bloody picture though. Is it time to start calling out bad newspaper article replication?

I can see tweets saying it's gone, link still works for me. Below a paste of the page:

Why do cyclists think they can do anything they like?

Country lanes have become no-go areas for motorists as they have been taken over by hordes of cyclists
Even country lanes have become no-go areas for motorists as they have been taken over by hordes of cyclists
Picture: Alamy
By Angela Epstein
2:17PM BST 19 Oct 2015
Those who bike are aggressive, unreconstructed and utterly immutable when it comes to criticism of their form of transport

Have you ever wondered what it must be like to try and nip across to the shops as the Tour de France comes roaring down your road?

Well, you wouldn't, would you? Surely it would be absolute madness to try and cross the path of hundreds of laser-focused, biking fanatics as they burn along the tarmac like unstoppable missiles. Only an idiot would think about making such a leap.

But if you want to at least enjoy – or endure – a simulated experience, then simply do the following: have the temerity to stand up and criticise those inner city cyclists who clearly hold the Highway Code in such utter contempt.

Inner city cyclists clearly hold the Highway Code in contempt Alamy

Not all cyclists, you understand. Just those who think they own the road, can jump red lights or leap onto the pavement when it suits them and who weave in and out of traffic with the slipperiness of a Corbyn acolyte trying to rewrite his political past.

ADVERTISEMENT

Call it having a kamikaze moment, but on Radio 4 this weekend, I stepped forward and decided to fight back.

"Criticising the cyclist is a dangerous game. But it's a free country, so I'll keep on doing it."
Taking part in a debate on the weekly Broadcasting House programme, I dared express how badly some cyclists behave when they're on the road. How they move to the rhythm of their own micro-code. And how the law doesn't insist that they need licence plates (vital for catching those who jump lights), or that they take some kind of proficiency test before being allowed to use our roads.

But what I've learnt, and learnt quickly, is that many (though not all) cyclists, are not the benign breed you may think them to be.

Forget bucolic images of the village schoolboy poetically wheeling down country lanes. Or all those Call The Midwife-style dramas where baskets are a vital part of the kit and protest is launched with little more than the chirp of a bicycle bell.

The Tweed Run doffs its cap
Sadly, most cyclists do not look like this Laura Fletcher

Today's cycling fraternity are aggressive, unreconstructed and utterly immutable when it comes to criticism of their form of transport.

Occupying the moral high ground (even when cycling with headphones or failing to wear a helmet), they stormily protest about their vulnerability, and suggest their entitlement on the road is greater than that of the motor car.

Little wonder that shortly after making the broadcast – and this was genteel old Radio 4, for goodness sake – my Twitter feed blazed with every shade of insult. In short, I've been described as confused, lazy stupid, idiotic, a shoddy journalist and a Katie Hopkins wannabe (that hurt), who basically stewards a killing machine every time I get behind the wheel.

Clearly then cycling has become the latest resort of the thuggish fanatic. It's a club where a cohort of angry Lycra-louts who regard the road as their own micro-universe refuse to countenance that I may have a point.

In doing so, they have created a new religion, a new cult, which dare not brook any criticism. Much in the same way that militant breastfeeding mothers or uber-indulgent dog owners refuse to understand that not everyone shares their passion.

It's not that I don't understand the vulnerability of the cyclist: tragically, 19,000 cyclists are killed or injured in road accidents in the UK each year while in 2014 a total of 13 cyclists were killed in London alone.

There's no doubt that cycling, when done safely, is good for the nation. Indeed, a recent report revealed that using the UK's network of cyclist-and bike-friendly paths helps save the nation £1m every day. And it's fantastic for your health.

What's more, I live with a committed off-road cyclist – he's got the full rig and owns an astonishing five bikes, despite only being in possession of the one bottom. And I actually like cycling too – though on designated cycle paths away from city centres, where cars are not allowed.

Inactivity 'causes one in three premature deaths'
The UK's network of bike paths help save the nation £1m every day Alamy

But the enduring appeal of the bike – more than a million people have taken to cycling in the past five years – has given way to a militant dogma which is unpleasant, unnecessary and utterly unpalatable.

Criticising the cyclist is a dangerous game. But it's a free country, so I'll keep on doing it. Though at times, maybe ducking past the Tour de France feels far less dangerous after all.