As they lifted the bike in the ambulance

This morning I passed minutes after an accident on Farrington Rd.
The cyclist already strapped on the stretcher inside as the medic just lifted
the bike into the ambulance after him...
I do not know what happend. Police was arround already
the blue light flashes reflecting from the cars infront of me as I carried on in shock,

Take care the lot of you!

as cyclists in london we all know that it is a very good possibilty. regular rider, on average have to expect one big stack a year. remember cyclists in london are 4 x more likely to die than pedestrians.

I find one of the toughest things about going past what are clearly serious accident sites is that you have to immediately disregard it and get your wits about you. It's so easy to be shaken by such a sight, and if you let that happen chances are that you'll have an accident a little further up the road.

I think it's partly why as cyclists we try and play down and ignore some of the risks and don't like having the after effects of an accident made visible to us. It shakes the confidence that is needed to ride safely through London.

dogballs - the bringer of good news (and parts)

how was the bike ?

I had that experience, except, i was all of 10 ft behind the crash.
First on the scene, last away. So distracted on my way home, nearly had a crash myself about 3 mins later.

wise words dave........
the other day when i was riding to uni,i was passing the second round-about and saw a guy slumped up against the railings with his bike smashed up beside him.....the road had been blocked by the police.it made me think for a bit...

on the way home last night there was a cop car blocking the road where those tube trains on the roof are.. one way st that takes you to bethnal green road opposite tea club with the countdown clock thing.

There was a guy on a bike behind the police with a phone filming it, and i squeezed through. I thought they just pulled someone over, but the polo had a fat person sized smashed windscreen. :O

Didnt see any bike, but still. Makes you think.

As with the streaming / ped near misses on the other thread it's a good reminder that the moral high ground is not a force field. Anticipate and assume all around you are fwits.

Go safe guys!

i actually saw 2, within an hour's time, a while back...

who's the genesis flyer on clerkenwell rd just down from the courier pub? it's locked to a bike stand with the front wheel beside it only the fork legs are still attached to the wheel but the steerer and crown are sill on the bike! hope it's owner is o.k?

Mouse the moral high ground is not a force field.

I wish'd I'd written that.

it's good.

I'd use it as a signature, If I did sigs, which I don't.

Yoda spoke cards coming up

Last night, riding along Victoria Park Road, I made the mistake of taking the cycle lane on the left...
It was at this point the C--k in his BMW straight outta Max Power (he was late 30s, early 40s - grow up!)
He decided, he could cut the corner instead of keeping in lane, and cuts me up?

I then make the error of shouting "Mirrors"....... He slams on, window down, who the Fck do you think
you are, fck off, don't go down the left blah, blah..." Now, I always try ride down the right, but then I
was in the cycle lane? So, for the next 500 yards this repeats until he puts his foot down and off he goes?

Now, I agree the left is to be avoided, but he should have used his mirror, I had every right in the cycle
lane to be there, It's idiots like him, not driving with care, then being a total C--k accelerating and braking
that cause accidents!!!

Its always worth saying again - stay right or central, avoid the left, especially of large vehicles. The thing is, I'm preaching to the converted here - I see so many, mainly female going on the inside of cement trucks and the like. One false move by either and they're fucked; yet they all seem totally oblivious to the fact. Why? Noone would think jogging down a 2ft corridor with a truck on one side and metal railings on the other would be a good idea.

basically if you stop for a minute and think abotu what your doing you probably won't do it, thats why if i ride after a j*int i ride like a treacle runner. Sometimes i just cast my mind back to the last juntion where i jetted between two vehicles at the right moment and shit myself when i see it in my head. You act on instinct 90% of the time, which i believe is best, cause over intellectualising ruins everything and makes you nervous, you can tell with some cyclists that they are nervous and processing everything really slowly, they are a danger, just like over cautious and indeed over zealous drivers.

p.s i have started to find that knocking politely and immidietaly saying 'excuse me' you really need to look and adding 'please' tend not to cause fights, if they act beligerant, smile sweetly and continue if they continue being a prick, break their fucking mirror, get on the pavement, give them the biggest finger ever and pedal like basterd.

I find knocking on windows nearly causes fights, people seem to think that it is damaging to knock on doors. DO they have the same reaction every time somone comes to the door of their house?

TheBrick(Tommy) DO they have the same reaction every time somone comes to the door of their house?

Probably.

This chap was seriously aggressive, i didn't even cuss - I think he was envious as I had a nice slick bike, and he was in a nasty 3 series with bad body kit, lowered springs and a fat exhaust?
Best to ignore them, but he was the aggressive one, I just thought a polite reminder of his mirror use would make him a better road user?

if i go down you best believe my bike comes with me. if not, fuck that, i'm riding to the hospital and locking up outside.

kilgore_trout if i go down you best believe my bike comes with me. if not, fuck that, i'm riding to the hospital and locking up outside.

yeah, funny really, in every spill i have had my first concern has been my bike. get it out of the road, etc. i notice damage to the bike before i notice it to myself. luckily, none of my spills have lead to A & E. at the moment I am sporting a rather comical cut to the bridge of my noise and a fat lip. all my own fault though. well, the fault of the G.

you know a crash is really bad when the dude doesn't check his/her bike first. i've seen guys who have eventually had to go to the hospital to get some stitches on their face and the first thing they did, with blood dripping down their face, was make sure their bike was ok.

Coming down Kensington High Street the other day, someone caned it down the road towards the lights, swerved around me and then emergency braked for the lights. I rode up on his passenger side, tapped the window, and when he rolled it down, I simply said "that was too fast". His response? A look of pure panic, and then croaked "sorry officer". Classic!

either:

a, he was a takin of the pees
b, you look like a police copper for the rozzers

which is it?