Don't be a pussy, don't be a dick

don't be a kitten, don't be a richard perhaps?

Offended.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>^^^^^^^^^

I'm amazed and a little concerned about the amount of aggro other people seem to have on the road. Maybe the proximity of dotage has mellowed me, but 'live, and let live', and 'there's plenty of room for all of us' are what run to mind when I'm out and about.

I've yet to have a 'moment' in London traffic have re-started riding bicycles 9 years ago. I had to start the one argument I've had. Plenty on motorcycles prior to that though.

challenge anyone to a race

read better literature.

You are testing my moderation as a moderator to the limit there Mick. Toto indeed.

I guess it's more useful as a racing mantra, though it's pretty acceptable for riding on the roads too. And it just happens to be a fucking amazing song with one of the best intros i've ever heard.

Don't be weak. Don't be a wanker...?

Perhaps (only) searching for an all encompassing catch phrase might be a bit selling "our" side of the argument a bit short. The point needs to be made no matter how lengthy the wording is. Sure, it needs to be to the point, but not at the risk of the point being missed. I liked Scully's little paragraph earlier in thread. catch phrase + tagline kinda works.

or maybe "I'm riding here!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c412hqucHKw

weak

"to scarified liberty for safety is to get neither"

Gold.

Adopt the centre of the lane unless there's room for a car/van to pass you while staying within the lane without making you feel uncomfortable.

"allow cyclists the clearance you give your car"

the number of drivers who expect cyclists to fit into the clearance they give parked cars is ridiculous.

they do not even realise we have the same potential of being hit by a car door as their car has.

they do not even realise we have the same potential of being hit by a car door as their car has.

I think a lot of drivers, from the right hand side of the car, have no idea about the clearance the have on the other side. You see it when they park - the start their reverse again even when there are almost 2 feet on their front left corner and they could easily keep moving forward.

that's why I choose "take the lane" as my primary answer, not sure how to approach a junction? take the lane, worried about car door? take the lane, will william shatner give me a goodnight kiss? take the lane.

Trouble is, they might be thinking, I would bleedin give them space if they weren't in the middle of the road. Not realising why we are riding so far out from the parked cars. I mostly agree with Fausto, trying to come up with a single line is risky.

I know I have made this point to some of my colleagues (and many of them even stayed awake while I was making it) but sometimes you have a trainee who feels so liberated by realising that at times - on, say, a narrow road with parked cars along it - it is fine to ride in the middle of the road that they then can't stop doing so, even when the road is free of parked cars. So you have to pull them over and discuss it, discuss how road positioning is a dynamic thing and that we have to be considerate of other road users and so on and so on.
It's not easy to make that point in a single pithy phrase.
Or a single interesting paragraph, I hear you say.
So cruel.

that is why i thought it important to make drivers think why we position ourselves over a meter out from parked cars.

Don't be mild, don't be wild

Or

Don't go mild, don't go wild

or

Not too mild, not too wild

Another potential issue with this are the clueless/selfish ones that that ride in ≤ 2's having conversations without a clue or a care as to what the road condition is like. I wonder how many of these types will just think, "Brill! Government leaflets mean I can ride where I want. Stuff all you horrible people in cars."

I really dislike cyclists that do this.

I do like Skullys input if one had to be chosen.

Refusing being a gutter bunny doesn't make you a road hog.

I do my talking in bubbles like a scuba-duba-diver
Every time I see a fish I throw a high fiver
Smart like MacGyver, no vagina
Spit saliva on the mic, I'm fucking hard like a penis
Stupid like Beavis, no matter where the scene is
Rap believers, I'm the Jesus in Adidas

It's an obscure song you prolly never heard of...

Some good ideas to play with, thanks.
Neither wild nor mild , not a gutter bunny or a road hog are imaginative and fun and skully's considerate confidence is clear

The expression i'm looking for is not to replace the theory discussions about road position which as fausto and Will point out do need a more lengthy explanation as does the 'see be seen and communicate' concept.

I suppose saying 'ride where you can see and be seen to communicate your presence to other road users' really sums up the principle of road positioning/behaviour and is easily grasped by anyone. You need the discussions and demonstrations to elaborate on that principle.

So an expression that communicates attitude will still need the wider explanation and demonstration and is still observable in trainees as to how they react when there is a driver behind them.

These short expressions are useful when speaking to people rather than teaching.

"Go ahead, make my day"

then flash your knob

Ride like a balloon. Inflate when needed.

Nah that's shit.

Create the room you need, dynamically.

Said with a force rhyming type thing, the way they do on TV. them hip hop boys.

Ride with pride not on the side.

shit too.

Ride with pride not on the side,
when there is no need do not impede,
ride dynamically for all to see,
arrive in style with a smile.