Peds!

People are cunts.
Bikes are your friends.

Jeez what ticked you off today to have that amount of anger?

Handlebar Nunchucks

Handlebar Nunchucks

Ed, talk to your superiors. Promoting violence>>>>>

some essential life advice here

Had a good one this morning on my commute. At one point the road I use turns right onto a mainly pedestrianised high street, and then left again off it, a section of road which is a nightmare during the day and at weekends but generally clear at 7.30am. As I'm heading for the left hand turn a girl looks, sees me and crosses anyway, then in a sort of weird slow reaction/double-take, as if she's just processed there's a rather hairy cyclist approaching rapidly she stops dead in the middle of the road, right in the spot I was anticipating she would have vacated by the time I arrived, meaning mid-turn I had to swerve around her, when if she had just continued her crossing me and her would have been fine.

She literally stopped dead and tensed and grimaced her face, clearly thinking she was about to be flattened. Odd

What is the accepted response to pedestrians who hurl abuse, shout or tut at you when you whistle to alert them of your presence as they step out into the road in full iTwat mode?
Personally I give them a mouthful about eyes, ears, cars and death as I cycle past. Anyone have a better solution?

What is the accepted response to pedestrians who hurl abuse, shout or tut at you when you whistle to alert them of your presence as they step out into the road in full iTwat mode?
Personally I give them a mouthful about eyes, ears, cars and death as I cycle past. Anyone have a better solution?

Carry a bundle of Green Cross code leaflets and shower them with a confetti of road understanding when you roll past.

What is the accepted response to pedestrians who hurl abuse, shout or tut at you when you whistle to alert them of your presence as they step out into the road in full iTwat mode?

"Cram it, fatty!"

turning off tottenham court road onto warren street today was the same as any other day: peds striding into the road straight out of the station, oblivious to traffic.

Riding down cannon street earlier, lights green, traffic v slowly moving, me coming along, guy looking the wrong way up the road, I carry on at a controlled pace, assuming he will look my way and think better of crossing, doesn't look my way, steps into road, I shout "woah" and he looks at me and instead of taking a single step either side which would have prevented the collision, he stands still like a deer in the headlights and I crash into him at a v slow pace but fast enough to piss me off, and I think my wheel hit him in the bollocks, he says sorry, I, a little shakey shout "fucking hell watch where you're fucking going" and ride away as he mutters another sheepish sorry. At least he realised the collision was his fault but it only serves to reinforce my belief that people in rich/businessy/heavily gentrified areas don't cross the road properly.

Why were you aiming at him? you can't expect them to see you and step back.

"assuming he will look my way" = fail

As for "rich/businessy/heavily gentrified areas don't cross the road properly" that's horseshit. Most of the cunts that've stepped blindly into the road in front of me have been in crActon and that dead zone west of Shepherds Bush.

Why were you aiming at him? you can't expect them to see you and step back.

well you've got three options in that scenario
swerve left, swerve right or plough straight on

pedo has three options too
retreat
advance
stand still

sometimes straight ahead means a safe passage

Why is "preparing to perform an emergency stop" is not an option?

To his left were more peds, to the right there was not enough space to swerve due to the aforementioned slowly moving traffic. Was preparing to stop, but honestly assumed he would look my way due to his current actions, assumption is the mother of all fuck ups though. I'm not saying I wasn't partially to blame, it takes two to hit a ped in the bollocks with a wheel, but if he had crossed the road properly and paid attention to the lights the situation would have unfolded far more positively.

Even so, you do have the chance to avoid a collision in the very least.

Prop for acknowledging that assumption isn't the best course of action to predict a peds' behaviour thought.

Next time, slow a bit more and do your best to lift his wallet. That's the only way to teach 'em...

Why is "preparing to perform an emergency stop" is not an option?

i ride in london, i am always preparing / prepared to do an emergency stop

you've always either just done one or just about to do one

thats london my friend

Even without emergency stops.. there's a traffic light every 195m on my commute (avg). Yes, I have fucking counted them.

I broke an elbow under similar circumstances; ped stepped down in front of me and knocked me down. The only difference was that I was sprinting for the green light 100m ahead and the guy stepped down so closely in front of me that he bumped into me before he managed to step two. Serves me right for sticking to the left side of the road..
I cycle a lot in West London and lived in Acton for 2 years now and have to agree with hippy; people step down without looking all over the place. Or worse even, stepping down and walking at you while looking you between the eye. The only difference is that you have more room (and often less traffic) to navigate then in say Oxford street..

My God cycling home through the West End last night was almost impossible.
One really has to have their wits about them at the moment. The fuckers are literally leaping in front of me from all directions.
It's like moon base moron out there in this weather

A lot of tourists at the mo whose instinct when crossing the road is to look in the wrong direction. Had a few brushes this week with frozen peds, some of which are looking into the blue in my eyes but take that step of faith anyway. Crossings where someone quickly scurries over against the lights are the worst because the sheep mentality makes everyone else just start walking out!
As said, anticipation of worse case scenario is key, all taxis are trying to kill you, all peds are suicidal. Try to never get angry, it won't make any situation better, I've had a cabbie by the neck before as he apologised profusely for nearly killing me and I frankly scared myself by that loss of control, never again.