Epic fail

Win.
Only seasoned 'slippers' can perform that move.

He doesn't quite look like someone who can remember to breath under water.

He doesn't quite look like someone who can remember to breath.

ftfy

He doesn't quite look like someone who can remember to breath under water.

failed to ftfy

ftfy

the verb is to breathe

Your a breathe.

You're mum's a breeze

ftfy

the verb is to breathe

Your verb

http://cheezburger.com/8251341568

Doesn't look like a fail to me.

It is when you can no longer filter through traffic.

Pointless.

It is when you can no longer filter through traffic.

Pointless.

Too many cycle activists bang on about how they want drivers to give them the same space they'd give a car but then they are happy to filter through traffic, skimming wing mirrors etc. They want the space of a car when it suits them and to be as small as a bicycle when that suits them. It should be law that before you post a youtube video or a blog post about how cars give you no room etc that you ride around with a frame like that for a week and see how frustrating it'd be to be the size of a car.

I don't really go with that. A car passing me closely is dangerous, it could be going a fair bit faster and might not be aware of dangers such as potholes that could cause me to swerve. The most vulnerable person is not in control. Me passing a car close is different, it's almost certainly stationary or traveling slowly and I, the most vulnerable party, is in control.

Commuted on a recumbent trike (tadpole, 2 wheels up front) for the first time this morning.

The flattest, straightest part was stop-start traffic jam.

Urgh.

I don't really go with that. A car passing me closely is dangerous, it could be going a fair bit faster and might not be aware of dangers such as potholes that could cause me to swerve. The most vulnerable person is not in control. Me passing a car close is different, it's almost certainly stationary or traveling slowly and I, the most vulnerable party, is in control.

+1. Bikes are not equivalent to cars. A huge part of the perception problem in cycling is that too many people think that roads are for cars and therefore everything on them should be considered as, and act like, a car.

Commuted on a recumbent trike (tadpole, 2 wheels up front) for the first time this morning.

The flattest, straightest part was stop-start traffic jam.

cough cough.

ftfy

Too many cycle activists bang on about how they want drivers to give them the same space they'd give a car but then they are happy to filter through traffic, skimming wing mirrors etc. They want the space of a car when it suits them and to be as small as a bicycle when that suits them. It should be law that before you post a youtube video or a blog post about how cars give you no room etc that you ride around with a frame like that for a week and see how frustrating it'd be to be the size of a car.

Disagree completely.

Filtering is perfectly legal on a motorbike, same principle applies.

When filtering (either undertaking, overtaking or splitting lanes) you're accepting it is a risky activity (and you're likely to come off worse in an accident with a car), but when riding normally along the road you should have the space suggested by the HWC.

(I'm not that black and white about it, I'll happily filter down the left of queuing traffic - away from junctions, depending on lights and plenty of other variables - with a speed differential of 10mph or so, but I won't get upset if those same cars I've filtered past go past me again without pulling clear into the next lane, most of them will give me more space when overtaking me again anyway. If I didn't want them to overtake me as closely then I wouldn't be overtaking them in the first place, and I'd be in primary to make them move over to get past me.)

When filtering I'm choosing to participate in the risky activity, with close overtakes I have no choice, and can't do much to prevent it.

I'm not anti filtering. I just think there needs to be give and take.

Bicycles are smaller than cars, smaller than motorcycles in fact, and this fact can be used to make the cyclists journey faster (filtering) and drivers' journeys faster (by allowing cars to squeeze past when there isn't room to pass if they gave the cyclist the same room as they give a car). Demanding the space you'd give a car other than when it suits you is just, in my opinion, selfish.

the alternative is no room at all as 'room' then gets interpreted by the driver as 'whatever i need to squeeze by and get to the next set of lights faster'. everyone has a right to be treated with the necessary due care and attention on the road. the larger your potential to cause harm = the more care and attention you need to pay.

Too many cycle activists bang on about how they want drivers to give them the same space they'd give a car but then they are happy to filter through traffic, skimming wing mirrors etc. They want the space of a car when it suits them and to be as small as a bicycle when that suits them. It should be law that before you post a youtube video or a blog post about how cars give you no room etc that you ride around with a frame like that for a week and see how frustrating it'd be to be the size of a car.

Where to start with this codswallop? No 'cycling activist' would be happy about skimming wing mirrors - but nice try eliding that and filtering.
Yes, cyclists want to be given, and have a right to be given, enough space to be safe. And they want the convenience of being able to filter (safely and considerately). What is wrong with that? We choose to ride bikes partly because we do not always have to be stuck in traffic.
It's frustrating to be the size of a car? It must be. I guess it's also frustrating sometimes to be driving a car. What with all the congestion that, er, car drivers cause. It's hard to see. outside of some bizarro angry-man/daily mail-man world, why other people not having that frustration should add to yours.

Too many cycle activists bang on about how they want drivers to give them the same space they'd give a car but then they are happy to filter through traffic, skimming wing mirrors etc. They want the space of a car when it suits them and to be as small as a bicycle when that suits them. It should be law that before you post a youtube video or a blog post about how cars give you no room etc that you ride around with a frame like that for a week and see how frustrating it'd be to be the size of a car.

Your homework for this evening is to try and understand the difference between an 80kg person on a bike filtering past a slow moving car, and 1,500+ kg of steel, glass and plastic travelling at 20 to 40 mph past a vulnerable road user.

For added credit, and with reference to your homework assignment, you can then explain why your post is so fundamentally flawed. To do this, you may like to consider rewording your post. For example "Because cyclists pass within 1 foot of a car, it is fine for a car driver to pass within 1 foot of a cyclist", or "car drivers have no responsibility leave a safe distance between them and vulnerable road users, because vulnerable road users are able to filter in slow moving traffic".

E = MV^2

The speed differential doesn't say enough about the kinetic energy involved.

Meh, the space I want/expect/need/shout about having is probably at odds with what a lot of others want/expect/need etc.

I guess I should keep schtum about that though.

Different points of view are all welcome through, right?

Did fail to show my support today - ended up doing some sort of white van man's knuckle shuffle

This really deserves to be in this thread:

Too many cycle activists bang on about how they want drivers to give them the same space they'd give a car but then they are happy to filter through traffic, skimming wing mirrors etc. They want the space of a car when it suits them and to be as small as a bicycle when that suits them. It should be law that before you post a youtube video or a blog post about how cars give you no room etc that you ride around with a frame like that for a week and see how frustrating it'd be to be the size of a car.

Oh wait a minute...