Police spotting (junction watch)

We have clocked cars exciting our village travelling at 70 mph and accelerating at the same time. Have you heard a BMW putting its foot down and rocketing (its the most apt description) off out of the village. You have parked cars that allow just about two cars to travel past each other. I am not risking my kids and allowing some impersonation of a jim henson creating to mop up the mess afterwards. They are polite to other pedestrians and stop to let them pass. We can co exist with pedestrians but not with cars. its nice if you live in a quite area or congested area where cars can't travel to fast. Here its like brands hatch. I want to teach my sons a love and respect for the bike that is not tempered adversely by either some ignorant prat in a fast car or muppets who don't even know the law that they preport to be upholding.

Yesterday, outside the co-op bank in angel i saw four people people getting fined for pavement riding. I saw two people just ride up to the police issuing fines only to get fined themselves, how stupid do you have to be, its like lemmings.

Also saw a guy riding foot retentionless brakeless on the pavement, if anything he should of been fined as he was endangering pedestrians swerving everywhere and almost rode into me as i walked around the corner.

Watch out kids!

I've been fined for cycling on the pavement (duhh!) yesterday on Lupas street, in front of the Tesco express. I would not usually cycle on the pavement, but I was on the phone with my dad, I was going extremely slowly, and I only saw the officer last minute when he was just in front of me...

The guy was very pleasant (I'm french, so a polite policeman is always a bit of a surprise...!) I begged him to let go, but he said that him and his colleague had specificaly been dispatched there for this very purpose, so he could unfortunately not let go... At the end, he even said something like "on behalf of metropolitan police I can only say that you must not do this again, and pay your fine, and on behalf of myself, well I am sorry for your misfortune!" (approximate transcription, but this was the message)... which was a kind thing to say... Because of his attitude, I only feel upset for the 30 quid, and I hardly feel pissed-of about the fact that it is unbelievable that metropolitan police send officers to fine cyclists on the pavement when there must be more critical things to be dealt with in London, like the guys were telling me at south east drinks after that yesterday evening, drunk driving, etc... Making money seems to be a higher priority in that instance...

Whatever, be carefull if you cycle arround there...

L

sorry to hear it brother.

Vello, dear chap, with all due respect, speaking on the telephone while cycling is not really a good excuse to be riding on the pavement, even if it is to your father.

Have you considered cycle training?

Vello, dear chap, with all due respect, speaking on the telephone while cycling is not really a good excuse to be riding on the pavement, even if it is to your father.
Have you considered cycle training?

As I said, I would normally not cycle on the pavement.

Sorry if I gave you the impression that I was looking for excuses, I was not. I am not.

I agree that that I should not cycle on the pavement, and that I should not cycle while using my phone, all of that independently or mixed together.

Cycling on the pavement can be dangerous obviously, a teenager girl was killed by a mad cyclist bombing on the pavement couple of years ago. But, I would be really surprised if statistics were showing that this is a reccuring issue (I can be wrong though...), like drunk driving, left turns of big lorries, etc... Therefore I feel that a tolerance zero policy on that matter is just political marketing and easy money making. I think that in the instance of cycling on the pavement being a risk for road users, there should be a margin for appreciation, otherwise you just tend to criminalize everybody who doesn't respect every rule to the letter.

This is what I was trying to say, that and that the officer I dealt with was nice to me.

But maybe you were not even disagreing with any of that in the first place, I just don't know what you were really trying to tell me, I wish you finished your comment before you mentionned cycle training, I would have thought that it was a fair comment, sincerely...

L

I remember that incident, that cyclist shouted "I"M NOT STOPPING" to the group and decided not to avoid them while riding on the pavements.

Vello, I got the notion that you weren't looking for an excuse but top hat for being civil though.

You don't remember it very well Ed; as I recall he was not on the pavement.

You're likely right, some says he mounted the kerbs, some says he's on the road.

Will do some more digging.

Sometimes, it's better to do the digging first. Then you won't have to do more digging to extract yourself from a hole you created.

Found it;

The court heard that Howard, of Western Avenue, Buckingham, was travelling at between 23 mph and 17 mph down the road and was captured on CCTV.
Also (which explain why I though it was on the pavement);

The teenager told the court that he did not see the collision himself but when he turned around moments later, he described the defendant's bike as being on the pavement, He told the court that in his opinion the defendant had mounted the pavement.

And damo, do bugger off, you do sound like a cunt at time.

I sound like a cunt?

Perhaps why you think he was on the pavement is because that is how it was reported by the tabloid press in one of their frequent any-excuse-to-have-a-go-at-cyclists moments. It is interesting that that sort of propaganda sticks even in the minds of people like yourself (and Vello).

Damo, he does have a point*. :P

*He doesn't really. We all know this.

I thought about something like "I make wet slopping noises when being fucked, like Nick Clegg when he meets David Cameron".

Mind's eye cannot unsee!!

Perhaps why you think he was on the pavement is because that is how it was reported by the tabloid press in one of their frequent any-excuse-to-have-a-go-at-cyclists moments. It is interesting that that sort of propaganda sticks even in the minds of people like yourself (and Vello).

My girlfriend told me that story on the evening I was fined, I will tell her about the above tonight...

Thanks

L

Watch out kids!

I would not usually cycle on the pavement, but I was on the phone with my dad, I was going extremely slowly,

Vello, dear chap. My point was this. In your story you said, rightly that you would not usually cycle on the pavement. You then sought to excuse it by saying that you were on the phone. This rather horrified me. However, slowly you were going you should not (1) ride on a pavement over the age of 12 and (2) ride while on the phone. To speak on the phone, stop. Cycling on the pavement is unacceptable. It may or may not be dangerous. It is, however, something that is always thrown up by the anticycling Daily Mail types. There is no need to do it. It is wrong. Don't do it. Cycling while on the phone, on the road or pavement is just bloody stupid, cretinous and arrogant as is speaking on the phone while driving. No one can cycle properly while speaking on the phone.

My comment about cycle training was gratuitous but salient.

Vello, dear chap. My point was this. In your story you said, rightly that you would not usually cycle on the pavement. You then sought to excuse it by saying that you were on the phone. This rather horrified me. However, slowly you were going you should not (1) ride on a pavement over the age of 12 and (2) ride while on the phone. To speak on the phone, stop. Cycling on the pavement is unacceptable. It may or may not be dangerous. It is, however, something that is always thrown up by the anticycling Daily Mail types. There is no need to do it. It is wrong. Don't do it. Cycling while on the phone, on the road or pavement is just bloody stupid, cretinous and arrogant as is speaking on the phone while driving. No one can cycle properly while speaking on the phone.
My comment about cycle training was gratuitous but salient.

Yo dear chap... I am not continuing this, I say I was not trying to find myself any excuses (however I phrased this), you just have to believe me, or not believe me, but I am not trying to convince you any further.

Sorry I horrified you, dear chap, really, and for the sake of not giving reasons to the daily mail to write more crap, I will stop myself from doing that kind of unconventional things on my bike, may they be safe or not.

Once again I don't know why you felt it was necessary to remind me how cretinous and arrogant I am / I was / it is, to speak on the phone while cycling, as I had already admited this... As we say in france, you are only breaking into doors that are already openned... Please, dear chap, please...

We all need cycle training.

L

dear chap

dear chap
dear chap
dear chap

Loïc is clearly getting the hang of how to speak to Clive. ;)

Sometimes, it's better to do the digging first. Then you won't have to do more digging to extract yourself from a hole you created.

+1

Oval was swarming with velopopo this morning, and I saw at least three cyclists who had been stopped. Wish they'd been around when a taxi drove into me just there in May, but I guess they still wouldn't have given a shit.

There were literally 10 or 12 bike cops on the pavement outside the shops on the A3 before the left turn for Kennington Road, with two more ahead at the junction of the A3/Brixton Road waiting to grab RLJ'ers. Since they were high-vized from head to toe you'd have to be spectacularly unobservant to miss them, but I still saw one roadie get done. Fair enough if there were two or three of them, but 12-14 seems like a waste of money.

It was cold. They needed to huddle together for warmth.

Really were a lot of 'em out today, saw one stop a guy on the pavement and search his bag too, very odd.