Police spotting (junction watch)

To be honest, it's in Wimbledon, an area where cyclists are a rarer sign than Central London.

Methinks it's the Wimbledon season that got them a bit antsy, netherless it end well with hopefully them learning a little something about cycling, so it's a win-win.

fair enough really - you being in the middle lane might put tim fucking henman (or whatever the current great white hope is called) off his forehand.

Still, its ridiculous that a copper is telling you that you are obstructing the road by being in the middle of a lane. Cyclists have more right to the road than cars do as stupid as it sounds. The bigger you are, the less right you have to the road in the eyes of the law. This was confirmed to me by several coppers during my stint in the slammer (see previous page).

I'm surprised you kept your cool like you did. If that happened to me, I would have unleashed a crusade of rage and subsequently got myself arrested.

I should clam down

I should clam down

yeah you're being pretty shellfish.

F
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......... \Hatbeard's Fault

Ed
Well handled, in the same situation I might have given them a bit of jip and challenged them to offer me my day in court.

Bike cops pulling people over at the cross for Whitechapel Rd with New Road and Vallance Road today. Keep your wits about you folks. I occasionally creep across there before the lights go green but they were booking someone for just that earlier.

Did you get their collar numbers / car registration?

Make a complaint to their station head about their "intolerance and incivility".

You can't be obstructing traffic as you are traffic.

Ed should obviously have asked them which advice, or law referred to, in the Highway Code would have led them to their assumption. The simple answer, of course, is that there is none.

Aside from obstruction being something akin to riding in an inconsiderate manner (Highway code 68) or (RTA 29: Careless, and inconsiderate, cycling. If a person rides a cycle on a road without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road, he is guilty of an offence.)

I'm pretty sure that riding a cycle on the road with a pony tail on full display is also inconsiderate for those around you ;)

Again I am not sure I would have handled this as well as Ed did.

Aside from obstruction being something akin to riding in an inconsiderate manner (Highway code 68) or (RTA 29: Careless, and inconsiderate, cycling. If a person rides a cycle on a road without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road, he is guilty of an offence.)

Yes, except neither of these would reasonably be applicable in this case. If you were to deliberately block a motorist for miles and miles without the basis of a sound risk assessment as in Ed's case, which led to his decision to position himself in the way he did, in response to a very specific situation.

Remember that the officer's argument was that taking the lane was generally an obstruction of 'traffic'. There is nothing in legislation or the wider advice in the HC that could support this claim.

I'm pretty sure that riding a cycle on the road with a pony tail on full display is also inconsiderate for those around you ;)

I'm typically a lot more worried when I'm riding around men in black.

Ed should obviously have asked them which advice, or law referred to, in the Highway Code would have led them to their assumption. The simple answer, of course, is that there is none.

I've done that before, and perhaps it's the way I worded it (poorly), it got them antsy when I questioned what law they were referring to after they realise they actually don't know it, and nobody liked being questioned.

Having what appear to be a discussion about what I should do instead of riding on the centre of the lane helped keep it civilised.

Other thing worth noting is the HC 168; give cyclists/motorcyclists/horse riders as much room as you would a car when overtaking (also 212 and 213)

There isn't enough room to do so at those particular junction, so in order to reduced the driver's urged to overtake if there's just about enough room - take the primary position to rid that desire.

lurking round the corner of charterhouse street [the smithfields meat market] picking up riders coming in from St John Street -

do you mean catching people who go through the middle of the market?

aye, but they were picking up more people who were going thro the lights by the bank to do the right hander on to charterhouse street

ahh, that's odd. it's hardly an endemic spot for rlj and tbh the peds are by far the biggest menace around there.

the cyclists going through the middle used to piss me right off when I was still a walkenger on my way to work though as I'd get buzzed by some nodder pretty much every single time I went through there.

They've got a City of London rent-a-cop these days who stands in the middle and brandishes an umbrella at anyone who dares ride through.

Pretty funny when he gets ignored.

Old Bill on the North West side of Cavendish Square doing an excellent job of catching riders jumping the Harley and Wigmore Street lights. Keep up the good work you useless twats

the Gathers at Gordon Sq/Byng Place this morning, was it a charm offensive or fining cyclists?

can they pull you over for doing ´look mum no hands´ ?

They can even stop you for riding without saddle !

can they pull you over for doing ´look mum no hands´ ?

Yes, but it's a "should" not a "must" in the highway code, see rule 66

Iain manages to ride around with impunity so I guess they wouldn't.

can they pull you over for doing ´look mum no hands´ ?

Look, it's a wonderful cycle café and the last thing we want is for it to be held up. So don't.

love the way oliver takes the trouble to put the correct accent aigu in 'cafe'

look and learn, you heathen, unwashed scrotés!

/love is a strong word.

love the way oliver takes the trouble to put the correct accent aigu in 'cafe'

You mean in 'café'.