How am I even alive?

yeah, today was one of those days. much anger I sensed on the roads..

weirdly i thought yesterday was grrreat. it was cool and dry and there was virtually no wind. there was a lot of traffic but i had no run-ins with twats and i didn't hit a single read light between kilburn and parliament sq. it was flowy and spinny and fun.

today was muggy sweaty and moist but no less fun for it. i'm sure someone will try and kill me before the end of the week tho.

I've learnt to always do this at major roundabouts even though as you say 'Shouldn't fucking have to'
Elephant & Castle roundabouts are hectic and have to be right on your toes
Yeah I've pretty much always done it since I started riding on the road.

It pisses me off that I have to do it, because people should blatantly be looking and giving way, but cunts will be cunts.

that maybe a French car but it aint in France (number plate).

the driving in France is very poorly, however they have good respect to cyclists.

Did you read that in the daily fail? or is it just a sweeping generalisation for the fun of it?

I swear its the weather, dark mornings and the constant doom and gloom in the papers and on the radio!
Half the drivers haven't woken up, and those that had should just get back in bed!

I had two great near misses in 10 minutes on the way in.
1 white van driver fly past me, knicking my arm, then anchoring the breaks and turning left right across my line. i was so impressed at the speed i danced around his outside i forgot to get annoyed. sadly matey in the golf behind racing him also was surprised at my reaction speed and had to anchor the brakes on before he laid me flat against the back doors of the white van. I liked to think he was praising my skills...
2 bus pulled out on a roundabout and continued to drive at me. i ended up heading down the wrong side of the road to get around the front of the pecker.
Again i believe said bus driver saw my early deft skills and decided to test me again.

If this happened in france instead of swapping evil glares we would have got out of our vehicles, thrown our arms about in a euro frenzy lit a cheap strong cigarette and fucked before driving off in disgust.

I'd have willingly bricked in the windscreen of the cunt in Balham who set off from the lights with his head UNDER the dashboard, clearly looking for something on the floor. How he's supposed to drive like that I have no idea. I'd hesitated behind him because I could not work out what the fuck was going on inside the car.
Once his head popped up into view again he took off far too fast and then ended up jamming the brakes on at the last minute to close up the gap to the next car in the queue.
Drivers are such twats sometimes.

Did you read that in the daily fail? or is it just a sweeping generalisation for the fun of it?

I go to France every years, driving especially (cheapest holiday), the driving in rural france leave little to desire really, the roundabout part especially is the most fun, (may experience is limited to the Bordeaux and Languedoc area admittedly).

I must point out again that I'm talking about the driving part, not cycling, I add it to the list in my original post because I wasn't thinking clearly and it's a bit too late to edit it out without being accused of 'covering my track'.

I came alongside a scooter weaving around a bit erratically this morning. The rider was just changing tracks on her ipod. Jeeezus.
I advised her that it was not the most sensible course of action.

you have to assume the worst of everyone else, at all times. Sad but true.

Keeping an eye on every, keeping your self on your toes.. You can't cycle when you're not alert. But being that aware can be a buzz! Constantly reading the environment around you and working hard.

that maybe a French car but it aint in France (number plate).

Seeing as we're nitpicking, it's a French car registered in the Netherlands. Doesn't mean it's location isn't a La France, though! Our borders, in Europe remain open, thankfully.
Bonjournee!

:) very true but we were talking about French drivers.

Bonne soiree!

@Edscoble, I didn't mean to pick on you. Driving in France is a very different experience depending on the region or the "departement". That's what they say anyway. French drivers are a funny breed anyway. My aunt turned into a demon behind the wheel, the other times she would sit like a lady in her salon making conversation.

:) very true but we were talking about French drivers.

could be a french driver who lives in the netherlands and drove back to France to visit his/her family or buy a baguette.

a bit unlikely, i'll admit.

I Hate Roundabouts
Better If you could just ride straight across the middle

I Hate Roundabouts
Better If you could just ride straight across the middle

Like a big open area of road so whoever dares go through at speed gets to the other side.
Intriguing.

@Edscoble, I didn't mean to pick on you. Driving in France is a very different experience depending on the region or the "departement". That's what they say anyway. French drivers are a funny breed anyway. My aunt turned into a demon behind the wheel, the other times she would sit like a lady in her salon making conversation.

exactly, the driving is quite different as if they have a double personalities.

as for cycling, they're very lax about it in France, I mean take Montpellier (or any other french city/town/village really), the majority of the bike lock there are shitty £5 one that seemed to be made out of thin piece of copper wire with a metal lock, just to stop drunk people borrowing the bike to get home.

most drivers assume that only other drivers are on the road....
this danger frequently arises on the hyde park corner.... got to be mindful of these things all the time.