Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55620138

Obviously the current rules are open to interpretation to a certain extent, is cycling 7 miles from home considered unacceptable?

It's utterly stupid and ridiculous. No way would I have gone that way, I'd have ridden east to Pitfield Street then north up to the canal and follow the waterway all the way to the olympic park, sorted.

Hence

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In my post.

The law doesn't have any restrictions.

The guidance is vague (STAY LOCAL! BUT GOING AWAY FROM LOCAL IS OK! BUT STAY LOCAL!) and not law.

But it's all just politics.

If the Government clarifies the situation and/or makes it into law then they will be seen as deeply unpopular (even more so than currently if that's even possible).

So they continue to clarify things by saying "Exercise is ok, but stay local." which obviously doesn't clarify anything.

It pushes all of the responsibility onto the people who can then be blamed, at a later date, for not interpreting the guidance correctly at the time.

The law doesn't have any restrictions.

The guidance is vague (STAY LOCAL! BUT GOING AWAY FROM LOCAL IS OK! BUT STAY LOCAL!) and not law.

[...]

It pushes all of the responsibility onto the people who can then be blamed, at a later date, for not interpreting the guidance correctly at the time.

Isn't it likely that the main reason why the guidance is like that because they tried clear rules in the first lockdown and it caught out Cummings? Now, one might argue that certain self-interested members of the Government are in love with their freedom to do what the hell they want, or that the Cummings scandal, largely because of Johnson's wrong decision to back Cummings, eroded any trust in the government's ability to handle COVID-19, and is one of the main reasons why the rules are widely disrespected now. I don't know either way, but it's probably a mixture of both.

The towpath was rammed a couple of weeks ago I couldn’t maintain social al distancing so went back onto the road.

Surely the distance you should travel is something to do with population density and the level of infection
Less chance of catching or spreading it in the highlands so you can go further. If you live around your the corner from St Jameses park and Hyde Park exercise more locally.....

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Good to hear @rpm is still well

For some of us, the junction by Stockwell tube is often a way to get from Stockwell Road to Binfield Road and vice versa. To the majority of cyclists using that junction, unfortunately, the existence of Binfield road is a mystery that escapes their obsession with incompetent commuter racing. So, during the brief period where the lights only allow cyclists to cross the A3, not wobble along it, there's always one cunt trying to get in your way. Most often it's some MAMIL who can't slow down from his 15mph top speed in case he falls off, sometimes a nodder setting off early on the right turn from Stockwell Road in the hope of crossing the junction before the next Game of Thrones book comes out.

It's particularly annoying if somebody does this to you in the rain and the dark. So, Mr. Asshat in the white Bern helmet with the velcro ginger beard on the primary colours plastic single speed with no lights, may your beard snag on your helmet strap and choke you. I know you fucking saw me coming, because when you spotted me you didn't slow or stop, you just stared at me, wide eyed, and put on a burst of speed to make absolutely sure you would block my path. It can't be much fun being Keith Lemon's uglier brother, but you don't have to spread more misery into the world.

Keith Lemon's uglier brother

🤣

Best description of @RPM I've ever read.

But yeah, that junction is a total disaster. Clearly, there's bad rider behaviour on top of the design issues, but things like the fact that Binfield Road is a one-way street with a cycle contraflow play a part. It makes the junction mouth narrower and makes riders coming out of Binfield Road much less visible. Most people who don't know the junction will not immediately see that there is a possibility for traffic to come out of it.

It would be much better if Binfield Road was still two-way for all modes, with filtering in the cell behind, but engineers always want to restrict side streets in some way, especially at fairly complex junctions, because they can then adjust signal times, in this case dispensing with a proper phase for drivers you might otherwise get coming out of Binfield Road. If it's only cyclists, there will be a lot less traffic from Binfield Road, and their phase can be much shorter, meaning more time for the more major flows at the junction, e.g. A3-A3. None of that excuses the rubbish riding, but it's definitely a factor.

but things like the fact that Binfield Road is a one-way street with a cycle contraflow play a part. It makes the junction mouth narrower and makes riders coming out of Binfield Road much less visible. Most people who don't know the junction will not immediately see that there is a possibility for traffic to come out of it.

Back when it was part of my daily commute, there was only a narrow cut in the pavement at the entrance to Binfield Road, making it even less obvious. I did hope things would improve when they widened the entry to the full width of the road, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

@Oliver Schick For the residents, it wouldn't be better if Binfield road was two way for all modes, because it causes too much disruption to the buses parking up from 8pm ish. And by that I mean, drivers leaning on their horns constantly because there's 5 buses left out on the road waiting to be parked up in the garage so drivers are stopped from being able to cut through down to wandsworth road. This happened constantly when it was two way.
The junction is odd now because of the cycling infrastructure they've put in, and the way it narrows and the lights they've put in which forces traffic to slow, and makes a load of drivers try to squeeze into a space that isn't there and then sit in it, blocking it.

Yes, I saw that on StreetView. In terms of how the junction works, there isn't really a difference. Junctions work best when they're balanced, and if you unbalance them, you get more problems. The only things that streetscape scheme will have done is that you're less likely to be in conflict with a pedestrian when riding across the footway, and less likely to crash when entering the carriageway than before.

My mantra for years has been: If you want to filter, filter inside a cell, don't filter at the edges. Make main street junctions perfectly ordinary-looking, never ban any turns, and put difficult stuff like filtering away from them, because if you have it at the junction, it'll only cause problems. You just wouldn't believe how hard this is for people to understand. Part of the problem is that schemes usually get planned in isolation, e.g. only a junction, but not the area around/behind it.

Yes, that's why I said Binfield Road should be filtered to prevent the rat-running. I certainly wouldn't want that to come back. Stick a bus gate in, make it fully two-way. Just don't do the filtering at the junction itself.

Constant Turning left into Parliament Square after riding North over Westminster Bridge. At the junction, without fail someone on my right will cut across me into Parliament Square as I try to head straight across towards Birdcage Walk. They seem surprised by my gentle “oi”. The one time I attempted to position myself on the right (one rider on my left) I still got a Johnny come lately to the lights coming up to sit on my right. So now we are three abreast. I thought ‘no way is he going left’, but yup, cut across me and plowed into the poor unsuspecting lady on my left. It defies simple logic

Shitting crikey:

https://twitter.com/ismail_sultan/status/1413896587043123212

If the person who cut the corner of the lights, half-wheeled me along QR and then had to jam on brakes because there was someone wanting to cross at the mini roundabout is on here- maybe reconsider how you ride.

Shit traffic everywhere. Misery.

Absolute plonker, well, a young boy, racing southbound along the eastern footway in Stoke Newington High Street just now, weaving around pedestrians with inches to spare. I couldn't follow him to have a word because it was against the flow of the one-way system, and following his example would have been a bit pointless. That's the sort of footway cycling that really scares people. I hope he grows up very soon.

Yeah sorry that was me, blew you away gramps. Braap.

RPM in mega dredge lols

Nice to see some traditions being upheld

Hi mashton, hope you're all good

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/373121/#comment16408243