Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

I apologise for cycling on the verge of recklessly to extricate myself from the situation created by another Brompton rider's dick move.

On Guilford St, having accelerated away from the melee that occurs between Calthorpe St & Coram's Fields, I stopped behind a 'dustbin lorry' which had stopped at the pedestrian crossing outside the Institute of Child Health. Mr. Twatfold wobbled up behind us, then went through the zebra on the wrong side (it's a 2-way street at that point) when it was impossible to see how much progress the pedestrians had made in front of the dustbin lorry, then stayed on the righthand side of the road. I'll often take primary in that lane ready for the righthand turn before Russell Square, but not hover all the way over in the parked-car-door-prize-zone like this knobend.

Anyway, the dustbin lorry and myself pull away from the crossing, rapidly catching up with twatfolder, who then suddenly veers more towards the centre of the road (obviously not taking the right before Russell Square). The dustbin lorry brakes, and I make the split second decision to accelerate hard and overtake him on the right before another section of parked cars looms up - not death-defying, but I had to really go for it. Then Mr. Twatfold wobbles to the right again, forcing me to undertake him fairly aggressively, as I didn't fancy hauling on the brakes with a dustbin lorry right behind me.

Ultimately, at the point Mr. Twatfold went through the pedestrian crossing dangerously, I should've anticipated he'd continue to ride like a prick all the way along Guilford St, and made the decision to sit calmly and patiently behind the dustbin lorry until my righthand turn - it probably would've been a better way of redressing the tainted public image of Brompton riders at that moment in time.

You live and learn, hopefully.

asked Google so I didn't wake Skydancer...

So it is illegal but not enforced.

Yes, there was some discussion on the Yahoo group about it; the police not being able to be involved in on-pavement scooter training because of the law. Silly situation.

Slowing to take position behind the traffic queuing for the lights on Lambeth Palace Road, a guy on a mountain bike overtakes me on the right at high speed, cuts to the left to try to squeeze past the stationary cars and the roadworks on the inside lane, still at high speed, narrowly misses the wing mirror of the first car and slams into a traffic cone. His bike hits the deck and he ploughs into the back of a stationary BMW.

He then just stares at the driver before picking up his bike and riding off.

It was down to me to talk to the guy and make sure there were no dings to his car.

Some people leave me worried for the human race.

^^ now i'm confused

Slowing to take position behind the traffic queuing for the lights on Lambeth Palace Road, a guy on a mountain bike overtakes me on the right at high speed, cuts to the left to try to squeeze past the stationary cars and the roadworks on the inside lane, still at high speed, narrowly misses the wing mirror of the first car and slams into a traffic cone. His bike hits the deck and he ploughs into the back of a stationary BMW.

He then just stares at the driver before picking up his bike and riding off.

It was down to me to talk to the guy and make sure there were no dings to his car.

Some people leave me worried for the human race.

Sounds like he was trying his best to win it...

Long time listner, first time caller.

I'd like to nominate myself in this thread.
I didn't know where else to turn for redemption and so I came to the one place where I felt I may be able to find forgiveness (as nowhere else really seems to give a tuppeny-wank to be honest).

I need to confess that for the first time ever, this morning, I jumped a red light.

I feel dreadful about it. I had time to brake, I just wasn't paying attention.

Added to this the fact that I ride an awful piece of garbage (which to be perfectly honest I don't feel that bad about as I only use it to commute from Hackney to Tottenham...... OK???????!!!)

I promise to never RLJ again.

I actually feel better now.

To know what is right, you have to experience what is wrong. That's what I told the judge.

Was waiting behind a left-indicating lorry which was head of the queue at some lights yesterday while the driver told off two people on Boris bikes who'd stopped by the cab. Not good but they were clearly not used to riding in traffic and at least they learnt from it and the conscientious driver (I hope).

I'd positioned myself so as to block anyone else from going down the side but it seems my self preservation instincts were stronger than my stupid people preservation instincts and I'd not got close enough to stop two guys zooming through the gap - way too close to my front wheel incidentally - and down the side of the lorry, which started to turn just as they did this. The driver saw them and blared his horn and stopped again, I shouted probably unhelpfully "think about what you are doing", but they both ignored these things and continued on, squeezing through the tiny gap between the cab and the kerb. (Boris bikers had got off bikes and onto the pavement if you're wondering). Complete fucking bellends.

The driver was very good though, he didn't try to overtake them on the next road even when there was a lot of space and was obviously aware of me riding behind him and let me past before he started maneuvering to pull in somewhere.

Was there a how's my driving number? Let them know they've got a good egg.

Complete fucking bellends.
Coworker witnessed a nodder go up the inside of a turning bus in Shepherds Bush this morning and topple onto the curb when space disappeared. I don't even know

Fully fluoro'ed Altura wearer this morning goes through a zebra inches in front of a man walking his wee kids to school. When there was a red light easily visible 20m past the zebra. He stopped surprisingly.

So I, for the first time, called out a bad cyclist. "Why didn't you stop for those kids?", I asked. He at least had the decency to look ashamed and refused to make eye contact. I felt a bit awkward though.

..
The driver was very good though, he didn't try to overtake them on the next road even when there was a lot of space and was obviously aware of me riding behind him and let me past before he started maneuvering to pull in somewhere.

Had a similar experience a few weeks ago. Emailed the haulage company to let them know (as Emry is suggesting) and got back a really nice email that thanked me for the positive feedback but also demonstrated that they were made up with the fact someone had said something nice about one of their drivers instead of lumping them all in the same boat.

Positive reinforcement might increase the number of good drivers (that and training and enforcement)

Definitely ^

Wordy rant begins.

I love shouting at other cyclists acting like tools as much as the next face-palming man, but it rarely seems to make any difference in a broader sense. To whit, watching a shoal of 8 nodders (a group of backpacked turistas) sail through a set of reds this morning in Sunny Leith, right into a 3 way junction and a potential car-based mashing scenario, got me thinking about a particular brand of lemming-ness that seems to categorize this frustrating breed. Being of the mind that most city centre road-users are capable of entirely random and dangerous manouevres - and an advocate of defensive, assertive riding - it seems staggeringly naive to trust that the rider in front of you knows what s/he is doing, especially since that person has gone through a red light with nary a glance to the left nor right. Lo, all but one of them - the final nodder braking heavily, performing the world's shittest endo and teetering in the middle of the junction - carried on through, entirely sure of their brave leader's spatial mastery. Critical Mass, you ain't.

Perhaps it is, as I have found with daily riding through = but mainly around - Edinburgh's tartan-touting packs of nodders/peds, either a magical forcefield mentality (with the presumption that all traffic will stop for you, cf. the pedestrian right-of-way law as illustrated by Bill Hicks), or an inability to recognize the throbbing mass of traffic/danger in tramwork-blighted Auld Reekie and your fleshy part in it. Either way, at least 5 of them that followed their pal merrily through the lights must have someone looking out for them. Apparently Edinburgh now has the highest amount of cycle commuters in Scotland - yay! - but I see dozens daily whose lives would be enriched/extended/saved by cycle training.

Wordy rant ends.

+1 to eden bur wag (Geordie phonetic pronunciation of that city) being a bit of a noddy city. Their everywhere, almost in danish like numbers from all angles with no obvious predetermined direction in mind. Shoal is probably the best description of them I've heard.

Riding there is alright, lots of odd junctions though, but thankfully few gyratatories (right term?) , but driving there is now a class A nightmare, not just the tram works (planners want hung drawn and quartered for that one) but the way the traffic (cars/peds/hgv's and bikes) is managed is just asking for trouble. I.E. where the pavement inexplicably gets wider (for what reason?) cutting into the road, pinching riders between cars who think they can make it (and the vice versa of fixieskddrs who think they can make it between two passing buses).

^ Ha! eden bur wag, champion!

Aye, thanks to the legacy of "Hey! Let's put that there!" town-planners, Edinburgh truly is a clusterfuck at the moment, the worst it's been in my 18-odd years riding here. I rarely feel too sorry for car-drivers, but I know one or two and the confluence of gridlock-roadrage-shite parking-nodders-peds-tourists just isn't working out well for anyone and must lead to some kind of GTA-style experience being inside a car. That being said, I love riding here. Hills-and-cobbles on 46x16 keeps you on your toes. And out of the seat.

To the guy who decided to race me this morning i was not trying to race anyone or even going particularly fast as unlike you I have been riding all winter,in fact i even slowed so that you would no crash into me.

I tried to shout at you but you had headphones in so did not here me! I hope you enjoyed sitting all day in the same clothes you were sweating in this morning.

Its amazing how a small rise in temperature brings out all the idiots.

^ the almighty of fair weather cyclists!! I bumped into a few this morning. Absolutely flipping annoying. When a gap is wide enough for a motor cycle to filter through, why did that woman this morning had to stop behind a bus? Unbelievable.

^ the almighty of fair weather cyclists!! I bumped into a few this morning. Absolutely flipping annoying. When a gap is wide enough for a motor cycle to filter through, why did that woman this morning had to stop behind a bus? Unbelievable.

Eh? Perhaps because she doesn't have the power of a motorcycle engine and didn't feel she'd be able to get ahead of said bus in good time if she was in front of it?

Surely if you're personally happy to filter you can just go ahead and do it without getting all hot under the collar at other people for choosing a position in lane that they're comfortable with?

I think it about time we start calling out bad pedestrians.
I got called a cunt this morning by some bell end because he was crossing the road on my green whilst on his phone and paying no attention.
What gives people the right to go round calling others cunts?

I think it about time we start calling out bad pedestrians.
I got called a cunt this morning by some bell end because he was crossing the road on my green whilst on his phone and paying no attention.
What gives people the right to go round calling others cunts?

I think there's another thread for pedestrians, you stupid cunt.

Hey student who just pulled right out in front of me at that roundabout there. That one. Heyy! HEYYYY! Perhaps you'd enjoy the sound of your back wheel - so awfully tacoed it was fwapping against your chainstay and making the noise a 14 year old lad might make after discovering some doctored Emma Watson-tits jpg - and me shouting at you for 100 yards if you removed your headphones.

And your head from your arse.

I think there's another thread for pedestrians, you stupid cunt.

I've been BMMF'd!
I will post my aggrievance's in the correct place in future. I'm trying so hard nowadays not to get heated up and call everyone a fucking ******************* cunt, but this kind of behaviour does not help

Do cretins naturally flock to Altura fluoroclobber and Hump rucksack covers, or does this apparel turn normal people into fucking imbeciles? Hmm...

I think that many people who wear flouro think that, somehow, because of what they are wearing it is other people's responsibility to see them and they therefore do not have to look for what other people are doing in order to be safe. Complete speculation on my part but I cannot see any other way to explain the imbecilic behaviour that is often adopted by some of the people you see adorned in the shit, especially when you consider that they can afford a decent bike but otherwise have little interest in cycling.