Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

Also I'm a total hipster. I was looking out of my window like a fighter pilot before it was cool.

Sort of calling myself out.

Crossing a cross road (not my right of way) I completely didn't see a guy coming down the crossing road and cut him up. Weird as I looked down the road, but I guess I was looking for cars. I must have been staring straight at him as well.

Does anyone else have those moments?

Calling myself out - I did this yesterday, failed to yield at a give way line on Endell St, completely cut up a Boris rider who shouted 'steady on woman!' or similar at me.

I was too busy thinking about getting past the courier van in front of me that was clearly lost, and consequently riding like an impatient idiot. Sorry!

I'd love a few missiles for dealing with cretins on the road. It would make my cycling much safer.

Nerf missiles loaded on the handlebars? Cute and cuddly. Then you tell them that they're Anthrax tipped.

and then they explode..

Sort of calling myself out.

Crossing a cross road (not my right of way) I completely didn't see a guy coming down the crossing road and cut him up. Weird as I looked down the road, but I guess I was looking for cars. I must have been staring straight at him as well.

Does anyone else have those moments?

SMIDSY! Burn him!

Not quite sure if this is worthy of "calling out" but the man/lady wearing the giro TT aero helmet, riding always in the drops - slowly - flappy tracksuit on, red and chrome langster, undertaking stationary people and proceeding through red lights and pedestrian filled intersections (from Rosebury ave to Holborn). I would have been tsk tsk ing furiously to myself if you hadn't looked so amusing while doing so. I just do not understand.

That is the world's most popular cycle route. There must be five million bikes go through each cycle of the lights at the bottom of Rosebery Avenue, Grays Inn Road, Clerkenwell Road double junction thingy. And then the lights change and its the death sprint into the pinch as the road narrows and a thousand cars, buses and lorries all try to beat the cyclists to the next red light one hundred metres down the road.

I swear that article is far too similar to this...

They are both based on an original piece by the pilot, though the MCN one doesn't link to it.

Ouch. They published that in the paper with no creditation of that. I thought it was an exclusive editorial for them by the pilot...

Been very talkative (read: mad) on the road this week. Been chatting to nice people, talking to blank people, and sarcastic to dick mives prople. Had a full selection of dhoaling comments 'what's wrong with waiting at the stop line' or 'why pretend you aren't jumping the lights by stopping there?' and a sarcastic 'nice move' to a kerbhugging roadienodder (rodder?) twat in NX.

Are you looking for a slap?

dick mives prople

Is that an Aphex Twin album?

To the woman on Newgate Street this AM, shouting "BUT I AM IN MY CYCLE LANES" is not an appropriate response to being called out for dangerous undertaking.

PS. I thought your waterproof hareem pants were quite cool, even if they looked like you;d made them out of sticky tape and binbags.

Dickhead passing me in the one metre gap between myself and the kerb in a practically deserted Regent's Park this morning. Apparently my decision to not ride in the gutter makes me just like people who sit in the middle lane of a motorway, despite me pointing out that Regent's Park only has one lane.

The 'discussion' over who was in the wrong continued into Park Crecsent on the other side of Euston Rd, with me sarcastically suggesting he should look out for car doors, which he was riding obliviously and unnecessarily close to.

Someone else who'd seen the whole thing said to me "Don't worry about it, you were in the right", which was appreciated, but might have been more helpful if they'd actually backed me up.

Shock horror! two SS riders with no rear brakes pile into the back of cars due to being unable to slow down and stop in time, who would have thought two incidents could occur in front of my very eyes on the same morning? :D

That'd be down to stupidity or crap front brakes, the fastest way to stop only involves a front brake... Two brakes is incase one fails not because it's better at braking.

^ that's still funny though.

The rear must help somewhat, although most of your braking is done with the front.

Hmmmm, I've always taken speed off using the rear brake first then applied the front to finish an actual stop or take a corner. Habitual technique from Downhill racing days...... possibly not correct on the roads but it works for me.....

Hmmmm, I've always taken speed off using the rear brake first then applied the front to finish an actual stop or take a corner. Habitual technique from Downhill racing days...... possibly not correct on the roads but it works for me.....

Sheldon on braking

In short "Maximum braking occurs when the front brake is applied so hard that the rear wheel is just about to lift off. At that point, the slightest amount of rear brake will cause the rear wheel to skid."

Also, front wheels are cheaper to replace than rear wheels, so best to wear them down first.

Maybe you should glue their freewheels so they can really experience what it's like to ride a fixie. Might help them with leg braking too.

You would need to glue their feet to the pedals too, otherwise it would be unsafe.

For Emergency stops yes, very true.

regular riding around braking, not so true.

^^It's only a little more unsafe as what they're doing now, especially in wet conditions (looking at the state of some of the shit they ride).

It might make them wake up enough to seriously consider cycle training or safety.

Sheldon Brown on braking uncut

"The faste and most efficient way of bringing your bike to a halt, is simply ramming an immovable or proficiently heavy object; most houses, hardcore walls, large solidly rooted trees, and even parked cars, may all prove adequate. Alternatively simply steer your bike directly towards oncoming traffic, thus forcing a head-on collision, or simply plough through groups of pedestrians. When applying the latter method of braking, always consider that small children and elderly people with frail bones may not necessarily provide the required stopping power."

The bike setup in it self has nothing to do with the said incident. The morons in question here are clearly in over their head. Basically they shouldn't ride in public, ever, and will eventually end up killing themselves regardless as part of the natural selection process. One can only wish, that they don't take anyone innocent with them in the fall.