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What does this mean?
I have a problem with the use of the word 'safe' since it tends not to say anything helpful.(EG I can tell a person to go when it's 'safe' or say 'Go when there is space and time for you to move off'.)
I think leaning slightly to the right into the traffic by starting with left foot gives a rider more visibility and makes them more visible so could be considered marginally better. I don't think the bdifference is enough to dictate to a trainee which foot to start with
Fortunately I didn't use the offending word.
What it means is that I believe a rider is more stable with their foot planted on the kerb prior to starting and less likely to fall into the road while looking behind them before setting off. I also believe the outcome of a starting wobble is less likely to result in a pedal hitting the kerb if the right foot is used for the intial pedal stroke.
I think these difference are enough to dictate to a trainee which foot to start with.
As I said, I believe this strongly enough to modify my own behaviour when cycling on the right.Considering some of the other responses to your question this seems like an odd choice to start taking issue with.
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I start with my right. Fortunately this is my preferred foot but if it wasn't, I would have changed it by now to ease starting at the roadside and make it a little safer. When riding on the continent I consciously switch to left foot starting which feels a little awkward for a while but on a loaded touring bike I'm a lot more likely to have a bit of a starting wobble at the kerb so it makes perfect sense to switch.
Plus, it's what I tell my trainees to do so even if I feel competent to start with the left, I would be showing a poor example. I'm sure many of us are able to start perfectly safely from either foot in any situation but it doesn't necessarily follow that that's what we should be teaching beginners. -
I asked this before but because of the useless search in this forum, couldn't (or unable to find the right word) to search for it again.
Is there's an automatic clue sheet generator where I can easily pop a GPX files that convert into a clue sheet?
If possible, a London to Brighton cluesheet would be great, heading out tomorrow with the g/f on her dutch bike.
http://www.lfgss.com/thread77319.html
Not that it was very helpful.
It would be useful to find something and a quick internet search suggests that there's loads out there but I suspect you'll find a longhand method quicker than wading through it all if you need something for tomorrow.
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It's not too difficult as long as you're dealing with adults. Currently there are other factors involved in dealing with children although there are rumours that this will be binned by the government - a bad move. This all depends on definitions of "adventurous" and "remote".
It will take a bit of research on your part to decide which qualification route to follow as BC have just muddied the waters by abandoning their support of the SMBLA scheme in favour of their own. You'll need to consider the sort of terrain each one covers and how well recognised they are by insurance companies.
Insurance at the moment costs about £400. You will need your own insurance on top of what's provided under the terms of your scheme to be completely covered for personal liability.
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The one thing he disagreed with was how to manage an oncoming driver on a narrow street. I suggested that riders should hold their line forcing drivers to slow down and negotiate for space. He though that 'playing chicken' with drivers was not a good idea and that cyclists should always defer to drivers and pull in as early as possible.
To be fair, I'm sure he would give the same advice to a car driver in the equivalent scenario - a larger vehicle coming in the opposite direction. Avoiding potential conflicts is a cornerstone of the IAM philosophy.
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Has anybody used one of those knee-support things to help with knee-pain from cycling? If so, was it any good? Or should I try something else instead?
(This sort of thing: http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Pharmaceuticals-Neoprene-Knee-Support-Large_1121305/?CAWELAID=551425822&cm_mmc=Shopping%20Engines-_-Google%20Base-_---_-Boots%20Pharmaceuticals%20Neoprene%20Knee%20Support%20Large)If you try this one, it's unlikely to do any harm.
BUT
Knees are too complicated to diagnose from a few lines on an internet forum. You need to see someone competent to diagnose the cause of knee pain from cycling. -
The Lenser H7, Petzl Myo, Petzl Ultra, and Alpkit Gamma all seem to get good reviews but with quite a wide range of specs and prices. Does the forum have any recommendations for good quality head torches for night running?
I run with a Myo XP (2004/5 model) and it's never let me down. It's got a really good focussed beam - good for about 70 metres - and a diffuser for less open environments. Battery life is good and it has a bettey condition monitor that gives plenty of warning for battery changes. I've used it for night-time fell races in forested areas and local running in woodland and open fields when it can be difficult to stay on course for the next stile / gate. I've also used it strapped to my helmet for mountain biking to supplement the light attached to my bars but have moved on to some Silva lights for that now.
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Primary all the way. You don't have a choice.
You need to be in primary for all those traffic islands and visibility of you from a lot of the side roads wouldn't be great in secondary either. The road isn't wide enough for a vehicle to pass you safely without crossing the white lines even if you were in secondary.
If you're really concerned about holding up the traffic, pull in to some safe spaces along the way to let the traffic pass. Personally I'd try to manage that at the many traffic lights rather than leave the flow of traffic completely.
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Have you updated e-mail addresses from profiles recently? I changed mine a long time ago but LFGSS e-mails continued to go to the old one. I monitored the old address for 6 months and set up an away message to alert people they were using an out of date address but I bet if I logged in the inbox would be full.
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In theory you can shorten the chain to the best "in line" gear combination and it should run fine. This is the standard get-you-home-when-your-rear mech-snaps fix. There are usually a couple of problems that prevent this being a long term solution though. Firstly, the chain will often try to climb out of the selected gear as the gears in cassettes have a lot of features on them to aid shifting. Secondly, and most importantly, the chain is narrower and not as robust as a single speed and is likely to snap after a fairly short period of use, especially with the potential extra loading coming from constantly trying to move up / down the cassette.
Sounds like you'll have a great bike once the conversions done though.
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Personally looking at that rider and that junction I don't think primary position is appropriate. I wouldn't be in primary there and you have to ask how the young rider got from secondary to primary in this scenario. Also, how does this look to the following driver?
Effectively he has moved out from secondary to primary in order to turn left - potentially impeding other road users and unnecessarily putting himself in greater harms way. This may be appropriate to ensure your visibility and right to be there if being followed a little too closely by a vehicle but I don't agree it should be the norm. I don't think young riders at L2 are equipped to make these decisions and it would be safer to teach that primary position is an advanced technique for right turns at L2 and then further for L3.
Similarly, in the original example above of turning left onto a main road, I struggle with the concept that the normal way to approach this scenario should be in primary position. Again, this potentially impedes other taffic trying to turn right and in the worst case endangers yourself by tempting left turning traffic to undertake in flared junctions.
I believe that our road position should clearly communicate our intentions to other road users. I don't think that moving out to primary position before a junction clearly communicates that I am about to turn left.
I've been surprised by the responses to this post in so far as nobody has made the same observation regarding road position as this is my main concern with the BC advise.
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In fairness one of the earlier "Bitesize Bikeability" topics was road position and they do link to it from the article.
There is no consultation unfortunately and I don't know where BC are getting their ideas from as no-one is credited in the pieces. Generally they seem a bit too primary position happy to me and don't place sufficient emphasis on working with the traffic flow or the dangers inherent in making a poor judgment at a critical time. I've just reviewed their turning left into a side road item which is accompanied by this picture and the instruction to "aim to ride where a car would be".
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What I understand from British Cycling at the moment is that their membership is expanding with new and returning leisure cyclists being encouraged onto bikes by various local and national initiatives. Understandably, safety on the road is a major concern of this group and I think that's what has prompted these Bikeability Tips to appear.
What has concerned me a little with most of the tips I've seen so far - and particularly with this example - is that I think they should be pitched at about level 2 understanding for novices but they may actually be too far advanced to help the target audience.
Adopting primary position in preparation for a left turn is not something I'd be recommending for novice riders.
Turning right onto a main road and maintaining primary position on joining the new traffic flow is another tactic I'd leave to a more advanced discussion.
The reason for posting was to gauge if I was perhaps being a bit over cautious in what I'd instruct without the benefit of trainer / trainee interaction or if others would have similar concerns with this form of presentation.
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British Cycling have started to include Bikeability tips in their members newsletters. The latest one is for "turning into main roads". I've cut and pasted it in as when I followed the link from the newsletter I had to log in to the BC site and I don't know how many of you are members.
Left turns
• Move into the primary position (see link below) before the junction as soon as it is clear to do so.
• Look behind for following vehicles and signal if necessary returning the signalling hand to the handlebars before performing the manoeuvre.
• Look into the road you're turning into for parked vehicles and passing traffic.
• If there is traffic passing from the right on the major road, give way at the mouth of the junction, if there is no traffic continue onto the main road.
• Turn the corner remaining in the primary position, returning to secondary position (link below) after the junction if it is clear to do so.Right turns
• Move into the primary position before the junction as soon as it is clear to do so.
• Approaching the junction, signal if there is traffic behind making eye contact with following vehicles.
• Stop to give way to traffic on the major road from right and left at the junction mouth if necessary.
• If you need to, wait at the mouth of the junction on the give way line, check behind for traffic attempting to overtake and signal again if necessary, then proceed when clear.
• Turn into the major road crossing straight over the junction mouth remaining in primary position. Move back into secondary position once away from the junction if it's clear to do so.
Using these procedures for the turns mentioned above enables the cyclist to ‘control' the lane and should prevent them being overtaken whilst actually turning. In heavy traffic conditions, we'd alwaysit's adviseable to someone to ‘take the lane' sooner rather than later.What do people think?
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Just seen this.
There's nice riding out of Betws on the B5106 - the back road to Llanrwst, Trefriw and Conwy. There's a Ghost bike on this road but don't be put off. If you ride out any further than Tal-y-Cafn it gets a bit hilly but you can cross the river here and get back to Llanrwst on the A470. This is a TT route and well used by cyclists.
42:16 is going to be a bit of a struggle to do much else though. Just climbing out of Betws towards Ogwen will be difficult. I say difficult but I'm not sure I could do it and 42:16 is my favoured training ratio around the Clwydians. If you can put an 18 on the back as I do for longer rides, you'll open up a lot more of the area.
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Originally Posted by Clwydian
you have to wonder how Welsh would have developed without the English border and political influenceOnly if you like to indulge in counterfactual speculation. The contest to determine the world's *lingua franca* has been settled, with English as the victor.
Haha. That's right. I was suggesting that Welsh could have become the "dominant" language. What's English for lingua franca anyway?
I was referring to the adoption of English sounding words into the language - although you have to be careful here as some simply share a root with the English version - and suggesting that had Wales not shared a border (and government) with England, the language would have developed differenly to cope with the expansion forced since the industrial age.
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Popty ping is in common use. The other form is Meicrodon.
@CYOA
It's funny how, apart from a few Scottish place names (Aberdeen being one) I don't really notice much of a common heritage in Britain. But when I was cycling around Brittany last year I couldn't stop spotting similarities.
I'm pretty sure expert witnesses are registered. A quick Google search seems to confirm this.
There are quite a few specialising in road traffic collisions and accidents.
Your solicitor will have an understanding of how the system works.