The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

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silentC
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby silentC » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:36 am

Well the great influx began on Boxing Day and I could fill this thread with pages, but just one from yesterday.

A group of cyclists joining the bike track, there is a family of five with toddlers who have just commenced their walk and are spread out across the track, with Mum and youngest on the right. They see us coming and to their credit realise they need to give us some room to get past (this is actually fairly unusual behaviour for this time of year) but toddler starts stamping his feet and screaming 'no' when Mum says 'we need to move over to let the big bikes go past'. This goes on for some time as we all come to a standstill. She finally drags him to the grass on the right hand side as the rest of the mob, who up to this point had been standing flat-footed in the middle of the path, go to the left.

Is there now some law against picking up your child?
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Gordonhooker
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby Gordonhooker » Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:34 am

The title of this topic should change to the moron cyclists and pedestrians thread especially in the light of the latest one I saw this morning while driving my car. Coming along Main Road Wellington Pt through the small shopping strip, I am almost to a crossing when a group of about 6 riders on road bikes come the wrong way out of one way street look me in the eye and pull straight out in front of me, that was bad enough the moron in maroon jersey decides to sit in the middle of road so that I cannot safely pass the group before they go around the round-about (which our council had spent our rates to provide a clearly marked bicycle lane around), the moron in the maroon jersey decides not to use. I was tempted to speak to the moron concerned but thought if this ignorant would do that he is not going to take any notice of anyone anyway, but chances are the moron and some of his group may read this post and know I am referring to them.

You people (the group concerned) make it very difficult for us courteous riders out there.
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human909
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby human909 » Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:52 am

Gordonhooker wrote:the moron in maroon jersey decides to sit in the middle of road so that I cannot safely pass the group before they go around the round-about (which our council had spent our rates to provide a clearly marked bicycle lane around), the moron in the maroon jersey decides not to use.
While the exact circumstances aren't clear, that seems like the sensible and safe way for a cyclist to approach and negotiate a roundabout. Take the lane well beforehand and hold the lane through the entire roundabout. It is certainly how I generally ride through roundabouts. I totally ignore any bike lanes provided as they are accidents waiting to happen.

Interestingly enough the Queensland road authorities agree. They are now changing the laws to make it explicit that cyclists are allowed to take the appropriate lane in roundabouts AND cyclists will no longer be required to ride in bicycle lanes both on roundabouts and regular roads.

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Gordonhooker
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby Gordonhooker » Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:59 am

human909 wrote:
Gordonhooker wrote:the moron in maroon jersey decides to sit in the middle of road so that I cannot safely pass the group before they go around the round-about (which our council had spent our rates to provide a clearly marked bicycle lane around), the moron in the maroon jersey decides not to use.
While the exact circumstances aren't clear, that seems like the sensible and safe way for a cyclist to approach and negotiate a roundabout. Take the lane well beforehand and hold the lane through the entire roundabout. It is certainly how I generally ride through roundabouts. I totally ignore any bike lanes provided as they are accidents waiting to happen.

Interestingly enough the Queensland road authorities agree. They are now changing the laws to make it explicit that cyclists are allowed to take the appropriate lane in roundabouts AND cyclists will no longer be required to ride in bicycle lanes both on roundabouts and regular roads.
I would not have written the post if the rider didn't have enough distance from the roundabout to enable a car to pass safely.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby biker jk » Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:11 am

Gordonhooker wrote:
human909 wrote:
Gordonhooker wrote:the moron in maroon jersey decides to sit in the middle of road so that I cannot safely pass the group before they go around the round-about (which our council had spent our rates to provide a clearly marked bicycle lane around), the moron in the maroon jersey decides not to use.
While the exact circumstances aren't clear, that seems like the sensible and safe way for a cyclist to approach and negotiate a roundabout. Take the lane well beforehand and hold the lane through the entire roundabout. It is certainly how I generally ride through roundabouts. I totally ignore any bike lanes provided as they are accidents waiting to happen.

Interestingly enough the Queensland road authorities agree. They are now changing the laws to make it explicit that cyclists are allowed to take the appropriate lane in roundabouts AND cyclists will no longer be required to ride in bicycle lanes both on roundabouts and regular roads.
I would not have written the post if the rider didn't have enough distance from the roundabout to enable a car to pass safely.
Why did you need to pass before the roundabout? What's your hurry?

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby human909 » Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:47 am

Sure, there might have been enough room to pass safely but the cyclist could have never been sure that you would have been quick enough to overtake safely and give enough room for the cyclist to then take the lane. Taking the lane EARLY is far safer than doing it late. Maybe the cyclists had been previously left hooked at the same roundabout? Who knows?

It is all irrelevant. There is one lane for traffic and there was traffic in front of you. Your job is to stay behind that traffic and pass safely when you are able to. You do not have a greater right to go ahead simply because you are driving a car. Nor is it ever rude having a vehicle being "stuck" behind you for 20s or a few hundred metres.

(If you are stuck behind another vehicle for 5 or 10 minutes and they neglected a good opportunity to let you pass then I would consider that to be rude/thoughtless. But I've only encountered such behavior from other motorists, never from cyclists.)

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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:53 am

I assume that the video title is rhetorical. Just as jasonc stated, it belongs in th is thread.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby bychosis » Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:56 am

Gordonhooker wrote: I am almost to a crossing when a group of about 6 riders on road bikes come the wrong way out of one way street look me in the eye and pull straight out in front of me
There's your dumb part.
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silentC
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby silentC » Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:09 pm

Yes if a car did that and then proceeded to drive at 26kph ahead of me, I would be very annoyed. I think I'd be equally annoyed if it was a bunch of cyclists. It is the failure to give way that colours your attitude towards the later events.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:11 pm

fat and old wrote:Mr smart Alec ped decided to tell me all about cyclists while I peacefully having a coffee this morning.....unsolicited! This was new. He felt that using the rego argument was his best attack. " I have 2 cars, a trailer, a M/C and a boat" he claims. "What gives you the right to use the road"? :shock: I replied my 4 cars, 2 4wd's, 3 trailers, 4 mobile plant trailers, M/C, boat, caravan, forklift, 3 pieces of mobile plant and 14 trucks, at a total of 20k per annum of rego covered me. :lol:
As many here will know I find many cyclists to not be anywhere near as responsible as they like to pretend to be. But I also see motorists as the substantial problem, not cyclists.

Remarkably friends and aquaintenances treat me as a cyclist (which I consider myself substantially to be) so they often bail me up to make their point that cyclists should be disallowed from the road as they get in the way of motorists.

After responding to all of their issues (rego, red lights, filtering, two abreast, long lines etc) that are trotted out one after the other as each is countered the remaining argument often gets down to "cyclists on the road annoy or frustrate me". At which point I will restate that along the lines of "So, cyclists on the road annoy you? Do you really expect that that is sufficient to remove them from riding on roads or to justify drivers passing dangerously?" Such a stupid proposition even to the original protaginist that occasionally said person and others in the conversation will reconsider their POV.

I may also follow up suggesting that if that annoyance affects them that severely then perhaps they are not the person who should be in control of a fast heavy object on the public roads.
Last edited by ColinOldnCranky on Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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CXCommuter
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby CXCommuter » Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:23 pm

It is all irrelevant. There is a one way lane for traffic and the cyclists chose to ignore this and cut in front of traffic that has right of way. CYCLISTS DO NOT HAVE A GREATER RIGHT TO IGNORE THE ROAD RULES SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE ON A BIKE.
Human909- fixed for you and I used bold, italics, underline and UPPERCASE to get MY message across. :D

Though I do agree with your original statement it is a bit unjustified angry, ignoring 3/4 of what is in the original post is fairly poor form even for you.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby human909 » Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:43 pm

CXCommuter wrote:It is all irrelevant. There is a one way lane for traffic and the cyclists chose to ignore this and cut in front of traffic that has right of way. CYCLISTS DO NOT HAVE A GREATER RIGHT TO IGNORE THE ROAD RULES SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE ON A BIKE.
Cxcommuter, I don't think anybody here was arguing otherwise. I certainly wasn't.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby Gordonhooker » Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:07 pm

I am not sure if some of the people who post in here are trying to be funny or are just plain dumb cyclists... and I am not referring to the last poster either.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby warthog1 » Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:10 pm

fat and old wrote:
Sheesh....its holiday time man! What makes people think they can start canning you with impunity? I blame that Rapha top with the pink trim! :lol:

:lol:
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby Xplora » Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:54 pm

ColinOldnCranky wrote:.....trotted out one after the other as each is countered the remaining argument often gets down to "cyclists on the road annoy or frustrate me". At which point I will restate that along the lines of "So, cyclists on the road annoy you? Do you really expect that that is sufficient to remove them from riding on roads or to justify drivers passing dangerously?" Such a stupid proposition even to the original protaginist that occasionally said person and others in the conversation will reconsider their POV.
I also like asking people if they've ever been involved in a serious car accident... reality is that being in a car prang can hurt a lot, and the metal skin doesn't do that much to protect you at 40+kmh. Many of the "true believers" defending the car falsely believe the car protects them (it does very little) and that a bike somehow hurts more (a couple grazes isn't that bad, kids get them every day).

The arguments against are BS, but you've got to take the time to deal with them. The fact that the person is someone you would otherwise believe cares about you as a human suddenly treats you as the "Other" just reinforces the reality that it's a stupid argument. People don't become trash just because they do something different to you occasionally.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby biker jk » Mon Dec 29, 2014 2:04 pm

Gordonhooker wrote:I am not sure if some of the people who post in here are trying to be funny or are just plain dumb cyclists... and I am not referring to the last poster either.


Nobody disagrees that those cyclists were morons to ride the wrong way down a one-way street and enter the road in front of you. However, their behaviour after that point (claiming the lane well before a roundabout) was perfectly fine. Suggesting that posters taking that view are "dumb cyclists" is simply name calling without offering any rebuttal.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby g-boaf » Mon Dec 29, 2014 2:38 pm

Gordonhooker wrote:I would not have written the post if the rider didn't have enough distance from the roundabout to enable a car to pass safely.
You can just wait 30 seconds and be on your way without bother as far as roundabouts are concerned.

Nobody excuses their behaviour of going the wrong way down a one way street, but claiming the lane ahead of a roundabout is a matter of safety. Bicycle lanes (or is that council convenience lanes**) at the edge of roundabouts are an extremely bad idea. I don't know how much riding you do on the road, but I will never, ever use those lanes. I'm going to claim the lane 200m ahead of the roundabout and get through there without having someone in a car trying to run me into the gutter in their rush to get ahead.

**Council convenience lane: The usually narrow lane a council or authority paints on the road to show they are doing something for cycling, when in fact said lane is near useless or is unsafe to use.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby warthog1 » Mon Dec 29, 2014 2:49 pm

g-boaf wrote: Bicycle lanes (or is that council convenience lanes**) at the edge of roundabouts are an extremely bad idea. I don't know how much riding you do on the road, but I will never, ever use those lanes. I'm going to claim the lane 200m ahead of the roundabout and get through there without having someone in a car trying to run me into the gutter in their rush to get ahead.

**Council convenience lane: The usually narrow lane a council or authority paints on the road to show they are doing something for cycling, when in fact said lane is near useless or is unsafe to use.
+1 they are worse than useless. Their presence actually makes life harder for cyclists as it creates the expectation that we should be in that woefully unsafe position on the road.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby human909 » Mon Dec 29, 2014 3:00 pm

For those who haven't popped their head into the safety forum there is a thread discussing the Queenslands changes.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby fat and old » Fri Jan 02, 2015 10:51 am

So, I have a coffee every morning, at the same place. On a signalled "T" intersection on Point Nepean Rd, in Rosebud. Very popular road at this time of the year with cyclists and cars alike. Usually there for 20-30 minutes. I started watching and counting the red light runners 6 days ago. Don't let me hear about "all" the cars doing it again aye :wink: :lol:

No comment on the "safety" or otherwise of these things.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby weldin_mike_27 » Fri Jan 02, 2015 11:02 am

Anyone encounter those "boot camps" or fitness groups running on bike tracks. I think they teach them to run on the right. Or else they are going along like Brown's cows.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby Spaniel » Fri Jan 02, 2015 11:45 am

weldin_mike_27 wrote:Anyone encounter those "boot camps" or fitness groups running on bike tracks. I think they teach them to run on the right. Or else they are going along like Brown's cows.
Yep, a couple of days back: narrow cycle lane, long blind corner, cars passing on my right , up ahead a mob of five runners heading straight at me in the cycle lane. I had no choice but to stop, some squeezed by, others climbed into the scrub.

I think it was just a mixed group of friends, not a boot camp. Becoming more common, especially in the holiday season. We can expect a New Years Resolution tsunami of them.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby weldin_mike_27 » Fri Jan 02, 2015 12:33 pm

Obviously single file, keep left is too hard to work out for fitness groupies.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby nezumi » Fri Jan 02, 2015 1:21 pm

weldin_mike_27 wrote:Anyone encounter those "boot camps" or fitness groups running on bike tracks. I think they teach them to run on the right. Or else they are going along like Brown's cows.
On the flipside of this, I have encountered a running group across the bridge of the Yarra while the pontoon repair was occurring - they had "run leader" hi vis vests front and rear, and when these people saw me approaching they called out "bicycle behind" and everyone made room for me - very much appreciated!
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby weldin_mike_27 » Fri Jan 02, 2015 4:53 pm

They have there s@#$ together. I'm from Central Vic and it seems the need to be like the big city has overtaken the need to use your brain.

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