Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Sir Stinkalot wrote: Do you want any position in Council Max??

Hate to break this to you stinky, but I think Max is clipped in

...one of us, one of us, one of us...

advise requested is one thing, advice given is almost never well received, that's true on the road as it is anywhere else. Might have even had some yourself... as some bloke overtakes you on a climb and says "almost there" and all you can think is "I know that dumbdumb, I've been climbing Norton Summit for 30 years... you're 20 years younger and this is my first major test since breaking my collarbone 8 weeks ago so I have nothing to prove." And so on and so forth.

i agree, saying "keep it up" is much better than advice. and even through the guy's new, you have to be a real dumbdumb not to know about the granny ring.

ive been commuting abit now and i fall in the number one catergory, and yes i have people much slowing than me queue jumping at the lights, but its more because they dont know and if we get caught in the next set of lights they usually stay behind me. but i love long hills no tour de france racers there.

btw my wife's cat 3 and i hate riding with her

Sir Stinkalot wrote:On the weekend I was saying that when I become Mayor within a 3km radius of the city (that is how far the Mayor rides!) clip peddles would be banned due to the following reasons:

1. slow to take off when the light turns green;
2. they then can't figure out how to clip in;
3. they wobble all over the frigging intersection;
4. then you need to overtake them as you thought because they had clip in peddles that would be quicker than the flat bar commuter.

Do you want any position in Council Max??

Maybe ask that WA councillor who wants to ban road bikes if he wants a running-mate

DavidS wrote:I always try and get into a position which goes with my speed. The fast roadies in front of me, the slow plonkers behind me. If the slow ones try and filter through I'll try and block them or out accelerate them at the lights. It's just a fact of life that we ride at different speeds and I really cannot understand the slow cyclists who filter to the front at the lights, why do they do this? Must ask one of them one day.

DS

Probably the same reason people driving on highways speed up when there's an overtaking lane then slow down when it ends... Come to that, they're probably the same people.

trailgumby wrote:Assuming there is a reason you have chosen your handle that is grounded in experience or reputation, I think all you would have to do is let rip with a good one, wave your hand in front of your face and say "whew, sorry boys and girls! " ... and you'd clear the intersection.

Problem solved.

Like the idea - my problem is that it will lead to a cycle hazard when the lights change - the road will have the dead birds that were flying overhead after the ripper.

I'm not against the friendly wave/nod/g'day, but at the same time am not too concerned if it doesnt happen. When im walking down the street I don't greet my fellow pedestrians, and in the car I don't wave to my fellow drivers so don't see it should/would be any different on the bike, it's not a secret brother/sisterhood with a secret handshake (although some people like to think it is ).

As for giving advice, same rule applies, if you saw a young driver riding their clutch would you politely inform them that it was not good for their driving and clutch? Doubt it. Whilst I admire you're intentions, the response you got was always a possibility. Sure, it would be nice if everyone was happy and chatty but unfortunately not the case. And you never know, he may have been in the big ring for a reason, inexperience is an assumption on your behalf.

So far no one has mentioned the amateur track stander. Probably don't need to paint a picture for that one.

Zynster wrote:So far no one has mentioned the amateur track stander. Probably don't need to paint a picture for that one.

I know it's wrong of me, but every time I see one, I have to fight the urge to give them a shoulder charge. "What, think you're too good to unclip do you? Too pro for your foot to touch the ground, eh?" *whack* *thud*



Max

Zynster wrote:So far no one has mentioned the amateur track stander. Probably don't need to paint a picture for that one.

Nor has anyone yet tried to defend the practice of shoaling (except perhaps cp123, who for sick and probably perverse reasons all of her/his own encourages others to shoal her/him – perhaps she/he scores dates that way).

But, I think we have all got it wrong – shoalers are in fact performing a valuable and sadly misunderstood public service.

Let me illustrate this with an example: last night I passed a bloke coming up lilyfield hill. He was on an mtb with some rather odd bar extensions, but was otherwise deceptively normal looking. Little did I know that he was in fact a “shoaling street performer” and I had unwittingly just become his audience...

I get to the intersection and a little while later he comes puffing along behind.

He first demonstrated his superiority over all other life forms at the intersection (me) by moving a metre into the intersection (i was stopped at the white line). I was, of course, awestruck. He had “dropped” me as if I was standing still – oh, wait a...

But before I had a chance to consider the full implications of stationary dropping manoeuvres, the shoaling street performer moved on to the acrobatic part of the programme, and launched into an off-track-track-stand. I had, until then, been under the sad misapprehension that there was supposed to be some “standing” in a track stand, but that myth was usefully dispelled as he executed a perfect slow forward uphill roll complete with hasty unclipping dismount, which seemed to defy several laws of physics.

Too impressed to do anything but giggle softly, I waited for the next act, which came as the lights turned green. The shoaling street performer did not disappoint and switched effortlessly to vaudeville, executing some truly comedic clip-clowning (which, I am pretty sure, at one stage involved both feet being unclipped and furiously trying to pedal).

So there you go: shoalers – the sadly underappreciated clowns of the crossroads and better than television.

Max wrote:The ones that really annoy me, though, are the plonkers who get in front of the queue, then are slow to take off when the light turns green, and then can't figure out how to clip in. They wobble all over the frigging intersection, looking at their feet instead of the road, and the rest of us (not to mention motorists) have to wait behind them while they faff about.

I notice this a fair bit actually and this is from experienced looking roadies. I assume its much harder to clip in with road cleats than spds.

I am a noob in the cycling world and I ride with spds, I engage the cleat/clip in the moment i put my foot on the "pedal" more often than not. On the rare occasions where I don't clip in on first contact I just ride off as if i wasn't riding with cleats.

As for giving advice, your going to get those who might listen, those who wont listen and those who tell you to get lost (not just in the biking world). As long as your comfortable receiving all 3 response then you can just keep giving

I have no idea what a shoaler is. Dunno if that's a good or a bad thing anyway.

eeksll wrote:I assume its much harder to clip in with road cleats than spds.

Not really, but I still manage to miss about 5% of the time. Then once you've missed you end up all rattled and it takes bloody ages to get in and ugh. This also always happens on an uphill.

lethoso wrote:

eeksll wrote:I assume its much harder to clip in with road cleats than spds.

Not really, but I still manage to miss about 5% of the time. Then once you've missed you end up all rattled and it takes bloody ages to get in and ugh. This also always happens on an uphill.

Ditto... on the flat it goes in every time!!!!!!

cp123 wrote:I have no idea what a shoaler is. Dunno if that's a good or a bad thing anyway.

its a term bike snob uses to describe the riders who when they see someone stopped at a red light, will pass them and pull up in front of them. If you get 2 of those riders, the second will pull up even further over the stop line.

Shoaling is a term for water getting shallower under you as you sail a boat in a direction -> ie the riders are riding into very shallow water.

He, He One of the great advantages of being in the country. No queue so no queue jumpers.

Martin

Oxford wrote:

Max wrote:

Zynster wrote:So far no one has mentioned the amateur track stander. Probably don't need to paint a picture for that one.

I know it's wrong of me, but every time I see one, I have to fight the urge to give them a shoulder charge. "What, think you're too good to unclip do you? Too pro for your foot to touch the ground, eh?" *whack* *thud*



Max

Max I need to know what you look like. We have a similar route and I'm now afraid of being slammed by you as I track stand at lights/intersections/railway crossings.

Now, Oxford, if I told you that, you'd miss out on the surprise factor. We couldn't have that, could we!

Max

Whats so wrong about track standing. I have been doing at traffic lights for 20 years, haven't fallen over yet.

The operative was amateur track standers. If you've been doing it for 20 years, one assumes that your pretty good at it. Personally I'm always impressed when I see some dude perfectly poised and balanced.

sometimes queue jumping is justified. there's a crossing near me on the bike path where cyclists queue up. that's fine for the first ten who'll get through, but the queue often extends much further back down the path and the crossing cycle is too short for them. i will jump to the front, where there is room to bunch up. i've noticed most cyclists just wait patiently in line - i think that's a case of courtesy before common sense.

roadrash wrote:complete with hasty unclipping dismount, which seemed to defy several laws of physics.

roadrash wrote: at one stage involved both feet being unclipped and furiously trying to pedal).

Whats wrong with doing those things?

I think I manage both quite regularly. I can unclip and put my foot down at a moments notice, even when clipped in while stationary. Its a kind of important skill I would have thought. Same with pedalling without being clipped in. I shoot off from the lights quickly. If I miss a clip then I continue pedaling until I'm at cruising speed before readjusting the foot and clipping in.

Zynster wrote:The operative was amateur track standers. If you've been doing it for 20 years, one assumes that your pretty good at it. Personally I'm always impressed when I see some dude perfectly poised and balanced.

Ahh sorry, my bad. I did come 3rd in the track stand comp at the SCOTT 24hr in 2009. My foot went to sleep after 3 mins then I had to put it down after going 1 handed

human909 wrote: Whats wrong with doing those things?

Wrong? Nothing whatsoever!

But if you:

(a) plonk yourself ahead of me in an intersection when I have just overtaken you and am therefore probably going to do the same thing again;

(b) fall over when you subsequently try and do a track stand; and

(c) are a bit all-round hopeless when it comes to clipping back in

then, I may laugh at you (silently of course, so as not to hurt your feelings).

Actually, I am only laughing at the hypothetical you, because I am quite sure you would never do any of those shameful and silly things.

Does that make it wrong? no. Humorous? well, a bit. Am I wrong to laugh in those circumstances? Most likely, but it was only silent hypothetical laughter at a hopeless-hypothetical you and I am going to hell anyway.

I must admit ot being guilty of queue jumping every now and then, but only if I have been rolling behind someone pushing their legs off going up slight inclines at 15km/h. Where i ride is usually about a 3% incline and very tight with traffic so it can be hard to pass. Especially when the person or persons infront are riding on the outside edge of the bike lane, which is fine as it stops them being doored. Just makes it near inpossible to pass them for about 2km unless you queue jump. Saying that I normally wont see them again once the lights go green. And I also have to admit to being someone who struggles every now and then to clip in when stopped uphill, though have been much better lately.

ALAN Roadie wrote:I must admit ot being guilty of queue jumping every now and then, but only if I have been rolling behind someone pushing their legs off going up slight inclines at 15km/h. Where i ride is usually about a 3% incline and very tight with traffic so it can be hard to pass. Especially when the person or persons infront are riding on the outside edge of the bike lane, which is fine as it stops them being doored. Just makes it near inpossible to pass them for about 2km unless you queue jump. Saying that I normally wont see them again once the lights go green. And I also have to admit to being someone who struggles every now and then to clip in when stopped uphill, though have been much better lately.

That ain't queue jumping, that's just common sense. I define queue jumping as those who go ahead of you at the red lights when you are either riding faster than them anyway or when you passed them about 200m back (even more irritating are the ones who get ahead of you by going through the red light so you have to find a way past a second or third time).

DS

It annoys me( ) when your at the lights and as you said someone skips through the line and parks right in front of you. Now I consider myself quit fast on the take off and fast as a rule on my rides, so when these tools have plonked themselves in front of me, I'm thinking, you better be quick n fast... 99.99999% of the time their NOT, they just like sitting up the front causing all sorts of jams behind em...

I'll skip the line myself, but only because I'll end up getting off my bike and over taking them as I walk past em, and no, they don't catch me unless they decide to suck my wheel. To me this is like the fast lane and slow lane when driving, you dont sit in the right lane going dramatically slower than the speed limit....