Rant - Bits left lying around

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ColinOldnCranky
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Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:34 am

This morning I was unceremoniously dumped off the unicycle after I hit a used CO2 cartridge. If it had been a bicyclist hitting it then the chances of an injury or damage to equipment would quite signficant. In a way, the gods were smiling when they put it in my path instead.

I see heaps of old tubes and it's not the first time that I have come across spent cartridges either.

To the dill that left it there, thanks muchly. I am not even going to bother suggesting that you should take old tubes and bits with you. It is obvious that you will not be burdened with any intention whatsoever to override your fundamental pathological tendencies to consider anyone other than your own selfish self. In the vernacular of the drama fraternity, "break a leg".
Last edited by ColinOldnCranky on Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
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trailgumby
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby trailgumby » Sat Mar 01, 2014 5:44 am

That annoys me too. Tubes left lying around, in particular. Gel wrappers are another.

Do they expect Mum to come along and clean up after them?

If you can put it in your pocket for just-in-case you can put it back in your pocket and take it home.

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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby g-boaf » Sat Mar 01, 2014 6:24 am

Tubes should never be left behind, kids use them to set up traps for us.

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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby queequeg » Sat Mar 01, 2014 8:28 am

for some odd reason the most common item I find is old gloves. cycling gloves, motorcycle gloves, gardening gloves....scattered along the road shoulder of the M2. How do you lose a glove on a motorway?
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby il padrone » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:48 am

Lots of roadies and wannabe heroes are just following the habits of their TDF legends :|
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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:55 am

g-boaf wrote:Tubes should never be left behind, kids use them to set up traps for us.
Geez - I never though of that. Thanks for the inspiration g-boaf. :twisted:
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby g-boaf » Sat Mar 01, 2014 10:32 am

il padrone wrote:Lots of roadies and wannabe heroes are just following the habits of their TDF legends :|
You never miss a chance to take a swipe at road-bike riders do you? You might be surprised that some road-bike riders actually go as far as sweeping rubbish away. It might save you a puncture once in a while. I don't suppose that occurred to you while writing up that formulaic rant?
ColinOldnCranky wrote:Geez - I never though of that. Thanks for the inspiration g-boaf. :twisted:
The kiddies out west here, some of them have actually done that. Along with stringing up wire.

Gel wrappers I tend to put in an empty bottle, or I stop and put them in a bin.

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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby trailgumby » Sat Mar 01, 2014 11:10 am

It's not just roadies. I've found discarded road tubes, but I've also found 20" and 24" tubes chucked on the roadside verge, which had me scratching my head - I've *never* seen a kid with a BMX carrying a pump or spares.

The thing that really ticks me off is seeing tubes, discarded wrappers and other biker rubbish in the bush. The reason we go bush is to get away from that stuff! Leave only tyre prints :evil:

As for IPs comment... six munce agoe I culdnt evn spel rodey. Now I ar wun!

I fink he is to :P

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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby Aushiker » Sat Mar 01, 2014 11:59 am

Topic of the month? Litter fines coming the way of Queensland riders if they don't lift their game it seems.

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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby il padrone » Sat Mar 01, 2014 2:00 pm

g-boaf wrote:You never miss a chance to take a swipe at road-bike riders do you?
I would describe myself as more roadie than MTB these days. I have my own road bike that gets to do Audax, and ride the tourer on-road on all tours. I don't race however. Not a swipe at roadies at all, just those who copy the pro-peleton wilfully.

You do watch the TdF and what those team riders do after their feed-zone hand-ups? I rate it as really poor environmental care.
g-boaf wrote:You might be surprised that some road-bike riders actually go as far as sweeping rubbish away. It might save you a puncture once in a while. I don't suppose that occurred to you while writing up that formulaic rant?
Nothing would surprise me, and nothing formulaic or ranting in my comments. I just rant at mindless litterers. Go take a stroll along some of our less well-used bayside beaches and you'll know what I mean.
This is mild compared to what I've observed on coastal walks.
Image

http://www.coastalwatch.com/environment ... stic-beach" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
....we know that it isn't feasible to think we can use as much plastic as we do and not have it escape our clutches and end up polluting our oceans and the environment. Once in our oceans we know plastic kills marine life, makes our beaches look like rubbish tips, becomes brittle and breaks apart into billions of pieces making it impossible to clean up and is consumed by all manner of marine life including those that make up the basis of our food chain. We've used more plastic in the last decade than we have in the entire 100 years of the 20th Century, if we continue on this path unabated what will it mean for my children, and their children? What will the beach of the future look like and what marine animals will be left for us to appreciate or eat without fear of contamination?
Quite literally, gut-wrenching !! :cry:





BTW none of that sort of rubbish will give me any puncture concerns, but great if you go and sweep it away :wink:
Last edited by il padrone on Sat Mar 01, 2014 4:37 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby warthog1 » Sat Mar 01, 2014 4:01 pm

Currently using a tube I found laying beside the road on my commute. Patch on it and all good. The more lazy fools who leave them at the side of the road, the less I have to spend on tubes :P
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:53 pm

il padrone wrote:
g-boaf wrote:You never miss a chance to take a swipe at road-bike riders do you?
g-boaf wrote:You might be surprised that some road-bike riders actually go as far as sweeping rubbish away. It might save you a puncture once in a while. I don't suppose that occurred to you while writing up that formulaic rant?

Irrelevant - I am one of the many who take the time. But the fact that I come across rubbish means that, until I got there that rubbish has been there - with the issues of hazard to cyclists, peds and wildlife existing until that moment. And I dare say that I miss more of the rubbish than I what I spot.

To take a tube requires no more than to wrap it around the top tube and tie a single loose knot. To take a CO2 cylinder away just needs the rider to tuck it into the botton of his/her riding dacks. No more difficult for most other attire. Besides, if a rider carried a cartridge to the spot then they can carry it out the same way, however that is.

Cyclists who leave their crap SHOULD be subject to a rant. We publish videos all over the place to shame drivers. I think we can legitimately criticise those tools on two wheels that don't bother to take their bits and pieces with them.

End of MY rant - at least for the moment anyway.

=========

EDIT On re-reading the thread I suspect G-Boaf may be responding to a barb implicit in our padres choice of terms. I may be wrong as I don't observe enough to know either if he makes a habit of it or if g-boaf could be considered a target. But it's prolly a good time an mild apology from myself to the heap of riders in team gear that give me a happy shout every morning. As I tend to use the stereotypes from time to time. It's just that they can be so efficient to use. And good fun too in a not-very-creative way without the burden of challenging my intellect greatly. :oops: Of course, we cyclists also use stereotypes heavily when discussing boguns that push us into the gutter. How can we not do so when we have subjects like Swervin' Mervin. :mrgreen:
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby il padrone » Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:16 am

ColinOldnCranky wrote:
g-boaf wrote:You never miss a chance to take a swipe at road-bike riders do you?
........EDIT On re-reading the thread I suspect G-Boaf may be responding to a barb implicit in our padres choice of terms. I may be wrong as I don't observe enough to know either if he makes a habit of it or if g-boaf could be considered a target.
Cripes, talk about over-analysis of an off-the-cuff post responding to a particular complaint. For the record I rarely see bike litter on the roadside, but others were complaining of it.

My self-analysis:
Lots of roadies....
Lots, the ones who are leaving litter. Not all. In my world a "roadie" is someone who rides a road bike. I do this myself.
....and wannabe heroes
Those who are trying to play the roadie game but lack skill, style or standards. Eg. team kit poseurs, riding in their Nike sneakers, who stop and have a fag at the cafe (just another stereotype I know :roll: ).
.....are just following the habits of their TDF legends
As stated above, I really believe the pro-team litter habits are poor environmental standards and set a very poor public example.

I rarely pick up other people's litter unless it is right in my face (eg. rubbish left at a campsite I arrive at or am close to). But I am rigorous (some might say religious) about disposing of my rubbish correctly, taking away what I brought in. If everybody did this there would be little need for 'Clean Up Australia Days' - today BTW.
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby skull » Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:36 am

il padrone wrote: As stated above, I really believe the pro-team litter habits are poor environmental standards and set a very poor public example..
The big difference between a pro race and amateurs is in a pro race they tend to have a huge number of support staff to pick up rubbish. I have also seen in some events there are zones for rubbish drops. So it contains the mess somewhat to make it easier for support staff and vollies to pick up mess.

The riders chucking gels and what not out on training rides are just idiots.

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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby il padrone » Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:50 am

skull wrote:
il padrone wrote: As stated above, I really believe the pro-team litter habits are poor environmental standards and set a very poor public example..
The big difference between a pro race and amateurs is in a pro race they tend to have a huge number of support staff to pick up rubbish
.
They do this? In Australia or in the big European circuit races? I have yet to see any evidence of this, and have great doubts. And yes, I am aware of all the souvenir hunters on the TdF chasing bidons etc, but this is mostly just on the one race, and they don't get all the scraps of rubbish (gel packs, bar wrappers)
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby Mulger bill » Sun Mar 02, 2014 12:13 pm

skull wrote:The riders chucking gels and what not out on training rides are just idiots.
You are WAY too polite.
If you can pack it in you can pack it out. NOT rocket science.
...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.
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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby Aushiker » Sun Mar 02, 2014 1:17 pm

skull wrote:I have also seen in some events there are zones for rubbish drops. So it contains the mess somewhat to make it easier for support staff and vollies to pick up mess.
When I rode the Lake Taupo Challenge in 2010 they have had rubbish collection areas setup so you could throw your rubbish into the catchment as you rode past. Great idea.

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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby Warin » Tue Mar 04, 2014 11:09 am

il padrone wrote:
skull wrote:The big difference between a pro race and amateurs is in a pro race they tend to have a huge number of support staff to pick up rubbish
.
They do this? In Australia or in the big European circuit races? I have yet to see any evidence of this, and have great doubts. And yes, I am aware of all the souvenir hunters on the TdF chasing bidons etc, but this is mostly just on the one race, and they don't get all the scraps of rubbish (gel packs, bar wrappers)
I recall a 'target' set up on a TDF stage .. set up so the riders could have a go at throwing things (bidons, food etc) into a net .. think there might have been a bell and lights if they hit the center?

The 'amateurs' probably pay for there own stuff .. so would not throw away a good bidon.

As a young kid I'd been hunting out the bidons.. and any intact food I could find.

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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby Xplora » Sat Mar 08, 2014 10:17 am

Worth an interesting thought at this point - most jerseys have 3 pockets. Surely able to assign one to rubbish/tools, and the rest to fresh stuff? That's what I do. I typically just don't quite trust the pocket to provide me with ma foodz easy peasy when I'm already shanked if I'm mixing used and unused.

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Re: Rant - Bits left lying around

Postby Homo Suburbiensis » Thu Mar 13, 2014 11:03 pm

il padrone wrote:
skull wrote:
il padrone wrote: As stated above, I really believe the pro-team litter habits are poor environmental standards and set a very poor public example..
The big difference between a pro race and amateurs is in a pro race they tend to have a huge number of support staff to pick up rubbish
.
They do this? In Australia or in the big European circuit races? I have yet to see any evidence of this, and have great doubts. And yes, I am aware of all the souvenir hunters on the TdF chasing bidons etc, but this is mostly just on the one race, and they don't get all the scraps of rubbish (gel packs, bar wrappers)
At the end of every stage in the tour de france (and I am sure other races as well) they do a sweep of the whole route and pick up all the rubbish...

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