The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

[m@]

I think someone suggested a while back on here that we should be riding on the road, and not on the shared paths. There are some seriously dumb people on the paths.

The problem is that, with this bridge and the 70kph speed limit, it's too dangerous to ride on the road over the bridge if it's only a few riders.

There was a head-on collision between two cyclists on the shared path on the other side of the bridge a few weeks back, and the innocent cyclist flipped over the safety barrier and landed on his back in the traffic between two cars. Luckily, the traffic was moving slowly, so he wasn't run over. The Govt suggestion for that side of the bridge is to put up some 'cyclists must dismount' signs until they find the $3+M (!!?!) to put a taller barrier up between the pathway and the road.

The proper solution would be to do a flotation test (lake below bridge) of the bicycles ridden by these people who can't seem to do simple things like ride on the correct side of the path, overtake safely etc. etc.

Actually - in a similar vein, a few months back I was riding across the same bridge with one other in single file, we were approaching a ped and mate ahead went to overtake when lycra hoon tried to overtake all of us without calling then had the hide to abuse my mate for getting in his way. Luckily for him, we had somewhere else to be... otherwise we were going to follow and have words.

Had a similar experience this morning going south on Commonwealth Ave just onto Vernon Circle; southbound in the bike lane, approaching a slow commuter and with a guy on my wheel; I do a headcheck for the car lane, start to move right when he mumbles something and goes around me...

The Commonweath Ave bridge is muppetville at commute times... had a northbound pedestrian walk straight across my path this morning as I rode south on the eastern side, making for the ramp down to the lake. Luckily I was already covering the brakes...

[twizzle]

And how "nice" is the new intersection of London Circuit/Parkes way onto Commonwealth Ave for peds & cyclists? I'm waiting for the first fatality - buckleys chance of crossing the two lanes as designed. I used to avoid that crossing point by going around London Crct in the morning peak, but now they have taken that option away in the process!

[jcjordan]

And how "nice" is the new intersection of London Circuit/Parkes way onto Commonwealth Ave for peds & cyclists? I'm waiting for the first fatality - buckleys chance of crossing the two lanes as designed. I used to avoid that crossing point by going around London Crct in the morning peak, but now they have taken that option away in the process!

I have put in a compliant regarding this intersection, plus a follow up with no reply yet. The more that compliane on Canberra Connect the better

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710a using Tapatalk 2

[human909]

Are you sure he knew he was doing something wrong? As far as Australian culture goes most people seem to think that paths are shared locations open to pedestrians, pets and cyclists. The notion that paths are a medium speed infrastructure where there is an obligation to not hold up traffic does not seem to enter the minds of many people.

anyone with common sense would have seen that his actions were causing chaos - he was enjoying himself. some people are just p's.

i've got no issue with slowing for pedestrians, even if they insist on blocking the entire path (which is annoying), but dogs are not protected by the road rules - their owners are obliged to keep them under control.

How are dogs and the road rules relevant? Do you really think dog walkers are checking the road rules before they take their dog for a walk?

[skull]

share paths and road rules?

[adrian_d]

Hey All,
I rode to work for the first time today and took the bike paths all the way through.

I was riding on a bridge which had reasonable space for 1.5 bikes on the footpath next to the road. I was riding in the middle as there was clearly only enough space for one and I would have a bigger chance of falling off. There was a cyclist on the road (who had crossed a 6 lane main road) and ended up jumping up on the curb and going on the start of the bridge foot path and started pedalling towards me (even though he would have had heaps of space to stop and let me get through first). I was at least 3/4 of the way past the bridge before he did this and it was really frustrating.

As the bike path was travelling against the traffic he ended up going on the safer side (edge of the bridge) and making me have to go around him as he was pedalling in the middle of the path, and I was literally on the edge of the curb.

Clearly the courteous thing would have been to let me pass, instead of him barging through.

If it was the other way around I would have been more than happy to let him through, so much for helping out your fellow Cyclist.

Anyone else got a story like that? A fellow cyclist being less courteous than desired?

[Crittski]

Lol, if thats the worst thing that happens to you today, then you are probably still having a good day...

[nescius]

And how "nice" is the new intersection of London Circuit/Parkes way onto Commonwealth Ave for peds & cyclists? I'm waiting for the first fatality - buckleys chance of crossing the two lanes as designed. I used to avoid that crossing point by going around London Crct in the morning peak, but now they have taken that option away in the process!

I agree, that is a really nasty intersection now, it's just an accident waiting to happen.

[adrian_d]

Lol, if thats the worst thing that happens to you today, then you are probably still having a good day...

Oh yeah the day riding to work was no worries apart from that haha. I didn't fall which is definitely a step forward for me. haha

[m@]

And how "nice" is the new intersection of London Circuit/Parkes way onto Commonwealth Ave for peds & cyclists? I'm waiting for the first fatality - buckleys chance of crossing the two lanes as designed. I used to avoid that crossing point by going around London Crct in the morning peak, but now they have taken that option away in the process!

Yep, it's a shocker... even worse because now drivers will be distracted by the zip merge (difficulty rating for Canberran drivers = 11/10).

Given the amount of cycle traffic, the best solution would've been to continue the bike lane along the left-hand side of Commonwealth Ave and require traffic entering from Parks Way to give way to cyclists (though that's another 11/10 skill for drivers hereabouts).

[damhooligan]

Try searching for the thread dumb cyclist.

As for the title.... please. .
Rude people are everywhere.
They di not represent all cyclists...

mods??... merging this with the dumb cyclists thread???

[rkelsen]

I see it every day.

And I'll admit to being a little less courteous than I should be sometimes.

On a day like today when there are a lot more people out walking, jogging and cycling, it is very difficult to be 100% courteous to everyone when you have to get to work and they're meandering all over the path in front of you.

Mind you, I dunno where all these people have been for the past few months...

[adrian_d]

Try searching for the thread dumb cyclist.

As for the title.... please. .
Rude people are everywhere.
They di not represent all cyclists...

mods??... merging this with the dumb cyclists thread???

If the mods could merge my thread that would be fantastic. I should have done a better search sorry.

They are definitely a minority as i've had awesome fun

Whats the general concensus with waving and saying hi to riders as they go past? i've had 1 in 6 reply back with a "good day". Maybe i'm just strange lol

[g-boaf]

Mods, please feel free to merge my reply into the other thread too if you feel this whole thing should be merged.

Otherwise - I generally find most other riders are really friendly and say hello. It never ceases to amaze me, even though some of them might be pushing up a long hill, they don't mind saying hello. The cool thing is talking back while looking absolutely at ease, no huffing or puffing and not looking like you are even breaking a sweat.

There will be some riders out there who have the race-face on, but I don't see too many of them, most of the ones I come across are totally and absolutely top people, very cool.

On the topic of sharing the paths, you'll get better at using less space when you have more confidence at riding smoothly. More time riding will gain that.

[adrian_d]

I had this awesome dude meet me at the lights and was sure to comment on my baby blue and white colour scheme on the single speed bike I was riding. He was also following behind me and talking as we were riding on Beach Road. Boy that was tense, i had pushed myself so much as I was struggling to keep to a constant speed as he was. I could see the shadow of his wheel behind me.

I was maintaining an average speed of around 36km an hour for about a minute which I found very difficult. haha

[jules21]

today's award goes to....

[biftek]

I see it every day.

And I'll admit to being a little less courteous than I should be sometimes.

On a day like today when there are a lot more people out walking, jogging and cycling, it is very difficult to be 100% courteous to everyone when you have to get to work and they're meandering all over the path in front of you.

Mind you, I dunno where all these people have been for the past few months...

so let me get this straight , we want cars to give us cyclists more space , more time , stop being so impatient , but when it is others holding cyclists up they should get of the way ???

[Howzat]

Given the amount of cycle traffic, the best solution would've been to continue the bike lane along the left-hand side of Commonwealth Ave and require traffic entering from Parks Way to give way to cyclists (though that's another 11/10 skill for drivers hereabouts).

That's still the case isn't it - that vehicles from Parkes Way have to give way to cyclists on Commonwealth Ave? (Assuming drivers take the time to look for them, of course.)

today's award goes to....

next up, a Darwin award for that guy.

[birdbrain]

Anyone else got a story like that? A fellow cyclist being less courteous than desired?

No.

[rkelsen]

On a day like today when there are a lot more people out walking, jogging and cycling, it is very difficult to be 100% courteous to everyone when you have to get to work and they're meandering all over the path in front of you.

so let me get this straight , we want cars to give us cyclists more space , more time , stop being so impatient , but when it is others holding cyclists up they should get of the way ???

No mate. I try to be as courteous as I can, but some people make it very difficult. That's all I'm saying. Don't read more into it.

[Oxford]

On a day like today when there are a lot more people out walking, jogging and cycling, it is very difficult to be 100% courteous to everyone when you have to get to work and they're meandering all over the path in front of you.

so let me get this straight , we want cars to give us cyclists more space , more time , stop being so impatient , but when it is others holding cyclists up they should get of the way ???

No mate. I try to be as courteous as I can, but some people make it very difficult. That's all I'm saying. Don't read more into it.

its the internet, its our job to read more into it and make you out to be a bad guy, don't you know anything?

I do understand what you mean though.

[m@]

Given the amount of cycle traffic, the best solution would've been to continue the bike lane along the left-hand side of Commonwealth Ave and require traffic entering from Parks Way to give way to cyclists (though that's another 11/10 skill for drivers hereabouts).

That's still the case isn't it - that vehicles from Parkes Way have to give way to cyclists on Commonwealth Ave? (Assuming drivers take the time to look for them, of course.)

I think you're thinking of the west-bound Parks Way intersection (where they have to give way)... Lots of 'creepers' there!

East-bound traffic exiting Parks joins the ramp coming off London Cct, which joins Commonwealth Ave just north of the bridge over Parks. The southbound bike lane on Commonwealth just peters out and you're probably expected to dismount and walk across the ramp (which is now two lanes with a zip merge right at the end); but everyone tries to pick a gap and move across to re-join the bike lane on the left.

Most drivers are pretty good at letting you cross provided you're moving at a reasonable clip and don't hold them up... but now will be preoccupied with merging with each other. And when someone decides not to let you in, you're stuck riding into a diminishing triangle between two merging lanes of traffic (at said fair clip).

[Howzat]

East-bound traffic exiting Parks joins the ramp coming off London Cct, which joins Commonwealth Ave just north of the bridge over Parks. The southbound bike lane on Commonwealth just peters out and you're probably expected to dismount and walk across the ramp

Yeah I see what you mean. Nothing is worse than bike lanes that peter out.

I can see the traffic engineers presenting this plan - "Cyclists will just, uh, disappear at this point and rematerialise at the bike lane 200m up ahead" - to a sea of nodding heads.

[adrian_d]

East-bound traffic exiting Parks joins the ramp coming off London Cct, which joins Commonwealth Ave just north of the bridge over Parks. The southbound bike lane on Commonwealth just peters out and you're probably expected to dismount and walk across the ramp

Yeah I see what you mean. Nothing is worse than bike lanes that peter out.

I can see the traffic engineers presenting this plan - "Cyclists will just, uh, disappear at this point and rematerialise at the bike lane 200m up ahead" - to a sea of nodding heads.

Its the usual thing for them to end up in an ambulance from those scenarios

[Biffidus]

I can see the traffic engineers presenting this plan - "Cyclists will just, uh, disappear at this point and rematerialise at the bike lane 200m up ahead" - to a sea of nodding heads.

Its the usual thing for them to end up in an ambulance from those scenarios

I now have a very pleasant mental image of the traffic planner being set upon by angry cyclists and being carried away in an ambulance.

I regularly have to dodge dog walkers (off-lead and lead-across-the-path varieties), slow people who veer side to side as they walk and then react comically to a bicycle bell (not the air-zound, I swear) and the occasional older asian gentleman practicing Tai Chi on the shared path (I kid you not). On the road I'm lucky to find a bike path that isn't full of pot holes or parked cars.

Good times