I was almost about to side with cyclists? Slap me next time, huh?

[Insanity_rules]

Much to my interest there was an article on the news tonight regarding a cyclist videoing cagers getting too close to him on the road. OK started saying that cagers cause most of the cycle vs car accidents which I could swallow. Then went on to say that the fellow had made some 60 odd complaints regarding cagers getting too close backed up with video. Kinda made him look a little looney but I was with him that far, it went on to say he had been knocked off rather seriously. OK poor guy, benefit of the doubt as we all know what cagers are like............ Then it showed one of his videos, whoa momma! Now I completely side with the opposite faction in this arguement. At some points in the video he was MILES out from the curb trying to mix it up with traffic! OK I could hear horns and such beeping at him, but they were beeping him for a reason.

I have had quite a few cyclists wobble out in front of me in the cage and some when I'm on my bike too, in fact they get even bloody closer to the damn bike. I think the cyclists need a little re-education in this instance.

What are your experiences with cyclists on the road?

[Gremlin]

mixed. Some perfectly fine, not a 2nd thought. Had some deliberately block me, that was ... Interesting. Once a cyclist veered into my path as I was entering a right hander, oncoming car, not fun at all, but cyclist did apologise later.

[Berries]

Apart from the Tour de France lycra no serious issues. The fact they get slammed for not obeying the road rules is purely because they can. I'd do the same if I could get away with it. The only issue I have is with the bolshy riders who bang on about rights. In that way they are no different to motorbike riders.

Was trying to post a recent story from the ODT but can't find it. Here's the text, hope you find it funny (not the actual event, but the quote from the "farmer types")

Women attack and rob cyclists

A New Zealand representative cyclist and his Otago team mate say they are flabbergasted after being driven off the road and abused by two women while on a training ride on the Taieri.
"It's stranger than fiction," Logan Edgar (19) said last night, nursing a broken hand, a result of the incident. The national representative and Shane Melrose (30) were riding along Loan Metal Rd towards Outram on Saturday when the incident happened.

"I've been riding for 20 years, all over the world, and I've never seen anything like that before," Mr Melrose, a primary teacher trainee, said.

Their story began when they heard a car approaching about 1pm. Its horn was tooted and someone leaned out of the passenger door and abused them for riding two abreast, he said.

"It came up pretty quickly and tried to collect us with the front door," Mr Edgar, a University of Otago commerce student, said. The car passed them and slammed on its brakes, forcing Mr Melrose into gravel on the wrong side of the road. Mr Logan was caught behind the open car door, when a woman got out and began slapping and punching him. She then threw a bottle at him, he said.

"The woman was going nuts. They dragged my bike into the front passenger seat and took off dragging the bike." Mr Edgar said he did not know how to deal with the woman and was so frustrated he hit the car's rear window, cracking a knuckle. Mr Melrose called the police when he realised what was happening to Mr Edgar, thinking it would calm the situation.

Meanwhile, Mr Edgar, frantic about his loaned $12,000 bike, flagged down a car, encountering some "farmer types", who reacted to his story by telling him he needed to give up cycling for "kung fu" if he was getting beaten up by "two sheilas". His bike was found in a ditch and returned to him undamaged by police yesterday, to his relief.

Spokes Dunedin representative Phaedra Upton said the incident was "very disappointing". Cyclists were "legally entitled to ride two abreast" and she could not think of a situation where the driver's reaction would be acceptable. "So many of our issues come down to motorist education and them understanding that they don't own the road. "Every user, as long as they are obeying the law, is entitled to be on the road."

[Maha]

Interesting how cyclist are exempt from Red Lights and Pedestrian Crossings.
Pelaton groups around the auckland waterfont ride faster than posted speed limit, the exemptions just keep coming.

[Lurch]

Once again the elitist jerks ruin it for the rest.

[sinfull]

They do have trouble keeping up with me !

[Techno]

Cyclists were "legally entitled to ride two abreast"

Wow:blink:, when did that happen? I was always told single file!

[kiwifruit]

cycling > motorcycling

[spajohn]

For those who don't know Wellington, where Aro St intersects with Willis St, there is a pedestrian crossing over Willis St (which is also near the bottom of Brooklyn hill), which with pedestrians on it effectively allows traffic through the give way on Aro St onto Willis. See here:
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=aro+st&sll=-41.249335,174.76918&sspn=0.012035,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Aro+St,+Aro+Valley,+Wellington+6021&ll=-41.296687,174.770776&spn=0.006013,0.009645&z=17

One experience of cyclists is a pair riding through the pedestrian crossing that had a lot of morning rush hour foot traffic on it, while all other vehicles on Willis St had stopped for them. Turning in my car from Aro St onto Willis I had the said pair of cyclists after riding between people on the crossing then start banging on the roof of my car as they had to swerve or break, or have become an ornament on my rear bumper.

Don't seem to think the road rules apply to them...wankers. Or am I missing something?

[Str8 Jacket]

Everyone's a winner, baby, that's no lie!!

[Bald Eagle]

Or am I missing something?

Yep , you missed the cyclists, go back and have another go.

[Scuba_Steve]

theres cyclist's & then there's the Lycra Brigade, Its the Lycra Brigade who are the problem!

[SMOKEU]

Those cyclists sometimes have a go at me for riding my motorbike in a cycle lane. I just tell them to phuck off.

[neels]

There are fuckwits on bicycles.

There are fuckwits in cars.

There are fuckwit pedestrians.

There are fuckwits on motorcycles.

There are fuckwits everywhere, you can't really condemn an entire group of people just because some of the fuckwits choose to participate in their chosen activity.

And sadly it's not legal to kill them for the good of the gene pool

[BevanPT]

I don't think you're missing anything at all.

This is from the Cyclists Road Code on the NZTA website.

Sharing with pedestrians
•Where there are a lot of pedestrians, slow down and be prepared to stop quickly.
•Be careful when cycling past parked vehicles or stopped buses, as pedestrians may suddenly appear.
•Slow down and be ready to stop for any pedestrians on, or stepping onto, a crossing. See Using different types of pedestrian crossings for more information on legal stopping requirements at different types of pedestrian crossings.
•If you want to use a pedestrian crossing to cross the road you must get off your cycle and walk. The exception is at crossings with special traffic signals for cyclists - here you may cycle across the crossing when the signal shows a green cycle symbol. See Using shared pedestrian and cycle crossings for more information on these types of crossings.
•Shared paths (paths that allow pedestrians and cyclists) have their own set of rules - for more information on these, see Shared paths.

[george formby]

Scenic Drive, Titirangi out to the west coast beaches early on a Sunday mornin. Nightmare in a car (bikeless at the time) due to swarms of sweaty masochists in large groups filling the left hand lane. Going up hill at walking pace & not giving a toss about the vehicles queued behind with no chance to overtake safely. Absolutely ridiculous. A guy gets done for holding up traffic in his truck ( recent post ) but cyclists at times consider it their birth right to act the same way & are almost militant in defending that. Want to use a public road? Pay & obey, the same as everybody else & wear the consequences of traffic infringements. Fairs fair.

[spajohn]

What are your experiences with cyclists on the road?

I've also witnessed cyclists in Wellington bang on a drivers window and have a go for driving too close...I was behind when he passed them and there was easily a metre, more like 1.5.

[Bounce001]

Cyclist really phuck me off. :angry:

They want everyone to look out for them yet they will not give the same courtesy on their bikes.

Most of them think they don't need to obey the road code and that they have right of way over all traffic.

As I have said before:

Make them pay road user charges and sit a road rules competency test.

Bastards :2guns:

[Swoop]

Wow:blink:, when did that happen? I was always told single file!
Nope. They are entitled to 2 abreast but must revert to single file whenever passing a parked vehicle.

[marie_speeds]

I was stopped at lights and had a cyclist bang on my bonnet and tell me my left front tyre was partially over in cycle lane and that cars should stay in their own lanes. So I wound down my passenger window and told him that he needs to stay in the cycle lane because if I saw the bike come out of the cycle lane and onto the road, I would run him over.... he moved onto the footpath after that cause there was a bus stopped ahead and he knew he wouldn't get past bus unless he came out of cycle lane and into my lane. It's nice when people take you seriously.:yes:

[Forest]

Cyclist really phuck me off. :angry:

They want everyone to look out for them yet they will not give the same courtesy on their bikes.

Most of them think they don't need to obey the road code and that they have right of way over all traffic.

What's with the "most of them" bullshit?

The majority of cyclists are law-abiding and considerate.

Of course there are some dickheads on bicycles. To characterise all cyclists by the actions of that small number would be as ridiculous as characterising all bikers by the actions of squids and other munters.



As I have said before:

Make them pay road user charges and sit a road rules competency test.

Bastards :2guns:

Yeah. Because what this country needs is more laws, and more bureaucracy to administer them.

[dipshit]

Oh the irony.

:shifty:

[meteor]

Commuted on a bike for years, only about 3 close calls, cars pulling out on me even with my bright yellow jacket and light? Had words with about 5 drivers. Belted one car with my hand but thats cause his bonnet was directly underneath my right handle bar, so quite close. Only time I got knocked off was by a ped running across in front of a stationary bus I was passing on the left. Dare I say it... most drivers are pretty good.... thing that pissed me off the most was all the glass on the road... $10 a tube! There's fuckwits in all walks of life... don't let them ruin your day... move on.

[Usarka]

Fucking cyclists should obey the road rules! :angry:


I'm so angry I'm going to go for a high speed fang on the motorcycle.

[Forest]

thing that pissed me off the most was all the glass on the road... $10 a tube!

Yep. I got seven flats over a two month period this winter.

However my dealer put me onto Conti GatorSkin tyres about a month ago. They're about $70 per tyre, but I haven't had any flats since they were installed.

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/race/recetyres/ultra_gatorskin/ultragatorskin_en.html

[meteor]

Yep. I got seven flats over a two month...[/url]

I now ride a mountain bike with slicks, have double skinned the tyres with the tread of used slicks with the walls cut off. Only a couple of hundred grams extra but that's no problem and no flats since... except one from jumping a kerb. $70... ouch, my way cost $0 and I'm a huge fan of torpedo 7 with their specials... I'm cheap and I'm happy!