Cyclists and foam tubes

[jellywrestler]

Coming back from my annual Rainbow/Molesworth ride yesterday and halfway between Blenheim and Nelson I saw two cyclists that made me yell out "FUCKWITS".

They had foam rubber tubes somehow attached to their bikes that stuck out into the road about a metre presumably to fend off cars or to simulate riding two abreast. now I am not an angry person and don't suffer road rage, but this really made me want to turn around and ride over their stupid appendages.

how easy is it to ignite, maybe get two bikes with passengers, the first has a spray bottle of meths or soemthing, the second drops a flame, that'll make them peddle hard i reckon

[merv]

The law changed maybe a year back - you must give 1m clearance for the cyclist. Which can cause issues.

No, the law has not been changed yet. The Road Code recommends 1.5m clearance but it is a recommendation, not the law. The current Government says it will look at it. Read this http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-ze...-cyclists.html

If you search NZ legislation the using the words 'passing cyclist' the closest you get is the Road User Rule and the specific requirement for clearance is not mentioned http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regul..._25_h&p=1&sr=1

[Banditbandit]

I haven't seen this - but it sounds very stupid ...

No matter how soft the foam, if a car driver misjudges the distance, there's a good chance the cyclist is going to be eating dirt ..

Dumb fuckers ...

I have been known, on the open road, to come up behind a group of cyclists who are all over the road - drop it down a coupe of gears and open the throttle - misjudging the 1.5 metre distance as I pass ... They look awfully wobbly in my rear view mirror ...

[T.W.R]

When I was at Chappies, one day just on closing we had a German pull into the shop with one of these paraglider/tricycle thingys looking for a spare set of spark plugs. Had a 500cc Rotax motor and he reckoned it'd tap out @ 75km/h and when in the air roughly 90km/h. Probably a good thing there aren't many tourists bring this sort of gizmo into the country to get about on. Would be a bit of fun though

[jellywrestler]

I haven't seen this - but it sounds very stupid ...

No matter how soft the foam, if a car driver misjudges the distance, there's a good chance the cyclist is going to be eating dirt ..

foam bends doesn't it?

[Woodman]

foam bends doesn't it?

Yes and the foam on these two wankers bikes was flopping around all over the place.

Problem is if anyone did hit the foam and caused an issue these fuckers would claim the moral high ground.

[oldrider]

Yes and the foam on these two wankers bikes was flopping around all over the place.

Problem is if anyone did hit the foam and caused an issue these fuckers would claim the moral high ground.

That moral high ground is probably a bigger problem than the foam!

[pritch]

Problem is if anyone did hit the foam and caused an issue these fuckers would claim the moral high ground.

So they should. If the idiot car driver couldn't miss the bikes they shouldn't have a licence. There are a lot of drivers here have no real idea of where the left side of their car is. If you doubt that note the damage to the left front wheel on a lot of cars. Some have no precise idea of where the right hand side is either.

I like the Dutch idea. If a car hits a cyclist the driver is in the shit. Full stop. Therefore cars don't hit bikes much at all.

[Woodman]

So on any winding road where their is no shoulder to speak of, and to be completely safe we need to all drive at 50 km/h or less just in case there is a cyclist with a long foam tube hanging into the road that may possibly get caught up and cause the cyclist harm.

[AllanB]

I like the Dutch idea. If a car hits a cyclist the driver is in the shit. Full stop. Therefore cars don't hit bikes much at all.

Do they apply the same to motorcyclists if a car hits one?

Is it Japan where a nose/tail accident is automatically the following cars fault?

[Voltaire]

[Grumph]

In rural NZ in the 1920's all that would have been crammed onto an Indian and sidecar....

What happens if the foam ring gets hooked on a wingmirror ? Bonus points for distance the cyclist is dragged ?

[AllanB]

If they just cycled naked people would notice them.

[Banditbandit]

foam bends doesn't it?

Yeah - but if you are doing 100klicks I wouldn't count on the foaming bending quickly enough - it will mess up a bike balance ..

[jellywrestler]

So on any winding road where their is no shoulder to speak of, and to be completely safe we need to all drive at 50 km/h or less just in case there is a cyclist with a long foam tube hanging into the road that may possibly get caught up and cause the cyclist harm.

or an animal or a walker or a rock slide, use ya fucking brain