between a rock and a hard place

[audrey]

The trouble with riding at an appropriate distance from the kerb is
being undertaken by a gutter-occupying cylist at the same time as a
large bus is bearing down uncomfortablly close on your right, and the
presence of small child on the trailerbike makes you unwilling to
stand your ground. Bah.

[[email protected]]

audrey wrote:
> The trouble with riding at an appropriate distance from the kerb is
> being undertaken by a gutter-occupying cylist at the same time as a
> large bus is bearing down uncomfortablly close on your right, and the
> presence of small child on the trailerbike makes you unwilling to
> stand your ground. Bah.

If the bus is bearing down uncomfortably on your right then you may
simply not have been far enough out in the first place. If the bus has
overtaken you in a space where there was room to do so safely but has
either failed to move out far enough or failed to pass you before
moving back in and undertaking cyclist is occupying your escape space
then I guess the answer is to brake and drop in behind if you have to.
An ear splitting scream and/or a sharp smack of the hand against the
bus may help alert both other parties to the situation and possibly to
theo part they have played. Most road users are so considerate of
cyclists carrying small passengers (IME) that it comes as more a shock
when someone isn't

best wishes
james

[audrey]

On 5 Jul 2005 04:35:40 -0700, "
> wrote:

>
>
>If the bus has
>overtaken you in a space where there was room to do so safely but has ....
> failed to pass you before moving back in

yep, that's what happened

>and undertaking cyclist is occupying your escape space
>then I guess the answer is to brake and drop in behind if you have to
..
yep, that's what I did

>An ear splitting scream and/or a sharp smack of the hand against the
>bus may help alert both other parties to the situation and possibly to
>theo part they have played.

that's what I should've done. I didn't because what I wanted to shout
was not appropriate in front of small child.

> Most road users are so considerate of
>cyclists carrying small passengers (IME) that it comes as more a shock
>when someone isn't
>
IME too. The novelty of the trailer bike makes people notice it, plus
there's the orange flag and the hi-vis sam brown belt on small child
for added visibility.

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 11:50:45 +0100, audrey >
wrote:

>The trouble with riding at an appropriate distance from the kerb is
>being undertaken by a gutter-occupying cylist at the same time as a
>large bus is bearing down uncomfortablly close on your right, and the
>presence of small child on the trailerbike makes you unwilling to
>stand your ground. Bah.

Any bus driver who is prepared to pass too close to a parent with a
child on a trailer bike should be dragged from his bus by a baying mob
and hung from the nearest lamp-post.

And I now know a few bus drivers who would cheerfully be the ones to
kick away the chair.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

[[email protected]]

audrey wrote:
> On 5 Jul 2005 04:35:40 -0700, "
> > wrote:
> >An ear splitting scream and/or a sharp smack of the hand against the
> >bus may help alert both other parties to the situation and possibly to
> >theo part they have played.
>
> that's what I should've done. I didn't because what I wanted to shout
> was not appropriate in front of small child.

I have more or less weaned myself off invective in favour of a
non-verbal bellow. This means that it doesn't have to be 'pas devant'
and it also leaves open the possibility of a sensible discussion
following on from the incident if the other party is so inclined (It is
surprising how often that is the case). It also takes away that
nagging guilt that your response is as much part of the problem as the
original behaviour.

A swearing match can be more fun sometimes but I worry that it is just
self indulgent and not usually in a good way. I think the trick is to
save the self-righteous anger for the more egregious incidents.
Setting a target to extract at least one smile from another road user
pre ride/five miles/whatever is good training. Easisest score is
letting out pedestrians in an urban setting but don't forget to block
the overtaking nutter behind you.

Maplin are now knocking out a tiny digicam for GBP10. The resolution
is petty low so you would want to check out what the maximum distance
is to still resolve a number plate but I am thinking of buying one in
order to note details down quickly to facilitate followup action is
appropriate

best wishes
james

[audrey]

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 13:19:13 +0100, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
> wrote:


>Any bus driver who is prepared to pass too close to a parent with a
>child on a trailer bike should be dragged from his bus by a baying mob
>and hung from the nearest lamp-post.
>
We were riding through the beautiful heart of 'Shameless' country [1],
so a baying mob should be easy to round up if it happens again.



[1] amazingly there are no tourist signs up yet, no boxes of Gallagher
fudge to purchase, nowt. Manchester Tourist Office need to get their
act together,

[Colin]

In article . com>,
says...
>
> Maplin are now knocking out a tiny digicam for GBP10. The resolution
> is petty low so you would want to check out what the maximum distance
> is to still resolve a number plate but I am thinking of buying one in
> order to note details down quickly to facilitate followup action is
> appropriate
>
>
Whilst not from Maplin, I have a camera that is identical to this, which
I used to keep on a lanyard round my neck whilst cycling for the very
reasons stated above: The resolution is so poor you'd have to snap the
numberplate as the car ran you over to make it out. That and the fact
that the slightest bump resets the camera, losing all the pictures (it
has volatile built in memory), makes it not worth even £9.99

--
Colin

Coincidence is the alibi of the Gods