Footpaths for me

In article , says...
Anyone ever kicked a car that's moving through a roundabout after failing to
give way to you?

No.. I've seen it happening and let the car go. My feet are locked in so
I wouldn't be able to kick ANY car - let alone one that was somehow
threatening me. I would be avoiding it.

It hurts more than I thought it would (although I only had
half a second to consider whether it was wise or not..) I think I might
revert back to my teenage riding habits, and use whatever surface is safest
for me. I know it's not the right thing to do, and you'll probably give me
**** for giving riders a bad name or whatever, but I'm sick of having close
calls with cars.

No.. nothing to do with me. You've joined the alcos who've lost their
licences and "wrongways" riding in their black jeans and jackets with no
lights at night.

Many time I've avoided what would otherwise have resulted
in a collision. Today was just another example. I'd prefer to risk a fine
and trust myself with my pedestrian-avoiding skills than ride legally and
trust drivers with their bike-avoiding skills (that which there appears to
be little of..) My car-avoiding skills have kept be alive so far, but I'm
not sure how many more chances I want to give them. Until I consider the
roads safe for riding, I'll use them as little as possible.

Pedestrians are much more unpredictable and harder-to-avoid than cars
and you are the same for drivers when you ride footpaths. You'll never
find the roads suitable. My only hope is that this is your last troll as
this group is for those with a love of cycling wishing to improve their
skills.
U R A G U M B Y
--
Mark Lee

Rod wrote:
Anyone ever kicked a car that's moving through a roundabout after failing to
give way to you? It hurts more than I thought it would (although I only had
half a second to consider whether it was wise or not..) I think I might
revert back to my teenage riding habits, and use whatever surface is safest
for me. I know it's not the right thing to do, and you'll probably give me
**** for giving riders a bad name or whatever, but I'm sick of having close
calls with cars. Many time I've avoided what would otherwise have resulted
in a collision. Today was just another example. I'd prefer to risk a fine
and trust myself with my pedestrian-avoiding skills than ride legally and
trust drivers with their bike-avoiding skills (that which there appears to
be little of..) My car-avoiding skills have kept be alive so far, but I'm
not sure how many more chances I want to give them. Until I consider the
roads safe for riding, I'll use them as little as possible.


Greetings,
The roads are indisputedly more dangerous, as 1.5 tonne chunks
of metal can kill you more quickly, but footpaths are no place for
cyclists, despite the legal strictures. Broken surfaces, kids,
cars backing out of drives, ete, etc. If you don't exercise your
right to occupy the road, motorists can assume you don't exist.
Off-road cycle paths embody a very old Australian philosophy, `Get
off the road ya mug'. Get out there and exercise your rights, and
have a good laugh at them when we get a gridlock.
Regards,
Ray.

Rod wrote:
Ray, you made a lot more sense than the first stupid reply.. Yes I agree
with what you say, but I've given the roads too many chances.. I want to
live. And live I will.

Until that LandCruiser backs over you..

Or the Commodore racing into the side street doesn't notice you crossing
the road because you're exiting from the footpath.

etc..

hippy
"Troll on!"

What's it like living in the future Rod ?

Your PC clock is set forward.

If you are in the future please do one of the following :

1. Provide me with the new lotto numbers before it happens.

2. Ride on the roads and know where the cars are.

If you are not living in the future do the following :

Change your PC time so you don't jump the que of other posters.

--
Tony

ISH

Remove the fish to reply
--= This is a fish anti-spam device =--

`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸((((º
"Rod" wrote in message
...

Ray, you made a lot more sense than the first stupid reply.. Yes I agree
with what you say, but I've given the roads too many chances.. I want to
live. And live I will.

On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 at 07:09 GMT, ((((º (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
If you are not living in the future do the following :

Change your PC time so you don't jump the que of other posters.

His clock seems to be correct. Is your newsreader not smart enough to
know about timezones? Ah, microsoft, gottit.

Oh, and can I be the top post cop? Pretty Please?

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
Press any key to continue, any other key to abort
-- thrillbert's code

TimC wrote:
On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 at 07:09 GMT, ((((º (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

If you are not living in the future do the following :

Change your PC time so you don't jump the que of other posters.

His clock seems to be correct. Is your newsreader not smart enough to
know about timezones? Ah, microsoft, gottit.

I'm using Thunderbird and Rod's last three posts are dated 29th.
My PC reckons today is the 28th.
They are both computer-related so I don't trust either date

hippy

hippy wrote:

I'm using Thunderbird and Rod's last three posts are dated
29th. My PC reckons today is the 28th.
They are both computer-related so I don't trust either date

Ditto with Knode.

According to his message headers, Rod's computer's timezone is
set to UTC -8 hours (somewhere in America). If he's on the
east coast of Aust, it should be UTC + 10.

John

"Rod" wrote in message
...
Anyone ever kicked a car that's moving through a roundabout after failing
to
give way to you? It hurts more than I thought it would (although I only
had
half a second to consider whether it was wise or not..) I think I might
revert back to my teenage riding habits, and use whatever surface is
safest
for me. I know it's not the right thing to do, and you'll probably give
me
**** for giving riders a bad name or whatever, but I'm sick of having
close
calls with cars. Many time I've avoided what would otherwise have
resulted
in a collision. Today was just another example. I'd prefer to risk a
fine
and trust myself with my pedestrian-avoiding skills than ride legally and
trust drivers with their bike-avoiding skills (that which there appears to
be little of..) My car-avoiding skills have kept be alive so far, but I'm
not sure how many more chances I want to give them. Until I consider the
roads safe for riding, I'll use them as little as possible.


I am 57 years old and after riding casually for ten years have taken to
commuting to work daily. What I'm saying is my opinion, and not necessarily
what is correct.

It is rare that anyone gives me right of way at a roundabout. Oddly enough,
the only few times I've had a car slow down when approaching a roundabout
with me just entering it, was when that car was on my right - when arguably
he had the right of way. As far as coming up behind me, well, I've yet to
find any car that doesn't try to run me off the road. The only way I've been
able to prevent that is riding smack in the middle of the road as I enter
the roundabout (you need to do that gradually and resonably ahead of the
roundabout). Often it's either that or get off your bike and wait until
scores of cars go through it. I even had a lady driver who almost mounted
the centre of the roundabout in her obsession not to let me through before
her.

The best way to ride a bike is to accept that you have no rights whatever.
If you're on the road and there's no bike track, then you should be on a
bike track and not stuffing up traffic. If you are on a bike track, then
you're not paying for the bike track, as drivers pay for the road through
their registration, so you still have no rights. Every driver has seen or
heard of cyclists who ride three abreast, or go through red lights, so you
by default are deemed to ride 3 abreast and going through red lights, even
if you have never done that. As a cyclist you are scum - a parasite who
doesn't pay his way and who obstructs decent drivers in getting to where
they are going.....

I hope you have taken the above in the cynicism I have written it. As far as
using the footpath, I have often done that when I feel the risk of getting
killed if on the road has become unacceptable. Just remember that if you do
ride on the footpath, you could not only be held accountable for hitting
some pedestrian, but you could get hit by an unseen car pulling out of a
driveway. They you most definitely have no rights.

I have found that once you get into a mindset that you *expect* drivers not
to give you any right of way, that can make for a more pleasant bike ride.
At least then you don't get mad at anyone. Also once you accept that only
once in a while a driver will be out to get you, you're much more at peace.

As I said, this is my opinion, and I may be corrected.

Henry.

On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 at 09:23 GMT, John Henderson (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
hippy wrote:

I'm using Thunderbird and Rod's last three posts are dated
29th. My PC reckons today is the 28th.

Odd: I get:
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 15:35:28 -0800

They are both computer-related so I don't trust either date

Ditto with Knode.

According to his message headers, Rod's computer's timezone is
set to UTC -8 hours (somewhere in America). If he's on the
east coast of Aust, it should be UTC + 10.

Or he's posting on a machine that is based in the US. Not likely,
because OE doesn't work over ssh, however, his server could be
rewriting headers for him.

Um. Bikes. Yeah. Bikes are cool.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
E = MC ** 2 +- 3db

On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 at 09:42 GMT, hemyd (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
I am 57 years old and after riding casually for ten years have taken to
commuting to work daily. What I'm saying is my opinion, and not necessarily
what is correct.

That's odd. My opinion is always correct

It is rare that anyone gives me right of way at a roundabout. Oddly enough,
the only few times I've had a car slow down when approaching a roundabout
with me just entering it, was when that car was on my right - when arguably
he had the right of way.

Arguably? Not much arguable about it. The law says you must give way
to anything already on the roundabout. This usually translates to
giving way to your right, and if I understand the situation properly,
that is what you were intending on doing.

'Course, I get the sitation you describe occur about monthly - I just
give them a bit of a glare when they wave me through, because they
screwed up my timing.

As far as coming up behind me, well, I've yet to
find any car that doesn't try to run me off the road. The only way I've been
able to prevent that is riding smack in the middle of the road as I enter
the roundabout (you need to do that gradually and resonably ahead of the
roundabout).

You definitely need to assert yourself more. Taking the middle of the
lane is called "claiming the lane", and is a normal part of using
intersections, roundabouts, etc, from the point of view of most
regular commuters and road users (bar yourself, it seems). I
typically go through roundabouts much much faster than cars anyway, as
long as it is safe for me to do so, so cars never get the chance to
overtake me, except if I am going uphill, in which case I will
certainly be in the middle of the lane. At other times, I will choose
the line that suits me best. Maybe it helps to have a helmet mirror.
With the mirror, I know just when to pull out into the middle of the
lane -- lately, I've been pulling out further and further back if I
see a car coming, because it is increasingly becoming the norm that a
car will overtake when there is bugger all room left before the
intersection, and end up sitting there for ages because they don't
realise it is legal to turn into a left lane when only the right lane
is occupied by traffic.

I can only recall one sitation in which someone failed to give way to
me when I was on a roundabout - they barged through at 50km/h, barely
slowing down from their 60km/h in the 50km/h zone, and I was turning
right with my right arm extended. In those sitations, it pays to be
alert - it was obvious they weren't going to stop, so I slammed the
brakes on - they missed my front wheel by about 5-10cm. Don't think
they saw me, even after my ranting and raving.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
Imagine what a tipped over tractor-trailer formerly
full of potatoes looks like.
Not half as messy as a truckload of oranges.
Or a hovercraft full of eels. -- Tanuki on ASR