Bicycles and automobiles- can’t we all just get along? @Kah writes about this universal (do aliens have this issue also?) problem of us co-existing with humans in cars. We all drive cars too and have cursed the occasional cyclists for some good reason. Cars are our greatest threat. We can crawl away from our own bicycle crashes, thanks very much. We always lose when a car is involved. Thanks for contributing @Kah.
Yours in Cycling, Gianni
High-visibility jackets offend me. I’m not in the position to judge fashion really, and generally don’t care what other people wear, but something that tarnishes an entire mode of transport as unsafe and dorky is not okay. These garments misinform the general public that cycling is an unsafe activity (look, that cyclist looks like a lit up flare and a Christmas tree had a baby!), they make all other cyclists look like dorks.
Now, I’m not picking on genuinely introverted people, but people who are just less comfortable interacting with other vehicles on the road. As someone truly in love with spinning pedals on the road, I don’t see why there is this reticence to spend time on the road. The footpath is by far the worse option: congested with pedestrians, littered with signs, and unpredictable in its ebb and wanes.
There’s a spectrum of how happy you are with sharing the road: going from very uncomfortable to exuding quiet confidence before becoming attention-seeking and finally there is a thin line to obnoxiousness.
Uncomfortable, more introverted cyclists tend to hug the kerb, trying to stay out of everyone’s way. Every potential interaction is exaggerated; every passing car becomes a danger. Confident cyclists who are experienced know when to draw attention to their intentions, when to back off while negotiating between quickly moving cars, and how to tell the difference between a passing maneuvere that is actually dangerous and one that is not even worth commenting on. This comfort around other road users is something you can cultivate, but not one you can fake.
Attention-seeking cyclists and obnoxious cyclists tend to feel more self-entitled. “I’m a vehicle/road user too!” is the common mantra of these cyclists who don’t feel inclined to offer the same courtesy they demand to the other road users. To be fair these rolling douchenozzles tend to be the same regardless of vehicle.
My problem is, the introverts are trying to make up for their meekness with the artificial posturing afforded by the YJA. Their mistaken assumption of course is that this magical garment bestows visibility, and thus invincibility in traffic, leading some to jump to the illogical conclusion that they have automatic right of way in every circumstance by virtue of the highly visible jacket.
Magic jackets are not the answer to safer cyclists. Learning to share the road on a bicycle is the answer. Anticipation, not hindsight.
Fucking cyclists.
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@G'rilla
I love the way so many people arguing in favour of safety equipment like helmets and high vis etc seem to end up with a prediction of gruesome death or brain splattering for those who disagree.
Usually with the adjunct that it won't be their fault but they will sorrowfully be cleaning it up. Presumably while muttering "I told him so" as they hose the grey matter into the drain.
I propose it as the cycling equivalent of Godwin's law.
Ok - last night a YJA would have made me look like a tool but the helmet saved me from a trip to the ER
@ The Engine , By you not stating any details, i take it your okay then and the N1 made it out okay?
@Russ
Some special bruises - there's one on my ring finger that goes all the way round - like my other bad crash I didn't skid but came to a complete (and rather sudden) halt after going over the bars so my skin and kit are unholed (mostly). Also I took the elementary precaution of putting myself between #1 bike and the road - scratched rear mech and scuffed bar tape is all she suffered. Happened on a fast bit of A road which was scary. Funny how things stick in your mind - one of the bikes in front threw up a shower of sparks - gives some idea of how fast we were going - my Garmin's last reading was 40kmh.
@the Engine
This is good news! Speedy recovery to you and your mates now go get a new skid lid. Hang your other one up like a trophy. 40kmh WOW! Hurts thinking about it.
@E Your comprehension skills do you proud. Nobody is advocating riding around in purely matt black kit. It's about persona adopted by YJA wearers, the image they project to other road users and how there are plenty of other ways of making yourself visible and creating a zone around you into which no-one else should stray. It's not just about what you wear but the way you ride.
This "Rafa" cycling kit sounds stylish though. Is Nadal getting into cycling? He should get some training tips from his countryman Fuentes.
@the Engine
What happened, did you leadout train go down in front of you?
Glad to hear that you and the bike are OK.
@ChrisO You can hardly blame them, it take so much less thought and effort to maintain an ideology that starts with "If I/you don't wear a helmet" and ends with "I/you will die a gruesome and messy death" than for everyone to spend time properly assessing risks and taking other road users into account.
It does beggar belief, though, when you see someone cycling through London in the rush hour with their helmet hung neatly from their handlebars.
@Chris
Leadout train is about the only thing that goes down on me these days...
Off to the LBS for a new helmet.
@the Engine ba boom tish.
I was going to say pay cash but Mrs theEngine probably won't mind the expenditure in this instance.