****ing Cyclists

[canveyshrimper]

With sincere apologies for the responsible and sensible cyclists here, but what is it with ****ing cyclists. Twice in a matter of seconds this morning I came close to breathing my last due to two irresponsible idiots.

After getting off the bus at Benfleet Station the lights were obligingly set at red, so I and a few others started to venture across the road. To my astonishment a cyclist (to my further astonsihment as he was on the road) came hurtling through the red light scattering unsuspecting pedestrians right, left and ****ing centre. He just carried on with a blithe disregard for the mayhem he had caused.

Having recovered my composure I went to get my paper only to be assailed by another ****ing idiot coming full tilt from the underpass to scatter the queue at the paper stand.

While I can understand the frustration of the cyclist on the road and the disregard they probably get from drivers. They can't exact a similar disregard for pedestrians, besides which cycling on the pavement as far as I am aware is illegal. I'd like the Old Bill to have zero torelance with these people, and I'd also like to see the immediate reintroduction of capital punishment for these inconsiderate, pig ignorant *****. :madman:

 

[Mad Cyril]

The pavement near Benfleet station is actually also a cycle lane that continues all the way to Waterside.

Not sure how far this extends towards the station however.

 

[Slipperduke]

I concur. If I wasn't such a insipid wimp, I'd love to just lean into one of the ****ers as they trundled past me on the pavement, knocking him into oncoming traffic.

 

[haveaguiness]

As someone that used to cycle to work everyday I do hate it when people moan about cyclists, but also being an owner of a car I understand why! And you are right, 95% of cyclists think they are above the laws of the road, yet they moan when they get knocked off. Well you shouldn't have gone through a red light should you!

I think the fact I drive and know what cyclists are like makes me a better cyclist when I do go out on my bike. I always stop at red lights, indicate when going round corners, and just go along as if I were in my car. What does annoy me though is that I used to wear a high viz T-Shirt and people used to open there car doors or pull out and claim they didn't see me! Yeah right, I'm practically glowing here!!!

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I hate the fockers that whizz past you on the pavement.

 

[cockles is back]

few years back I had a little run in with a cyclist, you know the kind all in his cycling gear funny glasses and helmet, anyway the upshot was that he flobbed on my windscrene and gave me the fingure as he rattled past me, I was stuck in traffic and was absolutely ffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrriiiiiiioooooooosssssss
imagine my suprise as a couple of days later there he was same time, I was in my mums car for some reason, so there he was miding his own business, until I pulled up along side him at a set of lights, (he was nun the wiser) as I got out of me car and he realised who I was unfortunately for him he didnt have the reflexes of old lancy boy and I knocked him straight out,glasses and all, funny how ever hard he tried he couldnt seem to get the one fingure solute going particulaly well that morning

 

[southend4ever]

Great post.

They ignore Red lights - I see this at least once a day - this is a fine.
They ride on the pavements - this illegal unless signposted.
They think that they are immune to road laws.
They get knocked down by cars and it is always the person driving that is at fault according to them!
They do not wear safety jackets and helmets - Is this sensible?
They ride no handed whilst they text or do up their belt or jacket.
They text whilst cycling.

They are just ignorant, oblivious pieces of dung poo on the bottom of my shoe, which currently has a hole in. Making me hate them even more.

 

[canveyshrimper]

Great post.

They ignore Red lights - I see this at least once a day - this is a fine.
They ride on the pavements - this illegal unless signposted.
They think that they are immune to road laws.
They get knocked down by cars and it is always the person driving that is at fault according to them!
They do not wear safety jackets and helmets - Is this sensible?
They ride no handed whilst they text or do up their belt or jacket.
They text whilst cycling.

They are just ignorant, oblivious pieces of dung poo on the bottom of my shoe, which currently has a hole in. Making me hate them even more.

Added to which the majority I see seem to ride without lights or hi-viz jackets after dark, so how a motorist or unsuspecting pedestrian is expected to see them is beyond me.

 

[southend4ever]

With sincere apologies for the responsible and sensible cyclists here, but what is it with ****ing cyclists. Twice in a matter of seconds this morning I came close to breathing my last due to two irresponsible idiots.

After getting off the bus at Benfleet Station the lights were obligingly set at red, so I and a few others started to venture across the road. To my astonishment a cyclist (to my further astonsihment as he was on the road) came hurtling through the red light scattering unsuspecting pedestrians right, left and ****ing centre. He just carried on with a blithe disregard for the mayhem he had caused.

Having recovered my composure I went to get my paper only to be assailed by another ****ing idiot coming full tilt from the underpass to scatter the queue at the paper stand.

While I can understand the frustration of the cyclist on the road and the disregard they probably get from drivers. They can't exact a similar disregard for pedestrians, besides which cycling on the pavement as far as I am aware is illegal. I'd like the Old Bill to have zero torelance with these people, and I'd also like to see the immediate reintroduction of capital punishment for these inconsiderate, pig ignorant *****. :madman:

In London there are lights for cyclists who reach a cross roads and are on the pavement and then they receive a green light to go out into the road whilst everything else is red.

Pedestrians almost all think the lights are red and so they can cross. This be wrong. Pedestrians should not cross until the little green man tells them to do so. Many are unaware of this red, amber green light system that is in place at a few crossroads in london. That is why they should only cross when the green man says 'please advance'!

 

[South Bank Hank]

As some know, I started cycling about 12 months ago after realising just how unfit I'd become during the SZFC charity football match. Now, it's become a passion and I've become seriously addicted to it. Every time I get out on the bike, I feel like a kid again. And I've lost nearly 2 stone!

However, I'm also someone who loves driving and is an occasional pedestrian so I like to think I see all sides of the issue.

When I started cycling on the roads, it was a bit of an eye-opener I can tell you. It's really become a battle ground where cyclists try to assert their rights while occasional nutters do their utmost to force them off the road. Most drivers are sensible. Some drivers are just ****. Others have got an axe to grind because some cyclist did something stupid to them 3 years ago. The same goes for the cyclists. Most cyclists are sensible. Some cyclist are ****. Others have chips on their shoulders like spuds and seem hell-bent on proving to the world that they have the same right to be on the road that the drivers do. It doesn't mix well.

Visit any cycling forum and you'll see that EVERYONE detests cyclists that ride on the pavement, jump red lights, pick and choose the traffic laws they want to obey, give the finger, flob on bigger blokes' windows, etc. In short, they're ****ing ****s who have caused the battle ground that now exists. Believe me, no one hates them more than the other cyclists that do try to use the roads properly.

Thankfully, the police are now coming down on these dimwitted numpties really hard with on the spot fines for jumping lights and riding on the pavement.

Some cyclists are definitely a problem, but I don't think the problem is anywhere near the levels that people think it is. Perception means that you see one bad cyclist, it's ruined things for all the others. After all, you just don't notice the cyclist who stopped at the lights - why would you?

From the cyclist's perspective, the problem is the same anyway. Wear a high-res jacket, stick on the brightest light known to man on the bike, and you'll still get some **** stepping out in front of you, or worse still, pulling out on you in his car.

 

[Bob Cratchitt]

As some know, I started cycling about 12 months ago after realising just how unfit I'd become during the SZFC charity football match.

So how many times have you fallen off without cause? As wasnt that the main problem during the match? ;)

 

[South Bank Hank]

So how many times have you fallen off without cause? As wasnt that the main problem during the match? ;)

None yet. Fingers crossed.

Trust me though Andee, it WAS fitness related. By the time I'd picked up enough speed to chase that **** ball from DaveWebbsBrain, I'd lost the will to live let alone waste any more energy in stopping properly!!

:nope:

 

[Firestorm]

From the cyclist's perspective, the problem is the same anyway. Wear a high-res jacket, stick on the brightest light known to man on the bike, and you'll still get some **** stepping out in front of you, or worse still, pulling out on you in his car.

G, they pull out in front of motorbikes, 20 times the candle power on their lights and a feckin engine making a racket as well, yet they still don't see it...

to a degree it doesn't seem to matter what the mode of transport is , there appears to be an I'm going faster than you so get out of my way mentality, whether is fast pedestrians vs slow pedestrians right up to cars / motorbikes undertaking on Motorways.

 

[MrB]

I frequently walk along the pedestrian path along the seafront between Chalkwell and Old Leigh, the pavement is clearly emblazoned in yellow paint 'No Cycling' at frequent intervals with signs at either end as well. Yet you still get cyclists, young and old, trundling down there without a care in the world.

I now make a point of not getting out of their way when they head towards me. In fact, I pretty much get in their way so they have to stop and stand. I enjoy this and one day hope to force one down the rocky slope along the walkway point beside the rail tracks, preferably causing some kind of injury. Grumpy old man? Maybe. But they know they're in the wrong so tend not to complain at all when you do it as they have nothing to back up their moan.

 

[Mad Cyril]

I frequently walk along the pedestrian path along the seafront between Chalkwell and Old Leigh, the pavement is clearly emblazoned in yellow paint 'No Cycling' at frequent intervals with signs at either end as well. Yet you still get cyclists, young and old, trundling down there without a care in the world.

I now make a point of not getting out of their way when they head towards me. In fact, I pretty much get in their way so they have to stop and stand. I enjoy this and one day hope to force one down the rocky slope along the walkway point beside the rail tracks, preferably causing some kind of injury. Grumpy old man? Maybe. But they know they're in the wrong so tend not to complain at all when you do it as they have nothing to back up their moan.

There are also signs saying no dogs off leads which are regularly ignored.

If you walk beteen Leigh and Chalkwell along this path do you see more evidence of irresponsible cyclists or irresponsible dog owners?

 

[South Bank Hank]

There are also signs saying no dogs off leads which are regularly ignored.

If you walk beteen Leigh and Chalkwell along this path do you see more evidence of irresponsible cyclists or irresponsible dog owners?

******s!! No respect for the law.

 

[Bob Cratchitt]

There are also signs saying no dogs off leads which are regularly ignored.

If you walk beteen Leigh and Chalkwell along this path do you see more evidence of irresponsible cyclists or irresponsible dog owners?

I would say unless cyclists leave a slime trail it is harder to see the evidence as easily as it is for irresponsible dog owners.

Both are potentially dangerous and as such should be gunned down by Gunship tied to the Crowstone

 

[Hotman]

There are also signs saying no dogs off leads which are regularly ignored.

If you walk beteen Leigh and Chalkwell along this path do you see more evidence of irresponsible cyclists or irresponsible dog owners?

it's easier to toe-punt a dog off the pavement
:whistling:

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

I am led to believe, although I've not researched it personally that there are certain red lights it is legal for cyclists to jump (e.g. a pedestrian crossing if nobody is actually still crossing the road).

As somebody who has been riding a bike quite extensively for 20+ years I've come to know when and where it's OK to make what somebody who doesn't understand what riding a bike is like as a "dangerous manoeuvre" - I never ride on pavements (unless it's for say 25 yards to get round a set of temporary lights for a set of roadworks & only then if there are no pedestrians), I will only RLJ if I feel it's 100% safe to do so (before I moved here most of my routes had no lights so there was no problems but here that's just not possible).

As I've said before when this discussion comes up people should exercise a distinct separation between proper cyclists and those who just happen to be riding a bike. Usually these people would be causing trouble no matter what form of transport they are using.

Personally, I drive my car as a motorist who is aware of cyclists and ride my bike as a cyclist who is aware of car drivers. If people were made to ride a bike for a month as part of their driving test (or at least required to sit a refresher test every 10 years) then there would be a lot more understanding on both sides.

I've started to do my qualifications to be a race commissaire (this is basically the referee of a bike race) and did my first race officiating last weekend. I was being driven (in a massive 4x4 truck) behind the main bunch and we must have seen at least 5 incidents of motorists blatantly disobeying the traffic instructions they were given regarding the flow of the race (the worst one being some prat in a Primera trying to overtake the vehicles at the back of the race convoy only to realise he couldn't get round so he cut up the vehicle I was in, he then spent about a mile honking his horn to show his displeasure and then when he finally could get past the riders almost took about 5 of the front guys out as he again realised his overtaking manoeuvre just wasn't 100% safe!)

 

[canveyshrimper]

Good post Rich. As I said in my original post I have no problems with responsible cyclists. I am just sick of running the gauntlet of idiots at Benfleet Station every morning & night. It's only a matter of time before a very bad accident happens due to one of these irresponsible cretins hurtling through the underpass at high speed & crashing into an unsuspecting pedestrian.