Another cyclist down

[DCBassman]

Which bit are you 'really' ing at? Not prodding, just trying to understand.

 

[Drago]

Icowden seems to think that if you don't go put wearing a chastity belt and suit of armour then whatever happens is the victims fault. Charming attitude.

 

[icowden]

@Drago likes to infer things and make personal attacks rather than use reason?

See - not nice is it?

There seems to be a prevailing attitude that "i am allowed to do what I like and if bad things happen it's not my fault". On testing this theory with reality it just doesn't work.

You can cycle down a 70mph road, but it's probably a bad idea. You can go out just wearing a jockstrap, but don't expect people to ignore you. Add to that human nature, mammalian instinct for procreation and the general strength difference between biological genders, whilst I'd be the first to say that absolutely you should be able to go out wearing two strips of material no wider than a belt, and I would totally defend your right to do so without molestation, the reality of life as it is now, means that no matter how woke or feminist you are, you take more risk than if you are wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Life is about more than just "self". I have to work very hard to understand people. I have been attacked in the past, and not wearing the right thing was part of the trigger for the attack (I was wearing an Elven cloak - long story). Maybe I am too cautious. Unfortunately most people are not logical, they are driven by hormones and emotion.

Making yourself safer is not about attributing blame to a victim.

 

[Slick]

@Drago likes to infer things and make personal attacks rather than use reason?

See - not nice is it?

There seems to be a prevailing attitude that "i am allowed to do what I like and if bad things happen it's not my fault". On testing this theory with reality it just doesn't work.

You can cycle down a 70mph road, but it's probably a bad idea. You can go out just wearing a jockstrap, but don't expect people to ignore you. Add to that human nature, mammalian instinct for procreation and the general strength difference between biological genders, whilst I'd be the first to say that absolutely you should be able to go out wearing two strips of material no wider than a belt, and I would totally defend your right to do so without molestation, the reality of life as it is now, means that no matter how woke or feminist you are, you take more risk than if you are wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Life is about more than just "self". I have to work very hard to understand people. I have been attacked in the past, and not wearing the right thing was part of the trigger for the attack (I was wearing an Elven cloak - long story). Maybe I am too cautious. Unfortunately most people are not logical, they are driven by hormones and emotion.

Making yourself safer is not about attributing blame to a victim.

Ignore is exactly what I would do to someone out wearing nothing but a jock strap.

 

[icowden]

I bet you would find it tricky though...

 

[Drago]

@Drago likes to infer things and make personal attacks rather than use reason...

Aha, commenting on someones perceived character, using a personal attack to decry someone else for making a personal attack! You did your own knees there.

See - not nice is it?

No indeed, victing blaming is a terrible thing.

 

[Tizme]

I am obviously a bad person, I didn't realise that it was my fault for getting in the way, when a driver went passed me on a country lane so close he pulled his wing mirror in in order not to clip me. He was in so much of a hurry to get passed that he was forced to stop and explain that he had, in fact, given me enough room and therefore my hand signal and abusive shout were completely unwarranted. He even suggested I give him my name and address so that he could visit me in order to ensure I fully understood his point of view. As I am 5'6" tall and 9 1/2 st soaking wet he was absolutely stunned when I opened his car door and suggested he should get out to discuss the matter there and then! He appeared to be quite concerned that his door might get scratched on the hedgerow (it was that close) and shut it again quite quickly and drove off.

Perhaps if I only cycled/ran on cycle paths it would stop the drivers on "A" roads telling me to ride on country lanes and the drivers on "B" roads/country lanes telling me I shouldn't be on the road at all.

But it's ok, as my cycle/run is clearly not as important as their journey, next time I will stop, jump in to the hedge/ditch and doff my cap as they pass, until I get to the nearest cycle path which is only about 5 miles away and shared with pedestrians, who politely tell me I should be on the road!

 

[Mull cyclist]

As both a part-time cyclist on Mull and a driver I have sympathies with both. Some things cyclists do here I've seen make your hair stand on end. We have only 20 miles of double track here, and only 3 places on that double track where it's safe to overtake another car. So you can imagine the frustration when you're heading for the ferry and 2 or more cyclists hear you coming and suddenly swing out in front of you, to force you to overtake wide. The only trouble is, as a local, you know you've got another 5 miles to go before you can overtake safely, so have to lose maybe 15 minutes. I've actually been taking a sick child to the hospital and slowed down by this. So that's the first thing to realise. When I'm cycling here I pull over if I'm not at a safe overtaking place, but so often visitors (sadly usually central belt Scots - the English tend to be a bit more humble) won't do this. Secondly, it's not unusual here to have a cyclist toiling uphill in front of you at 2 or 3 miles an hour on a single track who refuses to pull over at the next passing place to allow overtaking (which is actually illegal). The third and most terrifying thing is the cyclist who is inexperienced and suddenly loses balance and lurches out in front of you (often without a helmet). I'm a cyclist too, we like to see cyclists, but it would be good to see a bit more humility and an understanding that - even if you're a Scot - there might be lots of local knowledge about roads that you don't know. I noticed that someone talked about a driver heading right at them. It's normal practice for local drivers to maintain their usual speed here on single tracks when approaching one another, and time their passing to coincide with a passing place. To the newbie it looks like there's going to be a head-on collision. You get the hang of that after a couple of years. I can see why cyclists find that scary, but local driving here is actually actually exceptionally good and courteous most of the time. Cyclists do also need to realise that this is a working island and those here for leisure should have the courtesy to give way for that.

Rule 155
Single-track roads. These are only wide enough for one vehicle. They may have special passing places. If you see a vehicle coming towards you, or the driver behind wants to overtake, pull into a passing place on your left, or wait opposite a passing place on your right. Give way to vehicles coming uphill whenever you can. If necessary, reverse until you reach a passing place to let the other vehicle pass. Slow down when passing pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders