Bad Name

[wiggydiggy]

I was driving back home yesterday from picking up the eldest from Saturday job and saw a guy on a nice road bike, all the gear on ,he was riding one handed, on the drops,slowly, and dialing on his mobile phone ,behind him he had a queue of about 20 cars, that sort of behaviour just pees people off, why not just stop and make the call ?.

Because he's an arse

As seems to be the usual with these longer running topics, views become ever more entrenched and eventually only a very few are left in what becomes a pissing contest with the obligatory wind up merchant thrown in for good measure.
Can't we just have a poll on this one now in the hope of attracting more members views? Is it ok to use a mobile phone whilst cycling? Maybe this could start as another thread.
The riding slowly thing is a bit of a red herring, we all ride slowly at some point irrespective of other vehicles on the road.

In all seriousness, using a mobile on a bicycle is a distraction and I think it should be an offense.

 

[MissTillyFlop]

But should we let them go past ?.

I think so, if it is safe and reasonable to do so.

To me, this whole argument seems to be six for one, half a dozen the other

 

[Origamist]

I called it the Kingsbridge Hill because that is what all the locals call it and it was called that before it became the Western Bypass,I was hoping to use it as a point of reference for you as you are meandering around all over the place , for some one who claims to have cycled round the South Hams you do not seem to know much about it, also it is the Mother-in-law who gives the dodgy directions, by the way did you cycle your commute to Plympton ?,possibly not, Oh and you could try addressing the real point of the post instead of stumbling around like Blind Pugh in a coalmine and say if you think if a minorities behaviour has an effect on the way the majority are judged.

Most sensible people would simply have said it was on the A381 and provided a Street View image. Simples. However, clearly this was beyond your ken.

Is it near here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=map...oid=yRF9rOUrY_t-SE3tfZN1gA&cbp=12,209.43,,0,0

I'd rather trust your mother-in-law as your directions were awful. I certainly don't think you'd make a good letterboxer.

I did cycle from Plympton to Totnes (and back again): A385, B3372, B3213, through Ivybride, Lee Mill, Venton, Langage, Colebrook. If you want more precise details, I'm happy to oblige.

The location is important as the carriageway width changes and there are sections with double white lines on the A381. These factors and the cyclist's road postion/speed would also affect whether a cyclist was likely to delay traffic.

 

[mickle]

In all seriousness, using a mobile on a bicycle is a distraction and I think it should be an offense.

In all seriousness - if you think it should be made illegal, because it poses such a massive risk to public safety, go ahead and petition your MP.

In the meantime, and whether you like it or not, cycling whilst using a mobile phone is a perfectly legal activity. As is riding with one hand on the drops and riding slowly. And having all the gear.


We should be questioning why 'about twenty' drivers get so 'pissed off' simply because a cyclist going about his perfectly legal business meant that for a few minutes of their lives they were unable drive a the maximum permitted speed.

I suggest that the motorists in that queue were pissed off because (if they were actually pissed off - which we have no way of knowing since most drivers seem to adopt a po face as soon as they get behind the wheel) there was a cyclist 'in their way' and it is this attitude, that cyclists are little more that impediments to the much more important task of driving a car somewhere. So pervasive is this attitude that is has seeped in to the conciousness of some actual cyclists.

Strip it all away. Is it the slowness, the mobile phone use, the one-handeness, the fact that he was riding 'on the drops' or that he had all the gear which 'pissed off' the drivers and the OP? You guys cant seem to agree.

 

[youngoldbloke]

You mean we can't see to agree with you, Mickle. The use of the mobile phone and the inevitable lack of attention to the road and traffic conditions is the issue. We don't know that the drivers were pissed off - as I have stated before, it is possible that the lead driver was concerned for the safety of a cyclist whose attention was elsewhere, and was holding back.

 

[Noodley]

it is possible that the lead driver was concerned for the safety of a cyclist whose attention was elsewhere, and was holding back.

Should the rest of the drivers be pissed off at the lead driver then?

 

[MissTillyFlop]

I don't get why people think something being legal means that there is no problem with it.

When did it become ok to inconvenience others because "it's legal and to hell with everyone else"?

If we all took a step back to have a look at the bigger picture once in a while, I think we might all be in danger of getting along much better. (And how TERRIBLE would that be?!)

 

[mickle]

You mean we can't see to agree with you, Mickle. The use of the mobile phone and the inevitable lack of attention to the road and traffic conditions is the issue. We don't know that the drivers were pissed off - as I have stated before, it is possible that the lead driver was concerned for the safety of a cyclist whose attention was elsewhere, and was holding back.

Nope, some people have said that his lack of speed was the issue, you and others have said that his mobile phone use was the issue. The OP seemed to suggest that in addition to the aforementioned, his 'one handed, on the drops with all the gear' also contributed the the motorists pissed-offness.

Don't bother with 'it is possible'. Address the facts as we know them...

Please. What is it about a mobile phone using slow travelling one handed on the drops with all the gear cyclist which might be a reasonable cause of pissed-offness in 'about twenty' motorists? Specifically.

Remembering that mobile phone use by cyclists is not an offence. Oh and neither is riding slowly. Oh and etc.

 

[totallyfixed]

I don't get why people think something being legal means that there is no problem with it.

When did it become ok to inconvenience others because "it's legal and to hell with everyone else"?

If we all took a step back to have a look at the bigger picture once in a while, I think we might all be in danger of getting along much better. (And how TERRIBLE would that be?!)

Uh oh, now you have gone and done it, a common sense attitude, it will never catch on [at least not amongst some on this thread

]

 

[Norm]

When did it become ok to inconvenience others because "it's legal and to hell with everyone else"?

When they got on a bike, everything became ok as long as it was not illegal.

Please. What is it about a mobile phone using slow travelling one handed on the drops with all the gear cyclist which might be a reasonable cause of pissed-offness in 'about twenty' motorists? Specifically.

Selfish and giving no consideration to others.

As it would be to you if the person involved wasn't on a bike.

 

[twobiker]

Most sensible people would simply have said it was on the A381 and provided a Street View image. Simples. However, clearly this was beyond your ken.

Is it near here: http://maps.google.c...=12,209.43,,0,0

I'd rather trust your mother-in-law as your directions were awful. I certainly don't think you'd make a good letterboxer.

I did cycle from Plympton to Totnes (and back again): A385, B3372, B3213, through Ivybride, Lee Mill, Venton, Langage, Colebrook. If you want more precise details, I'm happy to oblige.

The location is important as the carriageway width changes and there are sections with double white lines on the A381. These factors and the cyclist's road postion/speed would also affect whether a cyclist was likely to delay traffic.

It was there but heading towards Totnes, I gave you the coordinates before perhaps "KEN" could have given you a hand to find it, glad about the letterboxing bit, seems a childish activity, why did you not use the B3121 Erme valley route? much faster, my favourite route to Plymouth, Mother-in-law could not help you as it appears she is an Emmet.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I don't get why people think something being legal means that there is no problem with it.

When did it become ok to inconvenience others because "it's legal and to hell with everyone else"?

If we all took a step back to have a look at the bigger picture once in a while, I think we might all be in danger of getting along much better. (And how TERRIBLE would that be?!)

@Mickle - this was my point, the cyclist might be acting perfectly legally but in the interest of getting along, he could have made life easier for those behind him.

 

[mickle]

I don't get why people think something being legal means that there is no problem with it.

When did it become ok to inconvenience others because "it's legal and to hell with everyone else"?

If we all took a step back to have a look at the bigger picture once in a while, I think we might all be in danger of getting along much better. (And how TERRIBLE would that be?!)

Step back indeed. I am inconvenienced every Tuesday and Thursday by motorists who get in the way of my Volvo 340 GLE Estate (Turbo) when I take ours and our neighbours kids to school. I am unable to drive at anything like the speed limit because of all the cars in my way. In fact there are so many cars in my way that I am often forced to stop completely!

And it's even worse on my bike because, along the same stretch of road, they force their way past and pull in preventing me from going past them.

If we are going to talk about 'let's all get along'.

 

[apollo179]

I don't get why people think something being legal means that there is no problem with it.

When did it become ok to inconvenience others because "it's legal and to hell with everyone else"?

Wo ho tilly hold up there.
Hasnt mickle persuaded you that so long as it isnt legal its ok to do it however antisocial.
If you start advocating common sense and politeness round these parts your gonna lose alot of freinds.

 

[mickle]

Poll.

[_] Slowness.

[_] Mobile phone.

[_] On the drops.

[_] One handed.

[_] All the gear.


Tick the box which applies.