First day commuting experiences...

bibibobo

PURE HELL in parts. The journey was about 8miles each way - that was no problem. Coming into town at Amiens St. beside connolly station is a nightmare... very busy and no cycle lanes. Had to curse at a Taxi driver on the way in for pulling over right in front of me ... he wasn;t the least bit apologetic to say the least.

On the way home another taxi driver did the exact same thing although i seen it happen in time and gave his rear window a thump!! Told him to watch where he was going and said sorry - not good enough. A woman cycling past had a go at him aswell!!

25mins further down the road when the traffic was moving fast a car load of SCUMBAGS drive past with one of them hanging out the window shouting some gibberish at me ... suffice to say i heard the word 'prick' shouted at me !!!! He was probably a scumbag having a laugh as i've never seen him before....


My first day cycling experiences in a word: " VUNERABLE "

daymobrew

bibibobo wrote:

Coming into town at Amiens St. beside connolly station is a nightmare... very busy and no cycle lanes. Had to curse at a Taxi driver on the way in for pulling over right in front of me ... he wasn;t the least bit apologetic to say the least.

Connolly Stn is only around the corner from Store St Garda Station. Inspector Connell is in charge of the Traffic Division there (I met with him after I ranted to the Assistant Commissioner about experiences similar to yours). Stroll in and report the incidents to him. Make sure you have reg/taxi number, colour/make/model of car etc.

bibibobo

to be honest i feel it would be pointless to go and report these incidents. what is needed is more traffic police catching these ar%%holes and dishing them penalty points.

My last point about the knacker shouting out the window at me for no reason just forces home the point that this city of ours is full of uneducated, uncivilised SCUM. And for the two relatively serious incidents both involving taxi drivers ... well i have no time for any of them especially with their cribbing over fare changes. Its about time that bunch of ignorant, smelly ripoff chancers were modernised!!! (i know not all taxi drivers are like this)

Dublin City Council have laid many many km's of cycle path around Dublin, particularly in the suburbs where they are not as necessary so why then does much of the city centre not have cycle paths??? and the ones that are there - why do they suddenly end at bottle necks ??? (e.g. Amiens St.)

just my little rant..:D

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI

Sounds deadly fun...can't wait to start cycling in and out in October

daymobrew

bibibobo wrote:

to be honest i feel it would be pointless to go and report these incidents. what is needed is more traffic police catching these ar%%holes and dishing them penalty points.

When I spoke to Inspector Connell he said that his approach is 'education'. Maybe your reports will lead to education by penalty points. As the traffic police aren't out there, the Gardai can claim that there isn't a problem because people (like yourself) are not reporting issues. Please give reporting the incidents a try (maybe use TrafficWatch 1890-205-805 as mentioned by RainyDay).

bibibobo wrote:

My last point about the knacker shouting out the window at me for no reason just forces home the point that this city of ours is full of uneducated, uncivilised SCUM.

And it's amazing how fertile these scum are. A comparison with rabbits comes to mind. Or maybe they are strict Catholics who obey the church and don't use contraception. :rolleyes:

blorg

Keep at it and be careful. Motorists can be very careless and a sizeable minority seem to have "cyclist blindness" where they simply don't see you, or mentally block you out. But your first day does sound worse than is typical, you may just have been unlucky (commuting for over ten years myself.)

With the whole cars pulling in/turning left over you thing, unfortunately that is something you just have to anticipate and avoid. At red lights get ahead of the rest of the traffic, check for indicators and make eye contact with the drivers. Always be careful and check behind you when passing any left-turning junction. I often tend to cycle out just a bit more when passing such junctions.

bibibobo

daymobrew wrote:

... As the traffic police aren't out there, the Gardai can claim that there isn't a problem because people (like yourself) are not reporting issues. Please give reporting the incidents a try (maybe use TrafficWatch 1890-205-805 as mentioned by RainyDay).

I take your point and will try reporting these problems.

daymobrew wrote:

... And it's amazing how fertile these scum are. A comparison with rabbits comes to mind. Or maybe they are strict Catholics who obey the church and don't use contraception. :rolleyes:

You make me laugh.:D I'd say that they are devout followers of some religion alright; one where Dutch Gold replaces wine at ceremonies!:)

Either way, I'm not going to let these incidents deter me. I'm sure if i stick with it i will find a 'best practice' for cycling on the road.

Can I ask, do many people when cycling in city centre bus lanes where the bus gives you feck all room when overtaking and the traffic is not moving that fast ; are you tempted to just cycle right in the centre of the bus lane??? A friend of mine does this for his own safety.

Iób

Can I ask, do many people when cycling in city centre bus lanes where the bus gives you feck all room when overtaking and the traffic is not moving that fast ; are you tempted to just cycle right in the centre of the bus lane??? A friend of mine does this for his own safety.

Short answer: Occupy the lane.
Long answer, Please, new cyclists, and anyone who has questions like this, do yourselves a big favour and buy a copy of Cyclecraft.

If you want to look for the info, much of it is on the web, such as this page -How to Not Get Hit by Cars - but you won't regret buying the book.

DadaKopf

bibibobo wrote:

to be honest i feel it would be pointless to go and report these incidents. what is needed is more traffic police catching these ar%%holes and dishing them penalty points.

Point taken. But information is power. If there's a Gard or bureau working to improving conditions for cyclists, they need all the info they can get to press the issue. Politicians listen to statistics from authoritative sources.

Just make sure you report it to the right person. Not a bog-standard bobby, but someone whose job depends on success in this area. Like that dude in Store St.