letter in today's Galway Advertiser

jman0

Here's a blurb from a letter that appeared in today's Galway Advertiser:

"A message for a reckless Renmore cyclist

Dear Editor,

To the cyclist who came speeding down Lakeshore Drive in Renmore on the footpath on Wednesday May 23 between 6pm and 6.15pm: You rounded the corner at the bottom of the hill and collided with me as I walked my dog. The impact knocked me to the ground, where I lay unconscious as you cycled away."
more:
http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/content/index.php?aid=7027

This idiot is probably not a cycle commuter as he was on a footpath, at least we all hope he's not. Any idiot can hope on a bike after all, and they all do at some stage.
Pity it gives us bad press, which i thought i'd share with ye.

Civilian_Target

Well, at least the dog is biodegradable...

On a more serious note, yeah, that's pretty low. Seen it before. Some people are assholes and some assholes ride bikes. What can one do?

roadmanmad

All we can do is choose not behave like an asshole on a bike

wahlrab

when yer man says cyclist rather than person on a bike he insults a community, I think that if he said someone cycling a bike it wouldn't have such negative insinuations for the cycling community. Well I suppose he's just using it as an example thus rendering my point useless but i have written this much so i might as well post it

dinneenp

...a person on a bike is a cyclist. If someone in a car cut you off you'd say 'a driver' not 'a person who happened to be driving the car.'

Most people cycle on footpaths from time to time ( I do) but if there's someone walking I SLOW down totally or hop onto the road and back onto the path, same when turning a corner.

saobh_ie

I got smacked out of it in similar fashion in Swords village. Luckily (unluckily) my motorcycle helmet took the hit instead of my arm, impact flung it up above my head, luckily it didn't hit the ground. Technically, thats €500 of helmet thats knackered now because of some cyclist who didn't even stop to apoligise. Shoulder was a bit rough for a day or two also, forcing me into the god damned car.

If I see the prick again I might be tempted to knacker thier helmet. Hopefully i'll be on my own bicycle at the time so there'll be no repercussions for crashing into & hurting somebody before fleeing the scene.

Raam

I don't think she insulted the "cycling community". She's calling a spade a spade.

beans

Bad buzz leaving the scene like that.

I personally wouldn't cycle on a path, just lining yourself up for a fall. If you hit someone you've got no comeback, as you should never have been cycling on the path in the first place.

Tried slow-cycling through a crowd of pedestrians crossing at O'Connell Bridge yesterday (i had a green light), it was comical. Very slowly waiting for this guy to cross, he sees me and stops, I go to pass him and he decides to go again, we collide at walking speed and just kind of hug each other apologising all the time... it was very funny, but it illustrates that even going at slow pace stupid crap can happen. Say he had been delayed by that and then milled down by a passing truck as he continues to cross (on a red man), can you think who would be held resonsible? Someone would have pointed the finger at the cyclist who 'hit' him just prior.

Sorry for rambling, but i think my point was that getting into potential bike VS pedestrian encounters just isn't worth it, as they're at the bottom of the traffic-chain and you'll be accountable