Buffalo & Doozerie - The mild musings of two grumpy old men!

Steoller

In fairness, if you're in the middle lane, and no one is in the left lane, you really shouldn't be in the middle lane.

CramCycle

Alot of people get confused by this on the motorway. The left lane is the driving lane, the middle lane is the first overtaking lane and the third lane is the second overtaking lane. If you are not overtaking, then you should be in the left lane.

Fian

I know you are right that the speed limit should be respected, but tbh if I were behind someone who was doing 30 kph on the slip road onto the m50 I would be irritated by it and looking to overtake asap as well. Some speed limits are inappropriate. That doesn't mean I would be glued to the back of your car or skim past you though.

doozerie

Yes, you shouldn't plant yourself in the middle or outer lanes, but "overtaking" takes on a whole new dimension when people behave randomly around you.

As an example, if you pull into the middle lane to overtake traffic moving at less than the speed limit in the inner lane, but encounter a car driving at below the speed limit in the middle lane, you can get stuck there for a while if there is no safe gap in the lanes either side of you. Same thing can happen if you pull into the middle lane to allow traffic to merge into the left lane as you approach an entrance to the motorway.

Throw in people using the inner lane to overtake traffic exiting on the slip road to the left of it (where those overtaking are aiming to take the same exit), people using gaps in the inner lane to undertake the middle and outer lanes at above the speed limit, people ignoring the speed limit in the outer lane, etc., and you have quite a mess.

Some people certainly misuse the middle lane (and outer lane) as a matter of course, I think that many others get "stranded" there through no real fault of their own.

CramCycle

Fian wrote: »

I know you are right that the speed limit should be respected, but tbh if I were behind someone who was doing 30 kph on the slip road onto the m50 I would be irritated by it and looking to overtake asap as well. Some speed limits are inappropriate. That doesn't mean I would be glued to the back of your car or skim past you though.

Considering the number of trucks and cars I have seen stuck into the girder at the side or overturned over the years, even getting close to the limit would be nice. You typically have a nice run up to the motorway to accelerate once round the bend. It would appear though that the limit there is taking into account how many cars have bald tyres or underinflated tyres.

doozerie

Fian wrote: »

I know you are right that the speed limit should be respected, but tbh if I were behind someone who was doing 30 kph on the slip road onto the m50 I would be irritated by it and looking to overtake asap as well. Some speed limits are inappropriate. That doesn't mean I would be glued to the back of your car or skim past you though.

For at least some of those slips roads the reduced speed limit really is something to respect, the worst of them (e.g Red Cow heading southbound) have pretty severe curves on them. I've had cars overtake me on such slip roads only to have to haul on their brakes moments later as they hit the curve and struggled to get round it.

In general though, I just don't get the mindset of those that practically ride the bumper of the car in front. Not only is it utterly obnoxious, it's very dangerous. They have no way of knowing how the driver they are trying to bully is going to react, maybe they'll speed up and lose control, maybe they'll slow down further and the driver behind will hit them. I get that people are in a hurry, which obviously doesn't justify any such reckless driving, but their actions are completely illogical in that they greatly increase the risks of a collision which will potentially delay them for a long time.

doozerie

On my commute this morning I stopped behind a taxi whose left indicator was on. Indicators are under-represented on Irish roads, it was all I could do to not throw myself from the bike and prostrate myself in front of this very welcome alien visitor.

From behind me a voice called "Will you keep moving! Please!". There was no question mark implied as it wasn't a request (apparently it's okay to be obnoxious if you add a veneer of politeness by tagging a "please" onto the end of anything you might say). I told the woman on the bicycle behind me that no, I wouldn't ride up the inside of a car that appears to be about to turn left, just so that she wouldn't have to add a few seconds to her journey.

"You just STOPPED IN FRONT OF ME!", she said.

I was genuinely stumped by that. For me, being part of traffic means stopping as needed, it's the very nature of traffic. I've no idea what her view of traffic is, but clearly it's not the same as mine. Maybe she saw that car right in front of me but chose to entirely dismiss the dangers posed by going up the inside of it in the circumstances, or maybe she was entirely oblivious to the existence of the car, I'm not sure which is worse but in either case it doesn't bode well for her future.

Meanwhile the taxi didn't turn left, instead it drove into the lane on its right. Yet another indicator with a twisted sense of humour.

Leroy42

^ so the moral of the story is that the woman was right!

doozerie

Leroy42 wrote: »

^ so the moral of the story is that the woman was right!

Eh, no. If there is any moral to this story it's that muppets come in all forms. Some of them ride bikes and fully expect others to put themselves in danger at their "request", some others sit in cars and fidget randomly with their indicators.

check_six

doozerie wrote: »

Eh, no. If there is any moral to this story it's that muppets come in all forms.
...some others sit in cars and fidget randomly with their indicators.

Probably unfamiliar with that particular control device. They were just giving the indicator stalk a wiggle for the hell of it to see what happened next.

See also fog light controls.

magicbastarder

you were clearly - wilfully and maliciously - blocking her view of said indicator by being in front of her, so how was she to know what the taxi was doing?

CramCycle

I had a teenager ride into the back of me last week because they thought I was going to roll on through the light and pedestrians. They apologised and looked sheepish, but after about 5 seconds of waiting decided they were going to go round me. No real comprehension of why i might have randomly stopped there.

doozerie

magicbastarder wrote: »

you were clearly - wilfully and maliciously - blocking her view of said indicator by being in front of her, so how was she to know what the taxi was doing?

Are you calling me FAT?

doozerie

check_six wrote: »

Probably unfamiliar with that particular control device. They were just giving the indicator stalk a wiggle for the hell of it to see what happened next.

See also fog light controls.

It's highly likely that that driver, like so many, has no idea what an indicator actually is. He may have flicked the lever and sat watching the flashing light and thinking "It's working!", "No, it's not working", "It's working!", "No, it's not working", etc.

RobertFoster

doozerie wrote: »

Are you calling me FAT?

Let's just say you'd make a better door than a window...

NamelessPhil

He's not fat, he's just big biked.

doozerie

NamelessPhil wrote: »

He's not fat, he's just big biked.

Does my bum make this bike look big?

Apparently, yes! :eek:

CramCycle

Damn light runners again. This morning, all stopped in Shankill where the Lollipop person works. About to step out and a girl rolls through, oblivious to the near miss because she thought she was grand as cars had stopped. Then just passed Stillorgan, guy went halfway through a junction on red but instead of completing it, stopped halfway over to rest on the island bollard, so his rear wheel was now impinging on traffic and his front wheel was doing the same. People, if they had brains they would be dangerous.

Eamonnator

CramCycle wrote: »

Damn light runners again. This morning, all stopped in Shankill where the Lollipop person works. About to step out and a girl rolls through, oblivious to the near miss because she thought she was grand as cars had stopped. Then just passed Stillorgan, guy went halfway through a junction on red but instead of completing it, stopped halfway over to rest on the island bollard, so his rear wheel was now impinging on traffic and his front wheel was doing the same. People, if they had brains they would be dangerous.

If they had two brains, they'd be twice as dangerous!

CramCycle

Eamonnator wrote: »

If they had two brains, they'd be twice as dangerous!

As my neighbour used to say, having "brains" is not a sign of intelligence.

magicbastarder

had a minor enough interaction with a driver this morning about him being in the cycle lane, but the most irritating thing about it was that i had then to use a cycle path i'd usually avoid, cos otherwise he'd have seen me using the road and would have thought 'you pillocking hypocrite'.

Doc07

magicbastarder wrote: »

had a minor enough interaction with a driver this morning about him being in the cycle lane, but the most irritating thing about it was that i had then to use a cycle path i'd usually avoid, cos otherwise he'd have seen me using the road and would have thought 'you pillocking hypocrite'.

Car sheepishly crossing lanes yesterday am to make a left hand turn at Harold’s Cross at the lights where you have to go into bus lane( the V) Myself and another cyclist spot this and slow down. Cyclist behind sprints around us to opportunistically overtake into a small gap and make lights and almost collided with car ( good bike handling in fairness)
Berates driver very aggressively. Now I know what’s its like to get a fright on a bike and be vulnerable and adrenaline flows but IMHO he was an arse&ole.
It’s not always possible to be in the correct lane in time in many parts of the city and driver was trying to signal and waive their intent to cross over, everybody else yielded. Driver was trying to get kids to school not mow down pesky cyclists.

CramCycle

Jeebus. Local facebook group was giving out about cyclists on the Shankill N11 roundabout being dangerous. Now passing through it every day, the majority of cyclists don't even use it, probably less than 5%. I pointed out that unlike many of the road users there, at least I knew how to use a roundabout including indicating, correct lane, changing lane and observation. This morning was a prime example of why I am not the danger.

In the right lane as I am taking the third exit. Two cars behind me, we are all waiting for a break to move out. Just as we get it, a 181 comes in on the left lane, comes beside me on the roundabout and wheels struggling with grip as it corners. I know as soon as I look at him, no indicator, looking straight through me, he is going to go around. I have to slow to allow him to pass for my own safety. He gets onto the N11 and promptly swerves from the left lane to the right lane so he can gun it past a few cars. It is pretty grey and murky, no lights on, no indicators, no lane manners. Every fuppin morning there is an idiot there, and yet somehow, I am the one who gets given out about online.

Fian

Two incidents on my way in this morning. I was running later than usual - not sure if that impacted or not but i felt all the drivers around me were just not on their game. Maybe they were all running late as well!

As I was approaching the canal I needed to pull into the right most lane, because I turn right off leesons street towards fitzwilliam square, after crossing the canal. I had a feeling one car who was well back was going to ignore me and sure enough she accelerates and pushes through teh lane to my right. OK after her I cross over to the rightmost lane, I am on the left of the rightmost lane, or the right of the middle lane. As I am crossing the bridge the driver of a range rover who is level with me in the rightmost lane decides she wants to go straight on so she starts drifting towards me, forcing me to swerve to my left. She is looking at me as she does so. I let out a roar at her and she just gesticulates that she wants to go straight on, then she brakes and lets me proceed on, passing to my left behind me. That second one was scary and very annoying.

I don't like Mondays.

nomdeboardie

Fian wrote: »

Two incidents on my way in this morning. I was running later than usual - not sure if that impacted or not but i felt all the drivers around me were just not on their game. Maybe they were all running late as well!

As I was approaching the canal I needed to pull into the right most lane, because I turn right off leesons street towards fitzwilliam square, after crossing the canal. I had a feeling one car who was well back was going to ignore me and sure enough she accelerates and pushes through teh lane to my right. OK after her I cross over to the rightmost lane, I am on the left of the rightmost lane, or the right of the middle lane. As I am crossing the bridge the driver of a range rover who is level with me in the rightmost lane decides she wants to go straight on so she starts drifting towards me, forcing me to swerve to my left. She is looking at me as she does so. I let out a roar at her and she just gesticulates that she wants to go straight on, then she brakes and lets me proceed on, passing to my left behind me. That second one was scary and very annoying.

I don't like Mondays.

Horrible. I suppose the thing to do is fully "take the (right) lane" so they are forced to confront the fact that you are right-turning traffic, but I realise it's difficult, and they'll probably still do dangerous swerve-arounds :mad:

nomdeboardie

CramCycle wrote: »

Jeebus. Local facebook group was giving out about cyclists on the Shankhill N11 roundabout being dangerous. Now passing through it every day, the majority of cyclists don't even use it, probably less than 5%. I pointed out that unlike many of the road users there, at least I knew how to use a roundabout including indicating, correct lane, changing lane and observation. This morning was a prime example of why I am not the danger.

In the right lane as I am taking the third exit. Two cars behind me, we are all waiting for a break to move out. Just as we get it, a 181 comes in on the left lane, comes beside me on the roundabout and wheels struggling with grip as it corners. I know as soon as I look at him, no indicator, looking straight through me, he is going to go around. I have to slow to allow him to pass for my own safety. He gets onto the N11 and promptly swerves from the left lane to the right lane so he can gun it past a few cars. It is pretty grey and murky, no lights on, no indicators, no lane manners. Every fuppin morning there is an idiot there, and yet somehow, I am the one who gets given out about online.

Ugh. Not fully clear about which entrance and exit you were using, but think from Shankill towards Loughlinstown(?) I hate that place - think I've only gone around the roundabout proper once or twice and have grumpily stuck to the cycle lane, crossing the road to the ropey two-way coming from Shankill :mad:

nomdeboardie

Don’t even get me started about the string of 4 of roundabouts at Carrickmines...

CramCycle

nomdeboardie wrote: »

Ugh. Not fully clear about which entrance and exit you were using, but think from Shankill towards Loughlinstown(?) I hate that place - think I've only gone around the roundabout proper once or twice and have grumpily stuck to the cycle lane, crossing the road to the ropey two-way coming from Shankill :mad:

Coming from Shankill and turning right to head towards town. I use the cycle lane on the return leg as it cuts out the roundabout.

Weepsie

Cycling along the Royal canal into town this afternoon and a child and parents were walking towards me.

The child thought this would be a great time to try and push his mam into my path with a big grin on his face. Little sh.... I thought. I was going very slow as I would with any young family being near me so it was all grand.

Then I heard it. Whar are you doin!!!! A smack and the cries of the kid. I turned around to a scene with her standing over berating him, the kid looking smaller than before with his head bowed down and the dad just standing around being useless.

I was too quick to think little sh... The kid hasn't a hope if that's what he's dealing with everyday. It's normalised for him to think pushing and endangering people is okay. I should've said or done something, but I didn't. I'm angry about it for all sorts of reasons.

cjt156

CramCycle wrote: »

Coming from Shankill and turning right to head towards town. I use the cycle lane on the return leg as it cuts out the roundabout.

Personally I'd always use the cycle lane both ways as that roundabout just isn't worth the hassle.
I know its a pain crossing over & back but at least you have ped/cycle crossings at your disposal.