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

magicbastarder

a weird one today - was eastbound on collins avenue approaching the main whitehall junction, and a cyclist came - at a reasonable clip, maybe 25km/h or more - out of the old swords road from my left and didn't slow (and to be honest, i can't even remember whether they passed in front of me or behind me, it was done in an instant) but what caught my attention, he proceeded at the same speed along the little annex on collins avenue, up onto the footpath and around the corner you can see here, without slowing. if there had been a pedestrian on the path he wouldn't have had a chance to see and it could have been very messy.
this wasn't a kid btw, was an adult man on a road bike, kitted out in dedicated cycling gear.

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3823451,-6.2449646,3a,75y,171.79h,87.59t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-vg3GUcI-ea8qL1WVGXzOw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-vg3GUcI-ea8qL1WVGXzOw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D279.39075%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

smacl

Biggest hazard in my area at the moment is joggers with headphones stepping out into the road in same direction as traffic to avoid other oncoming pedestrians. I've started taking a line closer to the white line than the pavement as a result and am planning to keep my cycling early morning where possible.

magicbastarder

on the bike yesterday, on a road with longish sweeping bends (the one north of finglas which goes past balseskin centre and to the st margarets end of the runway), a motorist went to overtake me on a largely blind bend. i stuck the hand out as a 'don't overtake' warning because there was an oncoming motorbike, but he overtook anyway; it wasn't a near miss for me, he gave me plenty of room, but what made it noteworthy was that i could see the motorcyclist pulling in when he saw the oncoming car, tight to his side of the road, but once the car started to track back in after passing me, did what i can only assume was a 'well **** you anyway' incredibly ballsy/stupid move, and accelerated and pulled back out hard towards the centre of the road and skimmed the car, missing it by what i can only assume was a narrow margin.

magicbastarder

well, i just had the most bad tempered exchange with a cyclist in rather unusual circumstances - myself and my wife had just left the omni centre in santry (on foot) and i spotted a chap on the other side of the road with his bike turned turtle on the footpath. so i jogged over (the road was clear apart from a cyclist maybe 200m away) to let the chap know duff cycles in the centre was open, if he needed help. as i jogged over, i noticed that the RD didn't look right on the back of the bike, and as i started talking to him, i copped that his left side was banged up; he had a bloody elbow and his left leg was a bit knocked about. i guess maybe his RD had fouled in his spokes, but didn't get much chance to get a good look.
i'd stopped short, in the cycle lane, as there was another pedestrian there, and had been standing stationary in the cycle lane for a few seconds when the cyclist i'd seen earlier came barrelling straight at me and slammed on the brakes at the last second, and starting Fing me out of it for being in the cycle lane. and the weird thing was - he was a friend of the guy who'd come off his bike. that chap immediately started telling his friend to calm down, but he was having none of it. he swung around and came back to remonstrate with me even though he'd found out i'd stopped to help his friend, so i left.

just a weird thing to do. whatever about swinging around me and doing the 'it's a cycle lane here mate', but to actually try to physically intimidate me with the abrupt stop was a new one.

it's no wonder you cyclists have such a bad image...

MojoMaker

Hear, hear, would you stop being such a helpful prick :pac:

magicbastarder

in hindsight, i probably should have just told yer man to get ****ed and tried to help the chap who was banged up, but them knowing each other blindsided me a bit so i don't know whether him happening along was arranged or happenstance.

magicbastarder

and the worst part was M&S in santry didn't even have the specials on their rocket fuel cider we'd walked around in the hope of bagging.

MojoMaker

:pac::pac:

magicbastarder

was out at the stables where my wife has a horse, chatting to another horsey woman there, who'd taken her horse out for a hack on the roads. she had two close fast passes by vans, on less than 1km of road.

last summer, she was overtaken by a motorcyclist who either dropped a gear, or dropped the clutch and revved the bike hard as he passed her; the horse bolted on her but thankfully she managed to stay on.

nomdeboardie

You know you didn't put in enough effort on the hills when...

...your max HR (by 10) for the ride was shouting at a bus driver on the flat... :mad::(:o

eeeee

Had 2 taxi's beep at me today on my way into and out of town for not being over the left hand side of the road. Both times I was in a bus lane, and both times the road was in shyte on the left and I was in the middle of the lane. Traffic was light on both occasions. One beeped me out of it and stopped at the lights immediately after, I rolled up and asked why they'd done it, and they said 'you should be over on the left hand side, you were in the middle of the lane' . All explanations fell on deaf ears.

It was funny cos most of the time now I'm on the road in full lycra, with less meetings, meeting up with people, social things etc. Today I was in normal clothes, a dress. I haven't had that telling me where I should be for a while. I hope it was a coincidence and not pricks who think they can intimidate/ tell a woman where she can be cos I'm not dressed like a 'serious' cyclist/ easy target etc. ...

new2tri19

Is this a place to rant ? Something that we see a lot of lately is cyclists runners and swimmers doing events for charity and its great I do donate to charity and anything that raises awareness of charities I'm all for , but i've a minor gripe!

If I see a cyclist doing an evesting attempt for charity or a runner doing an ultramarathon I'm like meh well it's not really a sacrifise for them they most likely are doing it for themselves and the achievement. I remember years ago people got the head shaved and I remember some people really didn't want to , that for me is what its all about . I would be much more interested to see someone do something that had a chance of failure and was something they did not want to do at all.

I also think its getting to extremes with runners running 100 miles for charity and cyclists doing double eversting. Because the individuals are so well trained they need to push the limits higher and higher. Anyway thats my rant , a cyclist that never ran should try a marathon for charity off no training. Or better still how many athletes would not train for a month for charity ? very few i'd imagine.

magicbastarder

the ideal charity matches for me would be 1) where the irish rugby team plays the irish soccer team at soccer, followed by 2) where the irish rugby team plays the irish soccer team at rugby.

magicbastarder

new2tri19 wrote: »

I would be much more interested to see someone do something that had a chance of failure and was something they did not want to do at all.

if you don't think there's a high chance of failure with a double everesting, i suggest you give it a shot.

new2tri19

magicbastarder wrote: »

the ideal charity matches for me would be 1) where the irish rugby team plays the irish soccer team at soccer, followed by 2) where the irish rugby team plays the irish soccer team at rugby.

Now that I'd pay to see

new2tri19

magicbastarder wrote: »

if you don't think there's a high chance of failure with a double everesting, i suggest you give it a shot.

Without a time limit , it wouldn't be pretty but you'd do it especially if cycling is your sport and you've somewhat trained for it , it might take hours longer than you expect but you'd get there .

new2tri19

new2tri19 wrote: »

Without a time limit , it wouldn't be pretty but you'd do it especially if cycling is your sport and you've somewhat trained for it , it might take hours longer than you expect but you'd get there .

Try days or weeks in my case with sleeps :pac:, the guy currently doing a double is looking at close to 50 hours by the time he's done in the morning. I don't care how trained you are the mental game involved with pulling something like that off and the lack of sleep must play hell with your brain.

He's no stranger to this kind of game though. When I go for a spin I can't take the same route home as I hate coming back on myself so the idea of riding the same hill even 10 times would crack me mentally

I do take your earlier point though that for some it's as much for them as it is the charity.

new2tri19

Deleted User wrote: »

Try days or weeks in my case with sleeps :pac:, the guy currently doing a double is looking at close to 50 hours by the time he's done in the morning. I don't care how trained you are the mental game involved with pulling something like that off and the lack of sleep must play hell with your brain.

He's no stranger to this kind of game though. When I go for a spin I can't take the same route home as I hate coming back on myself so the idea of riding the same hill even 10 times would crack me mentally

Just to note I'm not referencing anyone in particular I wasn't even aware of anyone doing a double currently. I did hear of a runner today attempting a 100mile soon but he runs 70 to 80 miles a week and at least a marathon every couple of weeks. For me it would be a bigger sacrifice for him to take a week or two off training becuase he never stops.

magicbastarder

fuelling is a big issue. i mentioned on the other thread that he was suffering by the time i'd arrived earlier (before 4pm IIRC) - it was digestive upset.

you're asking your body to expend energy at a rate it's not used to, which is one thing when you're doing maybe 5 or even 10 hours in the saddle, but when you're into *days* in the saddle, you're also asking your stomach to process the extra fuel required. and even just sitting on a saddle for 50 hours probably introduces issues i don't want to consider.

magicbastarder

new2tri19 wrote: »

Just to note I'm not referencing anyone in particular I wasn't even aware of anyone doing a double currently.

you just happened to raise the issue on the very day that someone is attempting a double, and is being discussed on the forum here.
i don't even know if it's been attempted before in ireland.

new2tri19

new2tri19 wrote: »

Just to note I'm not referencing anyone in particular I wasn't even aware of anyone doing a double currently. I did hear of a runner today attempting a 100mile soon but he runs 70 to 80 miles a week and at least a marathon every couple of weeks. For me it would be a bigger sacrifice for him to take a week or two off training becuase he never stops.

Yeah I got that , didn't mean to infer otherwise sorry.

magicbastarder

new2tri19 wrote: »

Now that I'd pay to see

i suspect the country would be paying for it for a year or two after, when the soccer team were being wheeled out onto the pitch on stretchers.

new2tri19

magicbastarder wrote: »

you just happened to raise the issue on the very day that someone is attempting a double, and is being discussed on the forum here.
i don't even know if it's been attempted before in ireland.

Believe it or not it's just pure coincidence, I haven't read that thread yet, I was posting thinking about marathon and ultra marathon and I figured cycling equivalent is eversting and double. If it is that rare I obviously retract my previous statements regarding chance of failure etc

new2tri19

Doh just found the thread about that guy , picked a bad day to have a little rant, absolutely pure coincidence not meaning to diminish his achievement or others that have cycled with him .
I guess I should keep my opinions to myself from now on .... Or stick them in triathlon forum!

new2tri19

new2tri19 wrote: »

Doh just found the thread about that guy , picked a bad day to have a little rant, absolutely pure coincidence not meaning to diminish his achievement or others that have cycled with him .
I guess I should keep my opinions to myself from now on .... Or stick them in triathlon forum!

You're grand here until you mention swimming , at that point I'll call for pitchforks and torches

magicbastarder

new2tri19 wrote: »

others that have cycled with him

**** them, they're just trying to ride on his coat tails.

Breezer

magicbastarder wrote: »

the ideal charity matches for me would be 1) where the irish rugby team plays the irish soccer team at soccer, followed by 2) where the irish rugby team plays the irish soccer team at rugby.

Tenner bets the rugby team wins both

Usain Bolt is on a bike these days I believe. 100m on the bike vs Sam Bennett and 100m on foot maybe?

Enduro

new2tri19 wrote: »

Is this a place to rant ? Something that we see a lot of lately is cyclists runners and swimmers doing events for charity and its great I do donate to charity and anything that raises awareness of charities I'm all for , but i've a minor gripe!

If I see a cyclist doing an evesting attempt for charity or a runner doing an ultramarathon I'm like meh well it's not really a sacrifise for them they most likely are doing it for themselves and the achievement. I remember years ago people got the head shaved and I remember some people really didn't want to , that for me is what its all about . I would be much more interested to see someone do something that had a chance of failure and was something they did not want to do at all.

I also think its getting to extremes with runners running 100 miles for charity and cyclists doing double eversting. Because the individuals are so well trained they need to push the limits higher and higher. Anyway thats my rant , a cyclist that never ran should try a marathon for charity off no training. Or better still how many athletes would not train for a month for charity ? very few i'd imagine.

100 miles running... ppfffft... that's sprinting

I've set many ultrarunning records over the years, my personal favorite being my still standing record for Mizzen to Malin. And you know what. I agree with you 100% I deliberately avoid involving any charity aspect. I'm running for me (and my support crew, and/or teammates in team events). I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

Unfortunately there have also been many cases where the charity aspect is used to justify cheating. Indeed there was a massive blow-up on the athletics/running forum on boards many years ago (all traces now removed... it got pretty toxic) with this particular scenario in full force. Cyclists will be well familiar with the "cancer shield" defense. Lots of notorious recent examples in the ultrarunning world.

magicbastarder

some absolute ****stick in a 10 or 15 year old golf (no surprise there) passed me near rowlestown earlier leaning on the horn. easily over 5 seconds on the horn, maybe even 10; with no rhyme nor reason for it, he hadn't been stuck behind me at all. just decided he didn't like me.