Cyclist down - Rock Road last night

daragh_

Passed an Ambulance along with AGS etc attending to a cyclist on the Rock Road last night - around 6:45/7. Across from the entrance to the Blackrock Clinic.

Think they were sitting up. Hope it wasn't serious.

poochiem

Hope so too. A bus had a go at me a little further up the hill there and I had it on camera. Eventually I got an apology from Dublin Bus and they told me that the driver would be suspended and/or retrained.

Alek

Eventually I got an apology from Dublin Bus and they told me that the driver would be suspended and/or retrained.

Thats a rarity. Was it that evidently intentional maneuver?

Alek

Eventually I got an apology from Dublin Bus and they told me that the driver would be suspended and/or retrained.

Thats a rarity. Was it that evidently intentional maneuver?

C3PO

I know it's been said before but the condition of the surface in the cycle lane on the Rock Road between the Merrion Gates and Blackrock Clinic really is disgraceful - cyclists are forced to ride out in the middle of the bus lane which pisses everybody off!!

Plastik

I ride it both directions each day and it's rough in places sure. I don't think it annoys many that the cyclists stay out along there, not that I've seen anyway. Even if you were to adhere to the restrictions of the cycle along there for long sections of it it's still too narrow for any sort of vehicle other than a motorbike to pass you in the bus lane while not impeding in the traffic lane. My biggest gripe with that section of the road is the drivers pulling in and out of Blackrock College without looking or the drivers that seem to think the bus lane is a long pit lane entrance for Blackrock clinic.

The traffic lights at the top of Temple Hill heading outbound boils my urine though, much more so than any of the pothole sections of road.

CatFromHue

I've never been knocked down, thankfully, but the only times I thought I was going to be have both been on the Rock Road. I never used it for commuting either.

Cars/vans have a tendency to swing into the cycle/bus lane to get by a car turning right without looking to see if there's a cyclist already in the cycle lane.

CatFromHue

I've never been knocked down, thankfully, but the only times I thought I was going to be have both been on the Rock Road. I never used it for commuting either.

Cars/vans have a tendency to swing into the cycle/bus lane to get by a car turning right without looking to see if there's a cyclist already in the cycle lane.

Seaswimmer

Plastik wrote: »

I ride it both directions each day and it's rough in places sure. I don't think it annoys many that the cyclists stay out along there, not that I've seen anyway. Even if you were to adhere to the restrictions of the cycle along there for long sections of it it's still too narrow for any sort of vehicle other than a motorbike to pass you in the bus lane while not impeding in the traffic lane. My biggest gripe with that section of the road is the drivers pulling in and out of Blackrock College without looking or the drivers that seem to think the bus lane is a long pit lane entrance for Blackrock clinic.

The traffic lights at the top of Temple Hill heading outbound boils my urine though, much more so than any of the pothole sections of road.

As a matter of interest what is your problem with them. I find them ok both when on the road or using the cycle name.

I also cycle it twice a day and definitely agree with your comments above. I don't ever have a problem keeping well out in the bus lane.

Plastik

It annoys me that such an amount of money was spent on reducing the traffic lanes to such an extent that the cycle lane along there is a great place to be and yet if you stay in the cycle lane for the lights at the top of Temple Hill you are left sitting there for what feels like an inordinate amount of time. By the time you actually get the ok to cross the junction by bike from the lane you don't even get a green light, you get a flashing yellow that only briefly lasts before you're back into an huge swathes of green time for all outbound traffic again.

I usually try and merge into the traffic to go through but it's not always possible with the volume coming up the left turn lane to Dun Laoghaire. It just annoys me It feels like a lot of thought and effort went into the cycle lane only to be confronted with a set of lights that gives the barest minimum priority it possibly could for cyclists leaving town.

C3PO

Plastik wrote: »

The traffic lights at the top of Temple Hill heading outbound boils my urine though, much more so than any of the pothole sections of road.

Yep - that new section was obviously designed by someone who had never sat on a bike!

eeeee

That lights/lane bugs the bejesus out of me too. I also merge over to the straight ahead traffic lane if I can. It incenses me that I have to stop and wait for permission to continue on straight down a road I was/am going straight in anyway!

The new light sequence at newtownpark avenue annoys me too. And the shiney new cycle lanes are covered in shyte. Not to mention where they put you heading towards town when a bus pulls in at the stop after newtownpark avenue. And the bollards and junction heading into merrion avenue is a balls of a mess. Grumble grumble!

Thoughts for the injured cyclist, hope it isn't too bad and they're alright and back on the bike soon.

daragh_

@Plastik. You are just grumpy it's ruining your sprint

There's a motion sensor thing on the pole when you pull up to the light. I find that if there are a few people on bikes lined up it activates it reasonably quickly. I've never been waiting more than 30/40 seconds although many people ignore it and ride through when the pedestrian light goes green.

I think it's a better junction now for slower moving or less confident cyclists. My wife (who commutes on a bike maybe 7 days a month) much prefers it to the previous lights.

That said I tend to merge at the bottom of the hill and go with the flow of traffic.

The stupid and lazy 'up on the narrow pavement' bodge that follows should be nominated for worst bike path of the year.

Alek

.

Alek

I've never been waiting more than 30/40 seconds

One eternity later....

Seaswimmer

Plastik wrote: »

It annoys me that such an amount of money was spent on reducing the traffic lanes to such an extent that the cycle lane along there is a great place to be and yet if you stay in the cycle lane for the lights at the top of Temple Hill you are left sitting there for what feels like an inordinate amount of time. By the time you actually get the ok to cross the junction by bike from the lane you don't even get a green light, you get a flashing yellow that only briefly lasts before you're back into an huge swathes of green time for all outbound traffic again.

I usually try and merge into the traffic to go through but it's not always possible with the volume coming up the left turn lane to Dun Laoghaire. It just annoys me It feels like a lot of thought and effort went into the cycle lane only to be confronted with a set of lights that gives the barest minimum priority it possibly could for cyclists leaving town.

interesting. I thought it was flashing yellow that then goes to green. Flashing yellow coincides with flashing green on the pedestrian lights then full cycle green. must check it tonight on way home..

poochiem

Alek wrote: »

Thats a rarity. Was it that evidently intentional maneuver?

Yeah. Two free lanes and he chased me up the hill and then drove into my bike lane. video. I was out of the saddle too so his mirror was right by my head.

Heisenberg1

Plastik wrote: »

It annoys me that such an amount of money was spent on reducing the traffic lanes to such an extent that the cycle lane along there is a great place to be and yet if you stay in the cycle lane for the lights at the top of Temple Hill you are left sitting there for what feels like an inordinate amount of time. By the time you actually get the ok to cross the junction by bike from the lane you don't even get a green light, you get a flashing yellow that only briefly lasts before you're back into an huge swathes of green time for all outbound traffic again.

I usually try and merge into the traffic to go through but it's not always possible with the volume coming up the left turn lane to Dun Laoghaire. It just annoys me It feels like a lot of thought and effort went into the cycle lane only to be confronted with a set of lights that gives the barest minimum priority it possibly could for cyclists leaving town.

When you go past the junction lights heading up to temple hill there is a pressure pad just after the lights I tend to lean hard on the front forks as I go over it, It seems to alter the sequence as you get to the cycle light and hit that pad they seem to change. Maybe it's just a coincidence but it works for me.

mrcheez

poochiem wrote: »

Yeah. Two free lanes and he chased me up the hill and then drove into my bike lane. video. I was out of the saddle too so his mirror was right by my head.

On a similar note, I almost got knocked off a Dublin Bike along the quays by a Dublin Bus speeding past within 20cm of my right shoulder, pulling in front of me on the bike lane forcing me out into the main traffic, then attempting to pull out again in front me as he decided he didn't need to pull up to the left in the first place.

Had the lot recorded on my Lidl camera sunglasses and the video was sent to Dublin Bus who've now sent the driver to be retrained*

*allegedly


I never cycle without these camera glasses regardless if I'm on a Dublin Bike or my actual bike, just as there are so many such incidents that it's water off a duck's back at this stage, but the video is there just in case the worst happens and I need to make a claim (or my benefactors need to know why I'm no longer alive)

onmebike

Just on that section of Rock Road where the incident was - the surface is appalling. The only grief that I've ever experienced while using the middle of the bus lane is from traffic that shouldn't be there - cars and vans using the bus lane illegally. I find that buses and taxis usually don't have a problem with it.