What's the obsession middle aged lads have with cycling?

meeeeh · 27-07-2018 01:52PM

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

How many road deaths involved cycling in the dark without lights?
How many road deaths involved kids crossing the road incorrectly?

You are deflecting again. Are you now against teaching kids how to cross the road safely because they are not at fault? What does it matter if they are at fault or not if they are dead. And expect me to provide stats, you quote a number without any other break down of numbers and then expect others to provide them for. Again you are not worried about road deaths at all, you use them to deflect.

Btw I absolutely despise people who use mobiles (fines for that should be comparable to drink driving) while driving or break lights but that doesn't give me an excuse to break rules while cycling.

The Kop · 27-07-2018 01:56PM

meeeeh wrote: »

You are deflecting again. Are you now against teaching kids how to cross the road safely because they are not at fault? What dies it matter if they are at fault or not if they are dead. And expect me to provide stats, you quote a number without any other break down of numbers and then expect others to provide them for. Again you are not worried about road deaths at all, you use them to deflect.

Btw I absolutely despise people who use mobiles (fines for that should be comparable to drink driving) while driving or break lights but that doesn't give me an excuse to break rules while cycling.

AngryJRenko deflecting? Nah never...... Who'd a thunk it...

xckjoo · 27-07-2018 02:44PM

meeeeh wrote: »

You are deflecting again. Are you now against teaching kids how to cross the road safely because they are not at fault? What does it matter if they are at fault or not if they are dead. And expect me to provide stats, you quote a number without any other break down of numbers and then expect others to provide them for. Again you are not worried about road deaths at all, you use them to deflect.

Btw I absolutely despise people who use mobiles (fines for that should be comparable to drink driving) while driving or break lights but that doesn't give me an excuse to break rules while cycling.

It's drilled into children how to cross the road safely. We've been doing it since at least the 80's. But the onus is and should always be on the (adult) driver to drive at a speed and with sufficient care to respond to unexpected situations. The person in charge of the giant metal machine capable of turning the human body to mush should bare the brunt of the responsibility. Spouting on about how kids need to be taught how to cross the road properly and cyclists breaking rules just makes you sound like you feel like they're at fault if they get killed on the roads. That might not be your intention, but it's how it comes across.

07Lapierre · 27-07-2018 02:49PM

xckjoo wrote: »

It's drilled into children how to cross the road safely. We've been doing it since at least the 80's. But the onus is and should always be on the (adult) driver to drive at a speed and with sufficient care to respond to unexpected situations. The person in charge of the giant metal machine capable of turning the human body to mush should bare the brunt of the responsibility. Spouting on about how kids need to be taught how to cross the road properly and cyclists breaking rules just makes you sound like you feel like they're at fault if they get killed on the roads. That might not be your intention, but it's how it comes across.

Agree

anyone remember this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlXwumQxrRw

PlaneSpeeking · 27-07-2018 02:54PM

07Lapierre wrote: »

Agree

anyone remember this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlXwumQxrRw

I was a kid in the UK - we had the Tufty Club and then Darth Vader and Alvin Stardust teaching us road safety.

I'm terrified to this day not to cross safely!

meeeeh · 27-07-2018 02:54PM

xckjoo wrote: »

It's drilled into children how to cross the road safely. We've been doing it since at least the 80's. But the onus is and should always be on the (adult) driver to drive at a speed and with sufficient care to respond to unexpected situations. The person in charge of the giant metal machine capable of turning the human body to mush should bare the brunt of the responsibility. Spouting on about how kids need to be taught how to cross the road properly and cyclists breaking rules just makes you sound like you feel like they're at fault if they get killed on the roads. That might not be your intention, but it's how it comes across.

Oh right the old victim blaming excuse. This is very predictable, fislrst is will anyone think of the relatives and now I'm blaming kids for the accidents. It's just another type of an excuse to do nothing.

xckjoo · 27-07-2018 02:57PM

07Lapierre wrote: »

Agree

anyone remember this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlXwumQxrRw

I still hum it to this day

PlaneSpeeking wrote: »

I was a kid in the UK - we had the Tufty Club and then Darth Vader and Alvin Stardust teaching us road safety.

I'm terrified to this day not to cross safely!

Haha. I don't blame you. I'd probably just have stuck with whatever side of the street I was on.

07Lapierre · 27-07-2018 02:58PM

meeeeh wrote: »

Oh right the old victim blaming excuse. This is very predictable, fislrst is will anyone think of the relatives and now I'm blaming kids for the accidents. It's just another type of an excuse to do nothing.

You can do something...we all can. Obey the Rules of the road and Motorists, obey the speed limits and expect the unexpected.

27-07-2018 02:58PM

Ellie Hallowed Acorn wrote: »

Do you have proof of that? It's in the RSA stats is it?

Yeah, pretty much. Look at the RSA Speed Survey reports, showing that three or four out of five motorists break speed limits, depending on what year you choose. Most motorists break speed limits. That shouldn't really be a surprise to any motorist who is on the road, but it seems to be news to many. So unless there is some very strange statistical anomaly that means that only the minority of law-abiding motorists are the ones whinging about cyclists, then yeah, these are generally the same ones. You did notice that I did say 'generally', so I'm not claiming this is an absolute certainty. I could possibly even be wrong on this, but the data suggests otherwise.

meeeeh wrote: »

You are deflecting again. Are you now against teaching kids how to cross the road safely because they are not at fault? What does it matter if they are at fault or not if they are dead. And expect me to provide stats, you quote a number without any other break down of numbers and then expect others to provide them for. Again you are not worried about road deaths at all, you use them to deflect.

Btw I absolutely despise people who use mobiles (fines for that should be comparable to drink driving) while driving or break lights but that doesn't give me an excuse to break rules while cycling.

We're veering into 'won't someone please think of the children' territory here, so let me explain clearly what exactly I'm against.

First, I'm against victim-blaming. Your approach of reducing road deaths by teaching children how to cross the roads is a bit like trying to reduce rape by teaching young ladies not to dress sexily. It is nasty victim-blaming.

Secondly, I'm against distractions from the core issue. We have limited time and resources available from policy makers, enforcers, legislators and more. Any initiative to teach children to cross the road will take time and resources away from where it is most needed - teaching drivers to drive within the speed limit and without the phone on their lap.

So do I have a problem with teaching children to cross the road on it's own? Not really - but would it be a distraction from dealing with the major causes of deaths on the road? Yes, absolutely.

The Kop wrote: »

AngryJRenko deflecting? Nah never...... Who'd a thunk it...

Remember in school when two lads were fighting, and there was one little fella running round the edges, shouting his mouth off, but carefully staying away from the actual fight, and maybe getting a sneaky kick in at one of the loser when it's all over?

https://youtu.be/6TUxGJ6vVrw?t=7s

Seriously, can you not make a point on your own without jumping on the back of someone else's?

xckjoo · 27-07-2018 02:59PM

meeeeh wrote: »

Oh right the old victim blaming excuse. This is very predictable, fislrst is will anyone think of the relatives and now I'm blaming kids for the accidents. It's just another type of an excuse to do nothing.

Just telling you how you're coming across. Untwist the knickers.

The most practical solution to the problem is to improve driving standards. Do you disagree with that?

Mackmatic · 27-07-2018 03:20PM

I cycled a lot a few years back and I loved it.

Of course I didn't wear that lycra with the sponsor type labels all over it like a wanker but i see the appeal of the hobby.

Some cyclist have terrible attitudes on the roads, although so do motorists.

Nothing worse than coming around a corner and seeing a load of big cyclists arses strewn accross the road with little to no room to pass :rolleyes:

On the topic of unsafe driving. I see just as many gob****es in cars looking at their phones as I see gob****e cyclists flying through red l8ights and acting the idiot. Education about not using your phone in your lap in traffic wont change anything. People simply dont care. No ammount of funding stupid telly ads is gonna change that.

07Lapierre · 27-07-2018 03:22PM

Mackmatic wrote: »

Nothing worse than coming around a corner and seeing a load of big cyclists arses strewn accross the road with little to no room to pass :rolleyes:

Exactly! thats the point! you SEE them!

nothing worse than cycling and having a motorists approach from behind at 100+kph and not see you! :mad:

27-07-2018 03:27PM

Mackmatic wrote: »

Some cyclist have terrible attitudes on the roads, although so do motorists.

That's true enough, though the cyclists with terrible attitudes aren't the ones killing 3 or 4 people each week on the roads.

Mackmatic wrote: »

Nothing worse than coming around a corner and seeing a load of big cyclists arses strewn accross the road with little to no room to pass :rolleyes:

Are you sure about the 'nothing worse'? How about coming round the corner and finding a herd of cattle on the road? Or a couple of crashed cars, with some victims still in the crashed cars and others standing close by? Or a scout troop on a hike? Or a parent cycling while minding their kid cycling on the path (one mum was killed recently in this scenario)? Or a horse-rider or two?

There's a reason why motorists must be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear.

Mackmatic · 27-07-2018 03:27PM

07Lapierre wrote: »

Exactly! thats the point! you SEE them!

nothing worse than cycling and having a motorists approach from behind at 100+kph and not see you! :mad:

I definitely speed a little too often in the car, hands up I'll own that.

I think we need to work on peoples attitudes to the whole mess. Cyclists and drivers need to realise we're all sharing the road, this whole Us Vs them malark is going no where.

I will say I'd be alot more scared being on a little carbon fibre frame than surrounded by a tonne of metal. Drivers could do with realising just how vulnerable cyclists really are on the roads.

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Are you sure about the 'nothing worse'? How about coming round the corner and finding a herd of cattle on the road? Or a couple of crashed cars, with some victims still in the crashed cars and others standing close by? Or a scout troop on a hike? Or a parent cycling while minding their kid cycling on the path (one mum was killed recently in this scenario)? Or a horse-rider or two?

There's a reason why motorists must be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear.

Its a turn of phrase. Although I think you knew that but still wanted to smugly make your point.

meeeeh · 27-07-2018 03:32PM

xckjoo wrote: »

Just telling you how you're coming across. Untwist the knickers.

The most practical solution to the problem is to improve driving standards. Do you disagree with that?

Why would I disagree with that. Only I would expand it to all road users, you think it should be only for others.

Btw I also crashed into a cyclist training for a race in T junction and damaged his bike. I was 13 or 14 and he made sure my father compensated him for damage but since I was only a child it was surely victim blaming and I shouldn't be responsible.

P_1 · 27-07-2018 03:36PM

Mackmatic wrote: »

I cycled a lot a few years back and I loved it.

Of course I didn't wear that lycra with the sponsor type labels all over it like a wanker but i see the appeal of the hobby.

Some cyclist have terrible attitudes on the roads, although so do motorists.

Nothing worse than coming around a corner and seeing a load of big cyclists arses strewn accross the road with little to no room to pass :rolleyes:

On the topic of unsafe driving. I see just as many gob****es in cars looking at their phones as I see gob****e cyclists flying through red l8ights and acting the idiot. Education about not using your phone in your lap in traffic wont change anything. People simply dont care. No ammount of funding stupid telly ads is gonna change that.

A change in the law. Garda sees you on the phone when driving instant 3 points and the phone confiscated until a fine is paid. Watch as the numbers on their phone driving plummets.

Mackmatic · 27-07-2018 03:42PM

P_1 wrote: »

A change in the law. Garda sees you on the phone when driving instant 3 points and the phone confiscated until a fine is paid. Watch as the numbers on their phone driving plummets.

Isn't that the law now though? (Edit: Didnt see the confiscation part, leaving my post as is. The confiscation is a great idea!) Unless the gards don't enforce it. I'm not exaggerating when I say I see at least 10 people a day looking at their phones in the car during my commute. Drives me feckin mad too.

Watch for it yourselves. As soon as a traffic light goes red and watch all the lemmings heads go down to their laps.

Take the bleedin bus if you really can't last a whole journey without looking at your own big dopey head on Snapchat or reading your whatsapp chats.

Unless of course I'm way off and they're looking at their peckers and not their phones :pac:

27-07-2018 04:03PM

P_1 wrote: »

A change in the law. Garda sees you on the phone when driving instant 3 points and the phone confiscated until a fine is paid. Watch as the numbers on their phone driving plummets.

It's a nice idea, but to be honest, if they would just enforce the existing law, that would make a huge difference.

I reported a driver to Gardai a few months with video footage showing the driving handling/using the phone at four different occasions over the course of a few minutes in traffic. I saw closely enough to identify the style of phone - a Blackberry style phone with a physical keyboard, unusual enough these days. Gardai declined to prosecute, as it could have been 'any device' he had in his hands, apparently. I asked the Gardai what other kinds of devices he had in mind, and he told me that he didn't have to answer to me.

It would also make a huge difference if they just complied with the law themselves and stopped giving bad example. I saw a Garda van driving in slow traffic recently with both driver and passenger holding a phone up in front of their eyes. When challenged, the passenger explained that 'he's looking for an address' which apparently is a good enough reason for it.

xckjoo · 27-07-2018 04:06PM

meeeeh wrote: »

Why would I disagree with that. Only I would expand it to all road users, you think it should be only for others.

Btw I also crashed into a cyclist training for a race in T junction and damaged his bike. I was 13 or 14 and he made sure my father compensated him for damage but since I was only a child it was surely victim blaming and I shouldn't be responsible.

Thanks for telling me what I think

. Thoughts are hard. They're like words and pictures, but in my head.

Cool story brah. I'm sure you feel like it makes a point in some way

meeeeh · 27-07-2018 04:09PM

xckjoo wrote: »

Thanks for telling me what I think . Thoughts are hard. They're like words and pictures, but in my head.

It probably wasn't your intention but that's how your posts come accross. You see I can interpret posts the way you do.

Embossy · 27-07-2018 04:11PM

Cycling - where else can a middle aged lad dress up in the tightest shiny Lycra that leaves nothing to the imagination and hit the road?

xckjoo · 27-07-2018 04:15PM

meeeeh wrote: »

It probably wasn't your intention but that's how your posts come accross. You see I can interpret posts the way you do.

I don't think those words mean what you seem to think they mean. No worries. Carry on.

Back on topic somewhat:

Wish I had some lycra with me today for cycling. My clothes are going to get soaked! I think I finally understand the point of them

Beasty · 27-07-2018 04:21PM

Embossy wrote: »

Cycling - where else can a middle aged lad dress up in the tightest shiny Lycra that leaves nothing to the imagination and hit the road?

A roadside swimming pool?

Boom_Bap · 27-07-2018 04:29PM

How do bob-sleds fair on the road?

The Kop · 27-07-2018 04:52PM

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

It's a nice idea, but to be honest, if they would just enforce the existing law, that would make a huge difference.

I reported a driver to Gardai a few months with video footage showing the driving handling/using the phone at four different occasions over the course of a few minutes in traffic. I saw closely enough to identify the style of phone - a Blackberry style phone with a physical keyboard, unusual enough these days. Gardai declined to prosecute, as it could have been 'any device' he had in his hands, apparently. I asked the Gardai what other kinds of devices he had in mind, and he told me that he didn't have to answer to me.

It would also make a huge difference if they just complied with the law themselves and stopped giving bad example. I saw a Garda van driving in slow traffic recently with both driver and passenger holding a phone up in front of their eyes. When challenged, the passenger explained that 'he's looking for an address' which apparently is a good enough reason for it.

Holy **** you really are a complete loony. Going around reporting people and challenging Gardai.
I'd say your ****e smells of roses does it?
You really are a pompus arsehole.

27-07-2018 04:55PM

Mackmatic wrote: »

Its a turn of phrase. Although I think you knew that but still wanted to smugly make your point.

Yes, guilty as charged. I knew it was a turn of phrase, but I did want to smugly make the point to challenge the expectation or entitlement of some drivers to fly around a corner and find an open road. That's probably what happens 99% of the time, but you can't assume that the road will be empty. I understand that one of the cyclist deaths from last year was exactly this situation, though the details haven't yet come into the public domain.

Embossy wrote: »

Cycling - where else can a middle aged lad dress up in the tightest shiny Lycra that leaves nothing to the imagination and hit the road?

Running maybe?
healthy-running-runner-man-woman-workout-men-women-mountain-road-jogging-male-female-fitness-model-working-out-training-48418915.jpg

healthy-running-runner-man-woman-workout-men-women-mountain-road-jogging-male-female-fitness-model-working-out-training-48418915.jpg

Boom_Bap wrote: »

How do bob-sleds far on the road?

To get to the other side.

Boom boom.

27-07-2018 05:20PM

The Kop wrote: »

Going around reporting people and challenging Gardai.

Do you not report or challenge people driving dangerously? Ah I get it now - you just the big man here online, challenging and telling people what to do, but when it comes to the real world, you're a big ol pussycat.

The Kop wrote: »

I'd say your ****e smells of roses does it?

Definitely not, according to the other half. How about yourself?

Martin567 · 27-07-2018 05:34PM

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Do you not report or challenge people driving dangerously? Ah I get it now - you just the big man here online, challenging and telling people what to do, but when it comes to the real world, you're a big ol pussycat.

Definitely not, according to the other half. How about yourself?

You have another half!!!!!

The most surprising thing I've heard in a long time.

The Kop · 27-07-2018 06:03PM

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Do you not report or challenge people driving dangerously? Ah I get it now - you just the big man here online, challenging and telling people what to do, but when it comes to the real world, you're a big ol pussycat.

Definitely not, according to the other half. How about yourself?

I grew up in Belfast during the troubles buddy. I'm well equipped to handle myself believe me.
As for challenging random people for doing something that has no effect on me in that moment no I don't do that. No sane person would.
Knowing you now you will bring it to the extreme and come out with some ****e about not reporting a murder or a rape or something.
Just to make it clear. No I don't go around challenging strangers for being on the phone in their car or being Billy big balls to the Gardai. I mind my own business unless someones behavior interferes directly with my life somehow.
Some day you will challenge the wrong person and you will get what's coming to you.
I look forward to that day.

Pinch Flat · 27-07-2018 06:35PM

Embossy wrote: »

Cycling - where else can a middle aged lad dress up in the tightest shiny Lycra that leaves nothing to the imagination and hit the road?

At the beach. My speedos make my bib shorts look positively modest.

What's the obsession middle aged lads have with cycling?

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