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

Lusk Doyle · 29-11-2012 9:57am

doozerie wrote: »

This talk of simpletons reminds me of a conversation I had on Saturday. There was a... Horrible women.

It wasn't her by any chance?

doozerie · 29-11-2012 11:10am

@Lusk Doyle, She had the brass neck of Perrin but the general disposition of this wan:

Wicked%20Witch-of-the%20West.jpg

Seve OB · 29-11-2012 11:13am

I hope for her sake that while you were squeezing past her SUV, that your biggy didn't scratch a line or 2 down through the paintwork. that would have been terrible.

oflahero · 29-11-2012 11:35am

doozerie wrote: »

I'm not really sure what I expected, probably some kind of acknowledgement that it's not really acceptable to park wherever you like just to save yourself some effort regardless of the difficulties and dangers your actions pose for others. What I got was very much an attitude that it really is acceptable and I have no doubt that the same person will do the very same again without a second thought. Horrible women.

Nobody ever throws their hands up and admits they're in the wrong at the time. Best you can hope for in these situations is that they'll go home, think about it, and realise they were a dick about it later on.

Love that road, btw. On my commute most days, a bit out of the way but worth it. The whole stretch from the Tuning Fork up to Kilmashogue is like a long country road, but in the city. Annoyed me hugely that they've started the inevitable speedbump installation and a poxy set of traffic lights at Sarah Curran Ave. (Then again, the extra pavement is probably good for walkers with buggies...

)

doozerie · 29-11-2012 11:58am

@oflahero, Yeah, I know I'm mostly destined to be disappointed when I tackle people in such a situation, I think this was one of those occasions where the frustration overcame my scepticism. I should have just opted to give her an earful, the outcome would have been the same but I might have felt a little better.

Mind you, I have had the odd occasion where someone has actually apologized and it seemed genuine. As one example, some time back a stereotypical boy-racer type cut me up by swerving into the bus lane to undertake a bunch of cars in the main lane. At the next traffic light I pulled alongside and asked him why he'd thought it okay to nearly hit me. I expected the usual abusive response but he looked genuinely bothered and practically fell over himself in apologising. It was actually a bit uncomfortable, a bit like being hugged by an overly familiar uncle as a child. We both sat there, willing the red light to change green so we could escape the atmosphere. The temptation was to slap his car to restore the familiar and comfortable hostilities.

As for the new "safety" measures along Whitechurch Road, the new painting of cycle lanes along a road which is too narrow for cars to be able to avoid driving in them, is just farcical. Plus, the new speed bumps slope away to nothing within the lanes, so if you stick to that part of the road then you are hitting the speed bumps where they slope away from you right to left - that was "interesting" in the ice yesterday morning. Similarly, the positioning of some of the speed bumps at a bend means that you can't hit them straight on even in the middle of the lane, you hit them at a slight angle. They are putting in a second set of (new) lights, pedestrian ones, towards the Tuning Fork end of the road, where kids cross each day for the school, which at least is a good initiative. Much of the rest of it though is a mess.

doozerie · 29-11-2012 12:03pm

Was in the car last night, stopped at a red light at a busy T-junction. My light changed to green and I was about to drive off when I realised that a guy on a bicycle was cycling though his red light, across the top of the T, and turning right across my path. Mid junction he took one hand off his bars to bless himself (there is a church on the corner), which seemed so ridiculously apt.

Cycling in this morning, past the park at Harold's Cross, and behind a bus. The bus went through a junction on a green light only for a guy on a bicycle to come from the road to the left, breaking his red light, and aiming (very slowly) for the exact same area of the road as the bus. Not even a glance from him, his body language screamed "There is no bus. There is NO BUS!" even as he cut in front of the faster moving bus with a handful inches to spare. The bus driver was on his brake for the next 50 metres, stuck behind yer man. I subsequently got stuck behind the same guy, in the cycle lane with stopped traffic to our right. A hundred metres further on he made a pig's ear of squeezing past a stopped car which was encroaching a little on the cycle lane. He stopped and glared at the driver. His face expressed not a hint of irony.

Several minutes later, on Clanbrassil Street, I was behind a girl on a bicycle when the traffic light 50m ahead went red. Undeterred she grabbed her handlebars and accelerated towards the junction. She sailed through the solidly red light as a car coming the other way slowly (and on a green light as far as I know) did a U-turn to our side of the road. She weaved around it, and slapped the boot with her hand as she went past. I still can't figure out exactly what she was trying to convey with that other than "watch out, I'm a bit of feckin' lunatic, best to clear the area".

Later, along the quays, as I approached a pedestrian crossing the traffic light changed red, and a bunch of pedestrians were already half way across the road. I stopped. A few car lengths back I heard a car accelerate and a taxi zipped past me, and then through the crossing past the moving pedestrians (who now had a green light for crossing). The taxi tagged onto the back of a line of stopped cars 100m ahead and after getting my own green light I rolled up behind the stopped taxi while his light was still red. A little later and he was again stuck in traffic while I was up the road, but he probably felt a lot faster.

smacl · 29-11-2012 12:55pm

doozerie wrote: »

I was pissed by then and fantasising about various means of converting such cars to something resembling pancakes.

Your next transport purchase so, courtesy of Kenny

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD6qdzQvHhE

buffalo · 02-12-2012 1:58am

Due to work commitments, I've no cycling related rage today, but being trapped in the house on the computer brings its own issues. Specifically in this instance, the house has been bloody freezing all day. Obviously, it's cold outside, but it's been particularly chilly indoors. My solution was to lock myself in the living room with the fire, but I just noticed on my way to bed that my ex-housemate, who moved out on Wednesday or Thursday left her ****ing window open.

Tomorrow will be warmer, I hope.

buffalo · 04-12-2012 11:11am

Cycling home from Dundrum last night, I was stopped at the lights at Kelly's Corner, waiting to turn right onto Camden Street. http://goo.gl/maps/2cavQ

I'm in the left lane. There's a bin truck behind me, so I'm sticking out a bit in front, making sure he can see me. In the right lane is a car - man driving, woman in the passenger seat. Guy's impatient, and hasn't got the brake on. The car keeps inching forward. Twice the light sequence changes (without a green for us), he revs the engine and moves another couple of feet forward. Eventually he's sitting on the pedestrian crossing, and I can see into the back seat (which is level with me), where there's a baby seat. Doesn't understand what a red traffic light means, but is entrusted with a child.

Light goes green, we both turn down Camden Street, I'm a little behind them. They're to the left of the lane, which makes for a hairy moment when the taxi driver in front of them pulls in without indicating.

Up to the Kevin Street junction, where a white van just about nips through the yellow. Their car follows, through the red light and around the corner. The last thing I see? A "Baby on Board" sign hanging in the rear windscreen.

I think Frank McNally has already done this to death, but are those signs supposed to a) make other people drive more nicely around the car? "I was going to tailgate and blow my horn at this guy, but he's got a baby, so I won't. ahhh, aren't babies cute?" Or b) warn other people that the driver has a baby, and therefore might start behaving erratically due to lack of sleep, or vomiting noises in the backseat.

Or in this case, is it more likely to be c) the driver thinks their child is the most important person in the world, and isn't adverse to breaking the rules of the road to make sure he/she gets home before bedtime. Hero.

Mild musing for the day™.

PS anyone who comes in here with common sense that these signs help in emergency scenarios will be site-banned for a month.

PPS I have no power or authority to site-ban anyone.

route66 · 04-12-2012 11:47am

Nothing to do with Babies or stickers; I'd say it was because the driver didn't give a sh1te.

doozerie · 04-12-2012 5:11pm

buffalo wrote:

The last thing I see? A "Baby on Board" sign hanging in the rear windscreen.

That sign is often referring to the driver!

Seve OB · 10-12-2012 1:47pm

Sorry Buffalo and Doozerie, but I have nowhere else to post this one, so have to Hi-Jack your thread for now!

Coming through the Phoenix Park this morning (nice and toasty in my car) at about 9.30 down Chesterfield avenue about halfway between Mountjoy roundabout and Phoenix roundabout the traffice bunched up for a bit and went real slow. Then I got to the problem. Some bloke on his bike...... Now I would cycle down the adjoining cycle lane 99 times out of 100, so will forgive the lad for feeling the need not to use it. But what I really can't understand is why he could not cycle down the absolutely empty hard shoulder which did not have a single parked vehicle (and I doubel checked) in it. No, he was a minimum of 2 feet inside the driving side of the yellow line.

Reminds me of another incident about a month ago coming home one afternoon on the S bends on the Upper Glen road. 1 car in front of me but stuck behind a cyclist, waited till he got around the bend and onto a straight section with a clear road before overtaking her, giving at least 6ft or so clearance. As he passed, she threw here hands up in the air in a "WTF are you up to" kind of a gesture. I really don't understand what her problem was, he was miles away from her and was considerate to sit back behind till the road was safe to pass.

Rant over.

Lumen · 10-12-2012 1:58pm

stevieob wrote: »

But what I really can't understand is why he could not cycle down the absolutely empty hard shoulder which did not have a single parked vehicle (and I doubel checked) in it. No, he was a minimum of 2 feet inside the driving side of the yellow line.

Perhaps he was trying to avoid coming off his bike on the frost/ice which would have been cleared by the cars in the main lane but not on the shoulder or the cycle path/lane/track/whatever.

GlennaMaddy · 10-12-2012 2:01pm

stevieob wrote: »

But what I really can't understand is why he could not cycle down the absolutely empty hard shoulder which did not have a single parked vehicle (and I doubel checked) in it. No, he was a minimum of 2 feet inside the driving side of the yellow line.

Maybe the road was treated for ice but the hard shoulder wasn't, IIRC, the hard shoulder has a camber most of the way

t'bear · 10-12-2012 2:18pm

Guilty m'lud....I have done this, the hard shoulder in certain shadowy parts can be quite slippery , so I move into the car lane but try to hug the line to the left so cars can get past with a 'normal' overtake manoveur

Seve OB · 10-12-2012 3:21pm

Lumen wrote: »

Perhaps he was trying to avoid coming off his bike on the frost/ice which would have been cleared by the cars in the main lane but not on the shoulder or the cycle path/lane/track/whatever.

GlennaMaddy wrote: »

Maybe the road was treated for ice but the hard shoulder wasn't, IIRC, the hard shoulder has a camber most of the way

I'd actually thought about that at the time. I know it is hard to tell from insdide a car, but the road looked pretty much the same as the hard shoulder. The bike path did look on hte frosty side though. Plenty of others cycling down the bike lane and hard shoulder didn't feel the need to be miles out in the middle of the road.

doozerie · 11-12-2012 12:54am

I drove to Avoca in Rathcoole on Saturday with my daughter. Having parked up (an interesting experience - how come so many drivers seem unable to park in the marked spaces?), we walked towards the building on a footpath. At a roadway within the car park I saw one car coming either way, so rather than rely on them stopping (the cyclist in me trusts no road user) I stopped on the footpath. One of two women walking behind me walked straight into me, the other veered round my daughter. Both women continued across the road, the one that collided with me saying something like "The cars were stopping anyway" before the cars had even stopped moving. Presumably they'd be heading back to their own car later, I just hope the driver isn't yer wan that lacked even the basic awareness required to avoid a collision with a slow moving pedestrian who stopped at the roadside rather than stepping out in front of moving traffic.

While cycling home this evening, I stopped behind a bus stopped at a red light. I was doing a track stand when a pedestrian decided to cross the road at that point. She walked around the back of the bus, and then behind me. The bike shuddered as she, or the bag she was carrying, collided with my stationary back wheel. She kept on walking without even a word, while I fought the bike to stay upright.

Has someone declared a pedestrian demolition derby this week or something?

Lusk Doyle · 11-12-2012 1:00am

They just all read your posts and realise that "Hey, this guy has column inches to fill! Who am I to stand in his way?" :rolleyes:

doozerie · 11-12-2012 1:19am

I'm not sure such people could use the Internet, they'd probably walk straight under the moving traffic on the "super highway".

buffalo · 11-12-2012 10:14am

Interesting ride in today. It's amazing how much fits into 10 minutes.

First non-incident at a mini-roundabout not far from my house, where I followed a car around the roundabout (both of us going straight), and a guy on the left decided I didn't really have right of way. But then stopped halfway on. You know how it is though, at that point you've already slammed on the brakes because you didn't know whether he was going to stop, so you've lost all your momentum and you're pissed off.
I did my usual, "it's a ****ing roundabout!", at him, and he gave me a look as if to say, "hey, I stopped. What more do you want of me?"

Then I got stuck behind a cyclist who stopped at all the lights!! :eek: I wonder if they're on here actually. Does your commute take you through these two corners? http://goo.gl/maps/67Ot1 And do you have a blue bike, racks back and front? Wearing a Rapha winter hat this morning? If this is you, I think you're hot.

Then at the Summerhill crossroads, I passed a guy with a kid in a trailer (a child, not a goat), which is relatively rare for me. Great to see.

Lastly, 100m from the office, waiting to turn right at a crossroads. Just missed the green, so am standing at the right-most point of the lane (because I love being right) at the head of the traffic. Lights go green for the cross traffic, of which there is not much. At this point the driver behind me, in a taxi (quelle surprise!), decides the red light doesn't really apply to him, and drives through the red, turns left, and drives off. wtf?

Seve OB · 11-12-2012 12:34pm

buffalo wrote: »

Then I got stuck behind a cyclist who stopped at all the lights!! :eek: I wonder if they're on here actually. Does your commute take you through these two corners? http://goo.gl/maps/67Ot1 And do you have a blue bike, racks back and front? Wearing a Rapha winter hat this morning? If this is you, I think you're hot.

Jaysus it's a pick up joint in here now.

Lusk Doyle · 11-12-2012 12:50pm

stevieob wrote: »

Jaysus it's a pick up joint in here now.

Buffalo: [To lady cyclist] You know, I'm the fastest A4 national hill climb champs rider this year? :cool:

Lady cyclist: [To Buffalo] Pi$$ off you wierdo. You look fat in that lycra.

Fin.

buffalo · 11-12-2012 12:53pm

a) She was male.

b) Fastest A4 HC was Eoghan Clifford (Galway Bay CC), not I. Fair play to him!

c) I've never been called fat before. First goal of my winter training achieved! \o/

Lusk Doyle · 11-12-2012 1:06pm

buffalo wrote: »

a) She was male.

b) Fastest A4 HC was Eoghan Clifford (Galway Bay CC), not I. Fair play to him!

c) I've never been called fat before. First goal of my winter training achieved! \o/

a) Your choice who you are attracted to. I'm cool with that.

b) Galway bay CC don't count. Nor does anyone west of the Shannon for that matter. You are my champion.

c) No problem fatty.

buffalo · 11-12-2012 1:10pm

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

You are my champion.

Fair enough, but I'll have to be your A3 champion!

Jawgap · 11-12-2012 1:13pm

F*&king Met Eireann.......

So much for the doom and gloom this week. The second half of the week looks ok enough

http://www.yr.no/place/Ireland/Leinster/Dublin/hour_by_hour.html

Lusk Doyle · 11-12-2012 1:22pm

Jawgap wrote: »

F*&king Met Eireann.......

So much for the doom and gloom this week. The second half of the week looks ok enough

http://www.yr.no/place/Ireland/Leinster/Dublin/hour_by_hour.html

I'm sorry. I think that you are in the wrong thread. It ain't your name on the title pal!

Jawgap · 11-12-2012 1:52pm

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

I'm sorry. I think that you are in the wrong thread. It ain't your name on the title pal!

Ah yeah - a mod drops in and you say feck all........one of the plebs drops a two-liner in that's in keeping with the tone of the thread and you hop of them.......

......bet you've already nicked the chocolate from the kids' selection boxes:D

CramCycle wrote: »

Overtaken by a BMW who hooked a left immediately afterwards, hit brakes and didn't collide but since they were in such a rush to get into a closed estate, I followed it in in case there was an emergency.

I came round the 2nd corner to it pulled in, i camely pulled alongside and waved in the window, a lady rolled it down and I started with:

"I am not giving out but in future it would be alot safer if you waited the 3 seconds for me to pass a junction before you turn overtake me and turn in"

Much to my shock she instantly apologised, said she wasn't sure what had happened, she seen me as she had started the turn, panicked and sped off. She had not seen me until after the (incomplete) overtake?!? She looked shook and seemed to realise her error so nothing else to say really.

I have a edelux dynamo front light (one of the brightest lights you can buy) and a Cateye rear 530 (pretty decent, I can assure you).

I left, I wasn't sure what to say, she admitted fault but says she couldn't see me, I mean really, think to yourself, should you really be on the road in charge of such a vehicle.

Beasty wrote: »

I've had one incident like this (cutting across me to take a roundabout exit) - the driver apologised profusely, but appeared almost in a state of shock - not sure if it was genuine, or an attempt to feign shock in the hope it would stop me having a go at her

TBH, once a driver apologises I feel I've got my point over and will leave it there.

Funnily enough though, I had a bus overtake me going up a hill with a sharp bend this morning - he had to pull in quickly when a car came in the other direction - fortunately I eased off and he just got in without getting too close to me. He clearly knew he was in the wrong, and put his hazard lights on to acknowledge it - once he did that I just let it go.

CramCycle wrote: »

Same here, i'm reasonably handy with a car but not super, I'll service most myself, look over anything I'd want fixed myself and then drop it in. Last time they failed me on one rear light being too bright and the handbrake not working. When I asked what he meant he showed me that you had to pull it up the whole way for it to be completely secure (it was fine in my opinion, I just think he was a bit of a pansy on purpose). It did work, but 25 minutes adjusting the cable and then 10euro for a set of lights from Lidl. I replaced the light that was not as bright so they matched and that was that. They did charge me approx 30euro though as it was not a visual only check.

Lusk Doyle · 11-12-2012 1:57pm

Jawgap wrote: »

Ah yeah - a mod drops in and you say feck all

Don't question mods or mod actions. They be above the law. Yellow card territory for you.

Jawgap · 11-12-2012 3:00pm

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

Don't question mods or mod actions. They be above the law. Yellow card territory for you.

......as is backseat modding!!

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

Comments