Buses and loose dogs on cycle paths.
Buses and loose dogs on cycle paths.
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Discussion

Getragdogleg

Original Poster:

10,206 posts

212 months

Sunday 27th May 2012
quotequote all
It's Buses, well, more specifically the idiots the bus companies get to drive them these days.

Every time someone tries to kill me while I am riding my bike on the road they are driving a bloody bus.

I am going to pull the "engine stop" button on the next bus clown who forces me off the road while trying to pass through me rather than round me.

Don't get me started on the councils road narrowing schemes. I know, lets make it narrower and then put silly little refuges in the middle of the road so anyone following a bike cannot get past at all unless they take the bit of road the bicycle is on.

It's not like I hang around, the last time I was almost killed ( oh, the drama !) I was doing 28mph in a 30 limit and the stupid tt in the double decker STILL came past with inches to spare and then carved in front and took away the bit of road I was actually about to be on, how I stopped in time as he cut in front I will never know, there was inches in it for the bike and he brushed my shoulder with the back corner of the filty old stbox.

I have only really just got back into cycling and do around 12 miles a day to and from work, I am really enjoying it except for the buses who really are out to get me, I think I understand now why some cyclists have head cams and post up the assasination attempts online.

SO, I decide that the lovely coastal cycle path that Sustrans built from Penzance to Marazion around the curved beach of Mounts Bay was maybe the safer place....Sort of, different problems, dog st, and dog walkers with iPods, dogs that want to bite your wheel and a surface that is like the moon in some sections.
Sure, the scenery is lovely and now I have got the front fork set soft that has helped a bit, the shog dit is avoidable and I have bought a bell. Still, I have to deal with the idiots who tell me "get on the road" and "this is a footpath" NO, no it isn't, the signs say fking CYCLE PATH you utter nugget, guess what I am riding, yup, A bicycle.

So, I get hassled in the car, hassled on the bike, what else can I do that might make my daily commute a trilogy of misery, oooh, I know, catch the bus and pay to get a terrible service and arrive late and have to leave early.

Synchromesh

2,428 posts

195 months

Sunday 27th May 2012
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Good rant. 10/10

Getragdogleg said:
I am going to pull the "engine stop" button on the next bus clown who forces me off the road while trying to pass through me rather than round me.
Please do. I'd never though of this before...

MikeGTi

2,726 posts

230 months

Sunday 27th May 2012
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Synchromesh said:
Good rant. 10/10

Getragdogleg said:
I am going to pull the "engine stop" button on the next bus clown who forces me off the road while trying to pass through me rather than round me.
Please do. I'd never though of this before...
Also, bring us video evidence hehe

scottri

951 posts

211 months

Sunday 27th May 2012
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Good rant. Totally agree!

Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Sunday 27th May 2012
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On a ride a few weeks ago, I came across a dying horse which had been hit by a Volvo XC on a horse crossing near us.

My first assumption was that the driver of the Volvo had jumped the light, possibly being blinded by the setting sun he was driving towards.

I found out later that some fk-witted mouth breather in an invalid carriage of all things had decided to take his pet pitbull out for a walk without a lead. The pitbull had bitten the horse, which had been waiting for the lights to change, causing it to bolt straight into the course of the Volvo. The driver didn't even get a chance to hit the brakes, and went into the horse at 40. Thankfully the teenage rider obviously had her leg above the bonnet, and was physically unhurt, but she was clearly utterly distraught at the poor horse dying on the floor in front of her.

I love dogs, but anyone causing this sort of thing to happen because they've failed to keep one under control deserves to be publicly flogged.

Getragdogleg

Original Poster:

10,206 posts

212 months

Sunday 27th May 2012
quotequote all
I think what fks me off the most is the way the fkwits who are walking the dogs let them off the lead and then walk on as the little st factory lays its cables behind them, they pretend not to notice and act all innocent regarding the deposits.
The first 1/2 a mile of the cycleway is the worst section, the dogs have been driven to the path and are busting to go, they are released and then landmine the path as the owners do that fking ignore/aloof/oh how pretty the sky is today thing.

The actual occurance of wheel bites and other attacks has been infrequent so far, but not totally absent. Either way the dogs need to be on a lead on a shared use path that lots of bikes use.

The other minor hassle the cycleway gives me is the pairs of people who will split up and stand on either side of the path, therefore making me go between them through a small gap, the dog with them will very often amble about the middle trying to choose which master to stand near.

ShampooEfficient

4,278 posts

240 months

Sunday 27th May 2012
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Some bus drivers are cyclists as well. That's all I'm saying.

XG332

3,927 posts

217 months

Sunday 27th May 2012
quotequote all
ShampooEfficient said:
Some bus drivers are cyclists as well. That's all I'm saying.
Op is talking about the idiotic ones through.

Getragdogleg

Original Poster:

10,206 posts

212 months

Sunday 27th May 2012
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OP is a Truck driver and we all know what most people think about them...

thanetspeedshop

503 posts

219 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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Getragdogleg said:
Buses and loose dogs on cycle paths.
So, no actual buses on cycle paths then?

itsnotarace

4,685 posts

238 months

Monday 28th May 2012
quotequote all
Getragdogleg said:
OP is a Truck driver and we all know what most people think about them...
Yes, much in the same way as I doubt you murder prostitutes, not all dog owners are irresponsible. Idiots exist in all walks of life.

There will always be issues with shared rights of way. I hate being forced off my mountain bike while 10x greenlaners in a convoy tear past me doing 30 mph in their modified 4x4's. A little patience goes a long way





illmonkey

19,814 posts

227 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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There is a trail near me where the rules state: Dogs to be kept on a load, people to give way to cyclists.

I constantly get held up by groups of dogs, mothers with prams and kids on leads, the other side of the path. People cycling slower than I walk side by side.

You also have to shout fairly loudly several times to get them to move, even then they take for ever.

I call these people the "general public", not aware of anything else but their own little bubble life.

I even got yelled at by a woman with a horse (kid riding it) the other day. Taking up the whole path, the kid spots me and tells her mum to move over. She turns round and tries to stop me and says slow down! I had slowed from ~22mph down to about 12mph. Thats slower than a car would go past a horse, and she was going mental.

Dracoro

9,026 posts

274 months

Monday 28th May 2012
quotequote all
I doubt the driver is doing it deliberately so I would have a polite (and I MEAN polite, don't have a rant, people don't respond to aggression) word as the driver pulls at next stop.

Something along the lines, smiling politely etc, of "Excuse me driver, I'm not sure if you aware as I understand it's a big vehicle, but you were pretty close to me just then, just give it a few more metres before pulling back in if that's alright. Cheers"

Or ranting "Oi, you almost killed me there you idiot" won't help anyone biggrin

fulham911club

2,046 posts

271 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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illmonkey said:
There is a trail near me where the rules state: Dogs to be kept on a load, people to give way to cyclists.

I constantly get held up by groups of dogs, mothers with prams and kids on leads, the other side of the path. People cycling slower than I walk side by side.
So what are you saying? This particular trail is only for you?!?!

I'd suggest you live a little more harmoniously with others or try harder and get yourself your own land so you don't get inconvenienced...

Getragdogleg

Original Poster:

10,206 posts

212 months

Monday 28th May 2012
quotequote all
thanetspeedshop said:
Getragdogleg said:
Buses and loose dogs on cycle paths.
So, no actual buses on cycle paths then?
Err, no.

hehe
It started out as a rant about buses but there was so much cyclepath whinging in it I did a title change before I posted and didn't read it back to see if if was daft.

illmonkey

19,814 posts

227 months

Monday 28th May 2012
quotequote all
fulham911club said:
illmonkey said:
There is a trail near me where the rules state: Dogs to be kept on a load, people to give way to cyclists.

I constantly get held up by groups of dogs, mothers with prams and kids on leads, the other side of the path. People cycling slower than I walk side by side.
So what are you saying? This particular trail is only for you?!?!

I'd suggest you live a little more harmoniously with others or try harder and get yourself your own land so you don't get inconvenienced...
I'm saying what the rules are. People block the path and then don't respond when I make them aware that I need to get past. Even when they do respond, they seem to take forever to just take 1 step to the left.

I stick to one side, so if anyone needs to get past me they can. I also ensure I give people as much notice as possible.

To me, it seems the other users think the path is solely for them! and I'm inconveniencing them.

BOBTEE

1,034 posts

193 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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I've been cycling on the canal towpath a bit recently...WTF is up with other cyclists cycling on the right?! Seriously, our group of 5 had to move from the left to the right for one nugget coming the other way!

bravonovember

774 posts

205 months

Monday 28th May 2012
quotequote all
BOBTEE said:
I've been cycling on the canal towpath a bit recently...WTF is up with other cyclists cycling on the right?! Seriously, our group of 5 had to move from the left to the right for one nugget coming the other way!
foreigner? Oh as a kid I royally fk off a bus driver by pulling the stop button on a bus at crossing once.

Getragdogleg

Original Poster:

10,206 posts

212 months

Monday 28th May 2012
quotequote all
The cyclepath from Pz to Marazion is smoother on the left, so on the way to work I get a nice ride, on the way home I get bumps unless there is no-one coming toward me and I ride on the right.
I always pass to the left though if someone is coming.

New POD

3,851 posts

179 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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You should try cycling in and around Derby, the perfect Cycle City. The Dogs I've seen off leads sit at the sound of a mountain bike tyre on tarmac. The Bus drivers are very cautious and careful and even the pedestrians don't mind sharing the pavement.