MALIL attack

[n brown]

The simple fact is that today's roads are such busy places that they are not really safe or suitable for cyclists to use. Councils are reducing there spending on cutting hedgerows and verges and clearly heavy traffic , large vehicles , wide speed differentials and the pressures of modern living just make it inevitable that the numbers of cyclists injured on the roads will rise. I know it wouldn't be a popular move but I really believe that our roads are not the place for cyclists

+1 for that.i always had motorbikes,and saw the roads get busier and busier. when my kids wanted road bikes i didn't have the bottle to let them,so got them field bikes and bangers to play off road,then made sure they got their car licences ! at least they'd have a bit of tin round them ! as for pushbikes- no way !

 

[Tezza33]

I cycle and use a camera but prefer cycle paths , I also use a dash cam as well as a rear view one in the van but it is so I can capture scenery we see while travelling, I am not sure the camera I use for cycling is the best though

 

[Deleted member 12539]

I have a dash cam for the motorhome, switches on with the ignition, it is HD and the camera is fitted for several reasons...
To witness a possible incident, where hopefully the person(s) at fault can be identified (this obviously could backfire if it is me), a fantastic bit of scenery, road or driving (hopefully mine).

I also have a helmet cam for motorbike and cycle, as I use both for work. I currently have many hours of footage on file that I have saved showing faulty driving and riding that I will someday edit to show just the interesting bits of road attitude. I will be including my lunchtime motorbike journey in UK shortly after coming back from Germany, where I accidentally rode on the right side of the empty road through a housing estate.!!

 

[st3v3]

If one group with a camera can be described as twats surely that must apply to the other group as well.

That depends on how the footage is going to be used, like I said.

 

[hextal]

As has been said, all groups have their idiots.

But (again purely from my experience) over the last few years there does seem to be an increase in the number of cyclists who seem to view their personal safety as everyone else's business but theirs.

It seems like a far higher percentage than with the other groups.

 

[caledonia]

What I have noticed is mountain bikers hear a vehicle approaching from the rear, they move over and wave you past when safe. Road bikers hear a vehicle and totally ignore it. It seems like road bikers think they own the road and mountain bikers are happy to share.

 

[John H]

Very educational, this forum - until yesterday I had never even heard of a Mamil - now I see them all the time and they were even mentioned on Dragon's Den last night!

 

[The Sheriff]

So, a fellow human being crashes, falling "like a bag of $h1t, recocheting off the hedge, bouncing of the van and somersulting back into the gutter" and that's OK, but a small scratch on your van is such a great nuisance. Presumably it was an accident. Accidents happen, accept that and please stop being so tribal.

From what is posted this is not and accident, travelling in a pack on a tight narrow road.

Cyclists should be legally bound to have insurance and it this instance pay for the scratches to the van.

We call them Two Wheeled Arseholes Travelling Slowly

Ban the buggers off the road until they have insurance for when they are at fault.

 

[Siimplyloco]

+1 for that.i always had motorbikes,and saw the roads get busier and busier. when my kids wanted road bikes i didn't have the bottle to let them,so got them field bikes and bangers to play off road,then made sure they got their car licences ! at least they'd have a bit of tin round them ! as for pushbikes- no way !

Slightly off topic, but I've been riding my scooter a lot lately, and I feel a lot more vulnerable on English roads then I ever felt in France and Spain. When riding at the 30mph limit, most drivers try to overtake me, forcing me into the gutter. I fight back now, staying in the middle of my lane and to hell with their frustrated toots!
John

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Very sensible John. When riding any form of motorcycle stay in the middle or you will be pushed into the gutter.

Someone tried to do it to me on the way to work once. Interesting thing was I recognised him. He worked for Mowlem Building who were renting the top floor where I worked. I got in before him & had a little word with him on the stairs. Then I had to tell our Commercial Director that I'd told one of the lodgers to F#@&* off. :mad2:

 

[Deleted member 12539]

Slightly off topic, but I've been riding my scooter a lot lately, and I feel a lot more vulnerable on English roads then I ever felt in France and Spain. When riding at the 30mph limit, most drivers try to overtake me, forcing me into the gutter. I fight back now, staying in the middle of my lane and to hell with their frustrated toots!
John

I agree John, if you are on two wheels on the road, you need 'physical prescence' to survive, be it a high viz vest, your road positioning, a loud exhaust or a very bright headlight.
A high viz vest does not always work, especially with push bikes, so I try to stay off the road if possible.
Road positioning works if you are able to stay with the flow of traffic, easier with motored two wheels, and can be done on a bicycle down a steep hill! I tend to stay at 30mph (on the m/c) in the 30mph limits maintaining my 'physical prescence' road positioning and aware of 'speedy' vehicles tagging behind waiting for a chance to get past me.
A loud exhaust has worked for me when my exhaust on my motorbike departed from its downpipes. I noticed a vast difference once the zorst had been fixed.
For the last two years I have ridden with my motorbike headlight on full beam. I only do this during the daytime, especially as the bike is 15 years old and has a weak headlight on dip. This does seem to mostly work best whilst filtering, and I have not yet been 'flashed' by oncoming vehicles.

I like to drive with motorhome headlights on (dip) too.

 

[wtrlnds64]

Both to blame?

We have many cyclists that use the road I travel to work, yesterday morning being no exception. I rounded a blind corner, only to be confronted by a driver who was overtaking a group of cyclists riding along at 4 or 5 abreast. The driver had obviously become fed up following them at slow speed, waiting for them to form a single file and so decided to overtake close to a bend! Had I not slammed on my brakes for an emergency stop, two cars and several cyclists would have been involved in a very nasty accident. As it was, they all just carried on as if nothing had happened, whilst I just sat there thinking "Better luck next time" to the man with no face and a large sythe!

 

[Siimplyloco]

I agree John, if you are on two wheels on the road, you need 'physical prescence' to survive, be it a high viz vest, your road positioning, a loud exhaust or a very bright headlight.SNIP
.

I can't switch off the headlight on this Vespa 125, but I ride with it dipped, and as you say, it does make a difference. It also leaves most traffic behind up to 45mph, even when two up, so we are well happy with it. Mind you, when I rode my 650cc Triumph Trophy in the sixties nobody ever overtook me!
John

 

[n brown]

i remember riding bikes in the 60s and 70s, when there was much less traffic on the road , but what traffic there was around was still actively trying to kill me !
they pulled out in front of me,indicated left then turned right,decided to overtake as i'm overtaking them,waited in parked cars so they could open a door as i passed,stopped suddenly on fast roads,hoping to catch me out, dribbled oil all over the place ,and a bit extra on bends,came alongside then tried to force me into the kerb and yes i've kicked a few doors !
and they wouldn't stop breeding ! there's millions more on the road now,and they're even more homicidal,with loads more distractions to take their mind off the driving,mobiles and satnavs,fiddling with music makers,wearing headphones and there's a whole raft of new signs and cameras and bus lanes and speed limits to try and stay aware of.
it's dangerous enough being a pedestrian around this lot,i reckon it's suicidal to go on a bike !
anyway,no good moaning about the traffic, we ARE the traffic

 

[maxi77]

We have many cyclists that use the road I travel to work, yesterday morning being no exception. I rounded a blind corner, only to be confronted by a driver who was overtaking a group of cyclists riding along at 4 or 5 abreast. The driver had obviously become fed up following them at slow speed, waiting for them to form a single file and so decided to overtake close to a bend! Had I not slammed on my brakes for an emergency stop, two cars and several cyclists would have been involved in a very nasty accident. As it was, they all just carried on as if nothing had happened, whilst I just sat there thinking "Better luck next time" to the man with no face and a large sythe!

To be honest if they were 4 or 5 abreast and it was a normal single carriageway road the other driver couldn't have passed them

 

[wtrlnds64]

To be honest if they were 4 or 5 abreast and it was a normal single carriageway road the other driver couldn't have passed them

No, it's not a single carriageway. The passing car was on my side of the road. It's a fairly busy and winding, rural road and the cyclists usually ride 4 to 5 abreast with no thought at all for other road users. There can be as many as 50 of them racing this road at any one time. An accident waiting to happen if one doesn't know what to expect. Although on this occaion, I feel the car driver was at fault, I still pass some of the blame onto the cyclists, for riding so many abreast. It's not as if they can't hear traffic coming up behind them and had they moved into single file earlier, the car driver would have been able to pass safely.

 

[mark61]

The reason they ride abreast is because it's safer, the driver shouldn't have overtaken them on a blind corner. The fact that that many cyclist are a PIA is another matter.

 

[maxi77]

No, it's not a single carriageway. The passing car was on my side of the road. It's a fairly busy and winding, rural road and the cyclists usually ride 4 to 5 abreast with no thought at all for other road users. There can be as many as 50 of them racing this road at any one time. An accident waiting to happen if one doesn't know what to expect. Although on this occaion, I feel the car driver was at fault, I still pass some of the blame onto the cyclists, for riding so many abreast. It's not as if they can't hear traffic coming up behind them and had they moved into single file earlier, the car driver would have been able to pass safely.[/QUOTE

Wow how lucky you are to have roads that wide. I have never seen cyclysts 5 abreast,or even 4 abreast except on closed roads

 

[grumpyengraver]

:lol-053:Just after leaving the pub POI New Inn @ ChurchKnowle Saturday morning, we were driving on a narrow lane, up a very steep hill; rounding a sharp bend we were confronted by a herd of MAMILs :scared:
The first one, after attempting to go through the non-existant gap between me and the hedge went down like a like a bag of $h1t, recocheting off the hedge, bouncing of the van and somersulting back into the gutter. The others braked hard enough to stop and shout back slow down the rest of the pack.
Being in 2nd gear travelling at about 10mph I stopped within a few feet of seeing the pack leader banking over full tilt round the bend (wish I had already bought my dash-cam) he went from about 30mph to zero in the length of my van.
I didn't expect any apology (and didn't get one) for colliding with me and scratching the side of the van.
I'm not anti cyclist, we had been cycling through Wareham Forest the day before, but on off road tracks, but road cyclists riding in large groups racing are a dangerous bunch to contend with.
Hopefully "That'll learn 'em" and this time with little injury.

go on tell me what does MAMIL stand for, :help:

 

[Robmac]

go on tell me what does MAMIL stand for, :help:

Middle Age Men in Lycra ie. cyclists!