Snazy

Has anyone else noticed the curious BLUE lanes popping up around London recently?
just discovered that they are the new cycle superhighways for direct fast routes in and out of the capital for pushbikes.

While I think they are a great idea, I just wish some money would be spend on making sure people use the damn cycle lanes, and stop lording it up and acting like they rule the roads and lights dont apply to them.

I have to say though, I am stunned at the number of people who cycle commute these days.

scoobyboy

started doing it myself, i only work 8 miles from home so the car was getting an expensive luxury so got to get rid of it and brought a full sussy mountain bike. i cannot believe how unfit i was and how fit i'm getting.
not so keen when it rains but i keep thinking about the gains i'm getting from doing it

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Snazy, nobody is obliged to use cycle lanes on a bike, somestimes they are full of glass and. Dog poo, pedestrians and full on twenty plus mph roadies don't mix anyway.

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

Snazy - I do use a cycle lane. It's called a road.

RLJs are the scum of the cycle commuters though and REALLY p*ss off the rest of us. Unfortunately they entrench the completely wrong attitude in other road users and make the rest of us suffer for it.

A great deal of 'cycle lanes' are utterly, utterly unsuitable and the rest are often full of the detritus of the road and CAN'T be used. They're full of broken glass and crap and unless you want to spend your time mending punctures you avoid them.

It's ALL about co-operation: cars are more vulnerable than lorries, bikes are more vulnerable than cars, and pedestrians are more vulnerable than bikes.

A lot of the arguments people come up with are based on ignorance of the facts: a BROKEN line on a cycle lane means it can be SHARED (like that ridiculous Daily Mail article about the UK's widest cycle lane - it was a broken line, which simply indicated how much room you should give a cyclist when over-taking. Check the cycle super-highway ones.. they're meant to be broken as well... so they can be shared.

Oh yeah - there's no such thing as Road Tax, so no one pays it.

Snazy

lol maybe not mate, but on certain stretches of road its just 1/ selfish and 2/ stupid NOT to use them. On the particular one I mean its usually un touched, but instead the cyclists run the gauntlet, and take liberties.

I do cycle on the roads too, so can see it from both ends, but like I say on certain parts its a no brainer (or should be)

ScoobyBoy, I know what you mean. I actually suprised myself when I got back in the saddle recently.

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

The advice is that if you expect to exceed 18mph (30kph) you should not use the shared paths anyway. Even on my commute bike I can get over 30Mph and start shouting at the cars to get out of my way

(okay so it's down an incline and schmooth road surface but I still can )

Generally I average between 16-20mph on the commute so even when there is a shared path I don't use it.

Snazy

lol Kieran, who said anything about road tax ?

My arguement is based on a particular piece of road, and while I realise that bikes are allowed on the road, there are certain times when common sense should prevail. Sadly not tha case.
Cyclists who decide they are just going to pull straight out in front of a car are asking for trouble. Sadly is the following motorist who intended on playing no part in the cyclists ignorance, who ends up sharing the roadside distress.

Im sure any sensible cyclist will know exactly the sort of person I am talking about.
Credit to the masses who do the commute daily, and in a sensible and safe way.

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

Just getting in there first

The thing is: there are dicks using every form of transport. I deal with idiots in lorries (and some fantastic ones as well - thank you British Gypsum and Hardstaffs!!) and cars and bikes and on foot. I don't think idiot driver / cyclist / pedestrian. I just think "idiot" and let it go.

Snazy

Haha fair play. I know better than to try using that card these days, VED is a great cop out.
Unbiased, thats good. Shame there are not more like you.
Sadly when cyclists start tampering with peoples cars I draw the line at a fair exchange. Personally I would have lumped the tit !

Definatly agree though, there are indeed idiots on all forms of transport, especially buses. Drivers and passengers lol

Back to the main point of the post though lol. The superhighways look wierd to say the least. Suprising that their launch has been such a "secret". Very confusing. Not quite sure it justifies spending money making them blue, but hey.

And for anyone wondering WTF.,....... see below

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

I'm another red traffic light abiding soul & it annoys me when others just blatantly ride through the lights. I cringe when sometimes they nearly get tw@tted. It will happen one day and unless the car driver was a complete tool and in the wrong, then will have little sympathy.

I get annoyed with cars and motorbikes in the ASL though, they normally get looked at as I put my bike in front of their bonnet/wheel. I did that one time to a merc driver and for the next 3 sets of lights got a load of abuse from his gobby passenger. Thought they might try it on but £100 of old bike down £75k of merc might have disuaded them. But yes, there are idiots all around and unfortunately they have access to the same bit of road as we all do. All drivers should ride a bike to work for a month and all cyclists should drive a car to work for a month.

Blue roads? I'm not sure about these as I don't see the point. Cars I notice are generaly quite good at keeping out of the green lanes (not ASLs ) but a stonking great one like this, unless it is policed, will do no good in my opinion.

I use the road as required to make swift and safe passage. I don't dawdle in the outside lane talking to my friends on the phone, but if I have to move out either to make a right turn or to avoid a hazard ahead, will do so by clearly & firmly signaling my intentions and move smartly causing the least obstruction to faster moving following traffic. Its my road too

vindaloo

Cycle super highway is just another blue painted piece of road then.... Why can't we have proper continental style cycle lanes alongside our roads?

Forget inner cities, Too many junctions and obstructions. For inner cities there should be more dedicated cycle paths or cycle roads. Separate the cyclists from the pedestrians and the traffic. Never happen though, too expensive....

Diesel

Cycle lanes are just a gag where I live and commute 16 miles a day on my bike. They come and go in 5 metre bursts! Luckily the drivers here are far more patient, chilled and tolerant than the ones when I cycled daily in London. Havent had to take off a wing mirror or had a barney in 5yrs, and am still alive!

And all this despite treating the odd junction on the same daily basis of as if it had or didnt have a trafficlight to safely guide me - if there is CLEARLY nothing coming...lets get away from the crowd behind (a far safer approach at rush hour on big 3 lane rdbts (like Culverhouse Cross) for e.g.). I think it pragmatic and logical, and am trusted to do it at all other non 'babysat' junctions...

D

Leslie

Is it true that the speed limit will be 70 on those super highways?

Les

vindaloo

Culverhouse cross on a bike at rush hour! Though I guess most traffic is in a queue most of the time surrounding it...

Diesel

Its a Grand Prix when they get a green though mate! Not nice if you are in lane 2 and keeping going round for Ely but someone in lane 3 wants the M4 sliproad D

ScoTTyB

PLEEEEEEASE don't spout this crap about 'I don't jump red lights, not me, oh no, never'.

If you ride a fair distance in London to work you WILL jump some lights. Why wait at pedestrian crossings with no pedestrians? Or when they have already passed the junction? Why wait when you know the light sequence and nothing is coming that could possibly cause a problem?

I jump every light that is safe to do so and wait at the others. If you don't do this then you don't ride enough. Simple as.

Snazy

lol what a strange assumption. I dont jump red lights when im riding. I know plenty of people who commute daily and dont jump lights.

Diesel

Quel Intelligence... No brainer...

Snaz - blind general compliance is too rewarded = though may cost u more in apples to the teacher

Pragmatism.

D

ChrisB

Because the light sequence was changed yesterday?

ScoTTyB

Try harder.

Light sequence changes let you jump the gun, there's still nothing coming and you'd see a sequence change (like that ever happens).

The only argument you have against me is 'because it's the law'. There is no sensible logic against what I am doing.

Nothing can change this because if they made any sort of change in the law dumb ***** would get killed and mess it up for the rest of us.

Alot (maybe not even most) of cyclists that jump lights do so safely, and the only reason it annoys people here so much is because they drive cars and cannot do it themselves, due to the consequences and lack of maneuverability.

ScoTTyB

You wait at pedestrian crossings when they are red, with no pedestrians around?

You are either a liar or an idiot.

SiPie

....or perhaps just trying to do his best to give cyclists a better name

Diesel

Add eyes and brains too - it all works out. Honest!

Diesel

Bit harsh! I'd say more likely to take an apple to the teacher type and also his own boss, with no deadlines !!!

D

Diesel

Yeah! Cyclists are such a pain and a threat to car drivers' lives! We need a bit of good PR to stop getting buzzed out and cut up from tw@ts trying to shave 3" off their commute!

Really.

D

ScoTTyB

Yeah, I'm only messing Snazy. But stop taking the holier than thou approach

Snazy

lol im not taking any approach, just telling you how I ride on public roads.
I try to avoid tarmac on a bike when ever I can.

Diesel

Good policy Snaz! I do that as much as I can too, even if its a longer route - ever since my incident with a Citroen popping my shoulder out for me. Ouch! D

vindaloo

Once on the London to Brighton...

Going down the flat dual carriageway towards the town centre, pedestrian crossing turns green. I stopped, dozens of others didn't, I ended up shrugging at the three blokes waiting to cross in a "what can you do" gesture.

As I pedalled off, the blokes crossed, leading with an umbrella.

J.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Potentially thin edge of wedge as with some of the numptie drivers in London, if they see cyclists jumping pedestrian crossings when there's no pedestrians, then their small brains will think, "well, why not me?" then where will it all lead? Chaos and more death on the roads as there are few enough police around as it is to actually police the situation.

Don't jump lights. I treat it as a challenge to catch and overtake the ones that do.