20 February 2009

Cyclist slagging - the other side

| MWF
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I have a nice thing to say about Canberra cyclists.

I do not cycle. I have two bicycles but everytime I look at them they make me feel a bit off and in need of a chardy or two.

About a fortnight ago, I was on my way to work when my car felt all wrong. I then realised my tyre was completely flat. Pulled off the road and onto a grassy patch right next to a cycle path. I tried to open the compartment where the spare was so I could get the spare and the jack out and (being 5 ft nothing and a puny weakling) I could not even physically open the compartment. I know how to change a tyre but when you don’t even have the physical strength to open the spare tyre compartment it leaves you mostly useless.

Luckily I was near a cycle path. One cyclist called the NRMA for me. The next said “Bugger that, I’ll change the tyre for you now”. Even the scary looking walker, who I suspected was an evil drug dealer, tried to help. I was standing on the cycling path in the only available shade (baking hot) and kept an eye out for cyclists, they all swerved around me slowly and so many offered to help. After all the cyclist slagging that I read here on RA I was a bit suprised.

Cyclists of Tuggeranong, you are nice people.

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Hells_Bells749:10 pm 20 Feb 09

I’ve got big thanks to a cyclist on Barry drive when my car overheated in the right hand lane and was full peak hour traffic and I had to pull over in the middle median strip and I had no water and no mobile phone credit and no cars were slowing down to see if I needed help, I ended up yelling out to a man on a cycle pushing slow up the hill to ask if he had a mobile I could ring my man to help me and he did no worries, eventually that is, when I was able to cross the road.

niftydog said :

After all the cyclist slagging that I read here on RA I was a bit suprised.

Zoiks. My worst fears realised, people actually believe everything they read on RiotACT!

Hyperbole? On RiotACT? About cyclists? Naaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

I am loathe to admit this but, as I do no exercise and venture nowhere near cycle paths or those lovely Canberra green tracts, I have never had a cyclist experience on the cycle paths that some people on RA love to bitch about.

As I was standing on the cycle path (yes, baking hot ;), I was slightly afraid of these rabid Canberra cyclists who I have only ever heard about on RA. So I thought I would give them a “Well Done” post. They were all lovely. Sweaty and stuff, but lovely.

kean van choc5:55 pm 20 Feb 09

58 km/h on Adelaide Avenue (where the Embassy Hotel is) – a slight downhill, but I’ll take the speed where I can get it! Aiming to crack 60 soon…

TheScientist said :

G-Fresh said :

Not only are they a wild and competitive creature, they are also tremendously fit and capable of commuting to speeds of up to 50km/h. Diving and swerving, hither and tither on their way to work and various other daily activities.

pfff. i reached 54.9 the other day along northbourne. would’ve popped 55 if i hadn’t had to slow down for a bus pulling in!

it’s kinds fun riding the same speed as traffic 🙂 (in the bike lane though)

I’ve peaked out at 64km/h on the downhill stretch of Barry Drive, though I suppose downhill is cheating 😛

there was an accident involving a cyclist on Barry Dr just near Marcus Clarke this morning. I drove past to see him sitting in the middle of the road, blood all over his face, being treated by the firies and ambos.

I heard rumours that he attempted to make it across Barry Dr in front of a firetruck and came off second best. Would certainly account for his location (the middle lane)

tylersmayhem1:21 pm 20 Feb 09

As much as I hate it, I have to agree with Jakez…again! 😉

TheScientist11:38 am 20 Feb 09

G-Fresh said :

Not only are they a wild and competitive creature, they are also tremendously fit and capable of commuting to speeds of up to 50km/h. Diving and swerving, hither and tither on their way to work and various other daily activities.

pfff. i reached 54.9 the other day along northbourne. would’ve popped 55 if i hadn’t had to slow down for a bus pulling in!

it’s kinds fun riding the same speed as traffic 🙂 (in the bike lane though)

Depech Mode had it nailed in the 80’s

People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully

I presumed.
Based on
– drinks chardonney (although, so do I).
– 5 ft nothing (without meaning to be sexist, odds are female there)

The Brad said :

I was standing on the cycling path in the only available shade (baking hot)

Cyclists like to help out hot females.

Is MWF female? I had assumed male, but I have no idea why; there’s no evidence either way in the post.

I was standing on the cycling path in the only available shade (baking hot)

Cyclists like to help out hot females.

G-Fresh, knighthoods have been discontinued for some time now.

After all the cyclist slagging that I read here on RA I was a bit suprised.

Zoiks. My worst fears realised, people actually believe everything they read on RiotACT!

Hyperbole? On RiotACT? About cyclists? Naaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

The cyclists are a poorly understood creature.

Lurking in the vast networks of cycle paths, it is only when we come directly into their habitat that we start to realise their true beauty and formidable nature.

Not only are they a wild and competitive creature, they are also tremendously fit and capable of commuting to speeds of up to 50km/h. Diving and swerving, hither and tither on their way to work and various other daily activities.

It is when we come in contact with these creatures that we mere non-cyclists start to truly appreciate their worth and utility.

Indeed, their ability to help other breeds of commuters in times of need has been known to be one of their weaknesses, as sometimes the cyclists are ambushed by the terrible drivers on the streets. But that doesn’t deter them. They are a kind and stubborn species capable of great good and tremendous humanity.

Perhaps they will never be understood, perhaps they will. All we know is they need our help and not our hindrance.

The modern day cyclist. Truly a formidable force of nature.

+1 jakez

a cyclist is perhaps more likely to stop because a bike doesn’t need to be ‘parked’ in the sam way that a car does.

People are people. You have good people and bad people and both sides use cars, buses, motorcycles, and bicycles.

Most commuters are nice people regardless of their mode of transport. But in line with your story, a few weeks back during the crazy heat wave, the gas converter in my car froze up (ironic) due to an airlock. This meant spluttering to a stop on the side of Macs Reef Road and waiting 20 mins for it to thaw out in the near 40oC heat. Had a cyclist stop during that time and offer us help, water and his mobile. Didn’t need any, but it was certainly a nice gesture.

Could it be because you were “near a cycle path” and were interacting with those cyclists, rather than the ones who ride on the roads?

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