Aggressive cyclists? Or Old biddies can't keep to the left?

How many people walk down the middle road, instead of walking close to the edged? Obesely these ladies have learnt a lesion, on a road or share zone with other vehicles, don’t take up the entire space.

But saying that some cyclists need to learn to slow down when going pass certain demographics. Would you slow down driving a car past children or the elderly that are on a road, or keep your speed up. Everyone should be able to have a good time but display some common sense people. You know bikes are going pass and riders you know people can change direction at any given time.

Pedestrians – keep left, or suck it up. Want to walk three abreast, arm-in-arm with your pruned sisters? Do it on the grass beside the path.

And cyclists – drive at reasonable speeds, or suck it up. Want to go faster than a family out for a leisurely ride on their K-Mart ‘mountain bikes’? Ride on the road, or go to a velodrome.

Public beatings for breaches.

I have NEVER seen a cyclist hold onto a car – I reckon it would be pretty poor form (particularly considering my love affair for cars before I got into bikes). A cyclist who is too good to unclip should be able to track stand.

The only time cyclists should hold onto cars is when they are being towed into a jump at high speed – and they have the car drivers consent ;-D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ1AxSQz4mI

I-filed said :

I’ve been on the receiving end of really scary stalking behaviour from a pack of cyclists after not stopping for them at a pedestrian crossing in Dickson – and I was in a car! I literally feared for my safety when they caught up with me at the shops. They think they are a law unto themselves. If these behaviours aren’t modified, cyclists may find they have to display rego and be identifiable.
It’s as though they think the ecological benefits of cycling outweigh all other considerations.

I-Filed – Stay off the drugs they are making you paranoid. You weren’t one of the old biddies run off the path, were you?? Yes, rego & identification for all cyclists – you have been reading too much George Orwell again.

Snoopy said :

These are often the same ones who hang onto cars at traffic lights so not to unclip the peddals.

What?! Some cyclists hold onto cars? It would have to be the side mirror, or do they also grab onto other parts?

Deckard said :

ChrisinTurner said :

At 5pm tonight a cyclist was coming down Northborne in a camouflage outfit!!! Under the trees with only patches of light, he was almost invisible. Doing this there soon won’t be any cyclists to cause any concerns.

I once saw a car driving around at night with no lights on. I’m amazed that there are any cars left on our roads.

I strain to see pedestrians dressed in black walking our suburban streets, all the time.

Where does the madness stop?

ChrisinTurner said :

At 5pm tonight a cyclist was coming down Northborne in a camouflage outfit!!! Under the trees with only patches of light, he was almost invisible. Doing this there soon won’t be any cyclists to cause any concerns.

I once saw a car driving around at night with no lights on. I’m amazed that there are any cars left on our roads.

At 5pm tonight a cyclist was coming down Northborne in a camouflage outfit!!! Under the trees with only patches of light, he was almost invisible. Doing this there soon won’t be any cyclists to cause any concerns.

Topic #1 Pedestrians v Cyclists. I had the misfortune of coming across one of the “biddies” in time gone by. Serial self-absorbed troublemaker. Don’t pay it any mind. Pity that someone got hurt, though. If they did and someone’s not gilding the lily.

Topic #2 Vehicle registration and proof of residency. I had a similar problem when migrating to the ACT. The lease was in my name. Because the lease was “short term”, no document was good enough – no billing address or stat dec or letter from my new boss saying I was here for a permanent job.

In the end I sent two registered letters to the registrars in ACT and NSW, with a copy of the letter sent to the other in the same envelope. A couple of days later I got a phone call from a very amused ACT person. They had sorted it out and were keen to grab my money.

What next, L plates for kids with trainer wheels?

Don’t let the kids off easily! They need to be indoctrinated early. Perhaps a more strongly regulated system of permits for travel of any sort for all ages could be initiated. Cycling, walking or driving, all could be properly controlled with a series of checkpoints and an old fashioned police state!

#30 posted by Clown Killer

Clown Killer said :

So it sh!ts me no end when you get a bunch of self absorbed tools who seem to think that paths are just there for them and every other user is some inconvenient twit who should get out of the way.

I agree, although it would be nice if the inconvenient twits – erm, I mean other users – kept left.

Or even a handful of letters addressed to you where you live used to be enough to prove your address.

I-filed said :

MrPC said :

Cyclists should pay rego eh? Since I live in Canberra in an informal sublet arrangement …

Unless your “informal sublet” happens to be the illegal sublet of a guvvie, you should have no problem negotiating with the authorities on your situation I would have thought! …

Yes, in the past all you needed was someone to sign a stat dec saying that you really lived where you claimed to.

This is Canberra. Lots of people don’t understand the concept of keeping left. This goes for driving, cycling, walking, escalators, etc.

When people can’t observe basic tenets of courtesy to keep traffic (of all types) moving, we get the sort of mess we have here.

MrPC said :

Cyclists should pay rego eh? Since I live in Canberra in an informal sublet arrangement …

Unless your “informal sublet” happens to be the illegal sublet of a guvvie, you should have no problem negotiating with the authorities on your situation I would have thought! …

CK, you obviously have a dislike for cyclists but that is your right of reply so whatever gets you going I guess. But you really need to start to be more objective rather than continually refer to your little rule book on shared paths as you seem to take every opportunity to beat up cyclists for the sake of it.

Au contraire, youami. I am in fact a very keen cyclist who has spent many years riding in the Canberra region.

I guess my views on shared paths come from my experience in mountain biking here since around 1990 when pretty well every single trail in CNP was a poached trail. It took so much work to convince the relevant authorities that mountain bikers were capable of routinely observing accepted international protocols for shared trail use before they would even consider the idea of opening trails to MTBers.

So it sh!ts me no end when you get a bunch of self absorbed tools who seem to think that paths are just there for them and every other user is some inconvenient twit who should get out of the way.

Once the GPS microchipping of the ACT population gets completed, this won’t be a problem anymore.

It looks like February is Cyclist bashing month here on Riotact.

I agree with Fisho. We should have a seperate path for everyone. One for cars, one for trucks, one for fast cyclists, one for slow cylists, one for dog walkers, one for old ladies, etc.

And everyone who uses these paths should be licensed and insured – car drivers, that includes you!

#20 posted by I-filed

I-filed said :

Cyclists can brake quickly to a stop if they need to. There are no unexpected corners on the bike paths. There is simply no excuse for aggressive cycling around pedestrians, and not considering elderly walkers, whose reaction time may be slow and who have a LOT to lose if they fall. A fracture in an elderly person has terrible implications for actual survival.

There are PLENTY of blind corners on the “mixed use” paths. If one is a cyclist using said paths to travel any distance, one is likely to be travelling along at 20+ km/h. This is perfectly safe, IF everyone sticks to their side of the path. This includes, and in fact especially applies to other cyclists, as the combined speed of a head-on on bikes is quite quick and can – and does – lead to serious injury and potentially death.

Cyclists must also realise that when leaning in to a corner, their entire body should remain to the left of the centre line, not just their tyre tracks.

I’m hoping the enormous signage budget will make this point regularly along the paths.

Gassed said :

Cyclists are arrogant people on roads and paths.
Ban them all i say.

There are idiots on bicycles just as there are in cars. Unfortunately they are able to terrorise on the paths as well as roads.

As a cyclist, one of my major concerns is other cyclists. While when riding on roads I have to be acutely aware of car drivers, who too often are aware of little outside their little capsule, but there are many cyclists who will ride other cyclists, as well as pedestrians, off the road. These are often the same ones who hang onto cars at traffic lights so not to unclip the peddles.

Arrogance and aggression is not the mindset of all cyclists, only a few. As not all drivers are rev-headed hooligans, not all cyclists lycra-clad terrorists inspiring fear in the elderly. As in all things, don’t judge all on the actions of a minority of extremists. Some of us have breaks, a bell and a willingness to use them to make travel of any sort a much more pleasant experience for all.

It seems to me that if you are going to proceed along a shared route, with the knowledge that people going faster might pass with little warning, then you should not be surprised when this actually happens. And, similarly, when moving quickly along a shared route, you should be aware or people going slower.

This applies to pedestrians and cyclists on “bike paths” the same as cyclists and motor vehicles on roads.

In other words, have a spoonful of cement, and find something else to whinge about.

youami said :

Now my rant: I accept that a lot of cyclists are pretentious and oblivious to their obligations to yield to pedestrians, follow road rules etc, but having said that there needs to be give and take.

If you don’t like the rules about shared paths and cyclists having to give way then get off of them and use those dedicated painted lanes on road. Now STFU!

This debate is eternal and it makes me wonder where I find both A)This kind of pedestrian and B) This kind of cyclist.

I ride +100km a week on cyclepathes* and I never have a problem. Occasionally I see people 3 abreast, dogs off leads, midgets practicing sword fighting, I vocally give them at least 10 seconds warning. Sometimes they have iPods in and can not hear me, I continue on my way, reduce my speed and give them wide egress.

I seriously cannot believe people have so much problems sharing these paths.
What kind of mindset do you have where you believe that your right to exist in an environment is superior to someone elses right.

If you cant get out of a bikes way, you should not be walking on the paths, furthermore, if you ride a bike with an iron fisted regime and will not give way to pedestrians/cars etc, perhaps its best you do not use areas where you will come into contact with such situations.

*I use cyclepathes for lack of a better term, for the flamers, I realise and appreciate that they are are shared zone, but regardless, I chose to call them cyclepathes, and those narrow concrete things on the side of roads…I call them footpathes.

Cyclists should pay rego eh? Since I live in Canberra in an informal sublet arrangement, your Canberra Connect people will not acknowledge that I am a resident and thus I can not register a car or transfer my drivers license here (until after I complete a tax return here).

I didn’t own a car when I moved here. As I’m not living in Sydney, it would be illegal to register a car under an old address where I no longer live (something about fraud). And I certainly can’t register a car under my current address.

As a result I’m stuck with my pushbike and your hopeless bus system.

I’d pay rego if I could, but by the time July/August comes and I’ve done my taxes and have an official enough document showing an ACT address, I might just have lowered my standards and be satisfied with mooching off of your subsidized bus services.

Let’s see: so far we’ve had suggestions of gassings, bans, media bias, knobs, startled old ducks, apartheid. Aren’t we going a bit far?

What on earth could be so important to generate such extravagant language … perhaps it’s racial inequality, world poverty or genocide. No, it’s about enjoying the beautiful sights of Canberra while walking or cycling.

I think it’s just possible that walkers and cyclists can live together quite easily. Just takes a bit of courtesy by all.

Because bikes are noiseless, walkers don’t hear them coming. Walkers would therefore appreciate a warning bell, which some cyclists provide and some don’t. With a warning bell, walkers can check their position on the path so that neither walkers nor cyclists endangers each other.

Simple really — courtesy counts.

Cyclists can brake quickly to a stop if they need to. There are no unexpected corners on the bike paths. There is simply no excuse for aggressive cycling around pedestrians, and not considering elderly walkers, whose reaction time may be slow and who have a LOT to lose if they fall. A fracture in an elderly person has terrible implications for actual survival. I’ve been on the receiving end of really scary stalking behaviour from a pack of cyclists after not stopping for them at a pedestrian crossing in Dickson – and I was in a car! I literally feared for my safety when they caught up with me at the shops. They think they are a law unto themselves. If these behaviours aren’t modified, cyclists may find they have to display rego and be identifiable.
It’s as though they think the ecological benefits of cycling outweigh all other considerations.

Whinge whinge whinge….. a bit of awareness of your surroundings and an attitude of not buggering it up for the other fellow is all thats required.

Yes I’ve had cyclists whizz past me on bike paths, I’ve even ridden off onto the grass to let the road bike riders speed through, seeing as I was fuddling along at ‘getting the fishing gear to the lake without assing over because everything is unbalanced’ speed and they’re out for a training session.

I also encounter walkers, power walkers, joggers, skateboarders, inline skaters as well… can’t seem to find a problem if people pay some basic attention to others around them (and if you’re flicking lures into the lake, watching the back cast seems to be advisable)

We could always just build a series of roundabouts, one for speed cyclists, one for slow cyclists, one for dog walkers etc etc…. Separate every imaginable group. If you think about it it would look pretty awesome from altitude.

Bleh.

They should pay rego and have insurance or get of the road.

Some cyclists in Canberra ride like Canberra drivers.

Some pedestrians in Canberra walk like some cyclists in Canberra ride like Canberra drivers.

Some journos in Canberra write like they’d rather write the scripts for Today Tonight.

Fortunately a lot of the above are none of the above.

Moving on to other CT bashing…nice story about the almost fly-free summer courtesy of the stunning almost one-man crusade by the former CSIRO dung beetle proponent spoiled by some sub-ed sticking an irrelevant photo of the Vic bushfire damage in it by mistake.

I understand pedestrians always have the right of way.

While all users should be considerate of others, it’s actually very hard for walkers to get off the path in time. Walkers may not even be aware of cyclists until they are upon them, and thus have no time to get out of the way. This is because bikes are much quieter than they used to be, and riders are slack about ringing their bell (if they even have one).

Cyclists and walkers are in completely different mind sets. Cyclists are usually ‘going somewhere’ and may be feeling competitive, either with others or their PB. Walkers tend to be recreational, enjoying the ambience – and are a lot slower.

On a shared path, the onus is on the cyclist (who is travelling much faster than any walker, and are also likely to be younger) to be alert and get off the path if necessary, just as they would avoid a parked car.

Now my rant: I accept that a lot of cyclists are pretentious and oblivious to their obligations to yield to pedestrians, follow road rules etc, but having said that there needs to be give and take.

For example, the *shared* path (note: it is shared not a footpath or bike path) around the lake is signposted with white signs here and there indicating that both pedestrians and cyclists are to ‘keep to the left’. Some cyclists ignore that, some pedestrians ignore that. It is common courtesy to oblige.

It is easier for a pedestrian to move than a cyclist because the cyclist is generally travelling faster than the pedestrian and has less reaction time. If the cyclist can slow and yield because they need to then sure so be it. It is reasonably expected of a cyclist to do so. But surely if the path is obstructed by pedestrians or other cyclists for that matter, surely it comes down to whatever needs to happen for safe passage for everyone. If that means the pedestrians move out of the way then so be it. If it means both cyclist and pedestrians have to change their course then so be it. If it means that the cyclist hits a tree because they lost control because were going too fast and was being stupid then so be it! Case in point, let’s take the analogy that cars must yield to pedestrians in ‘shared zones’ in town centres etc… but if you were a pedestrian would you insist that? I would rather as a pedestrian take the cautious approach and move out of the car’s way if the car could not avoid me.

I am a pedestrian during the week and I am a part-time cyclist on the weekends –part-time = I am an amateur at cycling, I ride a mountain bike not a road bike, and no I don’t wear lycra! I have *never* had a problem yielding to pedestrians as a cyclist and constantly do, I even ride out onto the grass on occasion to avoid pedestrians etc. As a pedestrian, I never had a problem moving out the way when a cyclist approaches or at least being cautious to make sure the cyclist doesn’t strike me. It is, as Morgan states, personal responsibility for ALL users.

CK, you obviously have a dislike for cyclists but that is your right of reply so whatever gets you going I guess. But you really need to start to be more objective rather than continually refer to your little rule book on shared paths as you seem to take every opportunity to beat up cyclists for the sake of it.

Cyclists can’t win. Disliked by motorists for riding on the road (even when they are in their on-road cycle lane)and disliked by pedestrians for riding on ‘shared’ paths. Any suggestions where they can ride?

Slooooooow news day at the Canberra Times, writing stories that well are just that stories- not actual news.

What else can we come to expect of The Canberra Times except top quality un-biased reporting.

NAAAAAWWWWWT!

PS: GnT is on the money, idiot pedestrians and/or cyclists. Cue song: Why can’t we be friends?

p1 said :

This wouldn’t be a problem if pedestrians had to be registered and insured before they were allowed to walk.

ROFLCOPTER

Igglepiggle said :

Probably pack of cyclists also riding abreast too- and quickly coming up to pack of old ducks also walking abreast- those old ducks can startle and go any which way when the bell rings- bit like a group of preschoolers. More like herding cats[/quote

PIGgle how appropriate

Probably pack of cyclists also riding abreast too- and quickly coming up to pack of old ducks also walking abreast- those old ducks can startle and go any which way when the bell rings- bit like a group of preschoolers. More like herding cats

Should add though the cyclists can be arrogant but the occupy a bit of a no-mans land in the transportation hierarchy so it’s not surprising.

Cyclists are one less car on your precious roads, and in a lot of cases off your precious roads entirely.

I agree, Gassed. I think most of them are lefty scum.

Cyclists are arrogant people on roads and paths.
Ban them all i say.

The groups of old ladies can be difficult to navigate – the few times I’ve encountered them around Lake Ginninderra they have walked in a pack covering both lanes (or more) of the shared path, then scatter randomly when you ring your bell meaning that you can’t even safely go around on the grass

Yes cyclists should give way to pedestrians, but pedestrians should also keep left so that they can be overtaken, just like how in theory car drivers should give way to cyclists who exercise their legal right to occupy a regular road lane, but in reality should keep left so that they may be overtaken safely.

Exactly Morgan, there’s a bunch of people who are out and about on the shared paths enjoying themselves. That’s why it’s so important for the cyclist to take responsibility and observe the requirement to yeild to walkers.

If these old women were anything like the ones I come across they were probably walking three abreast oblivious to the world around them. Taker some personal responsibility.

This beat up only really holds water if you choose to ignore the fact that on shared paths, cyclists must yield to walkers.

Language that helps sustain the beat up includes words and phrases like “thoroughfare”, “right of way” and “normal road rules apply”.

I suspect that there’s a small minority of cyclists out there who get off by behaving like a knob on shared paths and a group of older ladies have been the victim of these fools who are too self-absorbed in their own little lycra clad wet dream to think about anybody else.

This wouldn’t be a problem if pedestrians had to be registered and insured before they were allowed to walk.