Re, Idiots on bikes

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Sagwagon
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Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by Sagwagon »

This is a post ive copied from the Bolsover and District CC facebook page. Makes me feel proud to be a cyclist. "Rode through Bakewell today, stopped off to use the facilities and was approached by an official looking person and asked to put the word out. It appears a group of road cyclists in hi vis stuff rode through the closed roads. The roads were closed for the armistice parade. Apparently the cyclists shouted at the marching band to get out of the way. Obviously the people of Bakewell were none to impressed with this behaviour."
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661-Pete
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by 661-Pete »

What can one say? Utterly shameful. I've met the odd 'rude roadie' but this takes the biscuit. :evil:
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reohn2
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by reohn2 »

Lost for words :?
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
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snibgo
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by snibgo »

+1.

I'd love to think that anyone on a bike is automatically, by definition, a decent human being. Sadly that isn't so.
PH
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by PH »

This information is now, what 4th hand?
Some anonymous cyclists may have somehow upset someone in Bakewell today. That's what we actually know.
I frequently ride through closed roads, did they know why they were closed? Shouted at a marching band, really? Do you think they thought the band would get out the way? "The people of Bakewell are..." just who's speaking for the people of Bakewell?
Last edited by PH on 9 Nov 2014, 9:57pm, edited 1 time in total.
TonyR
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by TonyR »

Sounds implausible to me. Are you sure it was an official and not just someone with a grudge against cyclists making it up or exaggerating. I can't see the official response to such an incident being to approach random cyclists to complain and ask them to "put the word out". BICBW
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Well I cycled through a road closed sign today, lots of people milling around and the cop in car had just left.

Then I was confronted with about twenty people most of the way across the road and felt obliged to ding my bell which had the desired result in removing a few out of my way.

The fact was that the parade had finished some minutes before and the people were dispersing in usual fashion down a road which had not been closed but as it was a quite village they probably thought that it was ok to block the whole highway.

A few minutes later on another single track public highway (road but now gravel track) three people leading a horse by the reins blocking the whole highway, I dinged my bell as the horse was far right to the hedge and the three people were to the left of horse, they ignored me so I rode up behind the far left person and coughed loudly, that individual did turn round and move over so I could pass but the others carried on.
At top of track I approached road at T junction and in front of me were two horse riders who I had seen at least three times before they were passing the junction and riding single file on the right hand side of highway :?: (Is this OK in law ?)
These horse riders I have met at least twice before and twice they were either on my side of highway of blocking the whole highway, I stayed my ground and they slowly moved over................
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snibgo
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by snibgo »

HA 1835 s78 says, if I read it correctly, that people have to keep their horses to the left side of the road and not "prevent, hinder, or interrupt the free passage" of anyone.

Of course, keeping left matters only when there is someone to keep left of. People don't get prosecuted for merely being on the wrong side of the road.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by [XAP]Bob »

And in other news idiots in cars killed tens of people today...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
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ANTONISH
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by ANTONISH »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
A few minutes later on another single track public highway (road but now gravel track) three people leading a horse by the reins blocking the whole highway, I dinged my bell as the horse was far right to the hedge and the three people were to the left of horse, they ignored me so I rode up behind the far left person and coughed loudly, that individual did turn round and move over so I could pass but the others carried on.
...

If you are approaching horses it's best to call out. Ringing a bell is not a good idea - it may startle the horse and that can create a dangerous situation.
I often encounter horse riders and generally don't have a problem. Make presence known to the rider, allow them to settle the horse if necessary, pass slowly giving as much room as possible.
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661-Pete
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by 661-Pete »

Well, in light of later comments, I tried googling "bakewell", "remembrance day" and "cyclists". No recent hits. You'd have thought it would have spurred some online remarks, somewhere...?

But I still stand by what I said earlier: if a group of cyclists have done this....
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Chris the Sheep
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by Chris the Sheep »

If the account is true, then shouting at people marching is inexcusable - however how many times have we all encountered 'road closed' signs, only to find that actually the road is passable for bikes? It's normal for cyclists to be forgotten when temporary road closures and/or traffic lights are set up, or at best there'll be a 'cyclists dismount' sign. Continuing cautiously is often a perfectly reasonable thing to do even if it doesn't comply with the letter of the law especially if the diversion is lengthy, so I can see how it could happen.

What worries me, and it's very difficult to say this without putting my foot in it, is that Remembrance Sunday is no longer quite the dignified, understated affair that it used to be. With the combination of WW1 and D-Day anniversaries, and continuing tragic waste of life today, 'poppy day' has acquired a prominence it didn't have for decades. These cyclists could have ridden into the scouts' St George's Day parade and not encountered anything like the same level of condemnation; we seem to be in a new age where anyone not wearing a poppy is seen as not supporting our service personnel, an age where freedom of personal reflection and expression is overruled by a largely media-inspired expectation of how we should behave. Millions of men and women have died to give us that freedom, most of them wouldn't have thought of themselves as heroes, and the current national mood makes me uncomfortable.
kwackers
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by kwackers »

I think it's national "take offence at people being offensive on Armistice Day, day".

I've seen several similar reports on various Facebook pages - all third hand, involving cyclists, runners and even a dog walker.
Perhaps it's true but I wouldn't put money on it.
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mjr
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by mjr »

Our easy ride yesterday encountered a road closure for a remembrance day event in the early afternoon. There were absolutely no advance warning signs, let alone any diversion signs, until we were at the closure. The most obvious diversion would be about a mile and I don't know if any of that would have been closed too, because that would pass the town hall and I don't know where the parade started. The ride guide consulted the policeman manning the road closure and decided we should push through a short section of crowd and remount on its far edge, but where the road was still closed, because some cycles are not easy to push. Shouldn't some diversion be signed for a road closure?

In short, I don't think that road closure (or the event) was signed very well. I saw one event sign but it was inside the road closure, so would only inform people who frequently use that route. Even if they'd held it at 11am then it wouldn't have been a problem because our ride stopped for a two-minute silence to allow reflection.

I wonder whether there are now so many remembrance day events that corners are being cut in organising them safely, but it's easier to blame the unsuspecting runners or riders who stumble into them.
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Edwards
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Re: Re, Idiots on bikes

Post by Edwards »

I do not know if this tale is true or not.

Unfortunately respect for the deceased is not unheard of in recent years.

There are many instances of road rage and general unpleasantness by many different types of road users towards Funeral Corteges.
But as this thread is about idiots on bikes if I may I would like to recall one such instance.
I live near a Cemetery and Crematorium and one day I witnessed on such idiot holding up a Hearse with Coffin in it. He was shouting that it had not given way and he had right of way going around the roundabout that he had just left the footway to join the road at.

I am not sure I would want to get in the way of solders even retired ones and start shouting the odds at them when they are marching to remember their dead friends. I have this thing in the back of my mind that they were trained to kill. For the average cyclist with their puny arm muscles would probably come of second best.
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