Should have pointed out to her at the start of the standoff that cycle paths are neither compulsory nor convienient and that bicycles have the same status as any other road vehicle and that you had right of way. Then given way, which would have left you and cyclists in a better light.
Wrong. Foreign and Commonwealth Office rules - never apologise, never retract, never explain.
Sit it out. State that you have ROW. Wait. Roll [censored] / fill pipe / read newspaper / pick nose.
There was a sixties' comedy film called the Seven Deadly Sins (or somesuch) which was a series of sketches using each of the sins. pride was illustrated by two motorists meeting on a long narrow country lane. One in a Rolls Royce one in a Morris Minor (or the equivalent.) One driver working class, one upper class. Both refused to reverse. One was a member of the AA, one of the RAC. AA and RAC men turned up and supported their members' positions.
Perhaps we could have a modern remake, cyclist meets car driver at pinch point. Paul Smith and Chris Juden (sp?) turn up to support...
In the sketch, there was no right or wrong. Both had equal priority. Clearly, this is not the case on Weston Shore.
Quoted message said:
I can't remember how the film sketch ended.
Didn't both back up on the orders of Plod, only to have a go again, once AA, RAC and plod had left.
You should have been riding a trials bike so that you could have ridden up her bonnet, across her windscreen, along her roof, leapt onto her boot and from there to the ground.
An acquaintance of a friend claimed to have done this with a motorbike, over a police car. Last time I saw him (many years ago) he was wondering whether to flee the country or turn up for a court appearance likely to result in a prison sentence (for an unrelated incident - doing 130 on a motorway while banned). There's a fair chance he was bullshitting about at least some of this though.
I do not think common sense prevailed for any party, just another example
of
Quoted message said:
bloody mindedness for all of you, this kind of thing is immature and just creates bad blood between different classes of road user.
So what should I have done?
I have done similar things to this in the past but in retrospect I think you put yourself in a potentially dangerous situation that you had identified and the car driver had not, sure you were in the right, but I would have given way to the car rather than trust that they would have noticed me. Or following that I would have told the woman to learn how to drive, then move out of the way rather than infuriating a huge number of motorists and making them all a little more anti cycle.
On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 10:47:37 +0100, Succorso <chris@ivy-
house.net said:
Use the cycle path.
It's not the other road users fault if the cycle path is deficient in some way. Use it, and complain about it to someone who may listen (if you can find someone).
Mandatory use of cyclepaths is not enshrined in law. Right to use the highway is.
I've had this out with Portsmouth City Council recently. They've blue-signed the pavement next to the A27; turning, IME, a safe straight road into a choice between stop-start pavement progress or continuous abuse from drivers.
The local paper and local councillors[1] just don't get it and drip about the 30% of ungrateful and reckless cyclists who continue to use the road. I did get a good email from their senior transport officer saying that the pavement option was only there for inexperienced or young cyclists and that cyclists should not be put off from using the road. (I haven't got round to asking why inexperienced cyclists deserve a less safe route.)
[1] Reminds of a debate about some mid-road islands a while back. Cyclists, of course, hate them and I was a bit suprised when support for this view came from an unexpected quarter. Thoughts of enlightenment faded when she gave her reason as "it's really hard to squeeze past cyclists; some of them even try and force you to slow down". --
On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 07:10:00 +0100, "[Not Responding]" <[email hidden]> wrote (more or less):
Quoted message said:
[1] Reminds of a debate about some mid-road islands a while back. Cyclists, of course, hate them and I was a bit suprised when support for this view came from an unexpected quarter. Thoughts of enlightenment faded when she gave her reason as "it's really hard to squeeze past cyclists; some of them even try and force you to slow down".
Last night I didn't even get 300 yards from my home before some stupid bint started an overtaking manoeuvre when I was 10 yards from a mid-road island.
I kept my line. She ended up stopped in the middle of the road in line with the island.
"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
Dave Kahn said:
You should have been riding a trials bike so that you could have ridden up her bonnet, across her windscreen, along her roof, leapt onto her boot and from there to the ground. Not only would this have avoided the impasse but it would have guaranteed that she would have noticed you.
Except that whenever you try and do it in that sort of situation your rear wheel slips and you end up munching bonnet on the first move.
In your experience? Never mind. From the relative positions of the vehicles and the well signed priorities it would clearly be the cager's fault and you could probably sue her for the dental work.
"Colin Blackburn" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
There was a sixties' comedy film called the Seven Deadly Sins (or somesuch) which was a series of sketches using each of the sins. pride was illustrated by two motorists meeting on a long narrow country lane. One in a Rolls Royce one in a Morris Minor (or the equivalent.) One driver working class, one upper class. Both refused to reverse. One was a member of the AA, one of the RAC. AA and RAC men turned up and supported their members' positions.
The "Pride" sketch in the 1971 film "The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins" with Ian Carmichael and Alfie Bass derives from a 1963 episode of Comedy Playhouse called "Impasse" by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. There the drivers were played by Bernard Cribbins and Leslie Phillips. "Impasse" was remade in 1996 with Paul Merton and Geoffrey Whitehead.
The "Pride" sketch in the 1971 film "The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins" with Ian Carmichael and Alfie Bass derives from a 1963 episode of Comedy Playhouse called "Impasse" by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. There the drivers were played by Bernard Cribbins and Leslie Phillips. "Impasse" was remade in 1996 with Paul Merton and Geoffrey Whitehead.
Ah, thank you, that has saved me Googling to see why I was remembering Paul Merton and Alfie Bass in the same sketch. Galton and Simpson: the hallmark of fine comedy.
The local paper and local councillors[1] just don't get it and drip about the 30% of ungrateful and reckless cyclists who continue to use the road. I did get a good email from their senior transport officer saying that the pavement option was only there for inexperienced or young cyclists and that cyclists should not be put off from using the road. (I haven't got round to asking why inexperienced cyclists deserve a less safe route.)
I still recall, with amazement, the time I was "told off" by a Windsor Park ranger (in car) who objected to my cycling on the public highway and told me to use the cycle path. I took one look at the path -- pure gravel, fit only for MTBs and their ilk -- and got straight back on the public highway!
Last night I didn't even get 300 yards from my home before some stupid bint started an overtaking manoeuvre when I was 10 yards from a mid-road island.
I kept my line. She ended up stopped in the middle of the road in line with the island.
At least she managed to stop. I've witnessed a few where they didn't, with consequent damage to expensive wheels, tyres and, on one particularly memorable occasion, roof.
The "Pride" sketch in the 1971 film "The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins" with Ian Carmichael and Alfie Bass derives from a 1963 episode of Comedy Playhouse called "Impasse" by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. There the drivers were played by Bernard Cribbins and Leslie Phillips. "Impasse" was remade in 1996 with Paul Merton and Geoffrey Whitehead.
Excellent. That brings it nicely back full circle. Thanks.