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Extended Cloak of Invisibility

Started by Danny Colyer · · Last activity · 8 posts · 530 views

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01 / Original postExtended Cloak of InvisibilityDanny Colyer · 11 Dec 2003 02 / This pagePosts 1–8Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #8Danny Colyer · 15 Dec 2003

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Original section
UK and Europe
Published
11 December 2003
Last activity
15 December 2003
Original author
Danny Colyer
Posts
8
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Public discussion
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530
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  1. Original post
    Danny Colyer
    Archived post
    #1

    It occurred to me this morning that the famed cyclists' cloak of invisibility may not only shield
    the cyclist from view, but may extend for some distance in front.

    I'm fairly confident I would have been run off the road by a Biffa skip lorry on my way to work this
    morning if I hadn't been extremely assertive in my road positioning. We both joined the A420 at the
    same time at nearby junctions, with the lorry behind me. Unusually for rush hour, there was a clear
    gap of about 150 yards in front of me. So the lorry driver seemed desperate to get past, driving
    close behind me and revving his engine.

    On this stretch of road there's no way that a car or lorry can safely get past a cyclist unless the
    opposite lane is clear, which it wasn't. However, there are times when it is clear that a motorist
    will try an unsafe overtaking manoeuvre if I don't dominate the lane. This was one of those times.

    So where does the cloak of invisibility come into this? Well, the lorry driver apparently failed to
    notice that I was travelling faster than the cars in front and was therefore catching them up. So
    even if he had been able to pass me, he would have been stuck in slower moving traffic a few seconds
    later. The only reason I can think of that he wouldn't have noticed this was that he couldn't see
    the cars in front of me, as seems so common where motorists seem unable to see past a cyclist to the
    cars in front.

    --
    Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
    speedy5.freeserve.co.ukdanny
    "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

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  2. Tony Raven
    Archived post
    #2
    Danny Colyer said:

    It occurred to me this morning that the famed cyclists' cloak of invisibility may not only shield
    the cyclist from view, but may extend for some distance in front.

    Its known technically as lycra rage myopia

    Tony

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  3. Dirtylitterboxo
    Archived post
    #3
    Quoted message said:

    Its known technically as lycra rage myopia

    or... retarded amoeba visual cortex absence.

    Cheers, helen s

    --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove dependency on fame &
    fortune h*$el*$$e**nd***$o$ts***i*$*$m**m$$o*n**s@$*$a$$o**l.c**$*$om$$

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  4. Tony Raven
    Archived post
    #4
    dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers said:
    Quoted message said:

    Its known technically as lycra rage myopia

    or... retarded amoeba visual cortex absence.

    That's the trouble with amoeba - they only do stimulus (cyclist) response (attack)

    Tony

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  5. Jeremy Parker
    Archived post
    #5

    "Danny Colyer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    It occurred to me this morning that the famed cyclists' cloak of invisibility may not only shield
    the cyclist from view, but may


    extend

    Quoted message said:

    for some distance in front.

    Which reminds me; Scott Munn has put David Martin's well known, but elusive, article "The Theory of
    BIG" on his web site, www.bikereader.com. It's well worth reading

    Jeremy Parker

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  6. Ian Smith
    Archived post
    #6
    Danny Colyer said:

    So where does the cloak of invisibility come into this? Well, the lorry driver apparently failed
    to notice that I was travelling faster than the cars in front and was therefore catching them up.

    I had a mercedes overtake me once when I was braking due to being coming up to teh stationary queue
    ahead. He got as far as getting his front doors alongside before he had to stop. At this point, I
    was about half-way between primary & secondary position, and he was neatly straddling the white
    lines down the middle of the road, blocking oncoming traffic.

    Obviously, he did what any self-respectng mercedes driver would, and as soon as the queue moved
    forward he did so with full left lock on the steering, barging me out of the road. He then wound
    down his windows and swore while threatening to assault me.

    That was the most extreme case, but my daily commute features a stop-go queue of cars and even cars
    that have been behind me in the queue for some time will sometimes decide to overtake if there's as
    much as 1.001 times a car-length of clear tarmac ahead. Often this features revving of engines and
    screeching of tyres. I just wait 'till I have eye-contact in the mirrors (about 50% look guiltily in
    teh rear-view mirror after their dare-devil manouver) and then shake my head sorrowfully. Sometimes
    they wave back, indicating they've only done it once or twice (at least, I assume that's what the
    gesture means).

    regards, Ian SMith
    --
    |\ /| no .sig
    |o o|
    |/ \|

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  7. Just zis Guy
    Archived post
    #7
    Ian Smith said:

    Obviously, he did what any self-respectng mercedes driver would, and as soon as the queue moved
    forward he did so with full left lock on the steering, barging me out of the road. He then wound
    down his windows and swore while threatening to assault me.

    Trouble is, the Plod can never do anythign about these twunts. Funny, though, how it's never their
    fault for engaging in a dangerous manoeuvre with inadequate anticipation. Must be something to do
    with that road tax we're always hearing about.

    Guy
    ===
    May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
    chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.uk

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  8. Danny Colyer
    Archived post
    #8
    Jeremy Parker said:

    Which reminds me; Scott Munn has put David Martin's well known, but elusive, article "The Theory
    of BIG" on his web site, www.bikereader.com. It's well worth reading

    I like it, thanks. This is the direct link:
    bikereader.combig.html

    The BIG calculator classifies me as a Road Warrior, which is nice.

    --
    Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
    speedy5.freeserve.co.ukdanny
    "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

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