(not OT ) OIL

In message <[email hidden]>, MartinM
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

does anyone know the origin of this traditional warning to other
riders when a car approaches on a narrow road?,

Presumably short for 'oil up', which as I've read in the CTC mag at some
point IIRC refers to car etc. coming up behind - 'oil' presumably
referring to the fuel used.

Maybe when it developed motor vehicles left an 'oily smoke' behind them
or some such?

--
Chris French, Leeds

[quote="chris French"]In message <[email hidden]>, MartinM
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

does anyone know the origin of this traditional warning to other
riders when a car approaches on a narrow road?,

On 15 Aug 2004 13:34:31 -0700, [email hidden] (MartinM) wrote in
message <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

does anyone know the origin of this traditional warning to other
riders when a car approaches on a narrow road?, it seems to be more
prevalent among club riders, and is almost completely absent on Audax
rides where they say "car"

Ah, showing your age now, lad ;-)

"Oil up!"

meaning one of them new-fangled oil-burning monstrosities approaching
from behind. Auncient Relic of Ye Olde CTC Clubbe Runnes, now more or
less extinct. I still use it just for laughs.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 07:11:10 +1000, MartinMM
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Also
only Audax riders seem to specify whether the car is approaching from
the back (up) or the front (down)

Not at all. When I used to ride with St Albans DA there were often
cries of "oil down!"

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

[quote="Just zis Guy, you know?"]On 15 Aug 2004 13:34:31 -0700, [email hidden] (MartinM) wrote in
message <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

does anyone know the origin of this traditional warning to other
riders when a car approaches on a narrow road?, it seems to be more
prevalent among club riders, and is almost completely absent on Audax
rides where they say "car"

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 07:32:56 +1000, MartinMM
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

What's up with yoru newsreader? It's marking your own text as quoted!
e.g:

Quoted message said:

meaning one of them new-fangled oil-burning monstrosities approaching
from behind. Auncient Relic of Ye Olde CTC Clubbe Runnes, now more or
less extinct. I still use it just for laughs.

Quoted message said:

not according to this: it says "oil" is only used for lorries which is
clearly not true. Of course today around Box hill "Bike down" (the
motor v twin etc. variety) was even more useful.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 07:32:56 +1000, MartinMM
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

not according to this: it says "oil" is only used for lorries which is
clearly not true. Of course today around Box hill "Bike down" (the
motor v twin etc. variety) was even more useful.

Not entirely in agreement. "On your left!" in my clubs has always
meant "passing on your left". "Off the back?" Never heard; "ease up"
is the usual around these parts, I think. "Potholes" is unusual;
"hole" is more common (and indeed "gravel"😉. Never heard "below" -
usually people just point and shout "mind!". Pointing is common for
potholes and glass, too.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

[quote="Just zis Guy, you know?"]On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 07:32:56 +1000, MartinMM
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

What's up with yoru newsreader? It's marking your own text as quoted!

I (ahem) don't have one, can't get it to work, this is all the work of cyclingforums.com (hence the second M, it was already taken) maybe I should go back to google and wait 6 hrs ;-(

MartinMM said:

Quoted message said:

What's up with yoru newsreader? It's marking your own text as
quoted!

Quoted message said:

I (ahem) don't have one, can't get it to work, this is all the work
of cyclingforums.com (hence the second M, it was already taken)
maybe I should go back to google and wait 6 hrs ;-(

Try the new beta Google groups service.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington
University

MartinM <[email hidden]> wrote:
: does anyone know the origin of this traditional warning to other
: riders when a car approaches on a narrow road?, it seems to be more
: prevalent among club riders, and is almost completely absent on Audax
: rides where they say "car"

The "up" and "down" bit confused me until someone explained

"car up" = "up your [censored]"

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Just zis Guy said:

Not entirely in agreement. "On your left!" in my clubs has always
meant "passing on your left".

I'd concur with you, though I tend to use the fuller "coming through on
your left" where time allows.

Quoted message said:

"Off the back?" Never heard;

No, /you/ wouldn't have done. 😉

"ease up"

Quoted message said:

is the usual around these parts, I think.

Round here, we use "ease up" to warn riders behind when we are about to
stop or slow down unexpectedly, about to hit a sharp bend, etc.

Quoted message said:

"Potholes" is unusual;
"hole" is more common (and indeed "gravel"😉.

I find holes are rarely signalled vocally - usually it's a wave of the
hand or a point of the finger in the general direction of the hole.

I was shouting "gravel" rather a lot yesterday - there were several very
nasty patches hidden just round corners.

As for "Oil", I just assumed it was a quaint cycling-ism for all forms
of motorised transport.

d.

MartinMM said:

Of course today around Box hill "Bike down" (the
motor v twin etc. variety) was even more useful.

I didn't have that problem on Box Hill myself but there was another part
of the route (around Holmbury) where I ran into a pack of off-roaders
who had just come off a trail onto the tarmac, and were hogging the
whole road. I asked them politely to move over to allow the following
bunch to come through and the [censored] just laughed at me. Grrr!

d.

davek <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Round here, we use "ease up" to warn riders behind when we are about to
: stop or slow down unexpectedly, about to hit a sharp bend, etc.

It's "easy!" or "steady!" round here. Normally the former though

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

quote='davek'MartinMM said:

Of course today around Box hill "Bike down" (the
motor v twin etc. variety) was even more useful.

I didn't have that problem on Box Hill myself but there was another part
of the route (around Holmbury) where I ran into a pack of off-roaders
who had just come off a trail onto the tarmac, and were hogging the
whole road. I asked them politely to move over to allow the following
bunch to come through and the [censored] just laughed at me. Grrr!

Further west along the North Downs Way there is long section of RUPP (or is it By-Way or Green lane, GOK the difference) which id unrideable on an MTB due to the attentions of "scramblers" (or whatever current parlence is for an off road motorbike). A large amount of the SDW is also RUPP but has escaped the attentions of all but tractors.

Arthur Clune said:

It's "easy!" or "steady!" round here. Normally the former though

Er... you know what, that's what I was thinking of. I'm getting my
easies and my ease-ups confused.

d.

Arthur Clune said:

MartinM <[email hidden]> wrote:
: does anyone know the origin of this traditional warning to other
: riders when a car approaches on a narrow road?, it seems to be more
: prevalent among club riders, and is almost completely absent on Audax
: rides where they say "car"

The "up" and "down" bit confused me until someone explained

"car up" = "up your [censored]"

I was taught, "Down your throat, up your bum."

Colin

Colin Blackburn said:

Arthur Clune said:

MartinM said:

does anyone know the origin of this traditional warning to other
riders when a car approaches on a narrow road?, it seems to be more
prevalent among club riders, and is almost completely absent on
Audax rides where they say "car"

The "up" and "down" bit confused me until someone explained

"car up" = "up your [censored]"

I was taught, "Down your throat, up your bum."

That helps. I have real difficulty remembering. It seems natural to call,
"Car down" when a car is, in fact, "down the road". To avoid any possibly
dangerous confusion, I just call "Car" instead.

Simonb said:

To avoid any possibly
dangerous confusion, I just call "Car" instead.

The really confusing one is when you are going down a hill and there's a
car coming the other way up the hill...

d.