UK and Europe · Public discussion

Re: A bit of an accident

eatmorepies · 2005-04-02T19:53:10+00:00

I was cycling away from Norwich along the Railway Path. On a long straight stretch, there were three teenagers cycling toward me. They were three abreast, thereby occupying the entire width of the path. Slowing from about 30kph, I prepared for the one on my left to drop back and make room for me to pass them. But they just kept on riding. There's no doubt they had seen me - I had even made eye contact with the one on "my side". As far as I could tell, there was nothing malicious going on - no game of "chicken" or anything. But they kept on riding, not giving way, and (inevitably) I collided with the one on my left. I managed to yell "... what are you playing at??!" as we made contact (not completely head-on, I swerved slightly right at the last fraction of a second, but I think he panicked and swerved toward me and collided with my back wheel) and he said "Oh, sorry... sorry" in a pretty timid way, which is what suggested to me this wasn't a game of chicken - it just didn't feel like that. When I looked back, they were just cycling on their way - and so did I. I find the same with a minority of people on pavements. They walk, often as a family group, side by side and fill the pavement. As I walk towards them there is no obvious move by any of their party to fall behind and share the pavement with me. I suppose I am meant to walk into the road - I don't, I keep to my bit of pavement, sometimes I have to stop and now and again they crash into me. I imagine that I am not a very prepossesing figure and that they are without courtesy - otherwise, why would they behave so impolitely? John

Started by eatmorepies · 2 April 2005 · Last activity 17 April 2005 · 56 posts · 1,164 views

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01 / Original postRe: A bit of an accidenteatmorepies · 2 Apr 2005 02 / This pagePosts 1–20Page 1 of 3 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #56Just zis Guy, you know? · 17 Apr 2005

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Original section: UK and Europe
Published: 2 April 2005
Last activity: 17 April 2005
Original author: eatmorepies
Posts: 56
Discussion status: Public discussion
Total views: 1,164
Views / 30 days: 7
Topics: Returning after a long break

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Original post
eatmorepies
Archived post

2 April 2005, 19:53 UTC #1

Quoted message said:

I was cycling away from Norwich along the Railway Path. On a long
straight stretch, there were three teenagers cycling toward me. They
were three abreast, thereby occupying the entire width of the path.
Slowing from about 30kph, I prepared for the one on my left to drop back
and make room for me to pass them. But they just kept on riding. There's
no doubt they had seen me - I had even made eye contact with the one on
"my side". As far as I could tell, there was nothing malicious going on
- no game of "chicken" or anything. But they kept on riding, not giving
way, and (inevitably) I collided with the one on my left.
I managed to yell "... what are you playing at??!" as we made contact
(not completely head-on, I swerved slightly right at the last fraction
of a second, but I think he panicked and swerved toward me and collided
with my back wheel) and he said "Oh, sorry... sorry" in a pretty timid
way, which is what suggested to me this wasn't a game of chicken - it
just didn't feel like that. When I looked back, they were just cycling
on their way - and so did I.
I find the same with a minority of people on pavements. They walk, often as
a family group, side by side and fill the pavement. As I walk towards them
there is no obvious move by any of their party to fall behind and share the
pavement with me. I suppose I am meant to walk into the road - I don't, I
keep to my bit of pavement, sometimes I have to stop and now and again they
crash into me. I imagine that I am not a very prepossesing figure and that
they are without courtesy - otherwise, why would they behave so impolitely?
John

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JohnB
Archived post

2 April 2005, 20:03 UTC #2

eatmorepies said:

I find the same with a minority of people on pavements. They walk, often as
a family group, side by side and fill the pavement. As I walk towards them
there is no obvious move by any of their party to fall behind and share the
pavement with me. I suppose I am meant to walk into the road - I don't, I
keep to my bit of pavement, sometimes I have to stop and now and again they
crash into me. I imagine that I am not a very prepossesing figure and that
they are without courtesy - otherwise, why would they behave so impolitely?
They are motorists out for a walk.
John B

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Ross Hamilton
Archived post

2 April 2005, 21:36 UTC #3

On Sat, 2 Apr 2005 20:53:10 +0100, eatmorepies wrote in
<[email hidden]>, seen in uk.rec.cycling:
[...]
Quoted message said:
I find the same with a minority of people on pavements. They walk, often as
a family group, side by side and fill the pavement. As I walk towards them
there is no obvious move by any of their party to fall behind and share the
pavement with me. I suppose I am meant to walk into the road - I don't, I
keep to my bit of pavement, sometimes I have to stop and now and again they
crash into me. I imagine that I am not a very prepossesing figure and that
they are without courtesy - otherwise, why would they behave so impolitely?
I see a lot of that, too.
And those who insist on walking in pairs but taking up the full width
of a three-person-wide path.
Oh, and after lots of observations, I've noticed that when you have a
3-aside path, with a bloke walking at one side and a woman in the
middle, the woman will make no attempt whatsoever to move into a
position which allows someone walking along the 'empty' side to get
past without stepping into the road. I don't know if it's just a
Lincoln thing, but it is (IMNSHO) *highly* ignorant.
--
Ross, in Lincoln
Reply-to address will bounce; replace "junk-trap" with "me" for e-mail

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graham
Archived post

3 April 2005, 00:07 UTC #4

"Ross Hamilton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
On Sat, 2 Apr 2005 20:53:10 +0100, eatmorepies wrote in
<[email hidden]>, seen in uk.rec.cycling:
Quoted message said:

I see a lot of that, too.
And those who insist on walking in pairs but taking up the full width
of a three-person-wide path.
Oh, and after lots of observations, I've noticed that when you have a
3-aside path, with a bloke walking at one side and a woman in the
middle, the woman will make no attempt whatsoever to move into a
position which allows someone walking along the 'empty' side to get
past without stepping into the road. I don't know if it's just a
Lincoln thing, but it is (IMNSHO) *highly* ignorant.

Nah! It's a women thing - they expect men to dance around them.

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JLB
Archived post

3 April 2005, 12:39 UTC #5

eatmorepies said:
I find the same with a minority of people on pavements. They walk, often as
a family group, side by side and fill the pavement. As I walk towards them
there is no obvious move by any of their party to fall behind and share the
pavement with me. I suppose I am meant to walk into the road - I don't, I
keep to my bit of pavement, sometimes I have to stop and now and again they
crash into me. I imagine that I am not a very prepossesing figure and that
they are without courtesy - otherwise, why would they behave so impolitely?
Your behaviour as described does not get their attention which might be
one of the reasons why the group does not react until it collides with
you. I've noticed often enough that in crowded places like some of the
local shopping arcades that walking at the same pace as most other
people and trying to thread through the crowd will result in plenty of
(very minor) collisions. Walking much quicker than the rest of the crowd
results in people moving aside ahead of me and far fewer collisions.
--
Joe * If I cannot be free I'll be cheap

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Ross Hamilton
Archived post

3 April 2005, 13:03 UTC #6

On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 00:07:13 GMT, graham wrote in
<RsG3e.884447$6l.484446@pd7tw2no>, seen in uk.rec.cycling:
Quoted message said:
"Ross Hamilton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

[...]
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
Oh, and after lots of observations, I've noticed that when you have a
3-aside path, with a bloke walking at one side and a woman in the
middle, the woman will make no attempt whatsoever to move into a
position which allows someone walking along the 'empty' side to get
past without stepping into the road. I don't know if it's just a
Lincoln thing, but it is (IMNSHO) *highly* ignorant.

Nah! It's a women thing - they expect men to dance around them.
It's an expectation which is unfulfilled when they meet me in the
circumstances described above, then. I just stop dead and let them
walk into me.
It's amazing how often the bloke with them gives me a sympathetic
look...
--
Ross, in Lincoln
Reply-to address will bounce; replace "junk-trap" with "me" for e-mail

Report
graham
Archived post

3 April 2005, 18:04 UTC #7

"Ross Hamilton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 00:07:13 GMT, graham wrote in
<RsG3e.884447$6l.484446@pd7tw2no>, seen in uk.rec.cycling:
Quoted message said:
"Ross Hamilton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

[...]
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
Oh, and after lots of observations, I've noticed that when you have a
3-aside path, with a bloke walking at one side and a woman in the
middle, the woman will make no attempt whatsoever to move into a
position which allows someone walking along the 'empty' side to get
past without stepping into the road. I don't know if it's just a
Lincoln thing, but it is (IMNSHO) *highly* ignorant.

Nah! It's a women thing - they expect men to dance around them.
It's an expectation which is unfulfilled when they meet me in the
circumstances described above, then. I just stop dead and let them
walk into me.

What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?

Report
Just zis Guy, you know?
Archived post

3 April 2005, 18:40 UTC #8

On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:04:27 GMT, "graham" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message <LeW3e.891901$6l.599723@pd7tw2no>:
Quoted message said:
What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Compute an orbit?
Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Report
Just zis Guy, you know?
Archived post

3 April 2005, 18:40 UTC #9

On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:04:27 GMT, "graham" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message <LeW3e.891901$6l.599723@pd7tw2no>:
Quoted message said:
What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Compute an orbit?
Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Report
Just zis Guy, you know?
Archived post

3 April 2005, 18:40 UTC #10

On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:04:27 GMT, "graham" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message <LeW3e.891901$6l.599723@pd7tw2no>:
Quoted message said:
What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Compute an orbit?
Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Report
Just zis Guy, you know?
Archived post

3 April 2005, 18:40 UTC #11

On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:04:27 GMT, "graham" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message <LeW3e.891901$6l.599723@pd7tw2no>:
Quoted message said:
What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Compute an orbit?
Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Report
Tony Raven
Archived post

3 April 2005, 18:56 UTC #12

graham said:

What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Get out your copy of Viz and ask them to autograph it?
Tony

Report
Tony Raven
Archived post

3 April 2005, 18:56 UTC #13

graham said:

What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Get out your copy of Viz and ask them to autograph it?
Tony

Report
Tony Raven
Archived post

3 April 2005, 18:56 UTC #14

graham said:

What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Get out your copy of Viz and ask them to autograph it?
Tony

Report
Tony Raven
Archived post

3 April 2005, 18:56 UTC #15

graham said:

What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Get out your copy of Viz and ask them to autograph it?
Tony

Report
Ross Hamilton
Archived post

3 April 2005, 22:04 UTC #16

On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:04:27 GMT, graham wrote in
<LeW3e.891901$6l.599723@pd7tw2no>, seen in uk.rec.cycling:
Quoted message said:
"Ross Hamilton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

[...]
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
Nah! It's a women thing - they expect men to dance around them.
It's an expectation which is unfulfilled when they meet me in the
circumstances described above, then. I just stop dead and let them
walk into me.

What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Never had that situation yet, but I'd still stop dead and let them do
as they please.
Unless they were the infamous fat slags, in which case I'd turn tail
and run. ;-)
--
Ross, in Lincoln
Reply-to address will bounce; replace "junk-trap" with "me" for e-mail

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Sniper8052(L96A1)
Archived post

5 April 2005, 22:15 UTC #17

Just zis Guy said:
On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:04:27 GMT, "graham" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message <LeW3e.891901$6l.599723@pd7tw2no>:
Quoted message said:
What do you do when a pair of morbidly obese women are approaching and are
so large that they take up the entire path?
Compute an orbit?
Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken
Use insults?
My son age, 7 or 8, was coming home with his mother and sister while
pretending to be on Star Trek, he was heard to utter as a large female
approached,
"...warning, warning critical mass approaching!!!"
The woman did not hear but my wife and daughter creased up.
Sniper8052

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audrey
Archived post

6 April 2005, 08:53 UTC #18

Sniper8052(L96A1) said:

Use insults?
My son age, 7 or 8, was coming home with his mother and sister while
pretending to be on Star Trek, he was heard to utter as a large female
approached,
"...warning, warning critical mass approaching!!!"
The woman did not hear but my wife and daughter creased up.
Sniper8052
So your son insults someone and his parents think this is funny?
I would've thought fat people walking on pavements was A Good Thing,
they might be out getting some exercise. But from some of the
comments in this thread, apparantly not. Remind me not to ride my
bike near where yous live.

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wafflycat
Archived post

6 April 2005, 09:34 UTC #19

"audrey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:

So your son insults someone and his parents think this is funny?
I would've thought fat people walking on pavements was A Good Thing,
they might be out getting some exercise. But from some of the
comments in this thread, apparantly not. Remind me not to ride my
bike near where yous live.
I agree with you totally, Audrey. It's no fun being fat - I've been so for
years. It's not easy to lose weight & keep it off - I've battled with it for
years and I've been the target of far too many comments from those
apparently well-meaning slimmer folk who seem to think they've some sort of
divine right to tell me that because I'm fat I'm obviously lazy, indolent
and lacking in self-control, and obviously of lesser worth than they are. A
pox on such attitudes. I do hope Sniper thinks long and hard about the
seriously offensive attitude his son displayed and which the rest of his
family think is perfectly good behaviour. I wonder if he'd feel the same if
his son racially abused someone? BAH!
Cheers, helen s

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mitya
Archived post

6 April 2005, 18:06 UTC #20

"wafflycat" <wafflesATv21netDOTcoDOTuk> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:

"audrey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:

So your son insults someone and his parents think this is funny?
I wondered how long it would be before some fat [censored] started whining.
Quoted message said:
because I'm fat I'm obviously lazy, indolent and lacking in self-control,
Fat is the result of taking in more energy than you expend! Therefore, you
are obviously lazy and lack self-control.
Kwitcherbitching!

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