Road VS Cycle "Facility"

[Buttmunch5000]

at 0.30 you are in the right hand lane at 0.34 seconds you move into the left hand lane, your hand does not move from the bar and you DO NOT SHOULDER CHECK!

The point of mirror and shoulder checks is to make sure that there is nothing in the lane you are moving in, any clever person will tell you that no matter how well you 'think' you check your mirrors a shoulder check is the only true method of knowing that there is nothing in the lane.

I am only pointing this out to save your life,not trol

[EdinburghFixed]

@Buttmunch5000

All "around the roundabout" traffic is already in my lane, which splits in two. If I was going to move left before that onto the motorway slip, it would be a different story.

I guess it's hard on camera, compared with riding every day. Nothing can be in it, because I'm coming up to the start of it. (Everything to the left, goes off at that exit)

I'd post a google streetview link, but youTube doesn't seem to want to let me.

[Buttmunch5000]

@EdinburghFixed I understand that but I have driven around that and just because cars are in the left hand motorway bound lane, doesn't mean they are going that way, they could be lost and not want to go on the motorway and continue forward last minute.

NEVER assume what any other road user is going to do , that's how accidents happen. A sign saying motorway left doesn't save you if someone goes forward and you didn't shoulder check , but a nice shoulder check before moving lane does ;)

[Buttmunch5000]

at 0.33 you didnt indicate you were changing lanes, and NO SHOULDER CHECK, seriously man , its not called a LIFESAVER for nothing

[EdinburghFixed]

@Buttmunch5000 Perhaps it's not obvious from the video, but I'm not changing lanes. You can see at 00:30 to the left is the dedicated slip for the motorway, to the right (where I am riding) is the lane for through-traffic. That lane splits in two, and I stick to the outside one.

I thought you might have been referring to 0:40 where I use the whole lane relying on mirror observation. That is probably more "technically" incorrect, although there's little risk when there's no traffic.

[christhebull]

The problem with crappy in-farce-structure like this is that it means cyclists are less likely to demand more in the future, whereas in other countries it might get done properly. It would be like calling a dirt track a "motorway" and wondering why most drivers stuck to existing roads...

[thehazdog]

You loose the will to live because it takes slightly longer to get to work? Get a life. That's the kind of thinking that gets so many cyclists killed when motorists do it. And anyway, since you all think its cool to ride in the middle of the road to discourage bad overtaking (still can't see the logic there) if you don't ride on the lanes (which are perfectly fine in my experience) you end up holding up everyone else behind you.

[EdinburghFixed]

@thehazdog - strangely, there are fewer bike accidents on the road with cars, than when you ride on the pavement. This is true of every country which has studied the safety of segregated facilities (even in the Benelux).

For example, as the lights can take so long to change here, most bikes & pedestrians cross on red, dodging the cars coming off the RAB. On the other hand if you're just going round the RAB everybody understands what's going on.

[thehazdog]

@EdinburghFixed I'm sure you're right. My point is, if everyone were too just slow down a bit there would be a lot less deaths on roads or cycle lanes. I just think its a bit sad that you loose the will too live just because you go slightly more slowly. It's something i notice a lot with cycling. It leads to impatience.

[thirteenfingers]

@thehazdog It's not "cool" to take the middle of a lane - but it is often the "safe" thing to do. It does seem backwards but it stands up.

By riding to the side in a narrow lane (or when passing traffic islands and the likes) you leave enough room for a driver to "squeeze" through when it's not really safe. Taking the lane doesn't leave enough room to squeeze through so cars are less likely to try and do so.

Riding in the gutter has the added bonus of making the cyclist less visible too.

contd.

[thirteenfingers]

@thehazdog contd.

Not enough space to finish this in 1 post.

If by any chance you live in or near Manchester, send me a private message - I'll be more than happy to meet you somewhere and go for a ride. I'll show you both ways of riding and you can see for yourself what a difference it makes to overtaking.

As for lanes, around here they are generally bad and sometimes add a lot of time and distance onto a journey by unnecessarily taking cyclists around junctions - often through seedy subways.

[ajrecumbent]

may i ask what model recumbent you have there it looks like a 5star bike

[urbanmanc1]

Where do you put your mic , I'm having problems with mine, wind noise only !!

[MrJasps]

That roundabout never used to be that bad until they put all the lanes in, now it is way too fast. I always use the cycle facility at that point, had too many near misses. Besides, I was running out of shorts.

[HLaB75]

I assume its similar elsewhere but in Fife there's too much retrofitting of the existing footpaths so the council can claim they have x km of a cycle network.

[urbanmanc1]

I don't mind a bit of 'off road' now and then, it's a rest from having to be hyper-attentive all the time.

[jonredhornet]

An excellent demonstration of awful cycling facilities, what were the planners thinking. 5 stars.

Also, you're rubbish at whistling :p