Cycling UK Forum

Nearholmer wrote: ↑12 Apr 2024, 3:42pm Clearly lessons have been learned, I’m not saying that none have; what I’m saying is that road deaths and injuries don’t seem to be investigated with the vigour and rigour that other accidental deaths are.

I have been on the periphery of the initial accident investigation into a few fatal RTAs. I would say it is pretty thorough. Roads closed for several hours. Detailed measurements. Photographs. Braking distances tested if the a vehicle involved is still driveable. All witnesses traced and interviewed. Media requests for dashcam footage. Etc.

As for learning lessons. Off the top of my head - don't get off a bus stopped on a dual carriageway then walk in front of it into the other lane while reading your phone. If you ride your motorbike fast enough to crash without any other vehicles involved or any road faults it may be fatal if you hit anything after leaving the bike. Walking along an unlit rural road facing away from traffic while dressed in black and drunk is a bad idea.

Of course we could do better. Why we let people give excuses and carry on driving after 4 speeding convictions baffles me for example. Why is using a mobile phone behind the wheel not an instant ban. The effect on driving is similar to being at the legal alcohol limit.

Nearholmer wrote: ↑12 Apr 2024, 2:22pm I’ve often thought that learning from RTAs is not well-handled in comparision
It sometimes feels as if there is societal acceptance of quite a high level of deaths and injuries on the road, and that nobody much is bothered about learning from individual incidents, only any really stark trends.

Is there a high level of deaths? Last year there was half a million UK deaths. Under 2000 were road deaths. Even cyclists will ride on average 28 million miles per fatality.

https://understandinguncertainty.org/fa ... oris-bikes

It has been learning from experience that road deaths have plummeted from the high levels of the 1970s despite higher numbers of cars.

puffin wrote: ↑1 Feb 2024, 3:37pm

sparnel wrote: ↑31 Jan 2024, 3:36pm Hi Puffin - thanks for that list. I've noted those places. I think we'll definitely book the first three or four days.
We should know how we're doing by that time. When I walked LeJog I got my son to book accomm for each night
on a daily basis and it seemed to work out ok. Here's hoping.........

You WALKED Lands End John O' Groats????????

Twice in the USA I have met walkers doing the coast to coast. In both cases well into the east to west crossing in different bits of Nevada.

I'll take the last pair. You have a PM.

Yes. I have done it. A while ago. I can't remember details but it wasn't an issue. 13m will be fine.

Assuming you are not already booked why not book direct trains? AKAIK every alternate train south from Pitlochry goes direct to Glasgow.

Ozzy Nick wrote: ↑20 Mar 2024, 10:43am Thanks. So my take away is that basically the options available to me to make this climbing easier are

1. Change the entire groupset to accommodate a bigger rear cassette
or
2. Keep ratio as is and lose 8-10kg in weight

Change the chainring to a 32. Roughly equivelent to having 1 gear lower than what you have. Easy to do. All else equal on a hilly ride I would rather have the low gear and coast on any really steep fast downhills.

I agree with PH. I would either go for something like that Bankrupt Bikes wheelset or pay enough to get a pair of wheels from a recognised handbuilt place.

I got a pair of handbuilt 26" wheel for £145 plus delivery from Spa Cycles as they had a sale on. I was needing disc wheels though. No 26" rim only in the sale.

If you bought something like these you can pretty much be sure they would never break. I have have similar Spa wheels with Sputnik 700c rims used for thousands of miles of loaded touring. 16 stone rider and camping gear. No problems. The only reason not to would be if you wanted something a bit lighter.

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m10b0s200p5 ... ce-of-Rims

Another option is buy a handbuilt rear wheel as the rear takes most of the abuse and a cheap front wheel.

simonhill wrote: ↑16 Mar 2024, 1:54am
Some journals I had been using for info have 'disappeared ', so its certainly not the font of all knowledge it used to be.

That happens as the journals are the property of the author not the site. As for the owner. He is opinionated and expresses strong opinions. That said it only effects the forums and there is no need to use them. In fact compared to previous years the forums are quiet. As result of general changes in social media or site specific who knows? In any case having a very divisive owner hasn't stopped people using Twitter.

It is a useful site IMO whether you use the forums or not.

Pebble wrote: ↑8 Mar 2024, 11:32pm I wouldn't worry, scotsrail seem to be quite relaxed about bikes, I often travel with bike and never book. I was on a train last week (not as a cyclist) from Livingston back to Edinburgh. There was loads of bikes on the train, I doubt any were booked. Seriously its not like it was 20 years ago when they could get all arsie like they do down in Engerland. The scot rail staff just seem to go on like normal human beings and the trains are pretty reliable.

Scotrail do get arsey about bikes. I saw a local in Oban turfed off even though he was only going one stop.

The Glasgow - Livingston - Edinburgh line though does not require reservations. I guess the trains are big enough and frequent enough it is not an issue.

So I would not turn up to a Glasgow Pitlochry train without a booking and expect to get on. Last time I was trying to book a bike for Glasgow - Inverness the only way was by going via Aberdeen. So as stated above - book -, and book early.

TrevA wrote: ↑30 Nov 2023, 11:19am It’s not just 20mph speed limits, no speed limits apply to cyclists, they only apply to motor vehicles or to be more accurate mechanically propelled vehicles.

Appears that in this case it is actually motor vehicles they apply to.

"A person who drives a motor vehicle on a road at a speed exceeding a limit imposed by or under any enactment to which this section applies shall be guilty of an offence."

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/27/section/89

mattheus wrote: ↑20 Feb 2024, 8:09am

irc wrote: ↑19 Feb 2024, 9:47pm

rjb wrote: ↑19 Feb 2024, 12:27pm What annoys me the most are links posted with no reference to what they are about.

Especially if the ink is a video.

Those ones are easy - I simply never open them.

Exactly. There is no point posting a video link without a couple of sentences saying what it is. Nobody will look at it.

rjb wrote: ↑19 Feb 2024, 12:27pm What annoys me the most are links posted with no reference to what they are about.

Especially if the ink is a video.

rogerzilla wrote: ↑13 Feb 2024, 3:15pm

irc wrote: ↑12 Feb 2024, 11:07pm

Lazybird wrote: ↑12 Feb 2024, 9:01pm Have booked a bike space on the train Exeter to Plymouth on a Friday morning in early May to catch the ferry to Roscoff. Now I’m worried that the bike rack will be full of general luggage and I won’t get on despite having booked. Is this a realistic possibilty or am I being overly pessimistic?

Ask staff before the train arrives which carriage has the bike space. Get on the train. If the bike rack is blocked by luggage then block the aisle with your bike. The staff will soon get the luggage moved. If it was me my bike would be in the bike rack and the luggage moved out the way but if you don't want to do that the staff are there to sort out issues like this.

What staff? We usually stand from Swindon to Bristol because our bike spaces are full of luggage amd surfboards.

If you are getting on at the starting station, you might be able to get something done. At an intermediate station, no chance.

The other issue is that two normal bikes don't fit in the GWR "cupboard" anyway.

There was plenty staff available last time I got the Oban train to stop a local getting on for one stop with his bike because he didn't have a booking.

Lazybird wrote: ↑12 Feb 2024, 9:01pm Have booked a bike space on the train Exeter to Plymouth on a Friday morning in early May to catch the ferry to Roscoff. Now I’m worried that the bike rack will be full of general luggage and I won’t get on despite having booked. Is this a realistic possibilty or am I being overly pessimistic?

Ask staff before the train arrives which carriage has the bike space. Get on the train. If the bike rack is blocked by luggage then block the aisle with your bike. The staff will soon get the luggage moved. If it was me my bike would be in the bike rack and the luggage moved out the way but if you don't want to do that the staff are there to sort out issues like this.

gaz wrote: ↑11 Feb 2024, 2:25pm We know that neither one more lane nor one more car park will fix it,

Do we? My estate built 50 years ago has footpaths seperate from the roads. After 50 years of growth in vehicle ownership it still has enough parking. Build it adequately in the first place - problem solved.

In fact at work the other day I remarked that the new build estate we were in was unusual in that every house had 2 or more off road spaces. Compared to the footprint of a house and garden the amount needed for a couple of cars is not much.

I accept Victorian streets will have issues but you can't blame the designers back then for not seeing a century into the future.