Cycling UK Forum

Colin Stanley wrote:Interestingly, I subscribe to a Volvo Forum and the admin there advises against AOL and in favour of IE.

The AOL browser is based on IE6, now very old and superseded by IE7, with some odd AOL customisations (they don't seem to like using internet standards!). You will find all sorts of web sites with specific advice for AOL users because of this. Microsoft also used to shun open (and hence free) standards too, but the rise of Linux and software like Firefox has forced them back into line. IE7 is a _lot_ better than IE6.

Colin Stanley wrote:Because AOL grinds slowly, I delete browsing history as they suggest. This must delete whatever cookie is required for my auto logon.
I've just tried it, and yes, auto logon failed.
I assume this would also be a problem in Firefox?

Yes, if you delete cookies as part of deleting the browsing history. But you shouldn't need to do this with Firefox as it's much more efficient - you should notice much faster web browsing if you use it instead of AOL/IE6. Also Firefox asks what you want to delete (Tools > Clear Private Data), so you can keep cookies, and your auto-login will then be kept. Cookies are stored as very short text files, so don't take up any significant space at all.

Glad you found the problem!

Our twins are having fun with Early Riders (http://www.earlyrider.com/) from Evans (with CTC discount). They are two years and four months, and just tall enough to step over.

Molly took to riding them like a duck to water, and after a few hours is now happily scooting down hills and stopping herself with her feet. Tom has shorter legs and is less confident, but can now get along quite well.

The main problem they have had is their feet hitting the rear part of the frame, but they are learning to keep their feet further apart. I'd imagine they wouldn't like anything like a bottom bracket axle, as they'd be bumping into it all the time.

Falling off works very nicely: the bike falls over between their legs and they stay standing (so far!).

We quietly giggle when we see poor children stuggling to ride, but being prevented from balancing by "stabilisers" on their bikes

Have you tried using Internet Explorer instead of the AOL browser?

Or you could try installing Firefox or Opera for an ever better web browsing experience (faster and more secure!).

A quick google shows that others have experienced slow computers with AOL and IE7 both installed. I think AOL9 is based on IE6, which doesn't live well with IE7 on the same machine.

Computers are much more sensitive to their human operators' emotions than would seem possible

Glad to hear that it's no longer a problem.

I think AOL 9 is based on Internet Explorer, which has known problems if it runs out of space for its "temporary internet files" on the disk. Might have been that.

Or McAfee might have interfered a little too much with the communication between browser and the website.

Do report back if it happens again

The book isn't preaching to anyone, it's just a good laugh at how stupid some cycle lanes turn out.

Lots of nice photos of "facilities" with daft markings, impossible-to-pass obstructions, etc.

An excellent Christmas present for the cyclist in your life: keep it in the loo for visitors to read too

Colin,

What browser (and what version)?

Do you have any "internet security" type software?

The automatic login requires a cookie to be saved by your browser. If that fails for some reason then the auto-login won't work.

Mick F wrote:What does RTR stand for?

Right to Ride, the name for CTC's local campaign reps, known as Right to Ride representatives.

RTR reps (I'm one too) handle local cycling issues on behalf of the CTC, such as attending council meetings, writing letters, etc. In return for being recognised as a local CTC representative, RTR reps have to represent official CTC policy. We have a nice thick policy handbook to help with that, and a dedicated e-mail mailing list for discussions.

Mick F wrote:What's going on?

Dunno.

Ditto. Seeing Newsnet popping into my e-mail inbox has always been an excuse to put the kettle on and have a break and a read. An excellent service to keep CTC members informed of important and funny things that are happenning.

Let's hope they bring this in.

Why people think it's anti-motorist to enforce speed limits I really don't know. If enforcement isn't necessary, surely speed limits should be scrapped altogether?

Also amazing how the [***name of organisation removed***] and [***name of organisation removed***] manage to get so much exposure for their rules-of-physics-ignoring ideas. Presumably because the media like a moan.

I'd like to see speeding fines dropped altogether, so that the usual moans of "anti-motorist tax" and "revenue-raising exercise" become obsolete.

If anyone consistently proves that they can't, or won't, drive within the rules of the road, they should lose their driving licence. The whole point of having a licensing system is to indicate who is safe to drive and who isn't.

Happy cycling!

The messages don't have anywhere to "go" as they are stored in the forum database, so the concept of an "outbox" is not a good one (PMs are not like e-mails which do pass through several computers).

Think of "Outbox" as "Available for Recipient to Read when they next log in" and "Sent" as "Read by Recipient".

As a long-term recumbent rider and a trailer user, I'd recommend the trailer any day. Being low is a Good Thing for being seen, and being unusual is even better. A trailer is also more stable than putting children high up on a bike, and with the windscreen closed it keeps them out of the wind when it's cold too. I personally wouldn't bother with a flag, they're pretty invisible from behind compared with the mass of trailer, but it doesn't do any harm.

If you can get hold of a trailer, I'd recommend putting a sack of potatoes in it and taking it on a bike ride. You'll soon find that having the trailer makes things so much nicer (cars see you better, and give you much more respect when passing) than riding without it. Once you're happy (convinced, even) that you+potatoes aren't going to be squashed in the first five minutes, you'll be happy to put your children in.

The Dutch way is to use a cargo trike, so the children are in front and get a nice view. Expensive to get hold of in the UK, but probably the best answer, combining the width of a trike (essential for car respect) with its stability, plus you can keep an eye on the cargo more easily!

Ben Lovejoy wrote:Windcheetah: Amazing steering system, really does justify the 'telepathic' comments. Fast, light, lovely. But alas about an inch too long for me (non-adjustable, as per the Catrike)

I thought Windcheetahs still came in three sizes, with fine adjustment by moving the seat?

Certainly I can adjust for leg-length on my old one, by moving the seat forwards or backwards. The adjustment is enough to cover the difference in the three frame sizes.

Good point!

PW wrote:the League of Gentlemen Cyclists uses the exact same forum & that wasn't affected.

Well, similar (if they use phpBB) as we've made quite a few custom modifications to the software for this forum.

Might have been a DNS problem (ctc.org.uk's DNS is managed by Demon Internet) which would have affected many forum visitors.

Alternatively it might have been a routing problem somewhere, which would only have affected people using that route across the internet.

What Internet Sevice Providers do you use PW/Graham/drossal?

DavidT wrote:Please could recumbent riders explain how on earth you feel at all safe riding in traffic?

Because when you ride one you're suddenly both visible and also taken seriously by motor vehicles!

DavidT wrote:Sitting in that low position, how on earth do you feel at all confident in traffic?

Height has no part in being visible (which is why drivers can see white lines which are only millimetres high). In fact I find that things that are wide low down (recumbents, bike trailers) are more visible to cars than things that are narrow low down (bikes, motorbikes). As a car driver I spend most of my time looking down at the road, and much less time looking higher up (I think this is why people find reading road signs so tricky).

Being low down also means you have less far to fall if you come off (and with a recumbent trike it's very difficult to fall off!).

DavidT wrote:Of course no end of drivers make similar comments to me about simply riding a bike, but surely the complete lack of visiblity - to see and to be seen, makes recumbents incredibly vulnerable, - or am I missing something?

A recumbent is as visible as many other things on a road but is much more noticeable. Hence the added safety.

Most cyclists will tell you how invisible they feel, but recumbents usually have the opposite problem

Oh, and there's Risk Compensation, a theory that many think holds water.

In my experience, commuting daily along urban roads and the A27 dual carriageway, my upright bike would have about one "near miss" ("sorry mate, didn't see you", or passing too close) per month, but in my Windcheetah I only had two "near misses" in three years.