When there’s a local amber weather warning for rain with 300MM predicted in 24 hours in some locations and accompanying strong winds as is the case today, an indoor trainer has some advantagesroubaixtuesday wrote: ↑26 Oct 2021, 1:02pmHow do I feel? Risks are objectively low, and indoor trainers are the work of Beelzebub and worse than sleet and darkness.
Don't let the [rude word removed] grind you down.
But that's all personal preferences - each to their own.
i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
Doesn't mean they feel nice. If they scared almost all walkers, cyclists and horse riders off the roads, it would seem very safe in the statistics. Doesn't make it right, though.Mike Sales wrote: ↑27 Oct 2021, 6:10pm How can this be?
We have the safest roads in Europe, and they get safer every year.
We are told.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
which are...? Postponing a trip is often possible and riding an indoor trainer doesn't get any errands done.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
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Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
Mountain bike weather!David2504 wrote: ↑27 Oct 2021, 6:46pmWhen there’s a local amber weather warning for rain with 300MM predicted in 24 hours in some locations and accompanying strong winds as is the case today, an indoor trainer has some advantagesroubaixtuesday wrote: ↑26 Oct 2021, 1:02pmHow do I feel? Risks are objectively low, and indoor trainers are the work of Beelzebub and worse than sleet and darkness.
Don't let the [rude word removed] grind you down.
But that's all personal preferences - each to their own.
Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
Since returning from a period of cycling in Europe 8 years ago I’ve switched mostly to riding on byways, bridleways & cycle paths, I do ride a bit on the road, and a bit on an indoor bike but am happiest off-road. Riding the King Alfred Way in inclement weather recently was the best riding I’ve enjoyed in some time.
Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
I recently read (on a motorbike blog) about the distinction between 'feeling comfortable' and being 'safe'.mjr wrote:Doesn't mean they feel nice. If they scared almost all walkers, cyclists and horse riders off the roads, it would seem very safe in the statistics. Doesn't make it right, though.Mike Sales wrote: ↑27 Oct 2021, 6:10pm How can this be?
We have the safest roads in Europe, and they get safer every year.
We are told.
There are roads that feel great to ride on, but have a poor safety record, and, there are roads that feel horrible to ride on, but are actually very safe.
I have had more 'issues' on country lanes than fast straight A roads. For *me* country lanes no longer feel comfortable, but they are safe. Main rural A roads, lightly trafficked, feel comfortable to me, but are probably more risky according to the statistics.
Leicester; Riding my Hetchins since 1971; Day rides on my Dawes; Going to the shops on a Decathlon Hoprider
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Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
I recently read (on a motorbike blog) about the distinction between 'feeling comfortable' and being 'safe'.millimole wrote: ↑27 Oct 2021, 7:10pmDoesn't mean they feel nice. If they scared almost all walkers, cyclists and horse riders off the roads, it would seem very safe in the statistics. Doesn't make it right, though.mjr wrote:[quote="Mike Sales" post_id=<a href="tel:1649239">1649239</a> time=<a href="tel:1635354611">1635354611</a> user_id=8429]
How can this be?
We have the safest roads in Europe, and they get safer every year.
We are told.
There are roads that feel great to ride on, but have a poor safety record, and, there are roads that feel horrible to ride on, but are actually very safe.
I have had more 'issues' on country lanes than fast straight A roads. For *me* country lanes no longer feel comfortable, but they are safe. Main rural A roads, lightly trafficked, feel comfortable to me, but are probably more risky according to the statistics.
[/quote]
I thought that country lanes had been proved to be the most dangerous!
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
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Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
Most casualties per mile cycled?Phil Fouracre wrote: ↑27 Oct 2021, 8:06pm
I thought that country lanes had been proved to be the most dangerous!
Most casualties per mile driven?
More cyclists hit than on motorways!
Are there more injuries but fewer deaths? Or vice versa?
Simple statements like "most dangerous" need much qualification.
Britain may have fewer deaths per head of population, but children are more at risk than in most of Europe.
We kill fewer cyclists than the Netherlands per head of population, but rather more per mile ridden.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
You are right that he was wrong - maybe I'm wrong in saying the national speed limit is 60mph (maybe it's 50).
Personally I'd like to see the National speed limit reduced to 30mph and faster speeds only allowed when it is deemed safe.
For the most part the signage would already exist for this.
My driving speed on a narrow lane is usually about 20mph or lower - even so I often find myself having to brake hard or take avoiding action when confronted by a motorist travelling at an unsafe speed - ( I usually avoid driving on these lanes).
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Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
My point was that regardless of what the speed limit is, that does not give anyone an entitlement to drive at that speed.ANTONISH wrote: ↑28 Oct 2021, 9:11amYou are right that he was wrong - maybe I'm wrong in saying the national speed limit is 60mph (maybe it's 50).
Personally I'd like to see the National speed limit reduced to 30mph and faster speeds only allowed when it is deemed safe.
For the most part the signage would already exist for this.
My driving speed on a narrow lane is usually about 20mph or lower - even so I often find myself having to brake hard or take avoiding action when confronted by a motorist travelling at an unsafe speed - ( I usually avoid driving on these lanes).
Essentially he should have been driving at a safe speed and that doesn't bear any relation to the speed limit.
That driver was completely wrong in his assumption.
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
I don't peddle bikes.
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Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
I agree the national speed limit is now a bit of an absurdity and needs revision, but it is mainly to result of history when speed limits were confined to mainly urban areas. I can remember he days when there wasn't a national speed limit at all, but that was when most cars couldn't travel at 60mph.
Your idea of signing roads where vehicles can travel faster rather than vice-versa is a good one and might reduce this "entitlement" misconception that is in the heads of some drivers, although that might still result in drivers travelling too fast. At least it would do away with the misconception that 60 mph is OK for a narrow twisty lane.
Your idea of signing roads where vehicles can travel faster rather than vice-versa is a good one and might reduce this "entitlement" misconception that is in the heads of some drivers, although that might still result in drivers travelling too fast. At least it would do away with the misconception that 60 mph is OK for a narrow twisty lane.
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
I don't peddle bikes.
Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
I've just seen your latest post and I think we concurMikeF wrote: ↑28 Oct 2021, 9:51amMy point was that regardless of what the speed limit is, that does not give anyone an entitlement to drive at that speed.ANTONISH wrote: ↑28 Oct 2021, 9:11amYou are right that he was wrong - maybe I'm wrong in saying the national speed limit is 60mph (maybe it's 50).
Personally I'd like to see the National speed limit reduced to 30mph and faster speeds only allowed when it is deemed safe.
For the most part the signage would already exist for this.
My driving speed on a narrow lane is usually about 20mph or lower - even so I often find myself having to brake hard or take avoiding action when confronted by a motorist travelling at an unsafe speed - ( I usually avoid driving on these lanes).
Essentially he should have been driving at a safe speed and that doesn't bear any relation to the speed limit.
That driver was completely wrong in his assumption.
At the moment a driver observed travelling at say 50mph (too fast) on a narrow lane with a national speed limit hasn't committed an offence.
It's only a few years since the club cyclists near Rhyll were mown down by a motorist travelling at the speed limit and who hit black ice.
I would say he was driving too fast for the conditions but the only penalty he incurred was £150 for having three defective tyres which were deemed not to have contributed to the "accident".
It's probably difficult to have a law of driving to the conditions - the only thing I've seen like that is in France where motorway speed limits are changed when there is rain. Hence IMO we should have lower limits and greater enforcement - of course that won't happen.
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Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
Define "country lanes"!Phil Fouracre wrote: ↑27 Oct 2021, 8:06pmI thought that country lanes had been proved to be the most dangerous!
A single-track tiny lane up on a Welsh hillside... I feel 100% safe on that. I'll swing out to the centre of the lane before bends to get a better view of any (slow) approaching traffic, but otherwise no problem.
A rat-run Buckinghamshire two-lane curvy country road full of satnav-inspired traffic? Not going there unless I really have to.
(For some reason there is an absolute infestation of the latter in the Bicester-Thame-Aylesbury-Leighton Buzzard belt. I don't know whether it's standards of road construction, or patterns of settlement, or the demographic of local car drivers, but it really does have some of the most horrible unclassified roads.)
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Re: i'm no longer comfortable on the roads
Unfortunately we measure road safety in terms of number of people killed or seriously injured, but ignoring the number of people choosing not to use their preferred mode of travel on the roads, be it walking, cycling, horse riding etc for reasons of personal safety.Mike Sales wrote: ↑27 Oct 2021, 8:16pm Most casualties per mile cycled? Most casualties per mile driven? Are there more injuries but fewer deaths? Or vice versa?Simple statements like "most dangerous" need much qualification.
The Road Danger Reduction Forum attempts to address this issue.
https://rdrf.org.uk/road-danger-reduction/