Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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EdinburghFixed
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by EdinburghFixed »

A cyclist is about the same size as a fridge. So when people say they 'couldn't be seen', I always picture a black fridge/freezer in the road and wonder if anyone would really say it was invisible. :roll:
Edwards
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by Edwards »

The same size as a fridge freezer. I measured my fridge nearly 20inch across so 40 both sides with no depth. Not even Chris Hoys thighs are that big. Obesity must be really bad in Scotland is it all those deep fried Mars Bars. :wink:
Thanks for the laugh though :lol:
Keith Edwards
I do not care about spelling and grammar
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EdinburghFixed
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by EdinburghFixed »

My shoulders are about as wide as the fridge door (must be all that caber tossing :D), and I'm just as tall (if not taller) when I'm in the saddle. Depending on whether I have panniers or not, the bottom half is either wider, or a little less wide. That's close enough for me - but of course it depends on the size of one's fridge, and physique.

Maybe we should do a forum poll?
niggle
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by niggle »

EdinburghFixed wrote:My shoulders are about as wide as the fridge door (must be all that caber tossing :D), and I'm just as tall (if not taller) when I'm in the saddle. Depending on whether I have panniers or not, the bottom half is either wider, or a little less wide. That's close enough for me - but of course it depends on the size of one's fridge, and physique.

Maybe we should do a forum poll?


We have a tall type larder fridge and I could probably fit inside it, but I don't think I could fit my bike in as well, despite it being a small wheel folder. Also tyre tracks in the butter would probably upset the wife.....
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by [XAP]Bob »

But fridges don't move.

And besides we all know that thin wheels make light bend around cyclists...

I know that when driving I can spot non black cyclists more easily than black cyclists. Although they only really turn invisible at night, when they put their hoods up and detach all reflectors (detection of cyclists by eclipse of oncoming headlights is unnerving)

Alot of cyclists could do more to make themselves obvious on the road.
Many more than that number, however, could help themselves by not gutter riding.
A lot of motorists would do well to remember that there are other vehicles on the road.

The gubbinment would do well not to release "look for bikes" adverts where the bike doesn't appear in the first section, and is therefore either doing 70+mph in a town, or is simply omitted by CG.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
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glueman
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by glueman »

It's all part of the same phenomenon, road user's travelling in their own bubble of certainty. Drivers left hooking cyclists, cyclists using the inside track as a separate lane. A bit of thought on both sides would eliminate the problem.
On a bike I assume drivers will turn without indicating and I'm rarely disappointed. The place I feel most exposed is a right turn at a T-junction when there's little traffic about. Car turns right from my left and cuts the whole corner because he/she hasn't seen car shaped object. Lost count of the amount of times a driver has had to swerve around me at the last minute and there's damn all a rider can do about it.
Tom Richardson
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by Tom Richardson »

EdinburghFixed wrote:A cyclist is about the same size as a fridge. So when people say they 'couldn't be seen', I always picture a black fridge/freezer in the road and wonder if anyone would really say it was invisible. :roll:


If you put a black fridge freezer in the road out here it would be smashed to a pulp within an hour (and it would be the fridges fault for not indicating its intention to stay where it is!)

Mind you a fluro yellow fridge with flashing lights wouldn't fare much better.
kwackers
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by kwackers »

Tom Richardson wrote:If you put a black fridge freezer in the road out here it would be smashed to a pulp within an hour (and it would be the fridges fault for not indicating its intention to stay where it is!)

Mind you a fluro yellow fridge with flashing lights wouldn't fare much better.


And yet - write "Police" on the side and there's decent chance it'd be a couple of weeks before it got hit.... How does that work?
Tom Richardson
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by Tom Richardson »

kwackers wrote:And yet - write "Police" on the side and there's decent chance it'd be a couple of weeks before it got hit.... How does that work?


yes, that ocurred to me too. I guess it brings the fear of possible consequences where everything else is unlikely to have any consequences. Thats how my magic black and white checked helmet band works. Drivers can spot me at half a mile where otherwise some don't see me at half a metre.
Edwards
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by Edwards »

I have just got back from a ride.
On an uphill coming back a pretty young woman passed me. After she had passed I did what I always do, I looked at her ankles (very slim) and calves (very nice good muscles). :)
Then I remembered this thread so hurried up to catch up a little.
I can honestly say (purely in reserch for this) her bum was not as wide as a fridge. :wink:

If asked by the other half "does my bum look dig in this"


Would you dare to reply "it looks as wide as a fridge" :roll:
Keith Edwards
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saudidave
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by saudidave »

As the OP may I say the following?

I was indicating left

Only extreme bloaters are as big as a fridge and this geezer was as thin as a racing snake

Whilst black is not a miracle fabric that renders you invisible, it is a generally accepted fact that dark clothes reduce your visibility and bright ones increase it. Ever heard of black Hi Vis jackets? Me neither.

The smart cyclist tends to avoid riding alongside and to the left of vehicles at junctions
kwackers
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by kwackers »

saudidave wrote:As the OP may I say the following?

I was indicating left

Only extreme bloaters are as big as a fridge and this geezer was as thin as a racing snake

Whilst black is not a miracle fabric that renders you invisible, it is a generally accepted fact that dark clothes reduce your visibility and bright ones increase it. Ever heard of black Hi Vis jackets? Me neither.

The smart cyclist tends to avoid riding alongside and to the left of vehicles at junctions


I'm afraid it's almost impossible for us forum denizens to come up with anything either in favour or against you, in fact ideally we'd need an independent witness to give us the facts straight.

All I can say is as a cyclist I've had a couple of similar run ins with drivers where they've overtaken coming up to a junction, indicator flashing and then cut straight across my path and then had the temerity to blame me! (Not that I'm claiming that's what happened here of course.)

However you're wrong about black - in daylight it's about the best colour you can have, and at night the worst - and that's the reason you don't see hi-vis black because when visibility is most important (i.e. nightime) it's crap.

Visibility is about contrast, a yellow hi-vis jacket is fairly low contrast especially when compared to the greys and greens of the word, black on the other hand stands out like a sore thumb.
saudidave
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by saudidave »

kwackers wrote:
However you're wrong about black - in daylight it's about the best colour you can have, and at night the worst - and that's the reason you don't see hi-vis black because when visibility is most important (i.e. nightime) it's crap.

Visibility is about contrast, a yellow hi-vis jacket is fairly low contrast especially when compared to the greys and greens of the word, black on the other hand stands out like a sore thumb.


Black is Black, it isn't bright, it isn't visible and it's the same colour as the tarmac behind the bloke wearing it. To suggest it is the best colour to have in daylight is utter twaddle. You are attempting to suggest the opposite of all known safety advice and that is just plain stupid. Are you suggesting that motorcyclists should wear black head to foot and turn off their headlights because dark objects are more visible? Go on a safety course! When they have black safety wear on building sites and school crossing attendants are dressed all in black with black lollipops to make them visible, some half wit might believe you, until then, go tell it to the fairies!
kwackers
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by kwackers »

saudidave wrote:
kwackers wrote:
However you're wrong about black - in daylight it's about the best colour you can have, and at night the worst - and that's the reason you don't see hi-vis black because when visibility is most important (i.e. nightime) it's crap.

Visibility is about contrast, a yellow hi-vis jacket is fairly low contrast especially when compared to the greys and greens of the word, black on the other hand stands out like a sore thumb.


B*LL***S! Black is Black, it isn't bright, it isn't visible and it's the same colour as the tarmac behind the bloke wearing it. To suggest it is the best colour to have in daylight is utter twaddle. You are attempting to suggest the opposite of all known safety advice and that is just plain stupid. Are you suggesting that motorcyclists should wear black head to foot and turn off their headlights because dark objects are more visible? Go on a safety course! When they have black safety wear on building sites and school crossing attendants are dressed all in black with black lollipops to make them visible, some half wit might believe you, until then, go tell it to the fairies!


Contrast isn't a difficult concept - hence headlights in the dark. When the sun's shining and all is bright, black is the new white.
Most tarmac isn't black - it's a mid grey dusty colour whereas black is - well black. Besides you'd have to be looking down on someone to see them against the tarmac, looking at them you see them against grass, trees, buildings the sun, none of which in general are black - they're all bright or mid contrast. Therefore you need something brighter (i.e. a light) or something darker to be visible, and since you can't have clothing that is lit up then it's generally regarded as better to go the other way.
A yellow or green hi-vis jacket virtually disappears in the daylight when placed against the greenery - does it not???

Most safety clothing is designed to be seen when it's generally difficult to see - i.e. at night, not when it's usually fairly easy for someone to see them - i.e. the day. Hence safety clothing will always be made with night time in mind and using this fact as an example of why black is a bad 'safety' colour for daytime use is a very poor argument.

As a motorcyclist I have my headlights on (brighter than mid contrast) and wear black (darker) best of both worlds eh? ;)

Nice of you to put forward a calm and collected well reasoned argument :wink: I can re-read your OP from a fresh perspective :lol:
saudidave
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Re: Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike this morning

Post by saudidave »

I am calm, collected and logical. you have a stupid aargument. dark clothes are not highly visible. bright clothes are. I will repeat myself ad nauseum. Hi vis is bright . a 3 yr old would confirm that along with her/his mother. Stop being silly and grow up .
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