Joe Low

Unlikely, they just told me to shut up for bit and down we came.

I've got no problems with commuters coming towards me on bikes as they're slow-moving and always make space & thats how they ride. I also make space for them. My initial view of a recreational cyclist doing the same thing would be that they were stupid; and I would put the onus on them to avoid me. Am not saying i'm right, just highlighting my prejudices.

I was in the passenger seat of a minibus and it was around 7am. I was gobsmacked at the huge volume of cycle traffic over there - 100s of cyclists. And, of course, once you have more than 6 cyclists together we become very difficult to deal with. I understand it but wanted to show what goes on. The Northcliff vehicle, i think, was trying to make space to get out of our way so the photo is unfair from that point of view. Looking down the road you can see its being treated like a race with road closure. I'd been doing this, which was a lot of fun, but looks like a limp condom after the event:

Was getting frustrated with this lot on Saturday thinking the dotted yellow lane is a cycle lane, but maybe i'm wrong (its only January so its a bit early in the year for me to be wrong, but who knows?)? Its in the Cradle and there are a lot of snapped-off plastic remnants along the edge of the lane which I guess were markers in a previous life. Altogether, very odd.

But that's great then, isnt it? You're thinking of them and vice versa so everyone's happy. To have the faster rider bearing down on the uphill rider with the threat of heavy impact, expecting the uphill rider to the situation safe is crazy. In civilized countries pedestrians and cyclists and motorcyclists have more rights on the road than cars because of their vulnerability. I was surprised to find thats not the case here and this thread kinda mirrors that.

You might like it that way, but it goes against the general conventions and MTB bodies views as quoted earlier.

Hi F&M, generally we have the attention spans of goldfish, so in terms of message lengths, less is more. Maybe summarise the point you are trying to make.

Ok, not comprehensive but gets the ball rolling. Take your own pedals regardless (if you're taking your shoes!) If your bike is worth something go hardcase; carton to and fro and during is a risk. Andy249 and Ian J have both ridden in France recently. You could pm them if they dont come on here.

The last i saw were up to 2004 when it was running around 300 per year.

Aha so maybe you're following the four noble truths and the eight-fold path. Seems reasonable.

Thanks, its mutual Bob. Funny thing was, the Mrs was with me and she's not a cyclist but is a motorist and she wasnt bothered with them at all "nice that they're getting out, but some of them are funny shapes" she said. So, maybe its me, but i've never seen roads filled with social cyclists like that; and I remembered the to-do on the Hub over Cradle residents, and i think the residents are probably right. The Lab, Antoo, were a disorderly mob when i saw them this morning, like most of the others. But then I am of the opinion that no club ride will ever comply with the law; and we have to work within that limitation as to how far the law gets broken.

I drove through the Cradle this morning, absolute plagues of stupid cyclists including Northcliff and the Lab, I have no guilt whatsoever about what I do on the roads in a car or on a bicycle after seeing that. Mostly it involved ignoring the cycle lanes and having slow-moving back-up vehicles where there are cycle lanes and cyclists filling the road. The road past Maropeng looked like the warm-up for a race with road closure. Oh and there was the one guy in the open peeing on the side of the road. I'll be picking and choosing my red lights and stop signs with a new confidence. And anyone trying to get motorists to like them by the way they cycle in Gauteng, is wasting their time.

Big fleas, have little fleas, with smaller fleas on their backs. So, why dont we ban pedestrians on the highways first?

Thats good, I came across a group of japanese soldiers in there who thought the war was still on.

You're nine times larger on the one, wouldnt know if you're overcompensating.

Lazy journalism, slow time of year for news, re-heat any old crap and dont check too closely. But i'm still willing to be wrong if it turns out that way - just like to question things a little.

Somebody call?

Sorry, I dont have the reserves of compassion for this long-dead doggie, there's too much currently being flashed across my tv and computer screen to be able to go back to the archives and weep. I think i can manage to maintain a permanent outrage over the holocaust though, it being a bit larger in the scheme of things. The main point, though, is the objection to being manipulated by the media and pressured to run with the mob. Bobbie is a long-term hubber from Kzn who's daughter is a junior with Mr Price - she was canvassing for votes for the Spar sports awards a couple of months back. Do you really always stop at all the red lights on Atlas?

Hey look TNT - its pretty lazy to go getting steamed up about last year's dead dog story - if it is. I do think tying dogs (or people) to bumpers and driving away is a bad thing and people ought to be held accountable if they do it. I'm more complaining about the knee-jerking, mob mentality which i find very disturbing. Bobbie saved a horse this week from an abusive owner, after a lot of focused effort - not this lynch-mob venting that does nothing.

This is an interesting post on Twitter: http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/3016092067/4ccd6b72cf9919cd4ac1ef122655a5ad_normal.jpeg @PigSpotter ツ @PigSpotter This pic doing the rounds of Mr Bhembe from Rustenburg dragging an dog is from LAST YEAR January. #Murderer 23 hours ago via UberSocial Dont know if its true yet. You see, to me, there are sickos who love to look for stories to be outraged by and then wallow in them with like (small) minded folk. You can feel the perverse pleasure in the posts, such that the facts dont really matter. Still keeping an open mind on this side - how about you?

Quite a scary level of aggression in the title and a lot of the posts when the details of this arent yet known. Am very glad the Hub has no power, a lot of us would be dead before the explanations could be given. It would be interesting to find out what happened wouldnt it before we "kill this sicko"? Sorry to be reasonable.

But of course its safe if you slow down and have a look.

I dont have to follow the law. I have to follow the law or accept the consequences. The consequences here are: personal safety state-imposed sanctions peer- pressure and community approval I'm happy with my judgments and have lost a good couple of club rides by stopping at lights when I thought it was unsafe/unreasonable to others. I ride in the yellow lane - it's illegal I ride without a bell - it's illegal Life isnt black and white

blah blah blah - 1 dimensional response and, of course, I dont have to follow the laws of the road. Am just being honest and realistic. There's no point on a Sunday afternoon stopping at a red light on Atlas that lets traffic into Denel which is shut. What did scare the bejeesus out of me was the Lido group on Saturday with their mass right-hand turns on and off the R550. We werent following the law at any point on that ride - no cycle club ever will.