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Things I've learnt from commuting


zeabre

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So did a commute with two others this morning.  Smashed 7 PR's this morning.

 

The remarkable thing of this is its a rout that you do daily.  To get a PR needs effort beyond your best.  Yet in a group you smash them.  I was considering our pace slow, until I checked Strava

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Learnt once again that you cannot POSSIBLY predict what a pedestrian on his cellphone will do when he suddenly sees you, get a moerse fright and jump.......but today I had a first.......a polite APOLOGY! Well, I NEVER! Luckily nobody was hurt, but it was a close thing! Got home in one piece and peace! :)  

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Learnt once again that you cannot POSSIBLY predict what a pedestrian on his cellphone will do when he suddenly sees you, get a moerse fright and jump.......but today I had a first.......a polite APOLOGY! Well, I NEVER! Luckily nobody was hurt, but it was a close thing! Got home in one piece and peace! :)  

 

Here it is open season when pedestrians are walking on cyclepaths, but you better behave when it is a pedestrian walkway.

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I'm sure that anyone who has some Cape Town classic routes, or the Argus, knows the part between Clovelly and the Kalk Bay robots. It was there, where I this morning overtook a car on the left, on the 'invisible' cycle lane as I always like to think it. There was plenty of space. The guy that I overtake starts hooting at me, I turn around to ask what's up and he starts gesturing things. So I slow down, so we can chat, he pulls up and shakes his head. I always lose it in those instances, and I start showing a finger. I've had more bits of road rage on this part, and what I like about the route, is that I always catch up, because of the traffic being slow - or because of robots. 

 

He stops at Olympia, right behind the robots. He opens the window and tells me that I shouldn't get so aggressive, this and that, lalala, and tells me that he hooted because he wants to let me know that the was there and that it was narrow. I knew that, I was there too. I ask him where his left mirror is. Surely, he would be less surprised if he saw me coming. He said a cyclist rid it off. He draws the I'm-a-cyclist-as-well-card and goes on saying that it is illegal for me to overtake on my 'invisible' cycle lane. Is this true? 

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Huh? Were you sharing the lane?

There isn't a cycle lane. It's just that meter of space that there is between the pavement and traffic. I just called it that way to give it a name. 

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Which one of you mad bastards was riding along Otto Du Plessis at 0540 this morning?

In the traffic!

 

Very speedy I must say, but a few cars came a bit too close for comfort.

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There isn't a cycle lane. It's just that meter of space that there is between the pavement and traffic. I just called it that way to give it a name. 

 

What is it to him? Where must you ride then?

 

He just got a fright because he was not paying attention.

Edited by Belgarath
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I'm sure that anyone who has some Cape Town classic routes, or the Argus, knows the part between Clovelly and the Kalk Bay robots. It was there, where I this morning overtook a car on the left, on the 'invisible' cycle lane as I always like to think it. There was plenty of space. The guy that I overtake starts hooting at me, I turn around to ask what's up and he starts gesturing things. So I slow down, so we can chat, he pulls up and shakes his head. I always lose it in those instances, and I start showing a finger. I've had more bits of road rage on this part, and what I like about the route, is that I always catch up, because of the traffic being slow - or because of robots. 

 

He stops at Olympia, right behind the robots. He opens the window and tells me that I shouldn't get so aggressive, this and that, lalala, and tells me that he hooted because he wants to let me know that the was there and that it was narrow. I knew that, I was there too. I ask him where his left mirror is. Surely, he would be less surprised if he saw me coming. He said a cyclist rid it off. He draws the I'm-a-cyclist-as-well-card and goes on saying that it is illegal for me to overtake on my 'invisible' cycle lane. Is this true? 

 

It is illegal to pass on the left unless a vehicle is turning right and the lane is wide enough for you to pass safely on the left.

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Talking about road rage... yesterday on my commute home a car overtook another car in opposite direction to me and was thus coming straight at me... so instead of hugging the pavement to the left I uncleated and stuck out my foot taking off the car's mirror... am I an asshole or is there a better way to handle this?!

 

Traffic was bad enough so he/she couldn't chase me down and potentially kill me...

 

In 2.5 years this is only the second mirror I took off - the first one was a car reversing the yellow lane (which I was cycling in) as traffic was bad and he wanted to reverse 1km back to the previous intersection against oncoming traffic...

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