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To the Roadie on the West Coast Road Last night


Hairy

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Dear Mr Professional Cyclist (Readers will understand later why I use this as reference) who was wearing a blue top and cycling on the West Coast Road last night (2013.05.23) with no lights at all on your bicycle.

I would think that you would/should know better, after all the deaths that we have had on the roads over the years and still do to this day, please could you elaborate on the following:

So we see a roadie with no lights, when it was dark in the evening already, and cycling in the road, not on the cycle lane.

 

We exchanged words in passing (He at least stopped at the red traffic light whilst on the road), he got upset and when he caught up to us made the grand statement of "bye beginners", so off he went riding hard out the saddle .......... This could not be left as such, so the "pro" was pursued and dropped by a rider wearing a 6kg back pack and riding a 150mm trail bike with knobblies. After the "pro" was dropped I slowed down to wait for the other "beginner riders" like myself and the "pro" eventually came past.

 

My point being this "pro" guy stands a good chance of being in an accident and is also the kind of rider the general population refer to as a "typical cyclist".

 

So Mr Pro, if you are out there I would appreciate your feedback.

 

Hairy

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Aaaaaaah commuter racing!!!! He was no pro Hairy...

 

He's one of those types that likes to sprint past people on lesser bikes. He is all about making an impression. Had a chap who I used to encounter on the road many times back in the day when I did the run to town and back to West Beach. He was all about coming by at warp speed! That was until one morning I left a couple of minutes later and fell in behind him without him knowing. He would take his time riding up behind other cyclists and when he was 10 meters off their back wheel stand up and sprint to the moment he was on them and quickly sit down trying to appear as if that was his constant pace, keep it up for about 400m and then progressively bleed all the speed back off. His 'intervals' were tough and interesting as much as his motivation for doing them seemed dumb@ss though!

 

Which stretch was he doing on the road??

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Aaaaaaah commuter racing!!!! He was no pro Hairy...

 

He's one of those types that likes to sprint past people on lesser bikes. He is all about making an impression. Had a chap who I used to encounter on the road many times back in the day when I did the run to town and back to West Beach. He was all about coming by at warp speed! That was until one morning I left a couple of minutes later and fell in behind him without him knowing. He would take his time riding up behind other cyclists and when he was 10 meters off their back wheel stand up and sprint to the moment he was on them and quickly sit down trying to appear as if that was his constant pace, keep it up for about 400m and then progressively bleed all the speed back off. His 'intervals' were tough and interesting as much as his motivation for doing them seemed dumb@ss though!

 

Which stretch was he doing on the road??

We met up with him at the start of the Sunset beach section, so he came from the Paddocks side over the bridge with no shoulder what so ever and no lights.

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Sorry that your commute consists of so much tar.... :P

Ass ;) ... our commute in the morning though took us on the mountain ;)
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Dear Mr Professional Cyclist (Readers will understand later why I use this as reference) who was wearing a blue top and cycling on the West Coast Road last night (2013.05.23) with no lights at all on your bicycle.

 

I would think that you would/should know better, after all the deaths that we have had on the roads over the years and still do to this day, please could you elaborate on the following:

 

So we see a roadie with no lights, when it was dark in the evening already, and cycling in the road, not on the cycle lane.

 

We exchanged words in passing (He at least stopped at the red traffic light whilst on the road), he got upset and when he caught up to us made the grand statement of "bye beginners", so off he went riding hard out the saddle .......... This could not be left as such, so the "pro" was pursued and dropped by a rider wearing a 6kg back pack and riding a 150mm trail bike with knobblies. After the "pro" was dropped I slowed down to wait for the other "beginner riders" like myself and the "pro" eventually came past.

 

My point being this "pro" guy stands a good chance of being in an accident and is also the kind of rider the general population refer to as a "typical cyclist".

 

So Mr Pro, if you are out there I would appreciate your feedback.

 

Hairy

What a chop! But I must say I do love dropping roadies on my knobblies:)
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Why kind of Blue Top ? I was riding that day in blue at that area. Defiantly never said those words. Small chance its me though, magic shine + Two laser tail-lights...

 

Doubt it was dropped :ph34r:

 

Theirs way to many commuters riding fancy bikes, without any lights. Gets pretty dangerous with all the mist.

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Hi Leg Breaker

 

No idea what a pelotrain top looks like to be honest.

 

Funny thing, we saw the same chap again earlier this week on the road again and going in the opposite direction to us with no lights on his bike.

 

Bloody stupid!

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Something that I fail to understand are those cyclists who ride on the main West coast road and yet there is the fantastic cycle track that was built for us alongside the main road with no traffic! Is it a macho thing or some sort of a death wish. This main west coast road is a dragstrip of note and especially on sundays it is never policed.

The Cape Town authorities have provided these cycle tracks and lanes for our safety, use them!

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