Watch out for CJ 32166

[Big H*]

 

It's a good question, and one which I'm sure the hundreds of cyclists who ride that road (and many others like it down here) every day ask themselves all the time. The best answer I have is that I won't surrender to the four-wheel bullies. This is not just any road - it is beyond beautiful, and it's on my doorstep. I moved to Gordon's Bay in no small part so that I could ride that road. Sure, it's a risk - but I'm willing (along with many hundreds of other cyclists) to take it. CJ32166 just has to come to terms with it - hopefully before he or she kills someone.

 

Although I am from up north I have ridden that road with the Tandem as well as a sightseeing motorist. The local road users generally has no respect for either. I doubt it that even if you make a example of CJ32166 it will have any effect. I seem to remember that there are the triangular cyclist signboards up. Will it not be worthwhile to get a sponsor to erect more signs, not necessary the triangle warning signs, with authority approval of course. Start a awareness campaign while you are all fired up.

 

Keep us informed.

[Big H*]

 

They are still around. I've not heard of them becoming aggressive (at least on this side of the Bay) but the big danger is that they don't see you coming and run in front of you - not funny when you're doing 60km/h or more. I always bark at them to let them know I'm coming. Amuses the hell out of my buddies. But the closest I came to disaster was when a small antelope (maybe a dikdik) ran in front of me early one morning when I was going full tilt past Dappat se Gat (yup, that's what it's called) - it was just sheer luck that I missed it.

 

The Damara Dik-Dik (Madoqua damarensis) is only found in northern Namibia.

 

Most likely a Cape Grysbok (Raphicerus melanotis)

[Johny Bravo]

Send an email to the Paarl Post (cut and paste your post above) to warn cyclists in Paarl area about this vehicle. Hopefully by publishing his reg number someone will alert him to the fact that there is a warning out on his vehicle.

You are right in your thinking 100 percent. However I stay in Paarl. I get at least one traffic fine per week with my registration number on some or other piece of *** vehicle. Many false number plates in our neck of the woods. Chances are this poephol also has fake plates.

[GBguy]

Thanks to all for the inputs and concern. Schalk, I've also had a problem with another car carrying my registration number, so I wondered about that. The guy was certainly driving like the bakkie was stolen.

 

And thanks for the news on the antelope that almost undid me, Big H. I looked it up and it seems to fit. So if a CJ driver doesn't do me in, the next most likely suspect is a Cape grysbok. I think the signage on the road is something that needs attention, and I'll look for an opportunity to talk to our city councillor about it.

[lerouc]

Contact the district mail to help?

[walkerr]

GBGuy - tbh, if it was me and I had it on camera, I'd go to the cops for sure (and probably the local newspapers, and possibly try and find his employer too!). Lost count of the number of the times some idiot cut me/us too close when riding, or by carelessness and wished I had a Reg number and evidence to be able to report him/her. You worry they get angrier towards cyclists, but it seems they are already are if they did it twice in one day - how much closer do they need to get?

 

BTW - well done for getting a pic/plate, and shaming them here, and very glad you weren't knocked off

[GBguy]

GBGuy - tbh, if it was me and I had it on camera, I'd go to the cops for sure (and probably the local newspapers, and possibly try and find his employer too!). Lost count of the number of the times some idiot cut me/us too close when riding, or by carelessness and wished I had a Reg number and evidence to be able to report him/her. You worry they get angrier towards cyclists, but it seems they are already are if they did it twice in one day - how much closer do they need to get?

 

BTW - well done for getting a pic/plate, and shaming them here, and very glad you weren't knocked off

Walkerr - you make me feel guilty about not wanting to pursue a charge against this guy. It's just that, after a lifetime of activism of one sort or another I've come to the conclusion that it seldom makes a difference. Change, if it ever comes, starts "upstream" - in driver training, traffic laws and so on. At an individual level, the only time I've seen people change is when people they respect (friends, family) appeal to them, which is what I was hoping might happen here.

[walkerr]

Walkerr - you make me feel guilty about not wanting to pursue a charge against this guy. It's just that, after a lifetime of activism of one sort or another I've come to the conclusion that it seldom makes a difference. Change, if it ever comes, starts "upstream" - in driver training, traffic laws and so on. At an individual level, the only time I've seen people change is when people they respect (friends, family) appeal to them, which is what I was hoping might happen here.

 

No intention to make you feel guilty - I'd probably bash my head against it for a while, see no change, and feel the same. It's far from being just an "SA problem" too, you can see the polarised opinions of 2 UK papers here:

 

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2013/sep/22/cycling-daily-telegraph-lycra-louts

 

 

It just feels like nothing will ever get changed from above. If bad driving costs people their jobs or their liberty, or even just the respect of their social circle (for whatever the incident, not just cycling), then just maybe people will realise it's time to slow down and look out for other people's family members, not just worry about their own small circle.

[Reg Lizard]

I will lookout for this guy, I'm sure I've spotted him more than once on the N1 highway.

[dirtrider]

And also put your story here : http://www.roadhogs.co.za/

[Big H*]

I will lookout for this guy, I'm sure I've spotted him more than once on the N1 highway.

 

Please report back and tell us what you did when you found him

[GBguy]

... It's far from being just an "SA problem" too, you can see the polarised opinions of 2 UK papers here: http://www.theguardi...aph-lycra-louts.

This was a very interesting read - thanks for sharing, Walkerr. The following quote captures my/our dilemma really well (albeit in Daily Telegraph language): "It is the unique fate of those on bikes to not only bear the ignorant disdain of some people, but to also be reliant on a daily basis for those same people's proper care and attention to stay safe and in one piece."

 

In other words, our lives depend on people who hate us. Depressing thought.

[GBguy]

I will lookout for this guy, I'm sure I've spotted him more than once on the N1 highway.

Please report back and tell us what you did when you found him

x 2

[GLuvsMtb]

You are right in your thinking 100 percent. However I stay in Paarl. I get at least one traffic fine per week with my registration number on some or other piece of *** vehicle. Many false number plates in our neck of the woods. Chances are this poephol also has fake plates.

do these guys drive the same vehicle as yours with the same distinctive markings as well? The benefit here is the photographic evidence. I'd like to get more info on that camera for my own commuting safety.

[walkerr]

do these guys drive the same vehicle as yours with the same distinctive markings as well? The benefit here is the photographic evidence. I'd like to get more info on that camera for my own commuting safety.

 

Guessing this one:

 

http://www.actiongear.co.za/roadhawk-ride

 

 

The thing that strikes me about all these ones claiming to help security is they could go further e.g.

• In the case of a "near miss" - a simple/clear/big "snapshot the last few minutes" button should be on top, which allows recording to continue but preserves forever what just happened so it doesn't get looped over.
  
• An automatic "crash mode" - so that if you are unlucky enough to get run down, it goes automatically into a "don't loop over existing content" mode, meaning anything and everything already recorded will not get changed, but it will also keep recording in case the bike lying down catches the muppets license plate
  

Without these, there's a signficant chance valuable evidence could get lost

[GBguy]

Guessing this one:

 

http://www.actiongea...a/roadhawk-ride

 

 

The thing that strikes me about all these ones claiming to help security is they could go further e.g.

• In the case of a "near miss" - a simple/clear/big "snapshot the last few minutes" button should be on top, which allows recording to continue but preserves forever what just happened so it doesn't get looped over.
  
• An automatic "crash mode" - so that if you are unlucky enough to get run down, it goes automatically into a "don't loop over existing content" mode, meaning anything and everything already recorded will not get changed, but it will also keep recording in case the bike lying down catches the muppets license plate
  

Without these, there's a signficant chance valuable evidence could get lost

Yeah, that's the camera, kindly loaned to me by Keith Rampton at roadhawk.co.za. It records in 720i high-def to a micro-SD card. The supplied 8Gb card holds two hours of recording before it starts overwriting itself, but the built-in battery lasts for only 90 minutes - which means that it will run down before anything gets recorded over.

 

RoadHawk also make quite a range of cameras designed for mounting in cars or trucks, but the little RIDE can also be mounted in the car (it comes with a lot of different mounting brackets). If an external power supply is attached, it will record for as long as it has power. Using one of those 'power banks' that are on sale in most camping and outdoor stores now (I got one for R200), I found the RIDE will record for many hours. You can also upgrade the SD card to 32Gb, which would give you 8-hours of recording before it starts recording over the oldest images.

 

Two especially nice things about this camera - the images are all date- and time-stamped, as you can see in my pictures (which are just screen grabs, btw), and the video is stored in 5-minute segments, unlike some cameras which must be properly turned off or else they don't save anything! Oh, and it's genuinely tiny - mounted on my helmet I was really unaware of it. It costs R2,500, which isn't cheap, but if it records evidence of an accident or a crooked cop, it would be priceless.