Thread of Shame

[Patchelicious]

So because the guy was riding like an idiot we immediately assume he is going to get aggro if you advise him to ride more towards the left?

 

Thats not what I said, I asked a question, here let me repeat what I ASKED... "Do you think that confronting those two would have helped or possibly made it worse?

[OneLove]

So what about the groups of 30 that ride through Camps Bay on a Sunday morning? They take up whole lanes and motorists don't seem to mind (atleast they not hooting).

[droo]

I hope Admin has a crap load of capacity on his servers because if we are going to take pics of knobs doing knobby things then this thread should grow to the biggest one on the Hub.

Yayyyyyyy......

And that's just going to be Monday between 7 and 8am.

Dare I say 80 knobs per hour in traffic? 

Cell phone talking, red light skipping, stop street skipping, speeding, white line overtaking, cycling next to each other, yellow lane driving.  The list goes on.  And on.  And on.

 

Does not matter what your mode of transport is.  If you are a knob, there is not much one can do about it.

My experience over the past 20+ years of cycling is that nothing much helps by posting pics on the interwebs about it.

 

Sadly, we have quite a lot of knobs in SA.........

 

Imagine we lived in a society where there would be consequence to your actions.  Cycling next to each other....jail

Skipping red light.....jail

Talking on your phone......jail

etc etc.

Steeling a katrilion zumacent from tax payers....jail

Would it not be great?

 

aaaahhhhh.....a man can dream....

 

Thread done.

 

80 knobs per hour... 

[Patchelicious]

So what about the groups of 30 that ride through Camps Bay on a Sunday morning? They take up whole lanes and motorists don't seem to mind (atleast they not hooting).

Most drivers as actually cool people, just like most cyclists, so its not all doom n gloom.

 

However if you want to meet some right knobs, go ride that Cedar road where the pic was taken. Fourways ma tjina!

[shawnvan]

I'll name & shame: 

The CycleLab "C" or "D" bunch riding in Cradle on Sat - a group of about 100 people, riding slow as ****, 5 abreast (with none riding in the left "cycle lane" portion) and taking up the entire lane.  Making cars and other cyclists have to wait behind them and get helluva frustrated and take risks to overtake a group so big (into oncoming traffic and other cyclists).   When I shouted at the group leaders to ask their minions cycle on the left, they just gave me a "Ja ja, whatever..." response.

 

I get it's the week before 947 with about 10,000 newbies cycling, but CycleLab, please:

(i)  break that group up into 3 or 4 smaller groups;

(ii) ride 2 abreast!

 

I watched a taxi have wait behind that bunch riding at 20kph for like 5 min before being able to pass.  Its that kind of *** that make vehicle drivers get annoyed and put all cyclists' safety at risk.
 

[Patchelicious]

I'll name & shame:

The CycleLab "C" or "D" bunch riding in Cradle on Sat - a group of about 100 people, riding slow as ****, 5 abreast (with none riding in the left "cycle lane" portion) and taking up the entire lane. Making cars and other cyclists have to wait behind them and get helluva frustrated and take risks to overtake a group so big (into oncoming traffic and other cyclists). When I shouted at the group leaders to ask their minions cycle on the left, they just gave me a "Ja ja, whatever..." response.

 

I get it's the week before 947 with about 10,000 newbies cycling, but CycleLab, please:

(i) break that group up into 3 or 4 smaller groups;

(ii) ride 2 abreast!

 

I watched a taxi have wait behind that bunch riding at 20kph for like 5 min before being able to pass. Its that kind of *** that make vehicle drivers get annoyed and put all cyclists' safety at risk.

 

CycleLab and the other big clubs often get earful about this, as they should.

 

I know a few of their marshals, and they are generally really good guys, who do want their groups to behave correctly. I have moaned to them about this before, and had a long chat to Andrew about it, and they genuinely don’t approve of this.

 

There is a responsibility on them to keep their club members in line, but there is also a responsibility on individuals in that group to ride like decent people.

 

We must not fall into the trap that as soon as a douchebag rider puts on a club shirt that his behavior becomes somebody else’s responsibility.

[Escapee..]

Thats not what I said, I asked a question, here let me repeat what I ASKED... "Do you think that confronting those two would have helped or possibly made it worse?

 

I dont know the individuals and I dont know how the OP would have engaged with the two other riders.

 

If it was a confrontation it would have definitely made it worse.

 

Maybe I live in a dream world where not every person is an asshole.

[Fat Boab]

CycleLab and the other big clubs often get earful about this, as they should.

 

I know a few of their marshals, and they are generally really good guys, who do want their groups to behave correctly. I have moaned to them about this before, and had a long chat to Andrew about it, and they genuinely don’t approve of this.

 

There is a responsibility on them to keep their club members in line, but there is also a responsibility on individuals in that group to ride like decent people.

 

We must not fall into the trap that as soon as a douchebag rider puts on a club shirt that his behavior becomes somebody else’s responsibility.

 

Something about this doesn't scan correctly. I've seen Lead Rider's of the club mentioned, as an example, on Saturday and at other times, ride at the front right of the group a metre of 2 outside the cycle lane. Just a random moment of avoiding debris?

 

Also, surely the marshalls can stop the group, point out offenders and hand out a few red cards if required to reinforce the need for good behaviour and compliance? if not, why not?

[NordicElf]

CycleLab and the other big clubs often get earful about this, as they should.

 

I know a few of their marshals, and they are generally really good guys, who do want their groups to behave correctly. I have moaned to them about this before, and had a long chat to Andrew about it, and they genuinely don’t approve of this.

 

There is a responsibility on them to keep their club members in line, but there is also a responsibility on individuals in that group to ride like decent people.

 

We must not fall into the trap that as soon as a douchebag rider puts on a club shirt that his behavior becomes somebody else’s responsibility.

 

 

And a lot of the time, those cyclelab groups start smallish at the shop and by the time they reach the caves, they've picked up another 10 or 20 riders who didn't hear the briefing before the group left the shop. Yes, every group gets a lecture on how to ride, stay 2 abreast, be courteous, don't half wheel etc.

 

Another issue I've seen, the CL group is passing 2 or 3 riders abreast, and then some other group over takes. It can look like the CL group is riding more than 2 abreast. It's gets pretty hairy in the Cradle! With oncoming traffic and other groups in the other direction. 

 

In this pre-947 silly season it's just hectic. I still rock up on a Saturday and I do my best to ride neatly and considerately. It doesn't matter though, we're riding 2 abreast and are breaking the rules of the road. No matter how un-jop-like we try to ride.

[Eddy Gordo]

Duties of cyclists
3. (1) A cyclist riding on a public road must—
(a) if the road has a pedal cycle lane, ride only in the pedal cycle lane and may not ride on any other portion of a public road except when crossing the road; or
(b) if there is no pedal cycle lane, ride—
(i) to the left of the left edge of the roadway; or
(ii) on the roadway, keeping as close as practicable to the left edge of the roadway.

 

I dont know why people insist on riding in the road, especially in peak hour traffic. However 5am in the morning is kind of understandable, but still.

 

http://www.bicyclecapetown.org/bike-law/rules-of-the-road/

[shawnvan]

CycleLab and the other big clubs often get earful about this, as they should.

 

I know a few of their marshals, and they are generally really good guys, who do want their groups to behave correctly. I have moaned to them about this before, and had a long chat to Andrew about it, and they genuinely don’t approve of this.

 

There is a responsibility on them to keep their club members in line, but there is also a responsibility on individuals in that group to ride like decent people.

 

We must not fall into the trap that as soon as a douchebag rider puts on a club shirt that his behavior becomes somebody else’s responsibility.

 

Agreed.  My main gripe is that I could tell that 50%+ of the group were novices (riding on shiny new bikes, wearing running shoes, etc) and probably don't even know what they should or should not be doing.  It also looked like there there was a minimal number of marshals for the size of group.

[Jewbacca]

Crucify them! Crucify them!.....

 

I had to go to work yesterday at about half past nine ish to wrap some things up. Perfect time for all the roadie teams/groups wrapping up their Sunday morning rides. My work route is Meadowridge to Muizenberg down Main road.....

 

I saw groups of 30 odd blatantly riding through red lights, guys 3 abreast on a shoulderless section. People just overtaking slower groups without looking if there are cars coming. so much more. My favourite was a group of guys in team branded matchey kit all riding super fast between lights then stopping as a train in the middle of the intersection... it was a veritable mine field of poor decisions and terrible road sense.

 

How these guys get home in one piece is a testament to some serious patience and acceptance from the drivers.

 

It's DC season, followed by tourist/holiday season followed by CTCT season. After that the actual roadies ride at 04:30 and the pseudo cyclist go back to drinking beer and swearing at the rugby on TV. I'm chilled, but sjoe, there is some questionable behaviour going on out there

[Fat Boab]

And a lot of the time, those cyclelab groups start smallish at the shop and by the time they reach the caves, they've picked up another 10 or 20 riders who didn't hear the briefing before the group left the shop. Yes, every group gets a lecture on how to ride, stay 2 abreast, be courteous, don't half wheel etc.

 

 

To be fair, I hadn't thought of this situation where non-club members jump in the group, with perhaps less than perfect manners......good point.

[Letum911]

So what about the groups of 30 that ride through Camps Bay on a Sunday morning? 

 

You get bonus points if you hit 5 in a row!!

 

On a more serious note. I fully agree with OP, on his original post. 'Tis the season where every idiot that owns a bike is out on the road, sadly many of them with limited to zero common sense. I almost ran over a few guys yesterday morning before I entered PWC Mountain park, they stick to the left, and carry on straight over the turning lane.

 

How one goes about fixing this, I have no clue!!! 

[Wet Ears]

Cyclelab group rides are utterly ridiculous - took up an entire lane on Sat am on Cedar Rd with one or two numb nuts actually in the second lane!

 

Also riding 3 abreast through suburb of Magaliessig with little to no opportunity for motorists to pass. Doing the image of road cyclists no favours.

[NordicElf]

To be fair, I hadn't thought of this situation where non-club members jump in the group, with perhaps less than perfect manners......good point.

 

 

This was how I actually ended up joining the club - I was one of those group crashers.... but I'd already been schooled in proper group riding etiquette. But it's really hard to ride properly in a big group like that, if you come across a slower group or obstacle in the road without a front vehicle and a follow vehicle and radio communication between them and the group, it's really difficult to move out safely for the group. That's with everyone knowing what to expect and actually being willing to ride like that.

 

But maybe smaller groups would go a long way to improving the situation.