Motorists vs Cyclists.... again

[FootballingCyclist]

1 hour ago, 'Dale said:

I can go pomp my mossels. 

 

Who is "My Mossels" and you're a brave man asking your wife to drop you off..

 

Jokes aside, Great news bud, You're a champion.

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, 'Dale said:

Lots of tears of gratitude and relief today, Peoples. So many achievements unlocked on my pathway to recovery after my visit to my orthopaedic surgeon.

Spoon cast and bandaging removed and my ankle is looking good after two weeks of post-op recovery. Stitches on my soft tissue wound around the right calf removed as well; about 40 - 50 of them, excluding about a dozen of internal stitches that will remain and eventually dissolve. 

I am welcoming in the rehabilitation phase with physiotherapy starting on Friday. It is also time to ask my wife to lift me to the gym with my moon boot and crutches for next 3 weeks so I can go pomp my mossels. 

I can feel my life force is slowly returning, like a tide coming back in, and I begin to look forward to the horizon.

A couple weeks swinging yourself around on those crutches you will be ripped, gone would be the roadie upper body build and in comes Mr Dale who looks like a trail rider

[Robbie Stewart]

I absolutely detest lower limb injuries. There are few things in life I hate more than crutches, so I feel your frustration 'Dale.

Well done on seeing the light in this dark cloud. I struggled with that during my recovery.

[MTBRIDER1234]

Not necessarily cycling-related related but still relevant. 

I lost a dear friend of mine in a motorcycle accident a few days ago when a driver failed to stop at a stop sign, causing my friend to have to swerve out of the way, and unfortunately an oncoming car hit him when he was swerving and took his life.

Drivers are far too distracted and don't give a sh*t about anyone not in a metal box. Being seen on a motorcycle is already hard, on a bicycle we are as close to invisible as you can get.

Whether road or MTB, what we all enjoy is dangerous. Just this year some people I ride with have broken both arms, broken both wrists, broken fingers and I believe a young man at the enduro also sustained a brain injury when he crashed. 

We must be more vigilant than ever. It seems like a piss-take to think that we do all these dangerous things on 2 wheels, yet we are arguably more likely to die from some idiot who is texting/distracted/drunk and behind the wheel.

Edited March 20 by MTBRIDER1234

[Cippo]

What you need is koesiesters. Im gna drop some off after Ramadaan. Heal up soon.

[Wannabe]

10 hours ago, Cippo said:

What you need is koesiesters. Im gna drop some off after Ramadaan. Heal up soon.

I'm staying not too far from Dale, will you drop some off here as well?

Don't tell me you'll leave it with him, I'll never see it then.

[DJR]

18 hours ago, 'Dale said:

Lots of tears of gratitude and relief today, Peoples. So many achievements unlocked on my pathway to recovery after my visit to my orthopaedic surgeon this morning.

Spoon cast, bandaging and stitches removed from my ankle and it is looking good after two weeks of post-op recovery. Stitches on my soft tissue wound around the right calf removed as well; about 40 - 50 of them, excluding about a dozen of internal stitches that will remain and eventually dissolve. 

I am welcoming in the rehabilitation phase with physiotherapy starting on Friday. It is also time to ask my wife to lift me to the gym with my moon boot and crutches for next 3 weeks so I can go pomp my mossels. 

I can feel my life force is slowly returning, like a tide coming back in, and I begin to look forward to the horizon. Grateful in ways that typed words cannot express.

Good to hear Dale. Vasbyt.

[DJR]

16 hours ago, Hairy said:

A couple weeks swinging yourself around on those crutches you will be ripped, gone would be the roadie upper body build and in comes Mr Dale who looks like a trail rider

Ha ha, you can be my spin doctor any day.

[Thomo]

4 hours ago, Wannabe said:

I'm staying not too far from Dale, will you drop some off here as well?

Don't tell me you'll leave it with him, I'll never see it then.

Does Cippo's missus know that she is fast becoming the koesiester supplier to BikeHub Cape Town. 😊

(shipping to the rest of the country coming soon)

[Mamil]

Winde has a standing invitation to ride with me through early Friday afternoon traffic from Camp's bay through to Southern suburbs - he can dispense with the blue light escort he enjoyed on his recent publicity stunt ride with the PPA and deal with the Clover truck accelerating towards the red robot as the cycle lane ends just outside the waterfront, and the SUV squeezing past in the cycle lane ...

The roads jammed packed with frustrated motorists in vehicles with obscene amounts of kilowatts idling in fumes of lung clogging diesel - the roads clogged like the arteries of the corpulent cayenne driver, whose rosy cheeks are patinaed with the telltale maroon lattice of high blood pressure the legacy of too many boozy business lunches while he hoots at the uber driver in his unroadworthy base model Toyota with broken mirrors and a scrape down the left hand door.

Meanwhile me and the frightened looking pick n pay e bike delivery rider, exchange glances in recognition of the danger each of us is in. He looks barely in control of his steed and very frightened of the mayhem blocking the intersection ahead of us. An indifferent traffic cop, himself looking like he'd rather be having another boerie roll, stands in the middle of the intersection, offering no indication of whether he's overriding the robots or just passing the time of day. His firearm is slung low on his hip which makes me think twice about telling him he's not really helping the situation.

What a mess.

Earlier I descended through Kommetjie and on the way out, completely unprovoked, an ageing hippie, scrawny and brown from too much THC and sun flips me the bird for no reason whatsoever other than I'm a mamil on a bike in what I think is a nice looking ciovita outfit. Clearly some cyclist or other has called him something rude before.

Later, on the Woodstock bridge, a little girl young enough to be my daughter flips me again cos I told her to wait one second while I filter to the left. I caught her 200 meters further on where the gridlock frustrated her progress again and told her she could be my daughter, and would she ride me off the road like that if I were her father. She gave some sassy retort, about me being old and I asked her where her mom was circa 2000 before leaving her behind. She overtook me again just as I entered my neighbourhood and I stopped next to her and gently reminded her to be careful who she flipped off because the next one may not be quite as nice as I am. To her credit she went red and coyly called me papa. 

And I was thinking about Dale and the rider knocked over near Simonstown the other week and just how dangerous this is and how simply it could be changed if there was political will to do so - all the resources devoted to making sure that cars have space, roads, parking, and fuel and .. and and ... when our population could be reaping the rewards of cycling - the quiet, the health, the cleaner air .... all the benefits we all know.

rant off - it was a lekker ride for on my Friday off.

But seriously Winde - stop mouthing off about how muich you support cycling and actually do something.

 

[Robbie Stewart]

40 minutes ago, Mamil said:

But seriously Winde - stop mouthing off about how muich you support cycling and actually do something.

This ☝🏻

I must also admit to enjoying this regaling of your ride. It was captivating. You clearly have a story telling talent there.

[Zebra]

Seems like Valley Road in Hout Bay, is going to have 6 weeks of possible stop/go road works, whilst the authorities (Urban Mobility Directorate) create a non-motorised transport infrastructure, SOUTHBOUND on Valley Road. (in my mind, Valeey roads runs somewhat East-West (rising and setting sun.., but anyhow!)

Mon March 25th until Friday 03rd May, including ‘weekend’ work from 09:00 until 15:30.

I see this as a brilliant initiative, since Valley rd is already used by many to avoid the lower slopes of C’Nek, for both road safety reasons, as well as other recent incidents near the Graveyard.

So sounds like a great initiative, and - this once - i am hoping any cynics give it a chance, before passing pre-judgement.

this is all i know, more as it happens.

Chris

[Robbie Stewart]

I almost got taken out this morning by a MyShiti bus, one of the big ones. I was approaching the circle by the Table Bay mall (I was there first by a rather large margin)  when the moegoe behind the wheel came from behind and just decided to cut the lanes to get his behemoth around the circle, and in the process he squeezed me towards the kerb while his rear wheels where trying their best to mount my back wheel. After k@kking myself and letting the mini behind me pass, and the aforementioned moegoe stopped at the bus stop just outside the circle, I decided to stop by his window and just about blixem it so hard that if it were glass it would have shattered. He jumped in his seat from fright, and I ripped into him because of the severe adrenaline spike I was encountering before I pedalled away.

It would seem that the bus drivers have prior experience driving minibus taxis because they drive just as bad with zero awareness of a cyclist flashing like a Christmas tree.

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I almost got taken out this morning by a MyShiti bus, one of the big ones. I was approaching the circle by the Table Bay mall (I was there first by a rather large margin)  when the moegoe behind the wheel came from behind and just decided to cut the lanes to get his behemoth around the circle, and in the process he squeezed me towards the kerb while his rear wheels where trying their best to mount my back wheel. After k@kking myself and letting the mini behind me pass, and the aforementioned moegoe stopped at the bus stop just outside the circle, I decided to stop by his window and just about blixem it so hard that if it were glass it would have shattered. He jumped in his seat from fright, and I ripped into him because of the severe adrenaline spike I was encountering before I pedalled away.

It would seem that the bus drivers have prior experience driving minibus taxis because they drive just as bad with zero awareness of a cyclist flashing like a Christmas tree.

If you can get the bus no. then call the call center for MyCity, they do take these sorts of complaints seriously.

['Dale]

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.  —Maya Angelou
 

Week 5 since the hit & run incident in Green Point, Peoples.

My right leg is losing its musculature due to lack of activation and mobility. My ankle and calf is still under reconstruction and finding its way to full recovery with daily wound management and physiotherapy 3 x daily. My left leg is working twice as hard and compensating for its missing twin. 

I will walk again and my right leg is getting ready to kiss the earth in a few weeks’ time. Looking forward to the horizon, I have ordered a new road bike and replaced all my accessories which felt like an administrative task as my relationship to my endurance sport is under a necessary and important life review.
My inner recovery work arising now is to search for any splinters of post traumatic stress when I visit the scene of the incident in the new few days. This task of facing the past is an important part of healing, recovery and becoming Whole again.

Grateful for so many things: The loving and protective bubble around me at home, a durable and resilient body, a steadfast mind, the privilege of having a superb medical team attending to me and all those caring messages and lekka visits that pulls me back towards Life. 

Be safe out there, Online Community. 💟

Edited March 29 by 'Dale

[BigDL]

10 minutes ago, 'Dale said:

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.  —Maya Angelou
 

Week 5 since the hit & run incident in Green Point, Peoples.

My right leg is losing its musculature due to lack of activation and mobility. My ankle and calf is still under reconstruction and finding its way to full recovery with daily wound management and physiotherapy 3 x daily. My left leg is working twice as hard and compensating for its missing twin. 

I will walk again and my right leg is getting ready to kiss the earth in a few weeks’ time. Looking forward to the horizon, I have ordered a new road bike and replaced all my accessories which felt like an administrative task. My inner work now is to work through any splinters of post traumatic stress when I visit the scene of the incident next week.

Grateful for so many things: The loving and protective bubble around me at home, a durable and resilient body, the privilege of having a superb medical team attending to me and to all those caring messages that pulls me back towards Life. 

Incredible attitude. Thank you for sharing your journey.