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I Have personally put two water bottles through windscreens this year, the last one was through a golfs window that almost killed my wife and then blamed her and swore at her.

 

Last Sunday we went out for a ride and a guy driving behind us hooted at us and I gave him the middle finger. The robot came and I asked him if he was having a bad day. To my surprise he told me that he has always been very concerned for cyclists safety and that he was just warning us that he was coming from behind. My jaw dropped to the tar and I could only smile.

Decided there and then that I would ride in a positive manner and not get to upset about motorists and their behaviour.

 

What a difference it has made to my riding, its not always easy to ignore the stupidity of others but it has improved my ride quality and lowered my stress levels.

 

To my surprise he told me that he has always been very concerned for cyclists safety and that he was just warning us that he was coming from behind.

 

I experienced this on my club ride on Sunday. A couple of times we had taxis giving a quick hoot as they came behind / past us. It definitely seemed  more of a 'Hello, I'm here, how are you' kind of hoot than a 'get off my road' one.

 

On Saturday Laulil and I stopped at one of the coffee shops in Modderfontein village during an MTB outing, and while waiting we were approached by a guy who was about to sit down at a nearby table with his family. He said that he was the other cyclist that was riding with the guy killed on Alandale Rd. I recall that his [not the deceased] name was Dave [?] He said that his riding partner was an experienced cyclist of some years standing [with a seeding of 16] and that he was struck from behind by a lady driver who was doing about 90Km/h. Don't know how he could tell this, but he related how sickening it was to hear the sound of carbon being crunched up together with his mate .... he then cautioned us several times to please be careful on the roads, and that despite his aspirations for 94.7 and Argus etc. he would not be getting back on any bike in a hurry. To which his wife nodded in agreement. The guy was very visibly traumatised by this event. Not nice to hear .. but a reality check to be more careful.

It is really sad & I hope & pray that he recovers from this traumatic experience.

 

I have come to realise that education and signage will not be enough to stop the carnage. We as cyclists will have to make ourselves highly visible whilst out riding on our roads. I have contacted distributors of tail lights and safety vests & belts and will be selling these at the Sign-Up booth at the 94.7 expo. We need to stop worrying what our friends think we look like with our red flashing lights & orange & lime green safety vests or belts. I am almost certain that the cyclists that have lost their lives to date, if they  have had flashing red lights on their bikes and wearing high visibilty clothing that they would have been around today to support our cause.

 

RATHER BE AN UNCOOL CYCLISTS THAN A COOL DEAD ONE!!!!!

 

WE SHOULD BE 'SEEN & NOT HURT'

 

Please guys, I appeal to you, wear high visibility clothing and get a rear light specifically designed for daytime use such as the Cateye TL-D1000. We have to become more responsible and take our own safety serious!!! and stop thinking that 'It will never happen to me'. Stop thinking of only YOU and start thinking of your family, friends and Loved ones.

 

May the LORD keep you safe out there !!!

OK, we have sorted the bug.

 

To make a donation of R30 sms 'donatecyclingetc' to 42266

 

The following is still in the process of being setup. In other words, NOT WORKING YET. Will advise as soon as its up & running.

 

I have also set up another SMS, called an electronic wallet (cutting edge technology) where the amount donated can be specified by the user.  This is currently being set up, but the EFT testing will only be complete by early next week.  It is however a nice option to have as the networks don?t take almost half the revenue.  The wording is:<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><?:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />

 

To donate an amount of your choice, SMS donatecyclingetc to 33003.

 

And thirdly, we are busy setting up e-commerce facilities on the www.cyclingetc.co.za website, whereby users can make donations via credit card (and as soon as it?s available from the switching companies, via EFT?s too).

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT ONLY THE R30 DONATION SMS IS CURRENTLY OPERATIONAL. tHE OTHER 2 TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY.

THANKS ONCE AGAIN TO KIWI & CO FOR SETTING THIS UP!!!!!

I received a email from someone in our club that knew the cyclist on a personal basis and it is really sad....

 

I think the emergency lane driving has spread far beyond just the taxi's...

It is just about every 2nd person out there doing this on a daily basis...

 

It took me a hour to drive up Hendrik Potgieter this morning just because every 2nd car decide to use the emergency lane as an optional extra lane. 90% of these cars were not the taxi's!!

 

Yesterday I decided to scare someone doing it and made if I was going to turn in front of them as they passed and believe it or not, the freak went off at me like I am doing the wrong.. The dumb @ss must have forgotten that he is actually in the wrong place.

 

ok, it's confession time... one day a couple of years ago i got so fed up at people emergency-lane driving on the highway just before H Strydom heading south, that i put my hazards on and swung out in front of one, popped the bonnet and pretended my car was bust. it help that that old kadett was @#$%ed and wouldn't start when the engine was hot. it was the most productive half-hour i spent in that car.

I am quitting cycling because of all the deaths on the roads' date=' I love the sport but am not prepared to go out on the roads any more. I have logged over 60,000 km without incident, but am not prepared to put myself at risk of being killed or maimed.
[/quote']

 

Better lock yourself in your room aswell. You really dont want to go for a ride in your car. And better move out of the country aswell....never know when you might get killed..in your locked room. Oh...and dont eat chicken again...you might get a bone stuck in your throat and suffocate.

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