Cycle paths “teeming” with dozens of “brazen” rats, say locals; Cyclist “appalled” at Sainsbury’s driver parking on bike lane – right next to empty spots; Signposted bike path or river? UK’s most waterlogged cycle route contender + more on the live blog

Do you mean rats or hit and run drivers - much the same thing?

- just seen your second line - yes goes for most MPs too.

The signs either end say it's basically a Bridleway or the Scottish equivalent now. They look like shared walker, cyclist, horse in a blue circle

brooksby wrote:

I just want to share my very own Alliston Moment with the room.

Riding home last night, after dark.

Big front light on - one that's steady but does an intermittent BIG flash too.  Single lane road in Clifton, Bristol (so, urban area), cars parked both sides, one-way.

Ahead of me a woman walks out into the road, crossing from my right to my left, and she did not look at all before walking out, and was walking diagonally across the road with her back towards me.

She was far enough ahead that I didn't need to slow down or anything (it's not like I'm a Fast Rider anyway), so I just moved my line slightly to the right so I'd quite comfortably pass behind her.

Or I would have, had she not caught me in her peripheral vision as she was literally only maybe three feet ahead of me and to my left: she suddenly stopped, twisted round, panicked, and jumped backwards (that is: towards the oncoming moving object which was apparently so scary).

I slammed on my brakes, hard, and stopped.  She looked at me, said, "Sorry, so sorry" and looked like she was really scared.  I said sorry too, said I'd tried to go behind her without scaring her and had assumed she would never even have known I was there - I also pointed out that she hadn't looked before crossing.

At this point, I also noticed that she had earbuds in so was obviously also listening to music or something (which means my initial assumption that she had listened for oncoming traffic rather than looking must have also been wrong).

Takeaways:  (1) having two working brakes is really good (too soon?), and (2) if you're going to pass behind someone, aim for well in excess of their Jumping Distance.

That kind of thing annoys me - there's plenty of room for a pedestrian to cross and a cyclist to use the road without any conflict. That's one of the reasons why we need more cyclists is to train pedestrians how to not react skittishly when confronted with one.

hawkinspeter wrote:

That's one of the reasons why we need more cyclists is to train pedestrians how to not react skittishly when confronted with one.

An interesting choice of words, maybe the conclusion that I should draw is that horses are not skittish around cyclists, it's their riders that make them that way. 

1) Horses with riders are often skittish around cyclists

2) horses with no riders (new forest / dartmoor) are not at all skittish around cyclists  (neither are goats at cheddar gorge)

3) pedestrians are often skittish around cyclists

common factor in skittishness? Doesn't appear to be horses after all.

Pedestrians are best treated as squirrels.  I was once cycling along a fairly wide country lane, approaching a small group of walkers with their backs to me.  No problem, as there was plenty of space to give them a wide berth.  I was about 2m or so clear of them widthways, but just as I was about to pass, one of them suddenly put out his arm and extended his walking stick out to the side to point something out to the others.  My 2m gap had gone, and it was sheer chance that he didn't knock me off my bike.

Is that an argument for a default-ish cheery GOOD MORNING from 10-15 metres away?

mattw wrote:

Is that an argument for a default-ish cheery GOOD MORNING from 10-15 metres away?

Try it. I guarantee that at least one of them would be angered by this and do something as a retaliation.

redimp wrote:

Rats is just another Tory thing. There is loads of litter about because there is less money to clean the streets. Unclean streets leads to more rats. It is not the rats' fault. treat the cause, not the symptom.

Last I heard, the conservatives were not running City of Edinburgh Council, or indeed Scotland.

mark1a wrote:

redimp wrote:

Rats is just another Tory thing. There is loads of litter about because there is less money to clean the streets. Unclean streets leads to more rats. It is not the rats' fault. treat the cause, not the symptom.

Last I heard, the conservatives were not running City of Edinburgh Council, or indeed Scotland.

That's why they're appearing on the streets - it's those (tory) love-rats of yore no longer getting the love.

I hear if you vote for (insert party here) though that they'll send them all back where they came from (Norway?)

bigwheeler88 wrote:

I'll take brazen rats over murderous drivers any day. Easier to tuck my trousers into my socks than get people to stop using their phones while driving.

I do that already - simpler than cycle clips.  But isn't that for ferret defence?  (Probably better be safe though - I've seen the odd ferret out and about in Edinburgh also).

Can't believe any Edinburgh resident who says that they've not seen a rat.  Although they did add "in the wild" - mostly they're in houses in my experience...

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Hey, good lookin'.

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Whaa cha got cookin'?

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Hows about cooking somet'in' up with Rendy???

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Ban cycle traffic?  Well as today's post from Edinburgh shows cycling just encourages rat-running.

Boom Boom!

Quote:

In a statement delivered to a council cabinet meeting on Thursday, November 9, Keynsham East Councillor Hal McFie said: “Keynsham ward councillors met with the leader and some cabinet members last week. It was agreed to apply more visual cues that would warn residents of an impending change in ground level.”

He added: “It was also agreed that the best way out of the current impasse was to pedestrianise the High Street, with the ward councillors pushing to make it a cycle-free area. This could only happen if there was a positive attitude by shopkeepers and residents so the first step was to draw up an outline plan and present it to the Keynsham population in the 2024-25 financial year.”

...

If the high street is pedestrianised, the councillors are hoping to see the traffic ban extend to bikes too, which they say could use Aston Way instead of the high street. Keynsham North councillor Alex Beaumont: “I’m all in favour of pedestrianising the high street.”

He said that he had been calling for it for years, but that they needed to look at how the move could accommodate disabled people who usually rely on vehicles to access shops on the street. He added that the street could reopen to traffic after 5pm.

So, these people hate cyclists so much that they would rather spend all that money on digging back up the cycle lane and then pedestrianising the High Street (but allowing disabled people to continue to drive along there).

Aston Way (Ashton Way?) appears to be the road along the back of the shops, so not much use if you are - you know - cycling to the shops...

brooksby wrote:

 

Aston Way (Ashton Way?) appears to be the road along the back of the shops, so not much use if you are - you know - cycling to the shops...

Unless you want to use the back entrance to make discrete purchases. I don't know what sort of shops are in Keynsham, so this may be unlikely

Just make it level to the kerb but a different colour so it's obvious that's it's different and nothing to trip over. Simples!

mikewood wrote:

Just make it level to the kerb but a different colour so it's obvious that's it's different and nothing to trip over. Simples!

I think the lane was originally part of the road (haven't been to Keynsham in a while) so that would mean a lot more work in making it level with the pavement. Maybe a sloping kerb between the lane and the pavement might work better