“Why don’t you apologise? Don’t be so selfish”: CyclingMikey’s latest argument with pedestrian on shared use path sparks discussion; Local angry with cyclist “holding up the road” despite not being in lane; TdF Femmes debrief + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Why should I?
It’s been a little while since we last covered one of CyclingMikey’s encounters with the people of London, but this latest video is a classic of his subgenre, posted to highlight, “The attitude of this pedestrian, not willing to share the shared path whilst I’m riding slowly and considerately.”
And, for what it’s worth, those are all elements of this worth highlighting, a shared use path that the pedestrian presumes he’s exclusively entitled to walk along, despite multiple signs highlighting otherwise.
Once again though, what’s most striking with these videos is the tone. It’s sarky, needless interjection from the pedestrian but Mikey’s response immediately gets into the details of the rules of the shared use path, fuelling a tense conversation clearly built on misinformation, with the pedestrian unaware cyclists were allowed on the path until Mikey stops and drops behind him. There’s also no attempt to engage in the merits of cycling on the other footway, with Mikey only informs us isn’t possible after the exchange.
Admittedly, compared to some of his other exchanges this is all rather tame stuff, there’s no anger or road-rage (path-rage?) and he gets on with his journey soon enough. But you have to wonder who benefits from an exchange like this being posted online, short of the locals who may now actually know where cyclists can ride over the bridge?
The second argument made after the exchange, that “why should” cyclists have to ride in the road when they have access to a shared use path, seems to have been picked up upon by a lot of social media users, the same users who would tend to complain when they see a cyclist riding in the road and not using a cycle lane. Sometimes you can’t win…
> “Everybody hates you!” Fuming phone driver abandons car in traffic and confronts Cycling Mikey
Weekend at the Femmes:
From a dramatic weekend of racing that saw Demi Vollering ultimately claim her second Tour de France title, here are Ryan’s dispatches if you fancy a chronological recap, starting with Kasia Niewiadoma’s historic Ventoux win to nab yellow from Marlen Reusser:
Saturday’s stage, won with a late Demi Vollering solo move, was overshadowed by allegations of FDJ blocking the yellow jersey from following Vollering’s accelerations. Apparently, the air has since been cleared…
Then yesterday, after Reusser was distanced by the favourites on a crash, Vollering dropped Niewiadoma on the final climb to solo to victory in yellow, leaving our man on the ground to reflect on the Dutchwoman’s place in the sport…
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l o v e Mikey — keep at it. Hot London day, maybe. A big hello works fine in a cool rainy Edinburgh.
“When I crashed two years ago, she pulled full gas” - Blissfully ignoring the fact that with just 6k to go everyone pulled full gas, including her own team mate who won the stage.
1. Thinking they would do *something* and knowing exactly *what* that something would be in order to counter it are not the same thing, so I don't think that argument stands up. 2. She wasn't attacking - she was riding on Vollering's wheel as Vollering attacked, so that would apply as much, if not more to Vollering.
Not really taking sides here, but: 1. If she "definitely thought that they would do something. They always have a plan, so [she] wasn’t surprised.", that shows poor planning and/or situational awareness. 2. Attacking on the outside of a corner is simply ineffective (I was actually thinking of a stronger word). Not only it makes you vulnerable to what happened here (irrespectful of whether it happened intentionally or accidentally), but also forces the rider to take a longer line, which is obviously disadvantageous. Which goes back to 1. Sorry for her, bt that sounds like a bad case of bad loser.
@Chris RideFar My experience with pulley wheels with bushings is better than with those with bearings. They spin just fine, and I've never had any problem with the. Bearings on the other hand can get very bad sometimes, and I've seen several that were very hard to move because dirt got in.
@Chris RideFar I admire your restraint in calling out what is, quite clearly, BS.
@Jessiethedog Wise decision. When we got rid of our car during Covid and so decided to electrify our spare mountain bikes for shopping, long-distance elderly parents visiting et cetera we ordered two Swytch kits, cancelled them after six months of being promised over and over they were definitely on a boat and on their way. Then we were told if we ordered again we would absolutely definitely get them in three weeks tops...three months later after exactly the same rigmarole we cancelled again. Shame as it looks a good product (if pretty ambitiously priced compared to the competition) and we wanted to buy British (well, you know, British imported from China...) but it was just absurdly frustrating and the communication was abysmal. They should have made the move to UK production years ago, hopefully they can get their act together because from what I hear from people who have managed to get hold of a kit they've got a fundamentally sound product.
That's no way to treat your guests!
@Chris RideFar It's good that Vollering put on such a dominant performance to take the final stage, the alleged blocking was absolutely a racing incident and if anything was Kasia's fault for putting herself in the wrong place but it would have been a real shame for such a great race with a level of support I never thought I'd see for the women's Tour to have finished with bickering and "I should have won" - Demi's performance put that to bed. Kasia was good at the end, although she didn't withdraw her claims she did show proper respect for Demi's win and said how it inspired her to get better for next year. Can't wait for the London stage in '27!
I hope Swytch can improve. When looking for an electric conversion to a Brompton, I did consider theirs. However reports of long waits and poor after sales service put me off.
1 thought on ““Why don’t you apologise? Don’t be so selfish”: CyclingMikey’s latest argument with pedestrian on shared use path sparks discussion; Local angry with cyclist “holding up the road” despite not being in lane; TdF Femmes debrief + more on the live blog”
l o v e Mikey — keep at it. Hot London day, maybe. A big hello works fine in a cool rainy Edinburgh.