Is commuting worth the risk anymore?

ktache wrote:

It's Christmas, brings more drunks out.  There will be lots of drivers over the limit in the mornings too.

Yep. For many years I have swapped my bike (currently powered by mars bars and craft beer, previously by 650cc's of single cylinder thumping glory) for the car for the week before christmas, until a week after New Year. Back in the days of riding a motorbike I saw far too many people who had clearly been to an afternoon christmas do/had a few after work/were still not fit the morning after driving erratically.  Given the low levels of traffic due to holidays and closed schools it was just not worth the risk of being so vulnerable around those idiots. It's a sad state that people even now think it is acceptable, although at this time of year a few weeks brake from the cold and wet is not a bad thing.

alansmurphy wrote:

Water bottle full of paint stripper could do it.

 

I managed to douse a woman's handbag and iPad in SIS earlier in the year as she aimed her roofless twat mobile towards me!

 

As tempting as that would be, it implies premeditation and though the chances of getting stopped on a bike are pretty slim, I wouldn't want to be considered amongst the acid-throwers of this world.

As a less dangerous alternative, I've sometimes imagined carrying eggs (make a mess of their paintwork if they don't clean it off straight away) or maybe some kind of paintball pellet although they tend to be water soluble.

(In answer to Davel's comment, I do think that Avon & Somerset are much better at video footage than they were even a year ago).

HawkinsPeter wrote:

alansmurphy wrote:

Water bottle full of paint stripper could do it.

 

I managed to douse a woman's handbag and iPad in SIS earlier in the year as she aimed her roofless twat mobile towards me!

 

As tempting as that would be, it implies premeditation and though the chances of getting stopped on a bike are pretty slim, I wouldn't want to be considered amongst the acid-throwers of this world.

As a less dangerous alternative, I've sometimes imagined carrying eggs (make a mess of their paintwork if they don't clean it off straight away) or maybe some kind of paintball pellet although they tend to be water soluble.

(In answer to Davel's comment, I do think that Avon & Somerset are much better at video footage than they were even a year ago).

What are those shards of ceramic that someone mentioned a while back, made from smashed up spark plugs?  Ninja stars or something?  

*googles* 

Ah.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_rocks

srchar wrote:

A week on the train wasn't quite as bad as I expected, presumably as we're nearing Christmas time. On days when I got a seat and was able to read a book, it was actually quite pleasant.  But, I missed the morning ride and don't have time to get out during the week, other than commuting, so this week, I'm back in the saddle, and really enjoyed this morning's ride.

kil0ran wrote:

if I didn't cycle I'd be heading towards all the diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle. That's not a risk, that's a certainty

This is an excellent point.

When I am forced to commute by train, rather than walk the 7 minutes to the nearest train station I'll cycle 10 minutes to a train station slightly further away. It has the benefit of me not feeling quite so bad because I am on the bike and double the train options as the tracks split after this station.

kil0ran wrote:

I no longer commute because I work from home but I still try to get out and ride every weekday. The way I see it, there's no other exercise I genuinely enjoy and if I didn't cycle I'd be heading towards all the diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle. That's not a risk, that's a certainty. So I get out there and take the risk time and time again. Since becoming a Dad I have changed my risk attitude a bit - now I'll ride later in the day when the roads are quieter, and won't cycle at all if its icy or very windy. Everybody has their own risk assessment framework and it's very much a personal choice for that reason, so don't go taking risks you're not comfortable with just because you feel you're letting yourself down, let alone the cycling "community"

 

I became a parent when I was quite young, I was already cycle commuting 13-14miles a day in peak hours but this was 1990/91 and a significant portion was along country roads before a couple of miles of dual carriageway.
TBH it didn't even cross my mind as to risk factor cycling when my son was born but driving standards have fallen so badly since then and the general thinking(that cycling is unsafe) that is driven home into the minds of people on bikes that I don't find it surprising people change their habits because of greater responsibilities.
However given risks to pedestrians as well as say children in motors and parks/dchool playgrounfs compared to that of kids on bikes you have to dispel the thoughts that cycling is any more dangerous than other activities.
Even head injuries of the population show us cycling injuries is a tiny, tiny drop in the ocean comparatively.

srchar wrote:

Update: I bottled it this morning.  The train was actually reasonably quiet; I even got a seat.  Half an hour reading a book rather than half an hour on the bike.  I'm telling myself I got half an hour of mental exercise as opposed to half an hour of physical exercise.  Doesn't feel great tbh.

There's nothing wrong with taking a break from routine. Personally, I don't bother cycling in the rain (unless it's just a short distance) and will get the train instead. Nothing to beat yourself up over - think of it as a recovery break.

srchar wrote:

Update: I bottled it this morning.  The train was actually reasonably quiet; I even got a seat.  Half an hour reading a book rather than half an hour on the bike.  I'm telling myself I got half an hour of mental exercise as opposed to half an hour of physical exercise.  Doesn't feel great tbh.

Don't beat yourself up about it.  As others have said, you can review the situation any time, revisit the options every day if you really want to or let it go until January or even later.

If you miss the exercise then fit something else in - a bit of turbo riding before/after work, a brisk walk in your lunch break or do more at the weekend. It's more important that you find a solution, a compromise you can live with.

Crippledbiker wrote:

Last night, on two separate occasions, I had vehicles - one small coach, one private car - try to move left into space I was already occupying. Keep in mind, I've got three sets of multiple-thousand lumen headlights out front, as well as lights on my head - I'm not exactly inconspicuous. In both cases, my recourse was to beat the crap out of the nearest bit of said vehicle - if I can touch it, it's too close.

On all three occasions where I have touched the vehicle that came close, the situation has escalated to the point where I have had to use force against the driver.  They really don't like us touching their penis substitutes.  

cyclesteffer wrote:

Definitely agree with this - driving standards these days are shocking. I can totally see why people are put off cycling to work. I help run a large Bicycle User Group (580 members) of people in a large company. Every survey we ask people why they don't cycle more.

Number 1 reason - roads are too dangerous, every time.

This is why despite increases in cycling in some quarters we as a country have not progressed in cycling numbers since the mid 2000s. There's a very small increase in miles travelled but that's the same faces going further.
Government is complicit in this and by their inaction are responsible for deaths, injuries, pollution and billions of pounds pissed up the wall in the NHS, police, ambulance and fire dept etc.
Address the root problem with direct action and it makes the whole country a bettwr place. Government are criminals and act unlawfully by ignoring the problem and allowing some portions of society be attacked, villified and punished unfaorly by police and so called justice system.
It's truly sickening, but to give in and pack it up, whilst I get why people do, even after being an injury stat twice, near death experience with a tipper driver I'll never give up.
It's different for all folk so I can't look down on those that do, I just feel saddened but as above you can only give encouragement and a different spin on things.

SpikeBike wrote:

I think it isn't. Then I get the train/tube to work and promptly change my mind and get back on the bike! Totally worth it. 

Same here. Take me an hour into work on the bike and have some training in.  Take the car and It can take an hour and half.  Take public transport and it take an hour and half on a good day, usual story is that a train is cancelled, and it's the most expensive option of the three.

SpikeBike wrote:

I think it isn't. Then I get the train/tube to work and promptly change my mind and get back on the bike! Totally worth it. 

Same here. Take me an hour into work on the bike and have some training in.  Take the car and It can take an hour and half.  Take public transport and it take an hour and half on a good day, usual story is that a train is cancelled, and it's the most expensive option of the three.