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O, To Be In England...

[stands back and admires the carnage, before casually moving on]
 
escargot said:
You forgot
You must thank the bus driver as you get off.

I've always done this and I taught my kids to, and we also thank airline staff as we disembark even if the flight has been pants-soilingly traumatic.
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When I do take a bus, which is not often, I always make sure to thank the bus driver on leaving, and my husband is the only man who offers his seat to a nun, or a pregnant woman.
 
SimonBurchell said:
[stands back and admires the carnage, before casually moving on]
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I've apparently insulted the entire population of Canada now as well. While it won't be quite as terryfying as the misunderstanding with @gordonrutter (adonis, generous, intelligent chap that he is), I do think I should go into hiding for a while. Any Canadians ask -you haven't seen me. Or cyclists.

Edit; and especially Canadian cyclists.
 
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Ronnie Jersey said:
When I do take a bus, which is not often, I always make sure to thank the bus driver on leaving, and my husband is the only man who offers his seat to a nun, or a pregnant woman.
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Mind you, that can backfire on you;
 
This 'waving at the driver that stops at a zebra crossing' thing. I think the likelihood of that happening increases in proportionality to the difficulty in stopping, and/or the recognition of any driving skill or politeness.
EG a driver of a large truck 'anchoring up' when fully loaded, on a wet road, in the half-dark is more likely to receive a 'thank you' wave than a 'boy racer' who has had to stop.
 
I've spent recent weekends testing saddles. I'm not a big fan of testing saddles as they are so subjective, but it paid well, and now I'm freelance I turn very little work down...
 

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Trevp666 said:
This 'waving at the driver that stops at a zebra crossing' thing. I think the likelihood of that happening increases in proportionality to the difficulty in stopping, and/or the recognition of any driving skill or politeness.
EG a driver of a large truck 'anchoring up' when fully loaded, on a wet road, in the half-dark is more likely to receive a 'thank you' wave than a 'boy racer' who has had to stop.
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Yup, I personally try to let any big vehicles pass before pressing the button. They don't know about this small courtesy of course. ;)
It's also wise to wait until vehicles have actually stopped dead before crossing as some drivers just don't see the crossing. At least that way, if a vehicle stops but the one behind doesn't there's something between you and the boy racer to take the impact.

Though the worst near-splattering I saw Techy have was from a car driven by an elderly bloke who nearly didn't stop at a light-controlled crossing, speeding up along a bend from a roundabout.
I shouted 'He isn't stopping!' just in time for Techy to slow down enough be scraped along the car wing instead of going over the bonnet.
After nearly elbowing the passenger the gob through the open window he leaned in and asked conversationally 'Now that was a bit silly, wasn't it?'

We've both nearly been killed along there when cycling perfectly legally. My idea is to install speed bumps before crossings to remind drivers about them.
 
cycleboy2 said:
I've spent recent weekends testing saddles. I'm not a big fan of testing saddles as they are so subjective, but it paid well, and now I'm freelance I turn very little work down...
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Techy's saddle on his current 'workhouse' bike is deteriorating.
He said 'My bum hurts. It's the crack.'
I did not wish pursue the subject.
 
@Marwood @hunck @Floyd1

Having driven in London for many years, I would say that if a pedestrian has started to cross we will stop.
But if they are appraoching a crossing or stationary and about to cross, we often drive across the zebra crossing before they have a chance to start crossing.

Driving in London is different from many towns and villages in the rest of the country We tend to drive faster (when speed limits allow) and we are more assertive.

But we are not the fastest; I'd give that title to many country areas where there are 60mph speed limits, and the locals know the roads like the back of their hands.

I feel much safer driving in central London than any country road.
 
Victory said:
if a pedestrian has started to cross we will stop
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The highway code used to say (still does) that if someone has started to cross then you should stop.
In reality this pretty much means you have to stop, unless doing so would be, in some way, worse than continuing.
The recent update to the highway code has changed that advice to also include people waiting to cross.
As I have pointed out elsewhere this places the responsibility on the road user (whether that be a car or van driver, or cyclist, or motorcyclist etc etc), and also means that they somehow have to be able to know the intention of a pedestrian and that they actually want to cross the road and don't just happen to be standing by the crossing.
Okay, fair enough, it's pretty much certain that they do want to cross if they're stood there, but you cannot possibly know that.
And I am talking about 'zebra' crossings here which have the bold white lines painted across the road surface, not crossings controlled by lights. and not the raised 'plateau' crossings either.
 
Victory said:
Having driven in London for many years, I would say that if a pedestrian has started to cross we will stop.
But if they are appraoching a crossing or stationary and about to cross, we often drive across the zebra crossing before they have a chance to start crossing...
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Whereas, if you're a cyclist, you can go wherever you want, whenever you want, whoever's in the way. (Sorry - I'm generally either a cyclist or pedestrian these days, enjoy both modes of transport, and support the rights of both groups; but cycles seem utterly out of control in London just now. Maybe they just got used to emptier streets during the lockdowns - and can't re adapt back.)

Victory said:
..But we are not the fastest; I'd give that title to many country areas where there are 60mph speed limits, and the locals know the roads like the back of their hands.

I feel much safer driving in central London than any country road.
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I suspect that you're wise to feel that way. Granted, at busy periods, the Marylebone Road looks like car-hell on earth, but the speeds attained are generally much less than I see on the roads in the Peak District.
 
Spookdaddy said:
...cycles seem utterly out of control in London just now. Maybe they just got used to emptier streets during the lockdowns - and can't re adapt back
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Ditto in Bristol. I see far more bad cycling now than pre-pandemic, out of proportion with the rate at which cycling itself has grown. Centrally there's really good infrastructure now, but beyond the inner circuit the berks are on the rise.
 
stu neville said:
Ditto in Bristol. I see far more bad cycling now than pre-pandemic, out of proportion with the rate at which cycling itself has grown. Centrally there's really good infrastructure now, but beyond the inner circuit the berks are on the rise.
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Myself and a little Chinese lady were almost totalled crossing New Oxford Street in London last week. Crossing with traffic lights, green man for us, clearly our right of way - three cyclists launch themselves from their own red light position straight at us, with not the least inkling of an allowance for our position even though it was our space. I was absolutely fucking raging - which is probably why one of the cyclists made off at speed after stopping to hurl insults at us even though he was totally, and clearly, in the wrong.
 
cycleboy2 said:
I've spent recent weekends testing saddles. I'm not a big fan of testing saddles as they are so subjective, but it paid well, and now I'm freelance I turn very little work down...
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You see, that's why I don't ride pushbikes. They don't look saddles, they look like the sort of instruments the Spanish Inquisition would strap you on.

This is a saddle:

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