Ive moved into my new place now in cardiff, and so im closer to everything, or rather everything is a little less hilly!

Been using my bike to scoot around the city every day, and getting some decent urban miles in, quite insane at first, but this is my 2nd day and I think im getting the gist.

Almost got flattened by a bus however. Filtering down through the traffic at the lights in a left hand turn and straight on lane... I want to go straight.... bus wants to go left. Lights turned red about 3 seconds before I got to the bus, I get to the front of the bus, about to put a foot down to stop and the lights go amber so I set off... bus sets off at the same time, driver didnt see me (despite me being INFRONT of his damn bus) he accelerated a smidge faster than me (was in too high a gear doh), and then turned left straight into the back of me. It was only my "OI!!!!" and a slap on the wing mirror that got his attention, he just didnt bother looking out to where he was going, and was infact staring straight ahead (not looking left) when I slapped the wing mirror.

Bloody blind bus drivers.

Wouldnt be surprised it it was intentional, Ive had bus drivers deliberately squash me against curbs because theyre bitter about being beaten away from the lights.

Pepper spray, tbpfh.

lol Pepper spray doesnt do much against a windscreen lol. But certainly understand the sentiments there. Still dicing it up with traffic in the city isnt that bad, did my first "inter car" filter today nervous as hell, didnt want to hit any wingmirrors off, just did it at a comfortable pace and kept my wits about me.

With cars stopped it was just like riding between lampposts or anything else you may ride between.

Also the fact that the traffic moves in spurts means that even on a bike, you can keep up with the traffic with no problem, more cars = slower traffic = feeling fairly safe!

Oh.. and Kudos to my conti contact sports, theyve had real abuse the last few days, a "temporary road surface" consisting of bloody rough cut gravel and stone making "pinging" noises against the rubber, and theyve held up to it quite well! *touches wood*.

Quite impressed with the p*nct*re resistance of the tyre.

Quote from: funkychicken9000Wouldnt be surprised it it was intentional, Ive had bus drivers deliberately squash me against curbs because theyre bitter about being beaten away from the lights.

I had nowhere to go if this was the case, I had a barrier to the left of me, so Id have been under his wheels if he didnt stop. Bloody thing really shook me up to be honest.

Quote from: maximusotterPepper spray, tbpfh.

Unfortunately while the UK police are perfectly happy giving you a facefull of mace they dont think that anyone else should have it and arrest you with the charge of carrying an offensive weapon.

TBH its always best to be very careful if you go alongside a bus from the rear as they may not notice you and you could end up dead. Best get them out the road before you move off.

Pfff, traffic filtering!  Try cycling down the centre of an A road, overtaking the traffic on the left while the cars on the right zip towards you at 30mph.  Now thats fun!  

Cambridge Cycling ftw.

 

Try navigating a double 4 lane roundabout with a bloody forest of trees blocking your view around the side.

FK me... that was a nervous few moments today. 70mph traffic does not make for fun cycling. More like just pedalling whilst screaming "aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

I used to love weaving in & out of the traffic in Cardiff. When i worked for Panasonic i used to get ran over at least once a month. Fook knows how i survived but i evidently lead a charmed life. Thinking about it the last few months have proved that as a certainty.

youre a new comer to this cycling malarky, and im not being patronising...

ive done over 1000 miles this year and thats not alot at all compared to some and nearly every other day ive had a near miss*, its life, you want to  cycle, you run the risk... and if you keep on cycling you will come to realise what i mean - Manchester is full of middle class cocks in mercs, BMWs, 4WDs and minis, ive had a dust up with all of them.

Car drivers are awful drivers to be honest, theyre protected by a sh*tload of metal, so if they hit you, its not going to hurt them... it WILL hurt you.

Keep your wits about you.... that said you are going to get knocked off, regardless, at some point.

*i maintain its my winnie the pooh (as a mascot) keyring which i stiched to my messenger bag which saves me, plus experience PLUS the cycle courier (who rides a speccy rockhopper with a trailer on the back! ), who makes the sign of the cross as i pass him in town - bless him, looking after fellow bikers... in fact i get quite nervous when i dont see him...

 :shock:

and here is a tip if you do feel suitably enraged by some dick cutting you up on the roads... or someone gives you grief.

get your bike chain (not the sh*tty pikey D-locks), but one of these:


and ride with it over your shoulder - (i do this because i am scooting about and locking my bike up all over the place) and have your key on a chain around your wrist.

when/if someone confronts you, unlock the chain from around you chest/shoulder and look menacing, no one will screw with you - i know this because i did it when some dick in his toyota cut me up on my way home in the summer... it works and its far more innocent looking than a small knife or pepper spray , if you do get into a scrap and the law gets involved, you can plead self defence - you just picked up what was at hand... its hard to prove you just had a baretta or smoke grenade lying about in your messenger bag....

my mate told me that who is a Detective, god bless him!  

i was going to say that.

if not, your shoe

One of those emergency hammers from a bus/train