BEWARE THE SUN-DAY CYCLISTS.
'Rush hour' cyclists who use the Grand union canal starting from Paddington basin going west have successfully created an image of themselves as being dangerous, selfish irritants in the eyes of many other canal users. I'm not speaking about all cyclists who use the canal, most of those who do cycle the canal are considerate. Their caution though is usually down to them being locals who also walk along the canal, they know what it is like to have a sweating, tight nylon clad fool steaming towards them at top speed tinkling their bells, not to alert us of their presence but as warnings to people to "get out of my way".
Asking them to slow down is met with replies that are of the order of "fuck off" and subtle niceties like that.
These selfish irritants who expect people to jump out of their way instead of slowing down to pass totally ignore the fact that as cyclists, they are at the bottom of the pecking order along the Grand Union.
For years people have used the canal to get away from the madness of Harrow road, and to enjoy what is a lovely, peaceful, nature packed place in the middle of London on a regular basis because of its... well, mellowness (man).
These same people are now avoiding the canal because the threat of being run down by these idiot cyclists is all to real.
I have to say, these knobs in their silly cycling fashion wear who bomb along the canal as if it were their own personal speed track are also getting me miffed 'big style'. As well as being shouted at to "move" and to "go faster" to allow the 'rushers' to keep up their speed (my answers have always been in the negative and are, depending on the other cyclists, followed by naughty words and insinuations). Ive witnessed near horrific accidents with shoppers by the supermarkets entrance at 'Grove' and have myself almost come a cropper because of them.
The response of the rushers is usually one of arrogant abuse, as if the pedestrians should expect nothing else along the canal because it is their track and 'they' want to cycle as fast as possible at all times'.
Being someone who for over thirty years both cycles and walks along the Grand union, I love to pootle along slowly on my bike, I also like taking a quite stroll to both escape the dangerous and insane Harrow road, and to also check out the plants and animals, I am a big fan of the place, yet even though I myself have cycled the canal since I was about eight years old (and never once caused an accident) I would except an outright ban for bicycles if it meant that locals could once again walk their dogs, or take the kids along to feed the ducks in safety.
If these nylon clad fools wish to go as fast as possible then they should use the roads, not a place where people go to escape the stress and pace of the main roads. The 'offenders' are mostly non locals who just see the canal as a fast way to get to work, they show no consideration towards anything or one except themselves and must I feel be stopped. The attitude they take with considerate cyclists and pedestrians is very much like the way cyclists are treated by some car drivers, one of selfish indifference. The equivalent of a car hurtling full speed towards a cyclist on a very narrow side street, I have even seen them become aggressive because their speeding was impaired by walkers and slow cyclists getting in their way. The abused have grown up to become the abusers. Many cyclists still insist using the canal even where there has been seperate/parallel cycling paths made for them.
If this situation carries on for much longer there is going to be a serious incident, I hesitate to use the word 'accident' because any such situation could be averted by cycling sensibly. Yet on the other hand, some dark part of me wants to see a few being taught lessons by angry locals who have just narrowly missed a serious crash. I am also concerned because the Ducks, Swans and other animals have had their chicks/babies now and it would be so easy to run one or two over, Dogs also worry me because I have seen these gits not stopping or slowing when Dogs are running about along the canal doing what Dogs do.
I am seriously worried that there is going to be a horrific crash one day as I said, but, as I also said, if that led to a total ban on bikes I would happily accept it, I also enjoy a walk along the canal as well so it wouldn't be a big loss to me.
The vigilante angle is a bit strong I feel, but it is indicative of the locals feelings on the matter and also that of the boat dwellers, to whom the grand union is part of their 'manor', their home, and not just a way to work where traffic lights can be avoided.
Selfish Nylon clad w@*#**s
This selfish attitude has I know led to the beginnings of a backlash, locals have started to force these Lycra dolts to slow down, by what ever means they can. From blocking the path with their bodies or bikes to ramming the cyclists as they rush by. A friend up by Little Venice saw a 'local' actually ram his bike into a speeders bike as he flew past, apparently the scene played out in slow motion as the speeder came off head first and just missed badly mashing his face against a railing, "oh dear mate, you alright? its dangerous at that speed along the canal, that's why there are no cycling signs" the bloke said in an off the cuff manner before getting back on his bike and slowly cruising off, the ex-speeder wasn't happy but I was told that he got the "don't mess" vibe and went the other way. An extreme reaction true, but one that illustrates just how miffed people are getting over this issue, I am surprised there hasn't already been a serious accident or more wildlife and pets killed by now. When that does happen I hope it will not make all cyclists devils in the eyes of those who live on and around the canal.
So its either mini vigilantes pushing these cyclists off their bikes for going too fast, or they slow down and the whole situation can then calm down, other wise I reckon it will all end in tears.
No comments:
Post a Comment