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Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
#1624087
18/08/2018 06:20
18/08/2018 06:20
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,852 Cambridge & Cotswolds
MeanRedSpider
OP
Je suis un Coupé
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OP
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,852
Cambridge & Cotswolds
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Obviously not helped by my recent bump, I’m losing any enthusiasm for driving on England’s roads. I’m thinking about what I’d replace the SL with should it turn out to be beyond economic repair (two weeks after the accident, no one has so much as looked at it - a caution to anyone going through Adrian Flux).
I was losing my enthusiasm anyway. The reason, as I shared on here, that I got the SL at all is that many of the roads are no longer an enjoyable place to be. Earlier in the journey to Cambridge before the accident, I was thinking to myself how much I was looking forward to drastically reducing the amount of driving that I’m doing.
It hasn’t been helped by the journeys I did to and from Heathrow on my recent trip. Watching (more critically) from the back of the “taxi”, I was just horrified. The transfer drivers themselves were pretty poor. I’m sure there’s a couple of people who might be saying “Well, you can talk” - and you’d be right - though it was my first accident in about the last 25 years and I can’t remember when I so much as invoked the ABS on any car before that.
My plan is pretty simple: cut my “transport” expenditure and funnel the savings into racing/track.
From October, the vast majority of my driving will be my very short commute to work and I plan to do that journey by bicycle as often as I can. Then carve out the time to go racing as a priority and get to more track days.
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: MeanRedSpider]
#1624114
19/08/2018 20:25
19/08/2018 20:25
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,783 In the coupe.
magooagain
Club Member 259
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Club Member 259
Forum is my life
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,783
In the coupe.
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Driving the country roads of France is a delight as long as one is aware of agricultural traffic. I'm spoilt as I have a circuit just down the road,so I can get my speed fix easy enough.
The driving standards in this area are poor and defensive driving is advised. But I find driving here very relaxing and enjoyable.
Gill and I have had many driving holidays around France and plan to do more. Work gets in the way of having more fun mind.
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: MeanRedSpider]
#1624136
20/08/2018 16:48
20/08/2018 16:48
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,783 In the coupe.
magooagain
Club Member 259
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Club Member 259
Forum is my life
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,783
In the coupe.
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I have French pal that uses his barn wall as a gauge. When he scraps up the side of the wall in his car he then knows his other side is off the road!
In the country areas a lot of older drivers are just not used to the increase in traffic.
There is a tiny mini roundabout as you enter our main village. So as I'm driving on the right,I then have to give way to traffic merging onto the roundabout from the left. But the majority of French drivers still think it a junction like it used to be. So they stop at the roundabout and want to use the old priority a droit rule.
So there you have it. Stalemate! I just leave them there and pull onto the roundabout . Dangerous tailgating is rife in every type of scenario.
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: skinflint]
#1624266
23/08/2018 20:02
23/08/2018 20:02
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,488 Scottish Borders
G_Man
Club member 1656
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Club member 1656
My job on the forum
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,488
Scottish Borders
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Don't get me started on cyclists - most of them are a blight on the road and think they have this superiority that they're doing something for the environment. The camaraderie does not extend to other road users and twice this week whilst in London I've seen cyclists kick cars as they think they've got too close to them whilst moving slowly in traffic - what's all that about? Also why do some think they've got some sort of road traffic exemption that they can cycle through red lights then the cyclist lobby goes off on one with the lack of respect / awareness drivers have for cyclists. Anyway I'll get off my soap box .. Err no offence Skinflint
Last edited by G_Man; 23/08/2018 20:05.
77 77
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: G_Man]
#1624269
23/08/2018 20:10
23/08/2018 20:10
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 2,388 Caston, Norfolk
Blueboyracer
Competition Level
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Competition Level
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 2,388
Caston, Norfolk
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Don't get me started on cyclists . OMG bicyclisters are moving hazards who have double standards I simply can’t understand. They come past me in traffic either on the wrong side of the road, on the pavement or too close to my car, but when I don’t cross to the other carriageway to overtake they try to hunt me down to swear and threaten me about scaring them out their skin. And don’t even get me started on pelatons or even pairs of them cycling two abreast ...
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: Blueboyracer]
#1624271
23/08/2018 20:29
23/08/2018 20:29
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 8,075 South Cambs
Barmybob
Hon Club Member: 003
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Hon Club Member: 003
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 8,075
South Cambs
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Don't get me started on cyclists . ... Try living near Cambridge
Gone Audi mad!
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: MeanRedSpider]
#1624274
23/08/2018 21:05
23/08/2018 21:05
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,783 In the coupe.
magooagain
Club Member 259
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Club Member 259
Forum is my life
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,783
In the coupe.
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The cycling issue is very fragile amongst motorists and cyclists. And to be fair it won't get any better until cyclists are taken off the road onto thier own sort of highway. There is no place for them on the modern highway when cars weighing over two tons with the drivers brains only weighing two grams.
Cyclists are way to aggressive to be on a vehicle highway and drivers don't know any different. Separate them I say and let's save lives.
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: MeanRedSpider]
#1624277
23/08/2018 21:12
23/08/2018 21:12
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 8,075 South Cambs
Barmybob
Hon Club Member: 003
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Hon Club Member: 003
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 8,075
South Cambs
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Good luck finding a cyclist that follows any rules in Cambridge. You'll likely find more cyclists riding on the wrong side of the road and on pavements than stopping at red lights!
But I guarantee they'll be calling the new hotline to report other road users from getting too close to them, despite it being them that rode alongside the bus / truck / car placing themselves in danger.
Considering how close I live to the city I avoid Cambridge as much as possible, I visit just once or twice a year now!
Gone Audi mad!
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: Barmybob]
#1624281
24/08/2018 05:20
24/08/2018 05:20
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,852 Cambridge & Cotswolds
MeanRedSpider
OP
Je suis un Coupé
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OP
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,852
Cambridge & Cotswolds
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Good luck finding a cyclist that follows any rules in Cambridge. I’ve spent much of the last two years in Cambridge and driving across from Chesterton to Addenbrooke’s. The only real gripe I’ve had is how many cyclists don’t use lights at night. Many of Cambridge’s cyclists are foreign. The problems with driving in Cambridge are rarely anything to do with cyclists. There’s just far too many cars in too little space with roads that have hardly changed in the 50 years that I’ve been living in Cambridge on and off. The cyclists have always been there - it’s the cars and lorries that have got worse.
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: MeanRedSpider]
#1624282
24/08/2018 07:34
24/08/2018 07:34
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,095 highlands
jimboy
Club Member 857
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Club Member 857
Forum is my life
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,095
highlands
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Isn't it when your driving a vehicle. ...bloody cyclists & when your cycling. ...bloody drivers...
I'm an old git & happy with it,most of the time
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: Blueboyracer]
#1624295
24/08/2018 13:49
24/08/2018 13:49
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,852 Cambridge & Cotswolds
MeanRedSpider
OP
Je suis un Coupé
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OP
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,852
Cambridge & Cotswolds
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And this pops up on facebook today lol He has every right to be there. Whether it’s selfish or not is another question. I’ve avoided cycle paths in the past. Often because they can be terribly designed and suddenly dump you into the road at some crazy point. Also, pedestrians on shared/divided paths can be a nightmare. If you’re cycling at 20mph if often much safer to ride in the road. As a country, we should want to see more people on bikes not fewer. We’ll get like the Yanks where everyone just drives everywhere.
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: Blueboyracer]
#1624296
24/08/2018 14:39
24/08/2018 14:39
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,095 highlands
jimboy
Club Member 857
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Club Member 857
Forum is my life
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,095
highlands
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You would not catch me driving a bicycle on a road Aye Rich, my cycling days are pretty much over as well. Up here it's not too bad compared to down south, but still dodgy on a bicycle for various reasons.
I'm an old git & happy with it,most of the time
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: jimboy]
#1624299
24/08/2018 16:59
24/08/2018 16:59
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,852 Cambridge & Cotswolds
MeanRedSpider
OP
Je suis un Coupé
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OP
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,852
Cambridge & Cotswolds
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You would not catch me driving a bicycle on a road Aye Rich, my cycling days are pretty much over as well. Up here it's not too bad compared to down south, but still dodgy on a bicycle for various reasons. Ha - yes. I spoke the the police inspector in Dingwall after a BMW X6, overtaking at a junction, nearly had me (I was turning left at the time at the junction - the overtaking X6 was blaring his horn at me). The inspector said that, if I didn’t feel safe on the road, I shouldn’t cycle. What a w@nker!
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: MeanRedSpider]
#1624303
24/08/2018 18:53
24/08/2018 18:53
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,283 West Berks
skinflint
I need some sleep
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I need some sleep
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,283
West Berks
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As a country, we should want to see more people on bikes not fewer. We’ll get like the Yanks where everyone just drives everywhere.
I totally agree. As a lover of both modes of transport it is a shame that opinion has turned against cyclists so much over a couple of years. I am barely ever held up by cyclists, but I do feel jealous of them when I'm in the car, particularly when the traffic isn't moving. Cars have a 2 abreast configuration. My car weighs 200 times more than my bicycle, but is only twice as fast for average speed on the commute. The nerve to call a cyclist "selfish"...
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Re: Disillusioned with (Road) Driving
[Re: MeanRedSpider]
#1624304
24/08/2018 19:38
24/08/2018 19:38
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,783 In the coupe.
magooagain
Club Member 259
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Club Member 259
Forum is my life
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,783
In the coupe.
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You would not catch me driving a bicycle on a road Aye Rich, my cycling days are pretty much over as well. Up here it's not too bad compared to down south, but still dodgy on a bicycle for various reasons. Ha - yes. I spoke the the police inspector in Dingwall after a BMW X6, overtaking at a junction, nearly had me (I was turning left at the time at the junction - the overtaking X6 was blaring his horn at me). The inspector said that, if I didn’t feel safe on the road, I shouldn’t cycle. What a w@nker! Sorry mrs I make the copper right.
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