Trip to London

Yesterday my wife and I had business in London. We decided to go to a
show in the evening so we had a few hours bimbling around looking at the
sights, covering 12km. From Waterloo, across the bridge, round pariament
square and the abbey, Hyde Park, Piccadilly, Regents St, Oxford St, Hyde
Park, Victoria. With other peripheral bits and pieces we would have
walked 16km.

From what I have read here, London cyclists are supposed to be a
notable tourist attraction, experiencing them turn the air blue as they
shout and scream at pedestrians just before sending them flying.

How disappointing! I saw one cyclist that crossed the line on a red
light just to slowly move to the mouth of the junction and then wait out
of anybody's way. Another time when motorists had auto-clogged the
street, I saw a pedestrian step out (into the road) in front of a
cyclist legally using the space between vehicles and kerb. The cyclist
just rang her bell - only barely audible above the din of motorists'
engines.

However, I did encounter the usual set of motorists that don't know the
give way when turning rule or about sounding the horn when stationary.

Perhaps it was the wrong part of London. Or perhaps there is a different
London in another part of the world. Maybe the usual suspects would
offer some clues.

On Friday, November 23, 2018 at 8:05:00 PM UTC, TMS320 wrote:
Yesterday my wife and I had business in London. We decided to go to a
show in the evening so we had a few hours bimbling around looking at the
sights, covering 12km. From Waterloo, across the bridge, round pariament
square and the abbey, Hyde Park, Piccadilly, Regents St, Oxford St, Hyde
Park, Victoria. With other peripheral bits and pieces we would have
walked 16km.

From what I have read here, London cyclists are supposed to be a
notable tourist attraction, experiencing them turn the air blue as they
shout and scream at pedestrians just before sending them flying.

How disappointing! I saw one cyclist that crossed the line on a red
light just to slowly move to the mouth of the junction and then wait out
of anybody's way. Another time when motorists had auto-clogged the
street, I saw a pedestrian step out (into the road) in front of a
cyclist legally using the space between vehicles and kerb. The cyclist
just rang her bell - only barely audible above the din of motorists'
engines.

However, I did encounter the usual set of motorists that don't know the
give way when turning rule or about sounding the horn when stationary.

Perhaps it was the wrong part of London. Or perhaps there is a different
London in another part of the world. Maybe the usual suspects would
offer some clues.

We were also in London recently and we were mown down on the footway by cyclists a total of zero times.
We took the DLR to Island Gardens and walked through the tunnel to Greenwich, in the tunnel we were mown down a total of zero times although a number of pedestrians were taking their bicycles for a walk.
Then along the Thames path to the dome where zero cyclists tried to push us into the river for 'Walking in the middle of the path', although quite a few rang their bell and said thank you when we moved aside.
What is the world coming to.

On 24/11/2018 06:22, Simon Jester wrote:
On Friday, November 23, 2018 at 8:05:00 PM UTC, TMS320 wrote:

Yesterday my wife and I had business in London. We decided to go to
a show in the evening so we had a few hours bimbling around looking
at the sights, covering 12km. From Waterloo, across the bridge,
round pariament square and the abbey, Hyde Park, Piccadilly,
Regents St, Oxford St, Hyde Park, Victoria. With other peripheral
bits and pieces we would have walked 16km.

From what I have read here, London cyclists are supposed to be a
notable tourist attraction, experiencing them turn the air blue as
they shout and scream at pedestrians just before sending them
flying.

How disappointing! I saw one cyclist that crossed the line on a
red light just to slowly move to the mouth of the junction and then
wait out of anybody's way. Another time when motorists had
auto-clogged the street, I saw a pedestrian step out (into the
road) in front of a cyclist legally using the space between
vehicles and kerb. The cyclist just rang her bell - only barely
audible above the din of motorists' engines.

However, I did encounter the usual set of motorists that don't know
the give way when turning rule or about sounding the horn when
stationary.

Perhaps it was the wrong part of London. Or perhaps there is a
different London in another part of the world. Maybe the usual
suspects would offer some clues.

We were also in London recently and we were mown down on the footway
by cyclists a total of zero times. We took the DLR to Island Gardens
and walked through the tunnel to Greenwich, in the tunnel we were
mown down a total of zero times although a number of pedestrians were
taking their bicycles for a walk. Then along the Thames path to the
dome where zero cyclists tried to push us into the river for 'Walking
in the middle of the path', although quite a few rang their bell and
said thank you when we moved aside. What is the world coming to.

Yes, isn't it awful? The usual suspects must be so frightened of their
own shadows that the walk between front door and car is a major expedition.