Posts by FletcherB
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Change for the Better, in reply to izogi,
is it possible that some of the latter drivers might be interpreting that as you telling them they should go around you? Maybe they think you’re trying to get them in front of you for some reason?
Hmm.. I hadn’t considered that possibility?
I’ve been doing it for about 6 months on a near daily basis, and it hasn’t invited incorrect/unexpected responses yet.. Perhaps Linger’s “Beware the lunatic” interpretation is more common? :D
The hand is not so much raised, as simply left at it’s handle-bar level, and moved back and forth with the hand and elbow at the same height… and upon reflection… I’m not so much pointing one finger (which could be interpreted as a direction to others) as a flat palm/fingers/thumb all aligned (vertically) just as you would when giving a left or right turn signal.
The intention (and hopefully interpretation by others?) is “this is where I’m going"…
It wouldn’t be necessary at all, except ;
1) many cyclist don’t give hand signals at all,
which leads to
2) many car drivers do not interpret a lack of signal as a lack of intention to turn… especially if you are on their left, and they are intending to turn left..
Also an issue in not just this situation, but many others, is that many car drivers are completely crap at judging the speed of a bicycle… the reason they pull out in-front into a non existent gap, or overtake and then turn hard left into your path… sure, some of them don’t see you at all… some of them are being purposely intimidating… and some of them are just crap drivers and do it to cars as well as bikes… but I suspect most of them simply assume “bikes are slow” in their sub-conscious, and don’t realise that the bike may not be going near walking pace, and that it can easily be going three to five time faster than a walker without ANY level of fitness or effort on the riders behalf, and with some fitness/effort, can be going as fast as or even occasionally, faster than a car…
Sure, I cant go 50km/h under my own power ( I can on a hill)… but I can do 30 or 40 km/h which is not that much slower than a car, especially in traffic… and can be faster than one slowing for a corner… Many corners that cars need to slow for can be taken without slowing by a cyclist, and this will catch many unawares…
Of course, it is also upon my own recognisance to travel at speeds safe for the conditions… if traffic is stopped dead or slow moving, I’m not going to go shooting past it at maximum effort, even if theres a clear gap near the gutter or between lanes… but if traffic is free flowing… it surely should be safe for a cyclist to travel up to that same speed as cars, before other drivers have an excuse for mis-judging that speed?
-
Hard News: Change for the Better, in reply to BenWilson,
Sorry, I haven't been back to PA for a while to reply.. yes, I completely concur on nearly all your observations re: Gt North Rd and cycleways between Waterview and and Avondale, inc BHB-Rd intersection...
I have invented my own hand-signal for such situations (bicycle going straight ahead, where you are likely to be overtaken by left-turning cars)... I take my right hand off the handlebar, and point with my finger and a horizontal fore-arm, moving it back and forward in a straight ahead direction (think choo-choo train motions). I have no way of knowing if this is clear to the following cars, or if the lack of over-taking left turners is merely luck, but I havent been knocked off (or even close) while using it... And yes, taking the lane helps too...
But I also frequently approach intersections (both lights and round-abouts), when I'm going straight ahead, where there is a left-turn only lane... I believe the correct approach, for a cyclist, is (or should be?) to ride up the white-line splitting the two lanes... So cars going straight ahead can overtake, and left turners can take their lane and pass on the inside...
Cars going straight ahead know what to do and behave as expected... cars turning left? Maybe half stay behind me, and only commit to the left when we are both approaching the intersection stop-line... well, I'm trying to be helpful, but if they want to play safe.. I'm not going to argue or complain... But how many "undertake" me on the left as I expect compared to those who go past on the right and then cut dangerously across my path into the left turn lane? It's about 5 to 1 proportion who make the wrong/dangerous/scary move....
Also- heading towards Waterview from Avondale shops... If traffic is light, I ride on the road to BHB rd and then merge across to the flush median as traffic allows.. to take to the start of the cycle-way halfway down to the BP station...
But in rush hour... I ride up the wrong-side (ie. right side) foot-path on Gt Nth... its wide (but not smooth) until BHB Rd.. I cross the end of BHB Rd with the pedestrian crossing... and then, depending on traffic coming up the hill from Waterview... will either stay on the narrow/bumpy/bin-lined footpath at 15km/h, or if a gap presents itself, ride across the empty right lanes after the BHB intersection onto the flush-median (where 30-35kmh is easy), and stay there all the way down to where the cycle-way starts...
I'm looking forward to the already planned (and budgeted?) cycle-way alongside the railway corridor from Olympic-park in Portage Rd that will follow the railway through Avondale to behind Mt Albert Pak-N-Save on New North Rd and then join onto the planned cycleway and walking path upgrade that will go above the new tunnel and meet up with Oakley creek path? Or just ride on the road to Carrington through Mt Albert, or Asquith to St Lukes Rd at Western Springs? Should be ready in 2-3 years? :)
-
Hard News: Change for the Better, in reply to Russell Brown,
The SH20 (southwestern) cycleway tracks the motorway, so it currently comes as far north as Mt Roskill.
It will connect with the SH16 (northwestern) cycleway when the Waterview Connection opens [snip]
The main problem will remain with the part of the northbound journey which includes an off-putting climb up to Hillsborough Road.
Well yes, that hill is a turn-off for all but the most enthusiastic… but really, I think the biggest turn off is the distance…
I already do “two sides of a triangle” (compared to a more direct route, as seen from above) commuting between Green Bay and Parnell via Avondale shops and the Waterview/Carrington entrance to the Northwestern Cycleway… for me it’s 2-3 km extra (10-20%) distance in exchange for a nearly flat ride and nearly half on protected cycleways.
Onehunga to CBD via the SH20 cycle-path and the same Waterview/Carrington merge into SH16 seems like a valid solution for only the most trafic-timid, but very-fit, and time-abundant cyclist… a direct route is ~10km while this route is over 17-19km (70-100% extra distance) with added hills! It does admittedly have the advantage of being about 90% separated/protected cycleway!
Great for a weekend tootle, or a fitness program… but not really a commute?
-
OnPoint: The Whaledump Saga: Scooby-Doo Edition, in reply to Matthew Hooton,
I hope someone could point to another (less concerning reason) complainant Slater got better service from the police than complainant Brash?
Perhaps the Police, (similar to myself, and other people or organisations), change their response after receiving negative feedback from earlier actions/inactions?
-
Hard News: The positive option of Red Peak, in reply to ,
Which is good for the country! Go the All Blacks, God the Queen of England and Toyota.
I was not previously aware that Elizabeth Windsor (or is it Elizabeth Regina?) was Queen of Toyota? Cool! :)
I have always found it a little strange or incongruous that despite being the same woman, the Queen of England, Queen of New Zealand, Queen of Australia, etc. are separate entities, and while it is common and normal for all of the Commonwealth countries to change their hereditary laws simultaneously with each other... (vis- the recent Commonwealth-wide dropping of male priority so that if William+Kate's first child was a daughter, she'd still be next in line even if they had a subsequent son)... it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they could choose to not all change in unison...
It's occasionally floated in some (less intelligent?) media that many like the current Queen E, and William seems nice, but can we skip Charles as monarch?
While the chance of any of our Commonwealth Nations changing their monarchy/hereditary laws in any-way (apart from abandoning them completely to become a republic) seems (extremely) remote... I am tickled by the possibility of our variously linked nations deciding on separate paths so that while we all have Elizabeth as our current Monarch... we may have different ones in the future?
By the way... all this pointless theorising in my mind about improbably divergent monarchs was triggered by a friend of my parents, who was born in India while still under "the British Raj", but had moved to Australia in the 1950's... discovering later that she was not actually an Australian Citizen or passport holder when she wanted to travel overseas for the first time in the 1980's... So she went though a naturalisation/nationalisation ceremony at the local town hall... where she swore allegiance to Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, over any other previous allegiances (which in her case, was Elizabeth II, Queen of England, or Elizabeth II Queen of India - she wasn't quite sure? :)
And all of the above rambling is in support of the... I dont love (or hate) our current flag, but it seems like changing the flag without becoming a republic first seems... half-hearted at best?
-
Hard News: The positive option of Red Peak, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
From the ‘out of the mouths of the sucklings’ file.. one of my offspring sees the whole flag changing thing as akin to painting the mailbox while the termites are eating the house.
You should be proud... not just of the clarity of your offspring's observations, but also of your own parenting....
-
Heres a contrasting viewpoint...
http://caa.org.nz/the-nelson-st-transformation-ramps-up-steel-yourself-for-something-special/
Short version- wait and see once it's finished, it may not be as bad as you were expecting...
-
Hmmm... management in Auckland, in-house programmers in Portugal...
Thats a mighty big house, I would have thought I'd have noticed it, does it cause some navigational problems for all the container ships bringing us music players from China?
-
Hmm... this law appears to need changing fairly quickly...
You are looking smaller at sub-parts of computers--- but if you look in the other direction...
That caveat, you mention-
“if a person who is authorised to access a computer system accesses that computer system for a purpose other than the one for which that person was given access.”
In conjunction with
computer system—
(a) means—
(i) a computer; or
(ii) 2 or more interconnected computers; or
(iii) any communication links between computers or to remote terminals or another device; or
(iv) 2 or more interconnected computers combined with any communication links between computers or to remote terminals or any other device; andSeems to STRONGLY suggest that as I and/or my ISP authorise myself to access my computer and it's internet connection.... then it's not illegal for me to access any other computer on that internet.... it's all just one big "computer system" no?
-
I guess tram tracks are so uncommon here that it's not common knowledge?
If you grow up in Melbourne you get told at primary school--- beware the tram-tracks on your bike..
Any wet metal has no grip and is thus a braking/steering hazard... but the really bad hazard of the tram-track is if your front wheel drops into the slot...
The way you actually stay upright on a bike is by constantly falling to one side, steering into it until you are falling the other-way, and then steering back the other way...... Anyone who doesn't believe this needs to try riding a bike with the steering locked in the straight ahead position.
If your tyre is skinny enough to fall in- once your front wheel is in the tram-track slot, you ARE going to fall off. (Ok, if you are REALLY quick, you might be able to hop it out?). If you have a wider tyre than the slot, or your rear gets slotted, your chances can be better but you could still easily not be able to overcome the loss of steerability....