Thread: Bike Porn - Regardless of the motor, Show off your "two wheeled" beasties

Originally Posted by gadgetman

I generally just used the treadly for transport, but did a few races and trails too. My aim was to be barely able to stand when I got where I was going. Fastest time to uni (10km) was not on the motorbike. I'm calm as with any motorised transport, but on the bike...the roads mine. Could not stand anything else beat me across an intersection controlled by lights. Put way too much torque into the crank and twisted out the rear spokes. Taught myself to respoke wheels and still have the frame I made to make it easier.

To be fair, the average Christchurch driver is glacially slow at noticing the light has in fact turned green, and that they should drive off in order to allow other road users to clear the same intersection. I have often wondered if it is a Christchurch thing, to get off the light and through the intersection as slowly as possible in order to prevent as many as possible from getting through. The average Christchurch driver also has zero situational awareness and a complete inability to identify and track the moving variables in their operating zone. Must be scary as a pushbike operator in that environment, the drivers in this town are far too retarded for me to do the pushbike thing, even though it makes sense to do it.

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

To be fair, the average Christchurch driver is glacially slow at noticing the light has in fact turned green, and that they should drive off in order to allow other road users to clear the same intersection. I have often wondered if it is a Christchurch thing, to get off the light and through the intersection as slowly as possible in order to prevent as many as possible from getting through. The average Christchurch driver also has zero situational awareness and a complete inability to identify and track the moving variables in their operating zone. Must be scary as a pushbike operator in that environment, the drivers in this town are far too retarded for me to do the pushbike thing, even though it makes sense to do it.

To the first point, we are not glacially slow getting away when it turns green. There are often cars still going through as it turns green and as such, we now make sure they have actually finished before we put our cars "in front of them". Most of them seem to fall into two categories.....Primarily small newly painted Japanese turbo sedans wagons or hatches with exhaust pipes that look like they were stolen off a truck......And the second lot are large US or Aussie ute/ cars that are people trying to look like a local version of Greg Murphy. The first lot dont have a lit of cash and are usually effectively bankrupt to avoid paying all their fines, and the other lot are spending so much money that fines are just a running cost.....


As a push bike rider, I can also attest that they see us, some of them just dont care if we are there or not, and others can be roper dicks. Mostly though, they are pretty good, and once they see that you are stopping for red lights and following road rules they are less inclined to be dicks. But we also have a fair number of cyclists who seem to think red is for cars, footpaths are for bikes, and helmets are for dopes.

Like so many things in life; a few bad eggs in Japanese cars tarnish all young drivers with the same brush, A few bad eggs with money Tarnish all V8 drivers with the same brush, and a few bad eggs on cycles tarnish all cyclists with the same brush.

I will finish with one point. I saw the council putting in cycle lanes thought the city a few years back and thought it was a senseless waste of money and space. Then I started to use them as an alternate route to see where they went, and I must say, I enjoy using them. For my 25 km commute to work, the last 5 km that would usually be on traffic filled roads with angry commuters and cars stuck in traffic, I am zipping along on a back street, and can get to where I am gong faster than in the car. If they are done properly, they are great. If they are done like St Asaph street, they are bloody diabolical.

Originally Posted by timattalon

...a few bad eggs in Japanese cars tarnish all young drivers with the same brush, A few bad eggs with money Tarnish all V8 drivers with the same brush, and a few bad eggs on cycles tarnish all cyclists with the same brush.

...and a few virtue-signaling Kumbaya-singers in Councils screw all the ratepayers plus the old, the young, the delivery-, soccer-mom, V8- and Japanese-car drivers with cycle lanes.

Carbon mammoth-print bike on final approach to Mt Rushmore.

Originally Posted by sightpicture

Carbon mammoth-print bike on final approach to Mt Rushmore.

Attachment 119024

Shit...that's an embarrassing motorbike.

Originally Posted by outlander

Shit...that's an embarrassing motorbike.

Hardly, each to their own brother

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

To be fair, the average Christchurch driver is glacially slow at noticing the light has in fact turned green, and that they should drive off in order to allow other road users to clear the same intersection. I have often wondered if it is a Christchurch thing, to get off the light and through the intersection as slowly as possible in order to prevent as many as possible from getting through. The average Christchurch driver also has zero situational awareness and a complete inability to identify and track the moving variables in their operating zone. Must be scary as a pushbike operator in that environment, the drivers in this town are far too retarded for me to do the pushbike thing, even though it makes sense to do it.

You are 200% correct. I found the best way was to get ahead and stay ahead. Things got a lot more dangerous after the quakes when they routed more traffic down fewer roads. Was still 3x faster getting around with pedal power compared to the wagon.