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Category Archives: Commuting

The Day I Became Famous/Infamous……ish

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Posted by magnatom on August 25, 2008 – 11:41 am
Filed under Helmet Cameras

It was the 25th March 2008. It was a fairly typical day at work, at least it was until I got a phone call from my wife.

Mrs Magnatom: You’re on lunch time news.

Me: What!?

Mrs Mag: Your on the STV lunchtime news! They are trying to find out who the ‘vigilante’ cyclist is, called Magnatom!

Me: Oh, poppycock! (Or words to that effect)

This was the first I knew of what would become a very interesting day….

I’d been posting my youtube videos for quite some time by March 2008. My videos seemed to be having an effect on those who viewed them. There were those who looked at my videos and thought my videoing of incidents was a good thing. Highlighting road safety issues, showing what happens on the roads when there is a cyclist about. There were also those that seemed to think I was the spawn of Satan. In fact I appeared to affecting people enough to gain my own cyber stalker.

Why people took such a dim view of me, I do not fully understand. I know that on one of the forums that I posted (bloodbus where I tried to reason, but I was often threatened and lied about), some would say I could come across as condescending when I tried to discuss road safety issues. Maybe I did come across like that, but it was never my intention. I just believe in the rights of cyclists on the road, whilst admitting that cyclists are sometimes their own worst enemies (i.e red light jumping, pavement cycling etc).

On bloodbus, a couple of characters took a particular dislike to me. Hamsters4breekie, The Paramedic (who allegedly died), HamiltonNutter and later Paramedsis (who claimed to be Paramedics sister) all took exception to me, mainly for the fact that was a cyclist, and all cyclists were scum. On one particular day though things got very nasty. Paramedsis claimed to be a policewoman working in Glasgow. She had provided quite a lot of details about her work, so it might have been true. HamiltonNutter had also claimed to have met her whilst working, so that backed up her story.

Anyway to cut a long story short Paramedsis made claims online that she had previously caught me for drink driving and that was why I cycled to work (not true of course!). A lot of commotion occurred at that point and after some research it was found that not only was she, not a police woman, but she probably wasn’t a she. In fact Paramedic, HamiltonNutter, and Paramedsis were all the same person and appeared to be out to discredit me!

Hamsters4breekie (I later found out who he was in the real world and he was another who had multiple online persona) did something similar, claiming that I had got him the sack from First Buses (since proven to be a lie with the aid of First).

Shortly after all of the hullabaloo I started receiving death threats on my youtube and videos and one was sent privately to me. Things started to get nasty. The threats had obviously caught the eye of a freelance reporter because I received an e-mail message from him asking to chat to me about my videos and the abuse I was receiving(he mentioned the Sun, so I didn’t contact him). He decided to run a story on Magnatom anyway and an article appeared in the Sun (unbeknownst to me) on the 25th March 2008 (see left).

Obviously the STV caught site of this and decided to run the story as well. So without my knowledge the Sun and STV were asking people to phone/text in, if they knew who the ‘vigilante’ cyclists was. :-o

I was faced with a dilemma. Should I talk to the press, and reveal my identity, especially considering the threats that had been made against me, or should I remain quiet. The problem with remaining quiet was that I would have no control over what the follow up stories would be, especially in the Sun, although the first had been reasonably positive.

After having a chat with the police where they suggest that, as I wasn’t Marin Luther King, it was unlikely that anyone would go out their way to harm me, and after consulting with my wife, I decided to contact the STV and to do an interview with them. I hoped that in doing that I could get my point of view across and it would head off any negative press that the Sun might have been planning the next day.

Here is what resulted.

Following this, the sun posted an article the following day, where they took all of the text from what I said on the news interview, although the day after that in John ’smeato’ Smeaton’s column I got called an Al Qae Pedal cyclist (I laughed at that!). Overall though, the press was positive and my decision to do the interview with STV had worked out well. I even got on Radio Scotland a week later!

Thankfully, after that, things returned back to a more normal level of abuse and I started doing after dinner speeches at a reasonable fee. Ok I might not have any takers yet ;-). The death threats slowed to a trickle and most of the abuse I get now is of the get a life/job/car etc all of which I have, thanks! :-)

Who knows, maybe out of all of it a few people might have realised that cyclists should have as much respect on the roads as everyone else, just as cyclists should respect others. Maybe a few drivers will think twice when driving around cyclists Does that cyclist have a helmet camera? And who knows, maybe I have increased the turover of a few companies that sell helmet cameras……..


Cycling in the Midwest.

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Posted by barq on August 12, 2008 – 2:03 pm
Filed under Commuting, Places

Ann Arbor is a Michigan college town a few miles outside of Detroit. As the home of Google’s AdWords division and Domino pizza you might not immediately associate it with a healthy cycling community. However Ann Arbor positively welcomes cyclists so wherever you look there are people on classy road bikes, sturdy MTBs and, the most popular of all, ‘sit-up-and-beg’ town bikes.

Whilst on a recent trip to Michigan I bumped into a fixed rider and asked him about what kinds of cycling the area offered. 70 mile excursions along the wide open roads seemed to be his ride of choice. With more space on the tarmac, and fewer cars per mile than in the UK, I could see the appeal. Personally I was surprised by the poor condition of the roads. They say everything is bigger in the USA and that also includes potholes.

Although I didn’t find many mountain bikers in downtown Ann Arbor I discovered the next best thing… mountain bike beer. The local brewing company teamed up with a nearby Ypsilanti bike shop to support local trails through the sale of beer. I was able to express my ‘support’ for the mountain bikers several evenings running.

On the wide sidewalks on Ann Arbor and the leafy university campus sit-up-and-beg bikes intermingled at low speeds with pedestrians. Cycle paths are conspicuous by their absence. Cyclists actually use their bells and pedestrians seem to respond appropriately. Very strange. Of course it wasn’t all idyllic and one taxi driver rattled off the familiar shouldn’t be on the road tirade. However two factors seemed to make cycling more appealing to the citizens. Firstly the weather is quite settled, so although the winters are very cold, the summer is relatively dry so people spend less time worrying about packing waterproof clothing. Secondly Ann Arbor is a relatively low crime area and the fear of bicycle theft was a minimal concern. Londoners would laugh at the puny bike locks Ann Arbor residents use.

A graduate student at the nearby University of Michigan said she bought a cheap mountain bike from Target due to rumours of quality bikes being stripped for parts. But on the whole people seemed happy to take their bicycles pretty much everywhere. Some commutes were surprisingly short which seemed to free people up to take less clutter with them - afterall who needs a puncture repair kit, pump, multitool, water and so on when the commute is only two miles?

Back in England I find myself wondering if more people would take up cycling if it weren’t for the fear of theft or vandalism? Unfortunately whatever we do the weather is one thing we really can’t fix.

Why Do Cyclists Ride On The Road?

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Posted by Peter Bancroft on August 8, 2008 – 7:00 pm
Filed under Bikes, Commuting, Safety

Last week we looked at the road positioning that cyclists often use, and why they will sometimes place themselves in the “Primary” position despite that fact that it may slow down following traffic. We saw that cyclists will do this for the benefit of their own safety, and to prevent other road users from overtaking when the cyclist can see that there isn’t space up ahead, or to avoid other hazards. We also learned that cyclists are particularly vulnerable road users, and that minor incidents in a car can become major accidents when a cyclist is involved.

So if cyclists are in such danger on the road, why use it? Local governments spend tax payers money increasing cycling provisions, so why don’t cyclists just get off the road and use those instead? Surely it is in everybody’s interest if they didn’t use the road at all.

Firstly, lets clear up an incorrect belief that I’ve heard a couple of times. Cyclists are not allowed to cycle on the pavement. It is illegal to do so, and cyclists caught may have to pay a fixed penalty fine (Section 51 and Schedule 3 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988). It also completely disregards the needs of any pedestrians, who in comparison to cyclists are the more vulnerable party. Cyclists who do this are being selfish, but sometimes justify their actions in that they feel pressurised into using pavements to avoid the dangerous behaviour of a minority of people on the road.

Cycle lanes are often touted as a catch-all solution to this problem. Theoretically, a segregated cycle lane will allow a cyclist to be safe from other traffic, and also without the cyclist affecting other road users or pedestrians.

Sadly, many cycle lanes are so badly designed they are utterly unusable. Imagine a road where the signposts are grounded in the middle of the lane, and whats more, a tree is planted there too! Ridiculous? For cyclists this is more common than you might think. Many cycle lanes are “advisory” meaning that other road users can use them to drive in, sometimes to park in or walk on, but give the impression that cyclists must remain in them at all times.

This isn’t the case. In fact, The Highway Code was recently amended to make this clear (rule 63).

Yet some cycle lanes are installed without any consideration for the impact that their placement may have. Last week’s article demonstrated that a cyclist may need to move to the centre of a lane when passing a traffic island to prevent dangerous overtaking. However, near my home the council have painted cycle lanes to encourage the cyclist to keep to the left.

Furthermore, there simply isn’t space on the road for the cyclist and the car to pass side by side at the island, as this photograph demonstrates. The lane shown here is “advisory” which means that other vehicles may use that part of the road should they wish, however this sort of marking encourages cyclists to keep to the left, and drivers to think that there is space to pass by safely when there is not.

Cycle lanes are also poorly maintained. It is not uncommon for them to have broken glass, and other debris scattered across them. They are often used for parking other vehicles (increasing the chance that a cyclist may be “doored“), or simply be a handy place to put road signage. Where cycle lanes are not a part of the road they are often treated as footpaths by pedestrians, a problem which is exacerbated by the proliferation of shared use paths and increases the problem of cyclists having to look out for potential dangers.

Similarly, cycle lanes are quite often not the most direct route. They often cover many more junctions than a road, with frequent “Cyclist Dismount” signs.

Not that I want to portray myself as Twickenham Cyclist’s shameless publicist, but he has produced a very good video demonstrating how much longer a journey can take when using a cycle path. Cycle paths can be equated to drivers having to travel long journeys through housing estates and carparks. The route would laborious, and the progress slow. Roads, on the other hand, provide more-or-less direct routes to the required destination, with rules that are followed by most users.

Don’t get me wrong, a well designed cycle lane can be of great benefit to many cyclists. Sometimes they will be a handy route for avoiding heavy traffic, provide a shortcut (or even a longcut), give new or inexperienced cyclists somewhere to gain confidence without intimidation, or for leisure cyclists to have a gentle pedal.

But a cyclist may choose to use the road, not only because it is their legal right to do so, but for the same reason any motorist will choose to use a particular route - it is the easiest, quickest, or otherwise most beneficial way for them to get to where they are going.

It occurs to me that this post and my last portray cycling almost as an inherently dangerous activity, when this quite frankly isn’t the case. As long as a cyclist takes the appropriate measures to protect themself, and other road users do likewise (not really an undue expectation) then cycling is a perfectly safe activity.

The Mind of a Helmet Camera Cyclist Part 2

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Posted by magnatom on August 4, 2008 – 12:35 pm
Filed under Helmet Cameras, Uncategorized

 

As I mentioned in my previous blog article, I am a borg on a bike (BOB). So how did I become a BOB.

It all started with the birth of my first son 3 years ago.

My wife and I had always had one car between the two of us. That worked fine for us, and my wife would often drop me off at work on the way to her work. However, with the impending birth of our son I realised that my wife would be off on maternity leave for a considerable length of time and would probably benefit from the use of the car. So my options were; buy a second car (too expensive), take public transport (very, very inconvenient), or get a bike.

My commute was five miles each way, so after investigating online (on the old C+ forum) I decided that cycling was by far the best option and would allow me to get some exercise in as well. So a Ridgeback Cyclone was purchased, and following my paternity leave I bit the bullet and cycled. Scary at first, but after I settled in I realised how brilliant it was. Of course the beautiful weather at the time (28C) helped!

My cycling technique at the time was far from perfect. I will admit that I used the occasional footpath in those days, but I soon learned the err in my ways. However, as time passed I realised was that I was having incidents on a reasonably regular basis which I felt were dangerous, i.e, vehicles passing too close, cutting me up, pulling out in front of me etc. So after reading some discussion on C+ where a couple of users were talking about using helmet cameras, I decided when I had the money, I would take the plunge. Before I did though I decided to have a go with my mobile phone strapped to my bag strap (Nokia N70). So on the 29th June 2006 my youtube broadcasting days began with a video of me cycling through the Clyde Tunnel I used this phone on the odd occasion when it wasn’t raining!

It wasn’t until January 2007 that I bought my first proper helmet camera the ATC-2000. It could be described as many things, but small isn’t one of them. So I plonked it on the left side of my helmet and once my neck muscles recovered, and I learned to point it in the right direction, I started filming. It wasn’t long until it showed its worth.

The bus driver in this clip decided to start overtaking me, despite the lack of room. A quick glance over at him, a quick tap of the helmet camera, and amazingly he backed off!. Result!!

From that moment on I was fully assimilated into the BOB……

Shall I go for a ride today?

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Posted by surfgurl on July 24, 2008 – 9:47 pm
Filed under Commuting, Health and Fitness

I haven’t been out for a ride for a couple of days now. My last ride was a 6 mile round trip to visit some friends. I’m feeling guilty. How can I call myself a cyclist if I am not out riding? Let alone call myself a cycle commuter.

I work in a school so I am now on summer holidays. Being a private school I get an extra long holiday, so I have already been off work for two weeks. So I haven’t commuted for two weeks. I promised myself that I would use the summer holidays to increase my cycling, get fit, lose weight, put more miles in etc. So far I haven’t. I even had ideas of going cycle touring for a few days. Put the bike on the train and head up country a bit. Just far enough away so I couldn’t duck out and go home. But I have put it off under pretences of the weather being a bit funny, or not having panniers. Excuses.

So what’s stopping me? I could go out for a ride right now. Ok, it’s currently 10:40pm as I write, but my bike is downstairs in the hallway. My kit is clean and neatly folded in the wardrobe. My lights are…my lights are…where are my lights? I think they’re in a rucksac downstairs somewhere, last used as torches at a music festival the other weekend. Excuses.

The excuses need to stop. I need to get out and ride.

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