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Go along the canal tow path between Hackney and Islington if you want to see humanity at its lowest :) You'll find; Walking Pedestrians Runners Cyclists Mum

Go along the canal tow path between Hackney and Islington if you want to see humanity at its lowest :) You'll find; Walking Pedestrians Runners Cyclists Mums with buggies Latte drinking hipsters You could devise a Rock-Paper or Top Trumps type game where each has their own agility, velocity, hit-power, hated outgroups, allies, special powers and so on. The most aggressive by far are runners. They literally hate all other groups and will deliberately elbow you in the ribs or push aside anything that gets between them and the new high-score target time. Buggy mums have a special power of vulnerability, second only to wheelchair users that can, like Moses, part the sea of apologising docile bodies (Everyone in London is constantly "sorry", simply for existing and being in other people's way. But "sorry" is actually a very subtle and British form of "Fuck you"). Cyclists vary between extremely polite and conscientious folks who gently ring their bells and pass single-file in groups... to absolute assholes. How expensive their bikes are more or less directly correlates with abusive behaviour. The optimal bike in London costs about 50 quid and is a fashion item that demonstrates you have nothing to prove. Anyone on a £400 mountain bike is almost certainly a total tosser. Pedestrians, necks craned, heads down in their smartphones. earbuds blocking out any warning shouts or cyclists bells, zig-zag across the path while reading Facebook or scrolling on whatever dumb new app they have. And you don't need to be fast moving and dangerous to cause chaos. Hipsters literally sit in the path, man-spreading their legs across the lane, daring anyone to interrupt their beard-stroking and spill their latte. On a good day this is all a cosmopolitan good natured jossle. On bad day things get violent and people get thrown in the canal. The point is, that heterogeneous users in crowded transit paths don't work well together. Amsterdam is another good example, but has a different dynamic once you mix-in ten-ton trams. Car drivers are just one more level of removal. With cars on the roads it's life and death, and scores of cyclists are killed every year in London. We recently changed the Highway Code in the UK to give pedestrians (and cyclists) far higher priority over cars. But, like using phones while driving, nobody pays the least attention, and laws are barely enforced in Britain anyway, which is a good and bad thing.

secondcoming 5y ago
> But "sorry" is actually a very subtle and British form of "Fuck you" No it's not. It not actually a heartfelt apology, but it's most certainly not an FU either.
- leoedin 5y ago
  In my experience it can have a broad spectrum of meaning, the most extreme of which is definitely close to fuck you. "Sorry" said to someone intentionally blocking the path is not an apology, it's a "what the hell are you doing blocking the path, don't you know I'm walking here".
  - secondcoming 5y ago
    It can be said sarcastically, sure, but if someone wanted to say 'fuck you' they'd just say it.
cameronh90 5y ago
> The optimal bike in London costs about 50 quid and is a fashion item that demonstrates you have nothing to prove. Anyone on a £400 mountain bike is almost certainly a total tosser. I feel like your bicycle pricing is ten years out of date. £400 is about typical for a low-end bike that'll survive a few years of commuting. £50 will barely get you a stolen bike off Gumtree.
- MagnumOpus 5y ago
  I think you might have demonstrated his point... In all seriousness, every one of multiple such bikes I owned in London has subsequently been stolen. (Several cheap ones too, but that's an accepted cost of commuting given the Met does sweet f all about theft or burglary.)
  - cameronh90 5y ago
    I've had too many bikes stolen so my solution now is: I have two bikes. I have rather expensive e-bike that I for the 20 mile per day commute and I keep it locked inside at both ends. I also have a £50 (probably stolen) bike from Gumtree that I use to cycle to nearby shops and train stations. It makes a lot of noise and breaks quite often. I metaphorically duct tape it back together, but it doesn't matter because I never go more than a mile from home on it. I made it look intentionally shitty to try and stop it getting stolen. So far it's working...
Doctor_Fegg 5y ago
The congestion on the Regent's Canal towpath is just a demonstration of the fact that London needs more safe, protected bike tracks. People don't ride the towpath because they like looking at ducks, they ride it because they're not going to get left-hooked by a tipper truck.
- HPsquared 5y ago
  Cyclists want cycle paths to be built, but (especially in London) how much would this cost? How much would this cost per person-mile ridden on the new routes? Is this proportionate or not? Would cyclists be able or willing to fund the construction?
  - TomSwirly 5y ago
    You are ignoring the big questions! Will it improve everyone's life to have more cyclists and less cars? How are we going to deal with the climate emergency without getting rid of cars? > Would cyclists be able or willing to fund the construction? Jesus, man. I'm not a parent, but I willingly pay for schools for children. This perennial argument against any governmental spend at all has been debunked so thoroughly that at this point I believe that most who make it know it's wrong, and use it anyway.
    - HPsquared 5y ago
      Undoubtedly building cycle paths would improve a couple of dimensions (less traffic, pollution etc.) but it would also cost something, I'm simply advocating a cost-benefit analysis, and pondering whether some kind of funding-by-the-users is possible (like happens for other vehicles: fuel duty, road tax, etc.)
      - Freak_NL 5y ago
        What makes you think that these cost-benefit analyses are not being done by municipalities and related agencies all the time? Roads require upkeep and revision of their layout as a matter of course, or else London would still predominantly feature cobblestone roads suitable for broughams rather than SUVs. Any action they take will 'cost something', even not doing anything (lack of repairs will cost you double in the long run). Don't worry about 'funding by the users'. Cycling is a net-positive for population health and government goals (exercise as well as less congestion and pollution); by that logic users should be paid for riding a bike! Besides, most cyclists pay taxes already; or are you advocating charging pedestrians for the use of pavements as well?
DrBazza 5y ago
That stretch of canal is narrow and poorly marked. It's no surprise that people wander all over the place. Also... Hackney, and the east end isn't exactly the nicest part of London either. > The point is, that heterogeneous users in crowded transit paths don't work well together Which is a good point - most if not all "cycle paths" in the UK are shared with pedestrians who pay exactly zero attention to the red tarmac (for bikes) and the grey tarmac for them.
- ivvve 5y ago
  > Hackney, and the east end isn't exactly the nicest part of London either. Are you suggesting that people that because Hackney "isn't exactly the nicest part of London", that people have bad manners? Please clarify, honestly I don't understand this.
  - DrBazza 5y ago
    No, I'm stating that if you search for crime statistics in London, east and north east come out highest. And I'm one of those statistics.
Delphiza 5y ago
Oooh, sounds like I should visit. In Windsor Great Park we have all of yours and dog walkers. The dogs are either not on a lead and free to unpredictably run across the road to sniff the butt of another dog. Or, they are on a lead but one of those extensible ones that allow the walker and the dog to be on the opposite side of the road - I think that the opening scene in the movie _Ghost Ship_ was inspired by dealing with dog walkers.

secondcoming 5y ago

> But "sorry" is actually a very subtle and British form of "Fuck you" No it's not. It not actually a heartfelt apology, but it's most certainly not an FU either.

leoedin 5y ago
In my experience it can have a broad spectrum of meaning, the most extreme of which is definitely close to fuck you. "Sorry" said to someone intentionally blocking the path is not an apology, it's a "what the hell are you doing blocking the path, don't you know I'm walking here".
- secondcoming 5y ago
  It can be said sarcastically, sure, but if someone wanted to say 'fuck you' they'd just say it.

cameronh90 5y ago

> The optimal bike in London costs about 50 quid and is a fashion item that demonstrates you have nothing to prove. Anyone on a £400 mountain bike is almost certainly a total tosser. I feel like your bicycle pricing is ten years out of date. £400 is about typical for a low-end bike that'll survive a few years of commuting. £50 will barely get you a stolen bike off Gumtree.

MagnumOpus 5y ago
I think you might have demonstrated his point... In all seriousness, every one of multiple such bikes I owned in London has subsequently been stolen. (Several cheap ones too, but that's an accepted cost of commuting given the Met does sweet f all about theft or burglary.)
- cameronh90 5y ago
  I've had too many bikes stolen so my solution now is: I have two bikes. I have rather expensive e-bike that I for the 20 mile per day commute and I keep it locked inside at both ends. I also have a £50 (probably stolen) bike from Gumtree that I use to cycle to nearby shops and train stations. It makes a lot of noise and breaks quite often. I metaphorically duct tape it back together, but it doesn't matter because I never go more than a mile from home on it. I made it look intentionally shitty to try and stop it getting stolen. So far it's working...

Doctor_Fegg 5y ago

The congestion on the Regent's Canal towpath is just a demonstration of the fact that London needs more safe, protected bike tracks. People don't ride the towpath because they like looking at ducks, they ride it because they're not going to get left-hooked by a tipper truck.

HPsquared 5y ago
Cyclists want cycle paths to be built, but (especially in London) how much would this cost? How much would this cost per person-mile ridden on the new routes? Is this proportionate or not? Would cyclists be able or willing to fund the construction?
- TomSwirly 5y ago
  You are ignoring the big questions! Will it improve everyone's life to have more cyclists and less cars? How are we going to deal with the climate emergency without getting rid of cars? > Would cyclists be able or willing to fund the construction? Jesus, man. I'm not a parent, but I willingly pay for schools for children. This perennial argument against any governmental spend at all has been debunked so thoroughly that at this point I believe that most who make it know it's wrong, and use it anyway.
  - HPsquared 5y ago
    Undoubtedly building cycle paths would improve a couple of dimensions (less traffic, pollution etc.) but it would also cost something, I'm simply advocating a cost-benefit analysis, and pondering whether some kind of funding-by-the-users is possible (like happens for other vehicles: fuel duty, road tax, etc.)
    - Freak_NL 5y ago
      What makes you think that these cost-benefit analyses are not being done by municipalities and related agencies all the time? Roads require upkeep and revision of their layout as a matter of course, or else London would still predominantly feature cobblestone roads suitable for broughams rather than SUVs. Any action they take will 'cost something', even not doing anything (lack of repairs will cost you double in the long run). Don't worry about 'funding by the users'. Cycling is a net-positive for population health and government goals (exercise as well as less congestion and pollution); by that logic users should be paid for riding a bike! Besides, most cyclists pay taxes already; or are you advocating charging pedestrians for the use of pavements as well?

DrBazza 5y ago

That stretch of canal is narrow and poorly marked. It's no surprise that people wander all over the place. Also... Hackney, and the east end isn't exactly the nicest part of London either. > The point is, that heterogeneous users in crowded transit paths don't work well together Which is a good point - most if not all "cycle paths" in the UK are shared with pedestrians who pay exactly zero attention to the red tarmac (for bikes) and the grey tarmac for them.

ivvve 5y ago
> Hackney, and the east end isn't exactly the nicest part of London either. Are you suggesting that people that because Hackney "isn't exactly the nicest part of London", that people have bad manners? Please clarify, honestly I don't understand this.
- DrBazza 5y ago
  No, I'm stating that if you search for crime statistics in London, east and north east come out highest. And I'm one of those statistics.

Delphiza 5y ago

Oooh, sounds like I should visit. In Windsor Great Park we have all of yours and dog walkers. The dogs are either not on a lead and free to unpredictably run across the road to sniff the butt of another dog. Or, they are on a lead but one of those extensible ones that allow the walker and the dog to be on the opposite side of the road - I think that the opening scene in the movie _Ghost Ship_ was inspired by dealing with dog walkers.