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Fog

by bikebot
Wed, Apr 30, 2014 08:12
3

A quick morning rant after a dawn spin around Richmond Park.

London had a thick fog out there this morning, visibility was terrible in patches, and yet only about one in five bikes that I saw had any lights. Cyclists without lights have been a bugbear of mine for years, something that thankfully now seem to be a minority problem at night. However, after this morning it seems London is still full of cyclists who are as clueless as the many drivers who don't know what their car's fog lights are for (the clue is in the name).

Of course, I also saw a worrying number of cars with no lights on at all, let along using the fog lamps.

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charliepalooza | 10 years ago
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Went out at 6am this morning for a quick hour before breakfast here in East Yorkshire. Totally clear at home. Got completely caught out by fog as I ploughed (slowly uphill). Felt very vulnerable. It's so easy to do.

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jmaccelari | 10 years ago
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I also noticed a lot of cars without lights. Not too many cyclists, as I left early. The past couple of days have been a bit of a nightmare as a lot of people seem to have taken out their bikes from hibernation and decided to ride in due to the strike. So there have been a lot of people who are obviously not used to commuting riding all over the place and causing chaos. Riding home yesterday afternoon in the cycling melee was 'interesting'...

I presume a lot of people without lights are those just using the bike to avoid the strike and who are not equipped for general commuting. On a normal day, the majority of habitual commuters are generally well it up.

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bikebot replied to jmaccelari | 10 years ago
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jmaccelari wrote:

I presume a lot of people without lights are those just using the bike to avoid the strike and who are not equipped for general commuting. On a normal day, the majority of habitual commuters are generally well it up.

Sadly not in this case, this was a crack of dawn ride before the commuter crowds start filling up the roads. That was the reason why I was out that early, I'm working from home and just fancied a spin to start the day.

I'm feeling a lot less ranty now, I think many were just caught up by how foggy it was. I was surprised myself, it didn't seem especially foggy when I set off but in and around the park there were some really thick patches with very limited visibility.

I completely agree with you about how well lit up most commuters are now, the message seems to have sunk in with nearly everyone. That's I guess why I was disappointed this morning. Fog makes everyone stupid.

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