SeanMacGabhann

I work next to the City Thameslink - and I get a 63 back to the Rye and walk across from there or get a 45 and change at Camberwell I have sometimes used the train itself - but by the time I clamber around platforms and wait for the thing to move, I find it easier to just sit on a bus and read something and be done with it

Sandperson probably closest - fare evading on 40?? never seen it in 8 years But quids ongoing campaign against the new seat made me chuckle. he is spot on... but it doesn't stop be taking the seat if I see it!

Exactly my point MM - When quids and Keef both say they wouldn't do it they have my full support - I just can't let people call the women in question a "stupid cow" with capitals and exclamation marks slide by

Because it seems that other countries manage to combine both activities - that seems to be a good way forward Why settle for less?

Then why are they putting it on the bill - it's plain out of order! They have no business taking an extra cut of money after the punter has agreed to pay the prices on the menu (incl VAT remember) They are bandits, plain and simple. They are screwing you and me and their staff The fact that not all restaurants do it and some do says it all - it's just unethical And some restaurant chains not only claim the cash, put pressurise staff to make sure people pay the charge on card instead of cash Scum

If drivers aren't THE "perceived" threat then why is anyone screaming at the woman and her kids in the first place? This HAS to be about drivers surely! It's disingenuous to suggest this isn't about drivers FFS. If the OP is calling the cyclist a "STUPID COW" (her caps) then that is out of order. And if you think nearer 10 is more appropriate, well.. think it through... if they get smacked by a van or car at that age compared to 4 or 5.... Is a 10 year old more likely to be road-aware? Probably. Road-aware enough?? I doubt it The roads are dangerous. And they aren't dangerous because of middle-aged women and their 5 year old kids on bikes. So if we want to solve the problem (make the roads less dangerous) we should be encouraging people to use them and punishing the people who abuse them more If any driver says something "came out of nowhere" - they haven't been paying attention. If you are in a 30mph zone and looking at the roads ahead, in a built up area, with cars parked close together... well, you won't be doing 30mph - you will be doing a lot slower because you can't judge what is going to appear between cars. You won't be complaining about over-zealous traffic wardens, councils making money etc (not saying that's you btw Keef - it's just a recurring mentality amongst drivers - on this forum and... well, everywhere else in life I listen to them)

If someone started a thread about a driver, a few pints to the good and on his or her mobile phone being a menace it would seem... appropriate But to have a go at a person teaching their kids to cycle in traffic-dense situations? Something they are likely to need to be able to do? Wrong target IMO

in what way is it not ? You have written 5 posts of varying hysteria so far so before you go calling me names, tell me what I have done wrong here?

I'm paying for a meal, if service charge is added then it had better go to those serving me - if the restaurant needs the cash then let them charge more or get more punters in but I'm not gifting them 12.5%! More than happy to pay the 3-4? on an average meal to the waitress/waiter tho - that could be me soon!

way to engage in a debate winglessbird

That sounds overly emotive and judgemental - given the arguments about how that's perfectly normal behaviour in other countris and surely should be here (I mean I'm not wrong am I? Are people saying they don't want that to be possible?) why is the adult cyclist stupid?? It is also bizaare in the extreme to say cars are not more dangerous than bicycles just because you can recall an incident where someone was killed. It's pointing out the bleeding obvious to say cars are more dangerous than cars surely? Or do we have to debate something as painfully simple as that?

ok keef, no specific driver was mentioned but as that is deemed to be the risk (ie noone is talking about the dangers of people just falling off their bikes) my point remain the same Why are you being so antsy lately anyway?

Mockney Piers did make that point but I sure didn't agree with him

All fairly spot on Keef, but given that the OP's point is to berate the cyclist rather than the driver, how is that right? As many people have pointed out, in many other countries the balance would be the other way around and yes this is a different country, but what kind of country do people want it to be? a) one where it IS safe to ride on a bike, kids or no b) one where manic drivers are likely to mow people down so probably best not eh? I would argue passionately for a) - so siding with the OP would be defeatist. Unlike walking at the side of a cliff, sharing the roads is a collective agreement amongst all road users - the pressure should be on dangerous users of those roads (be they drivers, lorries, buses, cyclists) and not on people who are doing something perfectly feasible Now if any parent thinks the risk is too great to take their kids out on a bike then that seems fair enough to me - but if other parents choose otherwise I don't see why they should be chastised.

happy to go with those Georgia Agree with Keef as well re: Sunday's - it just won't happen in the way Friday night drinks have worked The best thing about Fri night drinks were the fact that they were reliable and you knew when people would show up. That's not to give out about the idea of summer/family venues on Saturdays - It was a great idea but after 2 "goes" I would favour a return to Friday's. That doesn't help people with kids but at this rate it is those people (and I'm thinking that's one or two people on any given Saturday) who will turn up to find no-one else there

What Tillie said Times 100 A major news story breaks, with tragic consequences. Two separate threads are started and several people comment - A Good Thing? Not good enough it seems.... Does this news happen on the Camberwell or Nunhead forums which are nearer? No - but instead THIS forum gets called weak, lame, badly run and that ED deserves better . Why not start a thread on those forums?? Why does ED deserve anything? It doesn't - but people who do work to keep this thing ticking along have good reason to be hacked off when some gobby person with a chip on their shoulder starts ANOTHER thread, about the forum in the main section the main section isn't the "serious" one and the Lounge isn't the "silly" one The main section is about ED related things - even dumbass stoopid things like people walking around Landells Rd with suitcases. Things get moved from the ED section when they stop being about ED - regardless of "value" When people spend so much time bitching and moaning it makes me wonder why admin bothers

Lady Mac did very well it the Luvvly Girruls competition

Definitely lessons to be learned Normally the drinks are reasonably obvious but for sure last night was so busy in the Rye generally we were just one amongst dozens of tables and if you didn't know anyone from previous pics etc you wouldn't stand a chance Table names have been used in the past daizie, but usually they are flattened within half an hour or buried amongst a mound of glasses. Plus we don't want anyone with a sniper rifle to have TOO easy a shot To any nervous attendees or first timers in the future I would suggest PM'ing someone who says they are going and you feel comfortable with and swapping mobile numbers - then when you get there it's easy to establish contact. I have done this several times in the past As for the lizard illuminati in the Bishop last night - cards have been marked

Nothing naive or lacking in self-assuredness about the people who run these courses Keef - don't have a go at me If people are lacking in confidence and are a bit naive, surely they should be protected from shysters and hucksters ? No? Ok then.... And two bloodys???

tom-toms? smoke signals? Ye're loss - a beautiful evening outdoors in the Rye Garden.

* reports BBW! * or not (but you have been a scamp the last couple of days) Sorry I missed you yesterday by the way BBW - must have been close, I was at the Rye until 4ish and back again at 8:30

No worries OoF - best of luck with recovery (and curries ;-) ) SeanMac was slightly wobbly having attending the afternoon drinks for a couple of hours, then a regal birthday party for many more hours and then returning for evening drinks - but holding it together better than he has in the past A good effort I would say Everyone who did turn up last night (and I didn't know everyone) was in good form and it was a great night. But one thing bothers me... if some people pushed on to the Bishop and bumped into a dozen or so other regulars, what was their excuse for not doing "the drinks"

There are pros and cons to wearing helmets, and I don't want to dismiss EdKiwi's points too readily But the main con is, simply put, the difference between feeling alive and feeling over-protected. There is no way riding a bike with a helmet is anywhere near as exhilarating as without. And if stats proved absolutely the effectiveness of helmets I would still like to be able to choose to wear one or not One of the things I hated most on my 3 weeks in Australia was the compulsory helmet rule As for too young, I was riding bikes, without my parents constant supervision at that age(ish). And this is on the main road between Cork and Waterford. The woman in the original post sounds like she was doing ok to me. Those kids will grow up with good road sense Any driver observing the road can see ahead and react accordingly if children are cycling. If they are irresponsible drivers and liable to kill someone anyway through reckless driving, it's moot wether the victim was a young cyclist or an OAP crossing the road

I read it too - not really banning, but possibly telling off ;-)

Whaaaaat? Why is it dangerous. It's not because they are young and it's not because they are on bikes if cars are the danger then the warning should be directed elsewhere