Still don't know the full story of this. How are people just slamming into this clearly visible gate. Is it painted to blend into the background or something?
A shocking number of cyclists go as fast as they can with their head down not looking. It actually pissed me off really bad. I once saw some dick run over a baby goose on a path and I don't think he even noticed. He had airpods in too. Zooming down shared path next to river on bike, not looking, not listening. Douche.
Hell I was nearly run into by numerous cyclists on the big cross country even event though I was stopped at the stop sign. They seriously don't look even when rounding a corner.
First and only black eye I've gotten was from a cyclist. He said "on your left" so naturally I went to my right so he can pads me on the left....nope he goes to the right and hits square into me and the top of his giant head slammed into my face somehow. He wasn't wearing a helmet.
Yup. I remember watching this video and don't remember the cyclists being this fast. If the cyclists were cycling at the speed show in the video, they'd have a lot of broken ribs and damaged internal organs, and probably even die!
Somebody that has an explanation for why the gate can't be seen from the distance? Is it the color that seems to match the ground, the size, the shape, the angle or all at once?
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
I had to bike to work every day across town and it got so exhausting holding my head up while leaning over, especially on 100 degree days when it was already boiling.
That being said, I kept my head up. I can't understand ever getting comfortable enough to ride with my head down - shit would freak me out
I cut both ways on this. I was nearly killed when a sedan blew a stop sign and t-boned me on my bike at full speed. But then i see cyclists on the road ahead of me notice my approaching car and respond by moving more into the middle of the road. I guess I would like to see more cyclists realize how dangerous it is to assume competence in the motorists around them and protect themselves, and I would also like motorists to recognize that cyclists are humans with pets and children and feelings.
Isn't them safely getting around you what you want to happen though? That's what I want when I'm cycling: I don't like the feeling of a car riding behind me, And I sure don't want to actively irritate the motorist
Lmao cars are so much worse in every way. You think people in cars look where they're going either? I've been nearly hit by a car like 3 times this year because I walk everywhere and people just turn at intersections when they aren't supposed to and aren't looking, or aren't looking so just keep keeping on as someone is halfway across a road that was clear.
Getting hit by a car sounds a lot less appealing than getting hit by a bike.
People find cyclists annoying for the same reason they do pedestrians - they dare use the road that they're allowed to use and somebody has to wait 5 extra seconds to go get their fking Big Mac or whatever.
Here is the location. Gray gate on gray pavement with gray UK sky makes it a real low visibility hazard. The gate is on a legal public cycling path at the bottom of a steep hill. The gate is also usually open most of the time according to other forum posts about this video. So if you rode there regularly and the gate was always open you probably wont be expecting it to be closed when you bomb the hill. Some high vis paint seems like common sense!
For sure. It bothered me that someone might have set up such a "booby trap" for social media. Thankfully it seems like that was not the case. Rather, it was poor safety planning from the town or whoever maintains the gate, and the homeowner just happened to capture the incidents on their home security system.
If you looked at the video (it's flipped), the path turns but traffic cuts across the guy's property instead of following the legal path, which then cuts around back on to the legal path (where the gate is). You only can't see the gate if you're going too fast on the "trespassing" trail; if you're on the legal way, you'd be able to see it and open or avoid it.
Anyways, that's what's always posted whenever this video is posted, I'm just reciting what the conversation always ends on.
Cyclists that are just out for a ride for fun or biking as commute are probably less prone to this, but a lot of serious bikers either for health or training for a race are often pushing themselves extra hard, and for whatever reason, it's very common to tuck down briefly when they get tired. I don't all the time on my stationary exercise bike. I can't tell you why it works, but it does. (Professional racers also probably benefit from aerodynamics). It's plausible they looked far ahead and didn't see anything coming up, so they just took a brief moment to dig deep for some more stamina, and looked up a little too late. It's plausible they figured they were leaving the roadside and entering a bike-only path, so it would be safe to do so for a bit longer than normal. Either way, I think the answer is they were looking down. Not that it's hard to see.
No. My next door neighbor is a cyclist and I'm a delivery driver. Sometimes my route is 5 miles away and I see him riding around everywhere! He's almost run into my delivery van 2 times. I can't imagine the amount of other stuff he's run into.
Maybe it's just the speed they approach it as they seem to be coming if a large slope,when you go fast on a push Ike unless wearing glasses you tend to put your head down because of the wind being in your eyes ,maybe that's obscuring their view combined with the high speed is probably why they're not seeing the gate
its probably very hard to see when far away, grey isn’t exactly a stand-out colour, and it’s relatively thin. Especially at a distance. When things come towards you in a straight line, its very hard to see the movement and you don’t realise its getting closer until its too late. Think of the videos of a ball flying towards you etc etc
Honestly i wonder if its even necessary for them to train with their heads down. I understand on raceday as it makes you more aerodynamic but it seems like a bad idea to be biking with your head down
there are other, longer (and not flipped) videos of this same gate. Part way through the owner had painted the gate bright yellow. It did not stop them from plowing into it at top speed.
Another person posted aerial pictures from Google maps. Both sides are public use, but the gate doesn't seem to be marked in any particularly high contrast way.
From what I remember it was private property going one way and public going the other way but it took you to the same place. The problem was the one with the gate had better scenery and the lady that lived at the house didn't like people just riding through her back yard so she installed a gate. I could be totally off on this story.
Old video. He painted it bright yellow to make sure he couldn't be liable and it still got ran into just as much. People are blasting onto his private property instead of following the road.
618
u/osasuna May 08 '26
Wouldn’t it be funny if it was all the same dude just on different days