Filtering is fun

Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2009
Posts
10,294
Location
Not where I'd like to be
I've had my, first in 20 years, bike for a little over a week now and did some nice proper filtering for the first time today. Straight down the middle of a dual carriage way towards some red traffic lights and then the same again at the next set of lights. I could almost hear the jealousy of the poor car drivers oozing out through the windows :D

It's funny as before today I was being extra careful about doing this, but for some reason this evening I just went for it and it felt good.

I need a neck tube.
 
Or jealous people blocking you intentionally or trying to rush past you when the traffic lights turn green.
 
i can remember once i used to be pretty good at filtering on a sportsbike to the point where i had to pull my knees and elbows in to get through gaps.

i misjudged it once and caught a girls wing mirror. so being the gentleman i am - it would have been so easy to ride off as she would never have got my plae or anything - i stopped, backed up (difficult to do on a bike when on a light hill lol), put the wing mirror back how it should be, checked it to make sure it wasn't broken, then waved an apology...

all this time she was screaming obsenities at me and i just shrugged and off i went. think that started her off more.... lol

:D
 
Or jealous people blocking you intentionally or trying to rush past you when the traffic lights turn green.

I hate this, it's not just for filtering when on bikes though.

Stupid car drivers do it on two lane section, to other cars.
Because most of the population are two stupid and unable to have special awareness. That by all Quinn up in one lane, rather than both provided. They are blocking up junctions behind them, where people could go freely on their way. But no because of stupid people, they now.needlesly get stuck as well.

:mad: I hate it and it should be punishable by 3points and £60, not ignored. Should have tv campaigns on using all lanes and what merge in turn means.
 
Or jealous people blocking you intentionally or trying to rush past you when the traffic lights turn green.

I hear that. Two old blokes in a van with - I kid you not - a dog sat on each lap. Both mouthing off and pushing me - intentionally - into a coned area as I tried to filter past slow moving traffic.

I was so livid I back off and sat behind them, intent on following them to their destination and executing them, defiling the dogs and burning their damned house down.

Thankfully I calmed somewhat, but I'm pretty sure the law says I can filter where it's safe to do so and doesn't put risk to myself or others, and that trying to force other people off the road is somewhat... 'frowned upon' by the law.

Obviously those two old tossers thought better. Sometimes I get angry that I didn't drag the pair of them out of the van and give 'em a kicking, but that would make me as bad - or worse - than them.

So, hey! Let's be careful out there...

hill_street.jpg
 
I hate this, it's not just for filtering when on bikes though.

Stupid car drivers do it on two lane section, to other cars.
Because most of the population are two stupid and unable to have special awareness. That by all Quinn up in one lane, rather than both provided. They are blocking up junctions behind them, where people could go freely on their way. But no because of stupid people, they now.needlesly get stuck as well.

:mad: I hate it and it should be punishable by 3points and £60, not ignored. Should have tv campaigns on using all lanes and what merge in turn means.

Theres a roundabout on my commute which has two lanes, but everyone goes in the left lane and theres normally a good 200m+ Quinn up to it. You'd love it :p

Admittedly I do it too a lot of the time, but only when I cba to try to filter back in and get blocked by other drivers.
 
Last edited:
I'm right into the swing of filtering now and have yet to meet a driver who is ****ed off enough at me to try and cause me issues. I'm sure that'll come eventually.
 
Keeping the speed sensible while filtering is paramount!
Early this year I was filtering down the M4 elevated(Westway thing) towards Paddington, probably doing 10/15 mph when a lady in a Fjord Focus kindly cut from right to left lane sans looking, I had plenty time and space to brake quickly and stop, sadly the donkey behind me on a brand new Street triple and new leathers who had been molesting my rear tyre for sometime had accelerated towards me, saw the car, saw me brake and decked it.
He didnt hit a single vehicle and his bike stopped about 3 feet from mine.
I took the high ground and suggested he keep more distance next time then lolled like a loon for the next few minutes :D
 
I think we have ourselves a keyboard warrior! :p

I've done my fair share of getting into scrapes - I try my best to avoid that now. I'm getting too old (40) to explain to cops about how I lost my rag and kicked off.

Sometimes it just finds you though, regardless of how you try n avoid it :(
 
Yeah it's just the odd one or two that get ****ed off because you're not sat in traffic with them. I think everyone should be made to take a CBT as part of car lessons - might open their eyes a bit to being more considerate to bikes and less of the "Didn't see you" thing we get.
 
....I think everyone should be made to take a CBT as part of car lessons - might open their eyes a bit to being more considerate to bikes and less of the "Didn't see you" thing we get.

It's like we are linked mentally (I'm sure that's going to be more of an insult to you than me).

Having started on bikes, over 27 years ago, before I ever drove a car (though I had a 20 year break from bikes), I'm sure that's why in all my years of driving I've never even come close to SMIDSY and I've always left/made space, where possible, to allow bikes through.

My journey home from work, whilst not an excessively long one in itself, is probably at least 5 mins quicker than if I was in a car. A testament to how many bloody traffic lights there are in my town.

And don't get me started on the ****ing stupid placement of traffic light crossings at the start of a road off a roundabout. Whoever came up with that idea needs to have an aardvark bugger him.

Also the amount of diesel on the road this morning. You never see cars or bikes shedding loads of petrol ffs so why the hell, in this day and age, do lorries/buses **** so much out?

I could rant all day :D
 
Back
Top Bottom