Chess and Road Cycling

[Ian Kingston]

An interesting thought. When attending a chess tournament/congress, I notice cars, vans, and the odd motorcycle outside the venue. Cannot recall anyone taking a bicycle to a chess tournament. Of course, distance may be a problem. Cyclists must be treated with respect, it is healthy exercise, and does not damage the environment.
There must be chess playing cyclists on this Forum; can we have their views please ?

Until recently I used to cycle to local events, home matches and some away matches, but only up to 10 miles or so - any further would take too long.

I can't say that it affected my play one way or the other, provided I arrived 10-15 minutes before the start in order to recover. I stopped cycling when I finally got round to learning to drive. Now I have to go to the gym to stay fit.

I'm aware of a couple of other regular cyclists. One is still going; the other died shortly after returning from a (non-chess-related) bike ride.

[Louise Sinclair]

An interesting thought. When attending a chess tournament/congress, I notice cars, vans, and the odd motorcycle outside the venue. Cannot recall anyone taking a bicycle to a chess tournament. Of course, distance may be a problem. Cyclists must be treated with respect, it is healthy exercise, and does not damage the environment.
There must be chess playing cyclists on this Forum; can we have their views please ?

Cyclists can damage the pedestrians they hit though.

[Dave Ewart]

Cyclists can damage the pedestrians they hit though.

Now I'm trying to work out whether you're just trolling.

[Nick Thomas]

An interesting thought. When attending a chess tournament/congress, I notice cars, vans, and the odd motorcycle outside the venue. Cannot recall anyone taking a bicycle to a chess tournament. Of course, distance may be a problem. Cyclists must be treated with respect, it is healthy exercise, and does not damage the environment.
There must be chess playing cyclists on this Forum; can we have their views please ?

I've cycled to the 4ncl in Hinckley before (about 22 miles each way). It helps clear the mind as long as an idiot in a gas guzzling Jag doesn't decide to make my children fatherless for a bit of a laugh.

[Dragoljub Sudar]

Cyclists should be treated with respect but only when they use the road correctly, as I used to do when in my 20s and 30s. I even had these strange little things called lights!

Why do so many cyclists think they have right of way on pavements? Isn't it illegal? They are a danger to pedestrians, especially infirm or elderly.

A couple of weeks ago, while waiting at my bus stop to go to my club, I was almost run into by a fast travelling late teen / early 20s cyclist who just about managed to avoid me but without a word of apology. I also stepped out of the way for a teenager (who at least said 'excuse me') and for a father and his very young daughter (I didn't mind this so much as I guess he wished to avoid her having to cycle on the main road).

Also, cyclists who wilfully go through red lights or squeeze into the narrow gap between the car and the pavement at junctions give other cyclists a bad name. When I drive I give cyclists as much room as possible, especially at junctions. I wish they would show the same consideration to car drivers and pedestrians.

[Gary Cook]

An interesting thought. When attending a chess tournament/congress, I notice cars, vans, and the odd motorcycle outside the venue. Cannot recall anyone taking a bicycle to a chess tournament. Of course, distance may be a problem. Cyclists must be treated with respect, it is healthy exercise, and does not damage the environment.
There must be chess playing cyclists on this Forum; can we have their views please ?

I've cycled to the 4ncl in Hinckley before (about 22 miles each way). It helps clear the mind as long as an idiot in a gas guzzling Jag doesn't decide to make my children fatherless for a bit of a laugh.

As the driver of the gas guzzling jag I am also a cyclist, but there are too many cyclists out there that have no consideration of anyone else on the road or pavement, very few in London think that the Highway Code means anything to them. The worst sort are those that dress like they are taking part in the Tour de France. Most drivers give plenty of room for cyclist if for no other reason than contact with their bike would ruin their cars paintwork!

[Nick Thomas]

I'm not going to rebut this drivel because you must be trolling.

[Andy McCulloch]

Do you really think so? To be honest I don't think you can rebut any such argument, but I would rather the statement about nudging cyclists had not been made. You seem to think that cyclists are angels who can do no wrong. I no longer drive, I can't afford to run a car. When I did drive, as an ex-motorcyclist I tried to give cyclists plenty of room, I just wished they would do the same for others.

As a pedestrian I have twice been struck by cyclists while on the pavement. On neither occasion was I seriously hurt, but neither cyclist stopped to find out whether any injury had occurred. Both of these incidents involved cyclists approaching from behind me. These incidents happened on busy pavements, with cyclists attempting to weave between those of us on foot. As a result of arthritis in my knees my gait is sometimes a bit unpredictable. This is not a problem for other pedestrians, but may be for those selfish adults who cycle on the pavement.

In Glasgow I would estimate that probably half of all cyclists on the road at night have neither lights nor high-visibility clothing, a recipe for disaster, which of course is the fault of the selfish car drivers. Aye, right.

All cars have an identifying registration number, cyclists are anonymous, and get away with a lot of poor behaviour on the road/pavement.

[Louise Sinclair]

Why must I be trolling. Is that an attempt to discredit my posts.
Louise

[Louise Sinclair]

Cyclists claim environmental credentials. They discount the cost to the environment of manufacturing bicycles. Especially the rubber components and glue.
The only truly environmentally friendly methods of travel involve camels , horses or shanks pony.
Do the cyclists who proudly claim the moral high ground wear clothes made by people working in respectable working conditions or do they settle for sweat shop produced garments.
Does the keen cyclist insist on new furniture, piping hot water on tap and new parts for a damaged cycle or do they use refurbished parts.
I ask because although we own a gas guzzling jaguar we buy used products when possible and our clothes do not come from modern sweat shops.
We do not have constant supplies of wasteful hot water and we source used parts for the car which save on resources. My husband walks to work.
When I rode a bicycle as a child it was impressed on me to use a bell, have lights fitted and to show consideration for other users of the public highway.
Tax levied on motorists for the maintenance of the roads is not applied to cyclists but they don't seem to object to partaking of the largesse paid for by drivers and damning the car owner in the next breath.
Louise

[JustinHorton]

The point is not, of course, whether the proportion of cyclists who ride badly is greater than the proportion of motorists who drive badly, or whether one group is a greater danger than the other.

it's that it's not OK to express hatred of people as a group, or wish violence on them, or exult in their suffering hurt or injury, or fantasise openly about their being killed.

This is pretty basic.

[Dave Ewart]

Cyclists claim environmental credentials. They discount the cost to the environment of manufacturing bicycles. Especially the rubber components and glue.

[...]

Tax levied on motorists for the maintenance of the roads is not applied to cyclists but they don't seem to object to partaking of the largesse paid for by drivers and damning the car owner in the next breath.
Louise

You really are on shaky ground if you're trying to claim that the cost of manufacturing bicycles is a major consideration.

And there is no tax "levied on motorists for the maintenance of the roads": it doesn't exist. Since pre-WWII, there has been no such tax. That so-called "road tax" is actually Vehicle Excise Duty. It's paid on a sliding scale based on emissions, broadly-speaking. That's why those with small, low-emission cars (and those with bikes!) pay nothing. By your argument, those driving those small, low-emission cars have just as little "right to use the road" as cyclists. Road maintenance is paid for out of general taxation.

[JustinHorton]

don't confuse the issue with facts, Dave.

[Dave Ewart]

don't confuse the issue with facts, Dave.

[Louise Sinclair]

The point is not, of course, whether the proportion of cyclists who ride badly is greater than the proportion of motorists who drive badly, or whether one group is a greater danger than the other.

it's that it's not OK to express hatred of people as a group, or wish violence on them, or exult in their suffering hurt or injury, or fantasise openly about their being killed.

This is pretty basic.

Where did I fantasise about anyone being killed ? Who are you to twist the statements of others. Did you read my post or are you indulging in scapegoating me because this is something you do for amusement.