The week that was

OK, now that I have your attention, it's time for the serious stuff.

Another bloody ninja - all dressed in black, including a black back pack. Boy, that's a way to make sure motorists spot you when it's dark.

I'm going to have to get me one of these shiny back pack covers. Over on the right, there's a camera crew setting up to film a news story. The news broke that day about the Monorail being torn down, and you can see part of the monorail in the top left hand corner. 

Take note of the idiot pedestrian standing a foot or two out from the kerb. Note also the Mercedes coming across from the left - it has done a right hand turn from the road behind me to my left. Then look at the next photo.

This photo was taken on a different day, but shows a bus coming from our right and doing a left hand turn. The way the arrows work at this intersection is that turning traffic gets a turn, and idiot pedestrians and cyclists often try to cross against the lights without realising that vehicles are turning into and out of this street from several directions. I've seen no end of near misses here. No wonder the cops have been booking people for running the red.

This is the scene during the evening rush hour - bike chaos around 5pm. And I am in the middle of the pack.

It's then a scramble to get across the road whilst the light is green - in a fit of generosity, the RTA gives motorists 20 seconds and cyclists get 3 seconds of green. That's not enough time for the cyclists at the front of the pack to click in and get 2/3 of the way across the intersection before the light goes orange. Such is life.