The tesco bike racks of uselessness
In my town they built a new tesco and of course installed bike racks on the side wall of the shop. It didn't take long to realise there had been some stupid mistake made. The racks, effectively a steel tube loop to knee height, had been bolted to the ground right up against the wall. This meant you couldn't get your bike close enough to the rack to actually make use of it. At best you could bolt one wheel, but the rack wouldn't support your bike anyway so they were effectively useless. I mentioned this to customer service but nothing happened.

Then after a year or so some genius decided they needed bigger trolley racks by the door, so the bike racks got moved further away. Still with the same problem of being too close to the wall but now with the added bonus of not being covered by the overhanging roof, so you could get nicely wet if it was raining. Again, noted to customer service but nothing done.

The final straw for me was when smoking in the work place was banned. This meant all the staff on their fag break would come out of the staff door next to the bike rack and puff away.

One day I arrived at the shop with my daughter in tow on her bike trailer. I was out of breath so breathing heavily, except the air was thick with smoke. As a non smoker it was pretty yucky, but it's not like there was anywhere else to lock my bike. More to the point my 3 year old girl was also now coughing and saying it smelt etc. I resolved to get it sorted. I told customer services but 2 weeks later still nothing.

SO.... I did some research. I found the board of directors names for Tesco and wrote a structured letter advising them of the problem, the experience and more importantly the ongoing health problems I and my daughter could suffer etc. Then emailed it to the whole board of directors, the local newspapers and regional cycling clubs.

Within 48 hours the bike racks were replaced, moved away from the wall so they could be used and I've never seen the staff smoking outside the shop since :-)

Sometimes it's not what you say, just who you say it to.
(golddust QOTW now revolves around being a cunt, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 14:17, 17 replies)

haha you ride a bike
I'm gonna start a campaign to get cyclists to start paying bloody road tax
(TwinkleFuckingToes Has a ingrown toe nail, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 14:23, closed)

but that would mean
tax discs on bikes, which would mean bikes would have to have a registered owner. The logistics doesn't bear thinking about.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 14:31, closed)

Quite so
it's not like there are any other 2 wheeled vehicles that require tax and registration on the roads.

talking of which, what's happening about Segways? I know they're totally twatty looking etc, but I so want to have one.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 14:33, closed)

Lembit Opik eats them

( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 17:11, closed)

I just want to penalise them
there is no excuse for grown men to wear spandex in public and who in their right mind would put their child in one of those bike trailors anyway..? make the bastards carry their own weight.
(TwinkleFuckingToes Has a ingrown toe nail, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 14:37, closed)

'fraid
I'm with you.

Try driving through Richmond park on any weekend, there are millions of the verminous little buggers, riding 3 abreast and even when I patiently sit at 12 mph behind them, they turn round and glare at me as if to say 'Yes, you're waiting patiently, but I bet you're getting impatient, and I'm sure you are about to plough into me and kill me'.

Actually fuckface, I was deciding whether to have a pizza or chinese for lunch.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 14:47, closed)

I fucking hate pack cyclists!
They drive me mental! YOU ARE NOT CARS! Stop talking about celery sticks and protein shakes and get the fuck over to the left. My car is bigger than you and I will plough through your little spandex pack effortlessly, laughing.
(MrNorm, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:02, closed)

I do not...
Cycle in a pack or wear spandex/lycra...

Actually I am a careful cyclist and if I see a queue behind me, I pull off and let the traffic past and continue when there are no more pissed off drivers behind me.

I love my driving too but give plenty of time and space for cyclists...

but I love putting my foot down in the car and sometimes cyclists piss me off, especially when they cycle side by side and take up the whole road but then in contrast, I hate it when drivers don't give us the space on the road to cycle, pull out in front of us thinking we are cycling slowly (when in fact doing 30+) or drive stupidly close to the pavement so we can't pass safely...
(Something funny, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 22:00, closed)

Non-pack cyclists..
..are safe in my book. I always keep a wide berth of them whilst overtaking and when at lights keep enough distance from the curb for them to get past fine. It's mainly the ones (mainly packs) that don't get over into single file that fuck me off. If they did go into single file, there wouldn't be a problem.
(MrNorm, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 13:45, closed)

You do know there is no such thing as road tax right?
You're confusing it with vehicle excise duty which is based on the level of emmisions your vehicle produces, which in a bikes case is nothing. So therefore no duty to pay.

Got it?
(Bazongaloid, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:20, closed)

How about the associated manufacturing emmissions
bikes are not made out of grass
(TwinkleFuckingToes Has a ingrown toe nail, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:32, closed)

What relevance does that have?

(Bazongaloid, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:35, closed)

It'll
be an irritation tax.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:40, closed)

wrong
well known fact - cyclists are all vegetarian hippies, and fart constantly. Emissions are roughly the same as a Mercedes sprinter van.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:38, closed)

^This^
There's nothing worse than a self righteous cyclist. Except perhaps garry glitter. But only just.
(robbersdog, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 16:42, closed)

bollocks
i fucking love meat, me.
i only ride a bike because i'm too specky to drive
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 18:23, closed)

Nobody pays 'road tax'
it doesn't exist. Car owners pay vehicle excise duty, but nobody in this country pays road tax.
( more balanced than jeremy beadle It wasn't me..., Sun 5 Sep 2010, 17:13, closed)