It isn't exactly hard to find out my real name. I popped the cherry of anonimity a long time ago when I got involved in a campaign that was publicised in a local paper. For the record I am David Brennan.
Unfortunately my father died from a heart attack when I was 6. Apart from this I had a fairly uneventful, and pretty happy childhood. Often people suggest that I must have been bullied as a child due to my dislike for road bullies. Whilst I wasn't the most popular kid in class, and there were some other kids I didn't get on with, overall I got through school pretty unscathed. In fact, I can only remember having one proper fight during my time at school. That was with Mark Cridge. He put a Chewitt in my hair. Mind you he has significantly more web presence and gets paid more than me now, so I didn't hold him back!
I had a great time in High School, especially the last couple of years which were mainly spent doing sports studies modules (basketball, volleyball, fitness, etc every day!!). I was also Caleb in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls. The videos from these school shows will never make it onto Youtube!! I may have cycled a bit over the first couple of years at school, but no more than that. I wasn't interested.
So off to Glasgow Uni for 4 years of drinking, and the occasional bit of work. My subject was Physics and somehow I managed to scrape out a degree at the end of it. I kept up my Judo and had some great fun travelling the UK and Europe taking part in competitions, of the judo and drinking variety. Happy days!
Then it was time to join the real world, and somehow I managed to get a job in Glasgow doing what I wanted to do. Medical Physics. I've had experience in Radiotherapy, Nuclear Medicine, Electronics, Urodynamics (don't ask), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). MRI is where I was lucky enough to specialise and I've been working in MRI ever since, investigating among other things brain function. That's where the Mind comes from in Mind of a helmet....oh never mind!
Most amazing of all I found a woman who didn't want to run a mile from me. The downside is she is English. Can't have everything I suppose. ;-) We were married in 2001 and have been happily so ever since.
Having spent all of our savings exploring different parts of Africa it was time to settle down and start a family. So in 2005 our first boy was born. What a wonderful experience that was (easy for me to say!). Just a shame he didn't sleep for the first 14 months!! This was when I decided to look at cycling again. money was tight (and always has been since!) and either I had to buy another car, or.......and the rest, as they say is history!
We now have three children (we are gluttons for punishment!), 2 boys and a girl, live in a nice house in a village outside Glasgow (Torrance) and if we are lucky get out to socialise twice a year. Ah....wait a minute, I was supposed to be proving I have a life, wasn't I ?! :-)
I still work with MRI in the NHS, however, depending on finding someone with vision, a lot of money and an interest in developing a ground breaking new stroke therapeutic/diagnostic technology that could all change (if you are reading this feel free to contact me!).
Since I started, cycling has really developed from a way to get from A to B, to a passion. It started off as 5 miles each way (some of which was on the path!!) on a heavy hybrid. Over time I started to enjoy it more and more and decided to try a long charity ride (Pedal For Scotland). That 55 miles was hard, but it got me completely hooked on cycling. Now 3 road bikes later I wouldn't miss my cycling for the world. I look forward to every ride, no matter what the weather, and I nearly always end the ride wishing I had the time to ride further.
What about my helmet camera stuff? Well, if you want to know more about that, you'll have to delve into my blog. Happy reading!
Fair play to you, I'd get stressed out seeing some of the abuse that commenters leave on Youtube.
ReplyDeleteThe threats and stuff, it goes beyond what they have stopped on the Old Firm boards.
Dedicating a fair amount of time to building a website in order to prove to people that you've got a life is a bit counterproductive don't you think?
ReplyDeleteIt's like going out of your way to threaten people, so they'll believe that you aren't violent =/
By the way, I used to cycle everywhere, I've got a car now, and as someone who part-takes in both sides of the spectrum, I have to say I get more annoyed at cyclists when I'm driving than at drivers when I'm cycling.
Maybe do yourself a favour, quit aggitating people, think of your kids too, do you think this is cool for them? Do you think other kids in school think they're cooler or less cool because of you?
Quit acting like a petulent, anal child and get over it. If you don't want to deal with the disadvantages of being a weaker and more annoying used or the road, don't be one!
PS: spitting on someone is not assault, it is, however, spitting on someone.
Exanor,
ReplyDeleteOne point. Spitting is classed as Assault here in the Scotland. See this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3013909.stm) Perhaps that is not the case in Belgium.
As for the rest...well I'll let the reader decide for themselves.
:-)
I've posted on a couple of your youtube videos recently.
ReplyDeleteWhile the aspect of trying to promote road saftey is massivley worth while the way you go about just completley distracts people from what you're trying to show.
I drive as courtsely as possible to every other road users, also bearing in mind the the limit and problems their vehicle has. However if i feel that another road user is needlessly being inconsiderate to me, be it a caravan that doesnt pull through a layby on a long country road with a lorry and a queue of cars behind, a car that decides to take 2 miles to overtake 1 other car on a dual carridgeway or a cyclist who rides outside of where my passenger side wheel would be on the road (all things the highway code doesnt insist on or even suggest, but just show someone to be an inconsiderate wanker). My faults appear and I get pissed off and potentially could end up acting irrationally - silly overtakes/undeertakes, cutting up, passing stupidly close to prove a point....
Anger and driving are in my opinion more dangerous than drinking and driving. So why provoke it? Most drivers don't care about trying to drive to an IAM level, they care even less about you trying to cycle to the bike equivilent.
Try to relate this to you on your bike:
If I see someone looking to cross a road I will stop and let them cross if it's helpfull to them, possible and worthwhile (ie in traffic on a busy slow moving road). If they then decide to walk alot slower than they're capable, not returning the favour trying to get me moving again as quickly as is reasonable the result could be a reving enging or horn blast?
Try doing stuff like on a twisty country road that's difficult to overtake a bike in the middle of the road doing 30mph, but way to long to realisticly sit behind, look for where a car will want to overtake you... check the road ahead for potholes etc (not hard at 30mph)... pull to the left and without loosing too much momentum stop giving it the beans! You'd be amazed at the reaction you get from 99% of cars.
Your videos just seam to show you going full tilt everywhere, hell bent on getting there with no hold up to you for another road user. While at the same time you expect people to wait and be paitent with you?
"a cyclist who rides outside of where my passenger side wheel would be on the road"??
ReplyDeleteTroll. Pure and simple.
Magnatom, I'm Duncan from Glasgow south side and currently live in The Netherlands. I also have a helmet camera to film the great roads and cycle paths here compared to Scotland. Don't listen to all the assholes posting here who think that 30mph is easy to check the roads. I get you. 100%. Keep up the good work with the videos. (I've been following you on youtube for a while). And maybe we can make some videos together.
ReplyDeleteYou have to accept that cycling is dangerous and stop shrieking like a little girl when a car comes close to you. I am a cyclist (5000 miles in 2012)and I sympathise with how you feel when cars come too close, but you act like a baby when it happens. Why do you do this. If you can't handle it stop cycling! I truly feel that you and others like you who film drivers and post the results on YouTube are bad for the cycling community.
ReplyDeleteDo you see TDF riders making the noises you make when they suffer horrendous accidents. I'll answer that for you - no you do not!!
Man up or sell the bike.
Saw you on the BBC Scotland News tonight, in Amsterdam to "investigate" why more people cycle there than in Scotland. I could have saved you a journey. It's a lot flatter over there. You, being a physicist should know how much easier it makes it. (That IS where the "Dr" in front of your name comes from, right? ). But that wasn't really the point of the story, was it?
ReplyDeleteI've seen your videos and read your 'About Me'. The only comment I would make is that your father died when you were 6 so you can fully understand the impact that has on a child. You have three kids. Think of them. What happens if one day you confront the wrong person?
ReplyDeleteThese comments are terrible...! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHello MagnaTom, I had the privilege of chatting with you today as I rode beside you on our way back through Milngavie (where I stay) and I have to say the behaviour of many road users at times has been quite appauling. Apparently the roads are for car users only?
ReplyDeleteHowver shocking still is some of the posts on this page concerning so-called cycle user. I dont believe certain commentators on here cycle for one minute and if they do, then they clearly do NOT represent the majority of people who experience these roads on a daily basis.
Im still inexperienced and have only used certain stretches of road as the agro at times can be quite unbearable... but im getting there. Coming back from Valencia in Spain gave me the confidence to take the decision to start cycling
God speed to you and the cause :-)
Tarun
As a cyclist too, commuter,recreational and participating in events all over Scotland, I also feel your style does nothing to help the image of cycling/cyclists. You seem to attract trouble and go out of your way to find confrontation, I've been commuting through the East end of Glasgow on some of the meanest streets with unforgiving drivers for over 5 years now, I've took part in over 50 cycling events all on open roads and i could count on one hand the amount of times I've had run in's with drivers whereas you're having them constantly. I would put this down to you personality which could be best described as confrontational, at worst, just being an arsehole. You also seem to be trying to forge a career for yourself in the media, that's all very good, but when you appear on tv or in print please don't say you speak for the cycling community, as a cyclist myself i would hope drivers don't see us all in the same mould as yourself. I have met you on a few occasions Dave and you seem a nice enough chap but please, please don't see yourself as the spokesman for cycling, you do more harm than good.
ReplyDeletePlease use a car.
ReplyDeleteI fear one day you may be seriously injured, or heaven forbid, killed.
You are too intelligent to risk losing your life by the way in which you ride. Plus, you have children to provide for.
Good luck in all that you do!
Perhaps you need to stop harrassing drivers when you are in the wrong. You are not cycling because you enjoy it, you are doing it AND filming it to try to harm peoples businesses. Perhaps you should go about your life like a normal person and stop trying to gain some sort of fame by acting like a moron.
ReplyDeleteFinding some of the comments on here shocking but then so too are the attitudes of some car drivers. Crow Road is one scary road for cycling on! I cycle behind my husband and son whenever we're on (appropriate) sections of road and it does my nerves no good whatsoever. I fear for my son's safety and this should not be the case. I would also like to do more of my journeys by bike but the proximity of some drivers has knocked my confidence a bit. Stay safe, keep up the good work and perhaps the law will change sooner rather than later if the pressure is maintained. Ignore the bitchy (mainly anonymous) comments - I think you're right to highlight these incidents and in a pretty good position to represent commuting cyclists.
ReplyDeleteI've started to cycle commute, 11 miles each way, and my eyes have been opened. I don't think you can change the attitude of bad drivers...
ReplyDeleteI ride a bike and I also drive a car. I have experienced you on the road and your behaviour is deliberately provocative not to say dangerous. Riding up the inside of moving traffic is unsafe - as you did to me the other day. I couldn't see you. If I had moved even an inch or two to the inside I'd have hit you. Of course that would have been my fault (because in the Land of The Moral High Ground it's always the driver's fault). To then position yourself right in front of my car and expect me to wait for the road to clear before I pass you suggests a sense of entitlement that has nothing to do with mutual respect. And shouting at me to hurry up whilst tailgating me - you were lucky not to do that to some other motorist who might well have touched the brakes. The result for you and your family would have been catastrophic - all because you want to act the martyr. Your behaviour makes life difficult for all the other cyclists out there who want to co-exist with other road users, not deliberately provoke them and then use the results to fuel your campaign.
ReplyDeleteHi Charlie149,
DeleteMany thanks for your comment. I'm actually quite annoyed. If only I'd seen this response on Friday I would have kept the footage from this mildly irritating incident and I'd have happily shared it so that we could discuss it further. Unfortunately my Go-Pro only holds about a day and a half of footage, so it has been deleted and I'd deleted my rear camera footage at the same time. I'm sure some will suggest some sort of cover up on my part, but that is simply untrue. I wish I still had it. However, as just about any regular cyclist will tell you, irritations happen on a daily basis, so I'd be storing and posting an awful lot of footage if I was to hold on to everything that happened! Very annoying I don't have it now though!
I remember the incident. You and many other cars were stopped at the lights. Myself and another cyclist were filtering to the front. The lights change, and as the traffic starts to set off, I slot in, as I do, day in day out on my commute without issue. On this occasion you (driving a red car if I remember correctly), rather than accelerating slower due to my presence, actually came very close to my rear wheel and remained there as I sped up. This is actually quite dangerous and, considering the red light and stationary traffic further up ahead, was totally unnecessary. I made a 'palm back' hand signal asking you to back off. Instead you gesticulated to me and if memory serves me right, you hit your horn (I could be wrong here, so apologies if I am). You proceeded to tell me that I should give drivers 'respect' and that I should be over to the left. No, I should not be over to the left. In fact my son is going through Bikeability training at this very moment and that training specifically points out that 'over to the left' in these situations is dangerous. Better to take a strong position so that you are seen and not skimmed by a close pass.
(Con't....)
(Con't...)
DeleteDid I hold you up? No. That was the point I was making as we approached the next traffic lights. That's why I jokingly told you to hurry up. You got no-where by trying to push past.
Did I not respect you? We could argue all day about the rights and wrongs of filtering, but even if filtering was illegal and dangerous (which it isn't, and it isn't) and even if I had misjudged it and I gave you a fright, (which if you got a fright, then perhaps your attention was on something else...), but even then, this is not a sign of lack of respect for you. However, driving close to my back wheel following that, most definitely is.
The very fact that you are writing here about the incredulity of being 'stuck' behind me, reveals your general impatience on the road. Yes, I do expect you to wait behind me if I am in front of you and it is not safe to pass. Is it a sense of entitlement to expect a driver to wait until it is safe to pass? Really?! No.
Great that you cycle. Interestingly I also drive a car, so we are even. I can honestly say, hand to heart that I have never had an issue with a cyclist filtering in front of me. Yes, cyclists do. I deal with that by taking my foot off the accelerator, giving them a safe distance and waiting until it is safe to pass. If a cyclist does something daft in front of me do I drive up to their rear wheel to make a point? No.
Even if I was some horrible, nasty, evil cyclist, the suggestion that I somehow make life more difficult for other cyclists is ludicrous. Unless you suggest that drivers who use their mobile phones, speed, or drink drive, make life difficult for other drivers. They don't. Drivers are generally treated as individuals, where as cyclists are often lumped together as an out group. The very fact that you suggest we have some form of collective responsibility is very revealing.
Anyway, I'll happily let other cyclists speak for themselves and not put words in my mouth.
All I ask, it it isn't much is of you find youself behind me, for whatever reason, give me a bit of room and pass only when it is safe to do so. Will I filter past you again? Almost certainly. I think you will just have to deal with it.
Cheers
Dave
Wow, that's a creative version of what happened! Your desire to re-write history has clearly influenced your decision not to post the footage.
ReplyDeleteI am a cyclist too - road and mountain. I have plenty of experience of riding in traffic. I also have to drive a car to work because of the distance and lack of adequate facilities at work to allow me to cycle.
Here's my full recollection of the incident.
You filtered up the inside of me while I was moving. It's your choice to do so, if quite unsafe. Had I moved slightly to the left (to avoid a pothole etc) I would have hit you as I couldn't see you. Whose fault would that have been?
So anyway, you then positioned yourself in front and to the left of my car, when the traffic stopped a short while later. You had demonstrated through your filtering a moment previously that you were happy to ride with cars close to you, so as we started to move I moved to go past you (which in fairness was only what you'd just done in relation to me). In fact I would have given you more space than you had given yourself whilst filtering.
It was at this point that you imperiously held out your hand and instructed me to stay back. I did not tail you, drive up to your back wheel or stay there as you sped up; that is a complete untruth. I suspect that if I had driven in such a dangerous manner you'd have kept the footage. Since it's not true however, you should be very careful about making such statements in a public forum. Nor did I "gesticulate". Nor did I tell you to stay on the left (more on this later).
What actually happened was that I passed you and you then put your head down to catch me up and harass me.
I regularly wait behind cyclists till it's safe to pass, both in town and in national speed limits. Sometimes I have annoyed drivers behind me by waiting for what they consider is too long. That doesn't bother me - I respect cyclists' right to be there.
But here's the thing - your behaviour last week demonstrated complete double standards. It's ok for you to filter up the inside of my moving vehicle with inches to spare, yet I've to give you full "cycle space" on starting up again from a stopped position? You can't have it both ways, except that you seem to want to - and that's what I meant about mutual respect.
As for telling you to stay on the left, you know I did not do so. As a cyclist I would always take up my position in the lane (which you chose not to do whilst filtering) and I expect other cyclists to take the same assertive approach. So anyone who knew me would know that this particular allegation is a complete fabrication.
Per your tweet on the subject, I didn't ask you to defer and I'm supportive of cyclists. I went to the public meeting about the cycle lane and I supported it. But I do believe all road users should behave in a respectful way towards each other and that's all I said to you last week.
However, you seem determined to prove that you alone occupy the moral high ground and there's no possibility that your behaviour might contribute to situations. You want to demonise drivers - presumably that's why you chose to represent our disagreement as you did above. As for your behaviour making life difficult for other cyclists - we both know that there are plenty of people out there who need little excuse to generalise and if you behave in such a confrontational (not to mention hypocritical) manner you will encourage them to take out their frustrations on other cyclists. I'm not saying that's right, just a fact of life.
At the end of the day, you and I disagree about what is reasonable behaviour on a bike. What disappoints me is that you thought it was ok to inflate what actually happened last week so that your twitter fans would back you, sympathise with you and generally confirm your righteousness. Quite an ego you have there.
> You had demonstrated through your filtering a moment previously that you were happy to ride with cars close to you
DeleteThis is not in the least what this means. A cyclist can at their discretion get closer if they feel its safe enough *at that single moment*. This says absolutely nothing about any given moment later on.
You saying that just proves you are unfit for traffic.
Assuming your account to be correct then yes, its ok for him (the vulnerable road user) to pass you closer than you pass him. He isn't going to hurt you, he has good visibility to determine how close he can pass you, and on a bike he's a better idea of the road surface than you have from inisde a car. Him passing you in slow moving traffic at (x) distance is not a statement that it is ok to pass him at (x) distance when the road starts moving again. He is not showing disrespect, your stance is an absurdity and by your own description of the event you're in the wrong.
DeleteFurther reading for you:
http://www.cambridgecyclist.co.uk/2013/04/showing-respect-to-motorists.html
http://www.cambridgecyclist.co.uk/2016/01/cyclists-are-just-as-dangerous-as-cars.html?q=bullets
"It's your choice to do so, if quite unsafe. Had I moved slightly to the left (to avoid a pothole etc) I would have hit you as I couldn't see you. Whose fault would that have been?"
ReplyDeleteYours. You don't drive into an area that you can't see to be clear.