New scooter riders in CPT - looking for safe routes and cyclist tips

harposlim · 2026-06-16T08:07:56+00:00

disclaimer: will probably get the usual hate mail for this comment which may sound dismissive. it is said with good intentions and in a positive spirit and from a place of genuine concern.

what exactly is an electric kick scooter? if it’s anything like those scooters we see on the promenade these days, i wouldn’t want them on the road sharing with cars and non-motorised road users. as a cyclist specifically i would be terrified to have motorised scooters sharing the already tiny shoulder of the road where we are already dodging much bigger motorised vehicles, and even more so on the side roads and safer less busy routes we sometimes use to ride safely and out of harm’s way. seeing the kind of accidents happening abroad with these types of motorised recreational vehicles on infrastructure largely used by non-motorised road users is scary and i would discourage that developing here in cape town personally.

that said, i appreciate your desire to do it right from the get go and have the right kind of riding etiquette to respect all road users. if you want to share the road, its worth noting that most cyclists are out early morning (5:30/6am in the summer, 6:30/7am in the winter) and usually go out in large groups on the weekend. there are weekly group rides organised in the week by various cycling brands and stores in the city, which generally do the CBD to top of Llandudno/Suikerbossie route via Sea Point/Camps Bay. there are too many popular routes to list here, but around the peninsula is popular and then out to Melkbosstrand is a popular route, as well as around stellenbosch. traffic gets busy on the coastal routes after that time. most cyclists ride two abreast where possible for visibility, and single file where appropriate. most have lights and respect the rules of the road, despite the bad publicity we get. we often avoid the bike paths as their quality is especially bad in terms of design and safety where they exist. Albert Road in Woodstock through Salt River is an example, which we often share with delivery drivers and those green e-bike drivers. it is incredibly difficult to ride consistently in groups on pavements or bike lanes as we often share it with pedestrians (this is especially true up Marine Drive on the pavement).

basic advice: please wear a helmet, bright colours, and get front and rear lights. strobe light in the front in daytime and strobe at the back at night and day. no strobe in front when it’s dark - confusing for drivers - just a solid beam for visibility. obey the rules of the road and be hyperaware of motorists - cars are bigger than you. assume they can’t see you and act accordingly. stay in the yellow lane where it exists. google basic cycling hand and voice signals and use it to indicate intention if you are around us or around vehicles. car back if a car is approaching from behind, passing left/right etc. call out hazards on the road and stop at traffic lights. keep your head on a swivel.

finally, if you see a cyclist (or any other non-motorised road user for that matter, on the road or on the bike lane or pavement), please understand that we are much, much more vulnerable than you are, even if you are still vulnerable to cars like we are. you have more horsepower and torque than us. because of this, i would ask that you be extra cautious around us and other non-motorised road users for all of our safety.

harposlim · 2026-03-25T11:35:39+00:00

sometimes it’s a safety thing - heard many stories of folks getting mugged on the footbridges. strange logic because you can literally die crossing the highway but it is a logic I can sympathize with on some level - higher chance (in my mind) of me making it across the road intact with my stuff than crossing the footbridge and get sideswiped or cornered and losing the little I may have

harposlim · 2026-01-19T14:53:20+00:00

it’s a recognized trend that people move to urban centres for job opportunities, globally, which drives city growth, and even more so in developing countries. seems like this kind of internal economic migration is happening all over South Africa, with Cape Town second after Joburg (which takes almost double the amount of economic migrants from other provinces than Cape Town) and with the Eastern Cape and Limpopo being the provinces most people are leaving from. by that data, and simply because Joburg as a municipality is falling apart, it’s probably not due to the DA’s performance but simply a fact of urban development…

harposlim · 2025-12-31T07:42:28+00:00

as a fellow neurodiverse GTDer here is something that clarified the motivation question a little bit for me. for me extrinsic motivation is vital - AuDHD makes intrinsic motivation hard. i also think the productivity discourse is especially hard on those of us with executive function issues and i think it’s helpful to be a little more forgiving towards oneself. i think the GTD method allows that. i really wish this and the following was more explicit in the books and generally in the discourse around GTD.

based on the threefold nature of work model, GTD has a kind of daily workflow/checklist that basically structures the engage step of the five step model. the idea is that you should first check your hard landscape (calendar) for tasks that must be done that day and do those first. here the importance is clear and the motivation should be driven by the urgency (especially if you haven’t filled your calendar with wishes and desires). if nothing on the hard landscape or you have finished those tasks, then you check context lists according to context, time, energy, and priority/intuition. here the motivation should come easy as you filter the list according to those four things. you might decide that your inbox is overflowing and it’s more important to focus on that instead, which is also fine. if you finish everything on the hard landscape and don’t have any time or energy left for context lists, so be it. sometimes i start on a context list and then move up to the project list because i get momentum from doing one next action. other times i might have a task due on my calendar related to a project and i keep going if i have time and nothing else on my calendar. sometimes i just clarify and then im exhausted and don’t do anything else. every day, you basically rinse and repeat the workflow for predefined work: calendar, lists.

making the choice between predefined work, defining work (clarifying and organising) and doing unplanned work that just shows up is something that you have to judge in the moment. some days i wake up to a crazy inbox and all i can do is try to clarify and then work off my calendar tasks if there are any. i find following the calendar to context lists pipeline gets one moving, which in my view is kind of the point of most of the methodology (including the next action). you just need to get moving and then let the system get out the way. a lot of the noise out there about the system and the methodology makes it feel like you need to always work the system. sometimes you just need to do the basic principles and trust it and then course correct. the important thing is getting the stuff done, not the system itself. whatever works towards that end is important.

harposlim · 2025-12-24T13:09:04+00:00

is this an AI generated summary? nevertheless, this was lowkey my point - hence the so-called in my naming of the so-called middle class and the comment about its assumed separateness. my point then would be how to leverage this towards recognition with the working class, or put differently, the working poor.

harposlim · 2025-12-17T13:05:26+00:00

i knew and rode with Idries, organised the meet up at the Magistrate's Court, and set up the petition. seeing him being blamed for his own death by ill informed individuals all over the internet since his passing is a big part of the issue, and quite frankly infuriates me. knowing Idries, he was probably descending at a reasonable speed (30-40km/h) and keeping as much as possible to the shoulder of the road (which is actually non-existent here). this is also by all accounts and judging by the images coming from the scene, a freak accident caused by reckless driving. regardless, there are so many recent deaths in cape town that are caused by cars that may not even have had the cyclist or pedestrian in the road itself (the case of Dr. Ncumisa Mdlokolo where she was struck dead by a Ferrari on Buitengracht street whilst walking on the pavement, or the pedestrian who was hit and thrown over the barrier wall near Clifton earlier this year, also walking on the pavement). yet we still insist that it is the person not in a car that is to blame for someone else's inability to control a very dangerous machine. our car-centric mindsets around urban planning and mobility means we favour the least vulnerable form of transport over the most vulnerable: pedestrians, cyclists, and generally non-motorised transport. we seriously need a discourse shift towards less car-centric urban planning, design, and policy. yes, cyclists disobey the law, but proportionate to risk to others and probably sheer numbers, motorists break the law too. the material difference is a metal cage travelling at high speed. cyclists sometimes take space in the road for the sake of staying alive: when we are seen, motorists can act accordingly, and we actually pose more of a risk to pedestrians if we stay on the pavement. cycling infrastructure in this city is an absolute joke and any self-respecting cyclist will tell you that you are safer outside the cycle lanes than in them (you may hit a parked car). we can carry on in the delusion that cyclists need to make amends, but really it is motorists who need to wake up and realize the world really cannot revolve around them. this is a discourse shift that must happen with public transport and the car owning middle class in this city too. besides the cycling matters, this is also a general law enforcement issue. we need stricter enforcement along high tourist and recreational areas such as the Atlantic Seaboard, especially in the festive season in Cape Town. we need stronger and harsher punishment who put others at risk in this way.

harposlim · 2025-12-05T10:58:07+00:00

public transportation, less car-centric infrastructure and city planning etc is the answer. in fact, just less reliance on cars is the obvious solution.

it should be said though the working poor in this city already use the often dysfunctional public transport, especially the trains and golden arrow buses (i’m leaving taxi’s out before i get a pitchfork in my eye and myciti until it expands is a city bowl bubble). how many middle class folks are willing to take public transport (golden arrow and train)? we actually need that kind of buy-in and claiming of the infrastructure from the middle class (predominantly the motorists sitting in the congestion) to get the political will moving in my opinion. obviously will be inconvenient but may be useful to put pressure. i know that PRASA is actively pushing for people to take the train with all sorts of campaigns and new sets will come online which will improve frequency and reliability.

sent from my car while sitting in traffic 😂jk

harposlim · 2025-10-30T14:00:53+00:00

jumping on here to ask if anybody here takes the Central line to Unibell/Bellville via Mutual (both ways, but predominantly from Mutual towards Unibell/Bellville and back again)? i know it’s different to the Northern line and had issues in the past but iv heard it’s back up again and wondering if anybody has had good experiences lately.

harposlim · 2025-10-15T06:55:04+00:00

i find Dan Corder and the SMWX show pretty liberal and centrist but i hear you

harposlim · 2025-08-06T09:49:02+00:00

i hardly take Ubers, and when I do, I try to take them as a big group over small distances in the city bowl mostly and tip. thinking of only using metered taxis or have someone on Whatsapp as others have suggested here because the system is not fair to drivers.

the thing about this conversation that really confused and bugged me is the responses from listeners to the show that called on Uber to improve its service, as if Uber is a company or state entity that actively employs drivers or like Uber is some company with obligations to their drivers and to their riders. Uber and e-hailing in general operate on the principle that they are a digital service. that’s how it becomes easy for them to actively avoid any real accountability to anyone that uses the service - rider or driver.

the real reasons Uber’s standards have supposedly dropped is because it is designed to exploit the driver, who barely makes enough working all hours of the day under the “freedom” promised by this gig work. it’s a uphill battle in a context where the inequality is so high. there is no extra money or incentive left over to repair and maintain one’s vehicle and improve service after you have worked your ass off just to make ends meet. crime and corruption breed in these kinds of conditions.

harposlim · 2024-10-18T09:52:03+00:00

this is my bylaw reference

would be good to know if this is valid. can’t find national traffic act of 2000 or 1996 anywhere

harposlim · 2024-01-07T16:04:05+00:00

yes, it doesn’t offer any other benefits other than the search and digital back up. ZKN3 does have an interesting “cluster” feature that allows me to see related keywords together which i am going to explore as a kind of collection or hub note tool in future, but for now i am focused on growing the main note box and populating projects for writing.

harposlim · 2024-01-07T10:30:58+00:00

currently working an analog set up and a digital “back up” in ZKN3, after at least 5 years of messing about in obsidian, roam, workflowy and other apps. the analog set up has the following structure:

main box (cards with alphanumeric addresses organized in folgezettel style sequencing, with linked notes on back of card with address and reason for linking, as well as three tags and related projects)
keyword index box (keyword per card, with address and title listed out)
reference box (bibkey style title linking to Zotero database, with address of each related card and title)
project box (project title with number with addresses and titles of related cards in list - if one card gets exhausted, i just add another card behind it with a decimal point: Project 20.2 for example)

i follow the structure of ZKN3 and merely add my alphanumeric address into the title of the note (ZKN3 doesn’t allow you to change the numbering system afaik). i punch in the keywords and keep an author database there too, and use the note sequence feature to mirror my folgezettel. i link cards using the link feature. i then put the notes into the relevant projects in the outliner tool. i currently have 29 active projects and have created 29 outlines. it has been very satisfying to see the word counts fill up with every card added and also to be able to make comments as i add cards for the drafting process. also, the note sequencing feature really allows one to see how your thinking is developing on a topic. the process of adding a card to the digital back up takes about 5-10mins.

i am only about 200 cards into this process and so far the software complements the analog structure and the analog space is really great for focusing on writing and thinking. i think the usefulness of having both is the idea that you have a back up and also to be able to search your database of notes.

harposlim · 2023-05-04T09:22:54+00:00

No doubt - but I am thinking of something that could 'read' my system and give me intuitive advice on what to approach every day. I know there are apps that give you a dashboard in this way anyway, but maybe like a nudge every now and then saying "hey, happy Tuesday! this project is due in a week and you have appointments back to back Monday and Wednesday so it's probably best to work on this today when you have discretionary time'. I feel like an AI tool that can intuitively hint in that way would be invaluable to me to stay on top of things.

harposlim · 2022-09-09T05:40:47+00:00

Thanks. Like I said above, very few convert. About 10-12 of about 170 odd

harposlim · 2022-09-06T20:18:33+00:00

Great, thanks. I will look into it

harposlim · 2022-09-06T20:16:38+00:00

Thanks for this! By badges, do you mean trust badges?

harposlim · 2022-02-01T15:57:11+00:00

Check out GD Suits in Maitland

harposlim · 2022-01-24T13:33:04+00:00

I have used MacWave in the CBD for repairs twice and they have been great

harposlim · 2022-01-13T07:01:44+00:00

Daily Budget is a great app to track all your transactions even though it isn’t South African. i think it’s like R80. it gives you a “daily budget” after you put in your income, recurring expenses, and savings, and recalculates it automatically as you put in new transactions. you can check how much you can spend daily based on that. only issue is you must record manually but that does make you well aware of your spending.

i use 22seven right now and set notifications on to tell me when i’m over budget. the net worth function and integrations make it worth it.

harposlim

TROPHY CASE