Cyclists! Why do they ride in the middle of the road?

Cyclists! Why do they ride in the middle of the road?

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Fatbloke

Original Poster:

396 posts

279 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/cyclists-why-do...


Why do cyclists ride in the middle of the road? Because they’re allowed to: a poster from the Department for Transport advises “Cyclists. Ride central on narrow roads.” think.direct.gov.uk/cycling.html

See those potholes? Not good for your suspension, are they? To cyclists, they’re not just inconvenient they’re lethal. The cyclist up ahead might be in the middle of the road for a few seconds in order to avoid a big gash in the ground. Cyclists are expert pothole-spotters. Use this inside knowledge to prevent costly damage to your car’s suspension.

But, I hear you cry, cyclists block me even when the tarmac is butter-smooth. Take a look ahead. See any “islands”, those refuges placed smack bang in the middle of the road, and placed there to protect pedestrians? Every keen cyclist knows that these islands can be death traps. Some motorists get a spurt on to overtake cyclists before these refuges, cutting in at the last second. Some cyclists, therefore, take what’s called the “primary position”. (Yes, there’s an official Stationery Office name for the middle-of-the-road manoeuvre www.cyclecraft.co.uk/book.html). This is cyclists’ semaphore for “don’t pass me just yet there’s an obstacle ahead.” Watch what cyclists do when they’ve passed the island: ninety-nine times out of a hundred they tuck back into the side of the road, and the motorist can then safely overtake. When a cyclist takes the “primary position” before such an upcoming obstacle it’s not a mark of arrogance, it’s a (risky) tactic to keep everyone safe.

Cyclists will also assume the primary position to avoid “dooring” by motorists opening their car doors without looking, or when about to turn right. Again, once safe to do so, cyclists return to the side of the road.

Not that a cyclist has to be a “gutter bunny,” hugging the kerb. Cyclists, in law, operate “carriages”, and have done since a court case in 1879. And, as operators of vehicles they have as much right to the whole lane as a motorist. Most of the time cyclists, quite sensibly, allow motorists to pass because that’s the safest and nicest thing to do. But it’s not a legal requirement. There’s no such thing on the road as a “car lane.” The only roads that motorists can call their own are motorways – the clue is in the name.

OK, so how about those cyclists who block the road by “riding two abreast”. That’s also perfectly legal. It’s in the Highway Code. https://www.gov.uk/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82/ove... Remember, motorists – unless their cars concertina like Autobots from the Transformers movie www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/ – ride two abreast all the time, even when driving solo.

The Highway Code states that cyclists must not ride more than two abreast and should ride in single file on “narrow or busy roads and riding round bends.” However, the Highway Code doesn’t define what it means by “narrow” or “busy” or quite how rounded the curve has to be before it’s considered a “bend.” Club cyclists, who often ride in packs, will ride two abreast to chat, and will thin out when necessary, but two riders will often “take primary position” before bends. It should be reasonably obvious why. Far too many motorists take bends, even blind ones, fast, and cyclists do not want to be squished when an overtaking driver realises they’ve overcooked the corner and has to dive back in to avoid a head-on smash.

Cyclists often “block the road” in order to save their lives, and possibly yours, too.

Carlton Reid is the executive editor of BikeBiz.com. He drives a Nissan Note “but not very often.” He’s writing a history book on motoring’s cycling beginnings, Roads Were Not Built For Cars. www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com


BGarside

1,564 posts

136 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
+1, but try telling the average motorist...

Robert Elise

956 posts

144 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
an equally observant motorist would recognise all these scenarios for a cyclist taking primary position.
Unfortunately the idiots out there are pedestrians, cyclists, bikers and motorists.

shalmaneser

5,930 posts

194 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Nicely written piece

KarlMac

4,457 posts

140 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
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Whats the excuse for riding 4 abreast like my local club has taken to?

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
KarlMac said:
Whats the excuse for riding 4 abreast like my local club has taken to?
Shorter "pack", so easier to overtake. After all, even if there was just one, you'd be giving them as much width as possible, right?

Mastodon2

13,818 posts

164 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Ah, a pro-cyclist, anti-motorist piece that assumes that motorists are morons and cyclists are unsung heroes trying to save us all, written by a cycle propaganda hack. How balanced.

Mr GrimNasty

8,172 posts

169 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
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shalmaneser said:
Nicely written piece blindly prejudiced extremist cycling pressure group propaganda.

750turbo

6,164 posts

223 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
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Do we REALLY need another Cycling thread in here though?

Getting tedious.

57Ford

3,937 posts

133 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
It's always irked me when I come upon these two-abreast or the 'primarily positioned' guys on the road, but this informative piece has given me a useful insight. Maybe I'll now spot the dangers that they're seeing and understand a bit more because up to now I've just thought they were all ignorant twunts trying to prove some point.
Thanks matey beer

73mark

774 posts

126 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
I'd like to know why they ride on the road when a cycle path is right next the them.

And it's always the Lycra wearing knobheads.

Ennoch

371 posts

137 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
73mark said:
I'd like to know why they ride on the road when a cycle path is right next the them.

And it's always the Lycra wearing knobheads.
Because cycle paths are usually ill thought out in this country and often worse to ride on than the road!

Even though I race bikes myself I have a bit of a problem with time trials being held on busy public roads. The Edinburgh RC do them on the B709 near me and cause all manner of frustrations as they treat the road as though it's a closed race course. It's not, and it's only time before one of them ends up under the wheels of a 40T logging truck because they're rigint like prime douchebags. I've had it before where a pack are riding three abreast at 30ish, blocking the road so you can't get past (it's a narrow road). A quick beep of the horn to let them know you're there as wind noise at that speed can frequently block out car noise(while not sitting on their back wheel I hasten to add) and what do you get? Them moving over? No. You get a ton of abuse... Utterly immature self righteous pillocks the lot of them.

Engineer1

10,486 posts

208 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
73mark said:
I'd like to know why they ride on the road when a cycle path is right next the them.

And it's always the Lycra wearing knobheads.
Because cycle paths are rubbish for travelling at speed, they have to give way to side roads are shared with pedestrians etc. but fine for a short local bimble along.

LiamB

7,922 posts

142 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Expert pot hole spotters.. Expert aholes more like.

I had a cyclist go into the side of me yesterday while I was filtering on a motorbike, he fell on the floor then promptly got up and basically called me a for not riding a kids toy and that they have right of way EVERYWHERE apparently (he came out from in front of a bus into my side)

I can't fking stand the pro cyclist, anti everything else bds. Stay in your little cycle lane and let me watch the Lycra clad women's arses.

Truffs

266 posts

137 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
I don`t know about you lot and I don`t post very often but this is a site about motors (the clue is in the name!!!!!) a bike does not have a piston engine so why do we have threads about them?

I don`t go on cycling websites and bang on about this and that. Please what are they doing on here?

The average motoring joe public is not on this site either so I feel this is pointless post. When I am on an internet forum in my spare time I don`t care about cyclists in the primary position or the history of the road. I think the history of the road was for soldiers and supplies to walk along. Not cars and not cyclists.

However, time has moved on and perhaps its the age of the push bike. Perhaps not, perhaps its the age of the mobility scooter and also this bike stuff should be rewritten to take into account people taking the primary position or riding two abreast on their battery operated`s.

I do think though bike posts are getting on my wick. Perhaps we need a cyclist forum on PISTONHEADS (not CHAINHEADS clue is in the name!!!) so we don`t have to see this stuff time again till we don`t care anymore when we are on a website about motoring.

I shall now site in a dark room and wait for FATBLOKE to cycle by in the primary postion...

TheGreatSoprendo

5,286 posts

248 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
73mark said:
I'd like to know why they ride on the road when a cycle path is right next the them.

And it's always the Lycra wearing knobheads.
Fill your boots, there's some corkers in here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility...

GarryDK

5,670 posts

157 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Truffs said:
I don`t know about you lot and I don`t post very often but this is a site about motors (the clue is in the name!!!!!) a bike does not have a piston engine so why do we have threads about them?

I don`t go on cycling websites and bang on about this and that. Please what are they doing on here?

The average motoring joe public is not on this site either so I feel this is pointless post. When I am on an internet forum in my spare time I don`t care about cyclists in the primary position or the history of the road. I think the history of the road was for soldiers and supplies to walk along. Not cars and not cyclists.

However, time has moved on and perhaps its the age of the push bike. Perhaps not, perhaps its the age of the mobility scooter and also this bike stuff should be rewritten to take into account people taking the primary position or riding two abreast on their battery operated`s.

I do think though bike posts are getting on my wick. Perhaps we need a cyclist forum on PISTONHEADS (not CHAINHEADS clue is in the name!!!) so we don`t have to see this stuff time again till we don`t care anymore when we are on a website about motoring.

I shall now site in a dark room and wait for FATBLOKE to cycle by in the primary postion...
Or you could try not reading threads about bikes! rolleyes

ambuletz

10,691 posts

180 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
When I'm cycling I do every single one of those things and for those exact reasons too. Also, depending on what the junction/traffic lights are like I'll jump a red light. Why? Because I want to get ahead of the the cars at that junction and settle on the left side of the road before they set off.

In my area there's T-junction which I make a right turn on. (I'm coming from the middle of the T, if that makes sense) If I edge out from the line I can see the traffic lights for the road going in either direction. Once I see those lights turn from green to amber I check both sides to ensure that any traffic is coming to a stop. Once I'm sure they have and its safe I cycle on. By the time I've made a move their lights have turned red. The junction I'm at is still red, and has a 3-4 second delay before it turns amber and then green. Gives me enough chance to make my progress across the junction. By the time I've made it across any of the vehicles behind me that were at the red light are just setting off.

When I'm heading home using that same T-junction I also jump the red light. I'm turning left this time. I do so again, so that I can get a lead on any vehicles. I do it because there's a 20 metre patch of the road that's peppered with terrible pot holes & dips caused by buses, so I have to ride in the middle of the road to avoid them. Jumping that light gives me enough time so that by the time I've cleared that area of pot holes & cracks, I can move aside. If I don't jump the light many motorists squeeze past me giving me no space to avoid the pot holes. Some decent folk will give me as much space as they would a car and use the other side of the road to overtake me with, but very few do.

will_

6,027 posts

202 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Truffs said:
I do think though bike posts are getting on my wick. Perhaps we need a cyclist forum on PISTONHEADS (not CHAINHEADS clue is in the name!!!) so we don`t have to see this stuff time again till we don`t care anymore when we are on a website about motoring.
You mean, for example, the Pedal Powered sub-forum on PISTONHEADS?

Matt_N

8,900 posts

201 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Truffs said:
I do think though bike posts are getting on my wick. Perhaps we need a cyclist forum on PISTONHEADS (not CHAINHEADS clue is in the name!!!) so we don`t have to see this stuff time again till we don`t care anymore when we are on a website about motoring.
Err, scroll down to the lounge and you may find a sub-forum for cycling!

Also your post pretty much sums up what Pistonheads is not about, it's a place for like minded inviduals whose primary interest is cars but also share a number of other hobbies, one of those being cycling.