Do you 'engage' with cyclists?

[Devil2575]

Johnnytheboy said:

Devil2575 said:

It's a thread in the cycling forum though isn't it.

On a car website.

So what.

[Finlandia]

JustinF said:

Yeah and HGV's never hold up traffic behind them, crawling up hills over taking each other.

If you can pedal as fast as an HGV out of town, then fair play.

[JustinF]

Finlandia said:

JustinF said:

Yeah and HGV's never hold up traffic behind them, crawling up hills over taking each other.

If you can pedal as fast as an HGV out of town, then fair play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7_Fq56g2c#t=26

[DonkeyApple]

thelawnet said:

Johnnytheboy said:

So basically, it's not a good idea for a motorist to interact with a cyclist, because they'll probably swear at you, even in front of their own children... ok I think we can wind this thread up now...

Yes, pretty much that was my point. I am on my bike, sweaty, elevated heart rate, etc., it's not a place from which to be having a chat with passing motorists.

Why even retort? Why swear at someone when they are correct, such as the suggestion to get some lights? It's your error, not theirs. You obviously know this as you are intelligent so why give an aggressive and offensive retort? Likewise with a child not wearing a helmet. We all know that society has been programmed to be more safety conscious over children so why the outburst of rage over something that you are responsible for?

And if you are struggling to concentrate sufficiently to speak politely, why is is then sensible to speak impolitely? Why not just not speak?

Re strangers not saying things to pedestrians, that is a poor analogy as the concept of danger or risk is lower. If you saw a parent allowing their child to step out into a busy road or run across side roads without looking then you would obviously feel obliged to say something but generally speaking the risks of traveling on the pavement are so much lower than traveling by bike on the roads.

And if plenty of passers by are shouting out the same thing at you then it would suggest that there is something that you ought to consider redressing about what you are doing?

[DonkeyApple]

Finlandia said:

There are good cyclists too, plenty of them, it's just the bad ones tend to be the ones one remembers.

This is true of everything. There can be 100 children in a restaraunt all sitting and eating but you remember the two little sts who were running about shouting.

You can pass 100s of cyclists all riding well and being considerate of other road users but you remember the one for whom cycling is his religion or divine right above others.

Same with motorists. You can see 100 Audi owners without all of them being debt monkey choppers full of self importance. Bad example that one.

[DonkeyApple]

v12Legs said:

otolith said:

yonex said:

This sort of clip makes me laugh.

He couldn't drive a greasy stick up a dog's arse.

Maybe if he concentrated on controlling his vehicle properly rather than using his phone to film people while he's driving he'd be a better driver.

OK, those cyclists slowed him down by a minute or so in that clip. So what? I bet when he did overtake he very quickly caught up to where he would have been anyway.

I've been driving behind cyclists dozens if not hundreds of times, and I don't think I have ever been delayed for more that a minute or so at that particular place, and probably not at all in the context of my whole journey.

Drivers on the other hand have delayed me by many many hours over my life. Probably weeks.

ETA: Why did he try and overtake approaching a roundabout, the dangerous ahole!

Why did he overtake them as they were passing a significant side road with a car waiting. That was totally moronic.

The only thing mildly annoying there is when a single cyclist drops out of the pack but doesn't drop far enough back to allow you to pass in two sections.

Having the all bunched up makes it far easier and safer to pass than if they are all strung out in a line.

The only factor I would change is that I would bring in a law that when cycling in a herd the rear most cyclists must be female.

[GC8]

DonkeyApple said:

Why did he overtake them as they were passing a significant side road with a car waiting. That was totally moronic.

I wont ride a bicycle on the road, because of the amount of moronic driving that I will witness! This is why I always urge cyclists to aware and to observe more - its to give them a chance.

[JagXJR]

steveo3002 said:

too many have cameras stuck on their heads now for when us nasty motorists cause trouble , best to keep your head down before they have the law after you

Some of us "nasty motorists" have dash cams too, to protect ourselves.

Engaging with other road users is pointless and at the least a waste of time. More likely makes a bad situation worse.

Far better to record it, and pass it on to the experts and let them deal with it.

It's a sad sign of the times that nobody is ever wrong, and become volatile when it is even hinted at. Even happens on here at PH

[Finlandia]

JustinF said:

Finlandia said:

JustinF said:

Yeah and HGV's never hold up traffic behind them, crawling up hills over taking each other.

If you can pedal as fast as an HGV out of town, then fair play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7_Fq56g2c#t=26

Would have been more impressive if they had done it in front of the HGV

DonkeyApple said:

Finlandia said:

There are good cyclists too, plenty of them, it's just the bad ones tend to be the ones one remembers.

This is true of everything. There can be 100 children in a restaraunt all sitting and eating but you remember the two little sts who were running about shouting.

You can pass 100s of cyclists all riding well and being considerate of other road users but you remember the one for whom cycling is his religion or divine right above others.

Same with motorists. You can see 100 Audi owners without all of them being debt monkey choppers full of self importance. Bad example that one.

True, sadly the cyclists in Sweden seem to be of the fanatic type.

[Devil2575]

Getting back to the OP, there is no point in engaging with other road users for negative reasons. The engagement is likely to be emotional because you feel somehow wronged and you are inevitably going to put your point across in a way that will fail to achieve anything. Even of you did manage to engage them in a calm and diplomatic manner they are unlikely to be in the right frame of mind to receive it. In addition an engagement that results in an emotional exchange is unlikely to put you in the best frame of mind to continue your journey. It is far better to remain calm and forget about it. Try to consider what you might do to avoid such situations in the future.

[GEARJAMMER]

I was driving across the new forest on Thursday (in a tipper truck I might add, lol, cyclists love those), whole bunch of the lycra clad wkers were on a jolly (must have been 20-30 of them), they were riding two-three abreast, not giving a f**k about anyone trying to get past/overtake, I eventually got alongside them but gave them sod all room, they didn't give a toss about anyone else so I don't see why I should give a toss about them....

I left them behind, went a few miles further on and got to a place called Brook where there is a 4 way junction, here I found another bunch of the c**ts, but heres the best bit, they had there own van there parked just inside one of the roads off the junction, with a table set out behind it serving them all drinks, yes, 20-30 cyclists all stopped completely blocking the WHOLE road while they sat and had a chin wag and a drink, if ANY type of vehicle, even a motorbike had wanted to turn into the road they'd set up camp on they would have been screwed.

But hey there cyclists, they can do what they like eh! C**ts

[JustinF]

GEARJAMMER said:

I was driving across the new forest on Thursday (in a tipper truck I might add, lol, cyclists love those), whole bunch of the lycra clad wkers were on a jolly (must have been 20-30 of them), they were riding two-three abreast, not giving a f**k about anyone trying to get past/overtake, I eventually got alongside them but gave them sod all room, they didn't give a toss about anyone else so I don't see why I should give a toss about them....

I left them behind, went a few miles further on and got to a place called Brook where there is a 4 way junction, here I found another bunch of the c**ts, but heres the best bit, they had there own van there parked just inside one of the roads off the junction, with a table set out behind it serving them all drinks, yes, 20-30 cyclists all stopped completely blocking the WHOLE road while they sat and had a chin wag and a drink, if ANY type of vehicle, even a motorbike had wanted to turn into the road they'd set up camp on they would have been screwed.

But hey there cyclists, they can do what they like eh! C**ts

cyclists 2 abreast riding on roads as they are perfectly entitled to do, so you decide a punishment pass in a potentially lethal vehicle is the way to proceed, you sir are a of the highest order and need you driving licence removed...

You drive a tipper truck so it's not likely you'll understand all that I write but I'll try to make it simple, just for you...

There are many classes of vehicle on our roads, from horses to hyper-cars, they all are allowed to be there and will all be travelling at different speeds.
When you come across slower vehicles, you need to slow to their pace until you can pass safely.

Erm that's it really, anything you don't get from the above two rules?

Edited by JustinF on Sunday 1st March 00:41

[carlove]

I live in the countryside which is along a busy A road which is also busy with cyclists, I'll admit I find them a right pain in the arse especially when they do it at 17:30 and actually cause a queue but I only pass when safe, the amount of drivers who will just squeeze past without even slowing down and not even crossing the white line, usually because a car is coming the other way is appalling. People actually get impatient with me when I'm waiting for a safe gap, even though we catch up with the crap drivers again before you know it.

[CMYKguru]

Friday afternoon on the main road out of town is congested anyway. However it was made a lot worse by a do-good Eco plank going at walking pace in the middle of the outside lane. Several flashes of the lights was followed by a quick look and he/she carried on for another 50m before we overtook. A bus behind us did nothing to persuade her to bugger off in to the cycle lane.
The problem with cyclists is that they have this jumped up self importance that everyone in a car is the devil himself and so as soon as they see a car trying to get past the selfish attitude kicks in and they believe they're somehow superior by helping the environment when in fact what little they are saving/helping is being fked up many times over with every puff up a Shanghai chimney.

[CMYKguru]

Friday afternoon on the main road out of town is congested anyway. However it was made a lot worse by a do-good Eco plank going at walking pace in the middle of the outside lane. Several flashes of the lights was followed by a quick look and he/she carried on for another 50m before we overtook. A bus behind us did nothing to persuade her to bugger off in to the cycle lane.
The problem with cyclists is that they have this jumped up self importance that everyone in a car is the devil himself and so as soon as they see a car trying to get past the selfish attitude kicks in and they believe they're somehow superior by helping the environment when in fact what little they are saving/helping is being fked up many times over with every puff up a Shanghai chimney.

[spikey78]

JustinF said:

There are many classes of vehicle on our roads, from horses to hyper-cars, they all are allowed to be there and will all be travelling at different speeds.
When you come across slower vehicles, you need to slow to their pace until you can pass safely.

Edited by JustinF on Sunday 1st March 00:41

This applies to cyclists too, or should

[anonymous-user]

CMYKguru said:

Friday afternoon on the main road out of town is congested anyway. However it was made a lot worse by a do-good Eco plank going at walking pace in the middle of the outside lane. Several flashes of the lights was followed by a quick look and he/she carried on for another 50m before we overtook. A bus behind us did nothing to persuade her to bugger off in to the cycle lane.
The problem with cyclists is that they have this jumped up self importance that everyone in a car is the devil himself and so as soon as they see a car trying to get past the selfish attitude kicks in and they believe they're somehow superior by helping the environment when in fact what little they are saving/helping is being fked up many times over with every puff up a Shanghai chimney.

Its all so very difficult being held up for 30 seconds isn't it? I'll be strapping the bike to the 130 today, I'm really concerned now that my carbon footprint is going to suffer

[WinstonWolf]

CMYKguru said:

Friday afternoon on the main road out of town is congested anyway. However it was made a lot worse by a do-good Eco plank going at walking pace in the middle of the outside lane. Several flashes of the lights was followed by a quick look and he/she carried on for another 50m before we overtook. A bus behind us did nothing to persuade her to bugger off in to the cycle lane.
The problem with cyclists is that they have this jumped up self importance that everyone in a car is the devil himself and so as soon as they see a car trying to get past the selfish attitude kicks in and they believe they're somehow superior by helping the environment when in fact what little they are saving/helping is being fked up many times over with every puff up a Shanghai chimney.

When I'm cycling I leave over ten litres sitting in the garage, which one of us is the petrol head

[Mave]

carlove said:

I live in the countryside which is along a busy A road which is also busy with cyclists, I'll admit I find them a right pain in the arse especially when they do it at 17:30 and actually cause a queue but I only pass when safe, the amount of drivers who will just squeeze past without even slowing down and not even crossing the white line, usually because a car is coming the other way is appalling. People actually get impatient with me when I'm waiting for a safe gap, even though we catch up with the crap drivers again before you know it.

So have they actually held you up at all? Or did it just take a bit longer to catch the chap drivers in front? :-)

[Devil2575]

CMYKguru said:

Friday afternoon on the main road out of town is congested anyway. However it was made a lot worse by a do-good Eco plank going at walking pace in the middle of the outside lane. Several flashes of the lights was followed by a quick look and he/she carried on for another 50m before we overtook. A bus behind us did nothing to persuade her to bugger off in to the cycle lane.
The problem with cyclists is that they have this jumped up self importance that everyone in a car is the devil himself and so as soon as they see a car trying to get past the selfish attitude kicks in and they believe they're somehow superior by helping the environment when in fact what little they are saving/helping is being fked up many times over with every puff up a Shanghai chimney.

The problem with many road users is that they hold emotionally charged irrational views like those espoused above. The reality is that you don't know what most people you come into contact with on the road think and any sweeping generalisation is undoubtedly wrong in 99.9% of cases.
When someone inconveniences us rather than being rational about it and remembering that most roads are public rights of way that existed long before the car and everyone has a right to use them, some people get worked up instead. When someone cuts us up rather than accepting that people do silly things and make mistakes, we personalise it and use emotional language.
Perhaps if some of us stopped treating it as a competition where the law of the jungle prevails and started being a little bit more rational there would be less conflict on the roads.