‘Funny’ crimes!
Discussion
Funnily enough it was Junction 7 of the M40 where I once went wrong on my bike, and ended up cycling on the hard shoulder (fortunately there was one!). And less than 1 mile to J7A, which, while another 1.6 miles of spur motorway, was virtually deserted.
What happened was I miscounted farm turning and emergency access slip road in the dark (3 am). The slip had the gate left open - thus an invisibly angled non-reflective "authorised vehicles only" sign.
I think in that case I'd have a defence about as solid as to speeding if the signs were facing the hedge!
And then there's the question of nonsense like this (encountered on a late night ride SW from London, after hitting roadworks on the A30... turned out I'd just missed that to legally get to the A303 I needed to turn right to the A33). But it certainly was confusing to encounter a diversion sign just after roadworks.
What happened was I miscounted farm turning and emergency access slip road in the dark (3 am). The slip had the gate left open - thus an invisibly angled non-reflective "authorised vehicles only" sign.
I think in that case I'd have a defence about as solid as to speeding if the signs were facing the hedge!
And then there's the question of nonsense like this (encountered on a late night ride SW from London, after hitting roadworks on the A30... turned out I'd just missed that to legally get to the A303 I needed to turn right to the A33). But it certainly was confusing to encounter a diversion sign just after roadworks.
GasEngineer said:
In all above cases - why not just turn round as soon as you realise you are on a motorway?.
Even if the entry/access is confusing it should be very obvious moments after you've ridden onto a motorway that it's a motorway.
Solocle did it on purpose, for some reason he seems to like trying to cycle on motorways if he thinks the signage is missing enough, he has a thread about it somewhere. Seems like idiotic behaviour to me, but it takes all sorts.Even if the entry/access is confusing it should be very obvious moments after you've ridden onto a motorway that it's a motorway.
GasEngineer said:
In all above cases - why not just turn round as soon as you realise you are on a motorway?.
Even if the entry/access is confusing it should be very obvious moments after you've ridden onto a motorway that it's a motorway.
It was a consideration - but what I knew was that I'd gone down a slip road, with a hard shoulder for about 1/2 its length, onto a motorway. I didn't know that it was an emergency access slip road. So the choice was turn around and go the wrong way up the motorway shoulder, and a slip road on the live carriageway, or continue. In the dark, the point I realised it was a motorway was when a passing lorry illuminated a gigantic blue exit sign... for under 1 mile away. So, stop, turn around, potentially freak somebody out with an oncoming headlight... or 3 minutes on a hard shoulder. The choice was actually quite easy.Even if the entry/access is confusing it should be very obvious moments after you've ridden onto a motorway that it's a motorway.
outnumbered said:
Solocle did it on purpose, for some reason he seems to like trying to cycle on motorways if he thinks the signage is missing enough, he has a thread about it somewhere. Seems like idiotic behaviour to me, but it takes all sorts.
Nope, that's the only time I've ended up on one, and that includes an open invite onto the A74(M) at Gretna Services... no prohibitive signs whatsover. And not to mention the aforementioned diversion sign.But perhaps understandably I get rather annoyed when I identify such a possibility.
littlebasher said:
A long time ago, when the M3 past Eastleigh was still the A33, a massive accident and a diversion forced me onto the M27.
On a (sports) moped!
Enjoyed a police escort along the hard shoulder before they could get me off at Rownhams services.
Nothing illegal about that, police can divert any traffic onto a motorway. I think far more recently there was an instance on the A64 with a nasty crash on the roundabout, so all traffic was being sent down the only open exit - the A1(M).On a (sports) moped!
Enjoyed a police escort along the hard shoulder before they could get me off at Rownhams services.
Plymo said:
Don't give them any ideas!
I think Bristol has a motorway with a bus lane on it...
The M4 had a bus lane, on occasions, for some years:I think Bristol has a motorway with a bus lane on it...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_bus_lane
Solocle said:
Funnily enough it was Junction 7 of the M40 where I once went wrong on my bike, and ended up cycling on the hard shoulder (fortunately there was one!). And less than 1 mile to J7A, which, while another 1.6 miles of spur motorway, was virtually deserted.
What happened was I miscounted farm turning and emergency access slip road in the dark (3 am). The slip had the gate left open - thus an invisibly angled non-reflective "authorised vehicles only" sign.
I think in that case I'd have a defence about as solid as to speeding if the signs were facing the hedge!
And then there's the question of nonsense like this (encountered on a late night ride SW from London, after hitting roadworks on the A30... turned out I'd just missed that to legally get to the A303 I needed to turn right to the A33). But it certainly was confusing to encounter a diversion sign just after roadworks.
Can you make a video of motorway cycling? interesting to see what its like I have always thought about it but never tried myself. I would imagine hard shoulder is full of debris from the daily car crashes we get? is road surface different to 20 or 30mph road?What happened was I miscounted farm turning and emergency access slip road in the dark (3 am). The slip had the gate left open - thus an invisibly angled non-reflective "authorised vehicles only" sign.
I think in that case I'd have a defence about as solid as to speeding if the signs were facing the hedge!
And then there's the question of nonsense like this (encountered on a late night ride SW from London, after hitting roadworks on the A30... turned out I'd just missed that to legally get to the A303 I needed to turn right to the A33). But it certainly was confusing to encounter a diversion sign just after roadworks.
-CB
chickenbarns said:
Can you make a video of motorway cycling? interesting to see what its like I have always thought about it but never tried myself. I would imagine hard shoulder is full of debris from the daily car crashes we get? is road surface different to 20 or 30mph road?
-CB
Not really, as it was an accidental wrong turn at 3am. I'm not planning to recreate the experience, although I do have a clip from the spur to the A40, I'll have to look that one out - but at 3am, there's not a lot to see (including cars!). About all you can see is the proper retroreflective signs.-CB
I've got a few clips that were taken legally, though - for instance, a former spur of the M27 (according to popular myth, the A36(M)):
What's changed is the colour of the signs, and the creation of the A326 offering a non-motorway exit from the roundabout. Although note a somewhat comparable layout in Leicester at the Whetstone Interchange, where the A5460 meets the M1 and M69 at a roundabout - the only legal route for non-motorway traffic is a full lap and back the way you came!
As for debris, sure, hard shoulders do accumulate some, but from what I've seen they're not that terrible. Although it certainly does pose a problem for emergency responders when they get punctures...
Generally the surface on trunk roads is much smoother than local authority roads (even to an extent the NSL dual carraigeways), let alone the urban ones. Riding on trunk roads is like riding on butter, although the hard shoulder above was somewhat rougher.
The really cheeky one is here. I joined the A31 just after the end of the M27... about a minute before it got shut for works.
If you know marker posts, this is kilometre zero. The end of the M27 is just behind.
You can also probably see that the driving lanes are a bit smoother than the hard shoulder, as they've been worn down a bit.
That smoothness, combined with the general benefits of well engineered dual carriageways (directness, lack of steep hills, rarity of hazards like junctions, free flowing), while not intended with cyclists in mind, really offers substantial benefits. With the opportunity to ride along it legally, with basically no traffic, it was just irresistible (especially as the diverted traffic would be going down my usual route across the New Forest!).
A direct comparison of the two (although the A35 run was on a 100 mile ride, it seems I went out quite hard and was in better general shape). The A31 ride was effectively a 25 mile time trial.
An increased average speed of 0.75 mph, saving 6 minutes, over 15 miles.
The A35 is a decent quality A road with only a couple of urban areas, so it's only a marginal difference - but on the flipside, the A31 that time didn't offer a tow from passing traffic! And the A31 still wins.
(1:31:32)
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