Life as a cycle commuter

[elephantstone]

Why do cyclists do this:

You are just coming up to a set of traffic lights and so is a cyclist so you overtake(safely)and stop waiting for the green light. Why do cyclists then insist of shuffling past your wing mirror to get back infront of you? Mean then when the green light comes on you have to overtake AGAIN??

[Globs]

UrbanSports said:

IMO cyclists just get in the way, they use the roads for free and are a general pest especially at busy times.

If they took their car that day you'd find the same though

[heebeegeetee]

elephantstone said:

Why do cyclists do this:

You are just coming up to a set of traffic lights and so is a cyclist so you overtake(safely)and stop waiting for the green light. Why do cyclists then insist of shuffling past your wing mirror to get back infront of you? Mean then when the green light comes on you have to overtake AGAIN??

More to the point why do you overtake someone knowing you have to stop?

[S10GTA]

elephantstone said:

Why do cyclists do this:

You are just coming up to a set of traffic lights and so is a cyclist so you overtake(safely)and stop waiting for the green light. Why do cyclists then insist of shuffling past your wing mirror to get back infront of you? Mean then when the green light comes on you have to overtake AGAIN??

Why try and overtake knowing the light is red?

[UrbanSports]

heebeegeetee said:

elephantstone said:

Why do cyclists do this:

You are just coming up to a set of traffic lights and so is a cyclist so you overtake(safely)and stop waiting for the green light. Why do cyclists then insist of shuffling past your wing mirror to get back infront of you? Mean then when the green light comes on you have to overtake AGAIN??

More to the point why do you overtake someone knowing you have to stop?

Of course, just sit behind them because at some point you will have to stop

[oyster]

elephantstone said:

Why do cyclists do this:

You are just coming up to a set of traffic lights and so is a cyclist so you overtake(safely)and stop waiting for the green light. Why do cyclists then insist of shuffling past your wing mirror to get back infront of you? Mean then when the green light comes on you have to overtake AGAIN??

Why do drivers do this:

You are just coming up to a set of traffic lights and so is a car behind, but instead of simply stopping behind, they insist on overtaking just before coming to a halt at the lights. Then for my safety I squeeze past the ridiculously tiny gap they leave to the kerb in order to get to the refuge of the advanced stop zone. Means then when the green light comes on, they have to overtake again.

[heebeegeetee]

UrbanSports said:

Of course, just sit behind them because at some point you will have to stop

Well if you are just coming up to a set of lights and the light is red, what part of that is hard to understand?

(A: I don't know, but it foxes countless drivers daily)

[UrbanSports]

heebeegeetee said:

UrbanSports said:

Of course, just sit behind them because at some point you will have to stop

Well if you are just coming up to a set of lights and the light is red, what part of that is hard to understand?

(A: I don't know, but it foxes countless drivers daily)

If only it was always as simple as that, it may be in your world....

[Big Fat Fatty]

Unfortunately it's the weather that brings out all the moron cyclists who don't do it enough to actually know what they're doing. The ones who do it day in, day out all year round are the ones who cause no problems at all.

The indignant lycra clad ones who think they're above everyone else because they cycle are the worst of the bunch though.

[T0nup]

Kinda nice to know I'm not the only anti-bikeer on the forum.

[heebeegeetee]

UrbanSports said:

If only it was always as simple as that, it may be in your world....

It absolutely is that simple - how easier can it be? You stay behind, and if the lights change then you pass and go. Only an idiot would pass twice.

[UrbanSports]

heebeegeetee said:

UrbanSports said:

If only it was always as simple as that, it may be in your world....

It absolutely is that simple - how easier can it be? You stay behind, and if the lights change then you pass and go. Only an idiot would pass twice.

What distance are we talking, what speeds, how much traffic, how wide is the road.....

Behave.

[paranoid airbag]

Dr Doofenshmirtz said:

So, what is the point of this thread then?

Are we supposed to hunt down the lorry driver and the other motorists involved and have a word for you?
Not everyone is a perfect driver, people get distracted, people make mistakes, (and the biggest problem of all) people get target fixation (look it up if you don't know what that is).

It's up to you as a vulnerable road user to protect yourself against these issues as best you can.
If you think that's the job of other people [to keep you safe], then may I suggest you take the car instead?!

So again, what do you hope to achieve from this thread?

Nobody said it was someone else's responsibility to keep you safe, that was a strawman. They said it was someone else's responsibility to not actively endanger you if you are cycling legally. If some people are endangering those who are cycling legally then it is wrong for them to still have a driving license, since the entire point of a license is to ensure that you do not pose a danger to other road users.

Once again: why should a cyclist in this country not be able to have confidence in other road users to not endanger them if they are cycling within the law? More pertinently, who should a cyclist be expected to follow road rules if they do not get a reasonable guarantee of safety in return?

Edited by paranoid airbag on Tuesday 16th July 14:14

[anonymous-user]

Hoofy said:

Depends. Were you like the 80% of cyclists I barely saw this evening as they didn't bother with lights or reflective gear? tts.

Do you struggle seeing cars not painted yellow?

[S10GTA]

T0nup said:

Kinda nice to know I'm not the only anti-bikeer on the forum.

No, unfortunately you are not the only small minded idiot on here

[heebeegeetee]

UrbanSports said:

What distance are we talking, what speeds, how much traffic, how wide is the road.....

Behave.

He said "you are just coming up to a set of lights". Is that hard to understand?

[anonymous-user]

GC8 said:

A lot of simple continental principles seem beyond some of us.

EFA

[UrbanSports]

heebeegeetee said:

UrbanSports said:

What distance are we talking, what speeds, how much traffic, how wide is the road.....

Behave.

He said "you are just coming up to a set of lights". Is that hard to understand?

So answer my questions then, it's vague isn't so you can't answer can you? Is that hard to understand?

[kambites]

numtumfutunch said:

AFAIK I dont need lights or reflectives in these conditions

IIRC you're meant to have something reflective on the back of your bike at any time of day (same as with a car, in fact). Anyway, it sounds like the drivers were just rubbish, unfortunately a lot are.

By contrast, 12 years ago I commuted 25 miles a day by bike for a year or so and had remarkably few really bad experiences. I do get the feeling that things have got worse since then, although the roads are just one symptom of a general increase in the selfishness of the British public.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 16th July 14:22

[RobM77]

WeirdNeville said:

elephantstone said:

Why do cyclists do this:

You are just coming up to a set of traffic lights and so is a cyclist so you overtake(safely)and stop waiting for the green light. Why do cyclists then insist of shuffling past your wing mirror to get back infront of you? Mean then when the green light comes on you have to overtake AGAIN??

You can pull away on a bike 10-20 ft before the motorists have got it in gear: this gives you the opportunity to clear the junction, or if it's a large junction means that the overtake happens on a wider expanse of tarmac, lessening the need for the car to move over to let you by.
If you stick behind a car at the lights, you have to pull away after they have, which actually slows you moving away. You are then overtaken by the cars behind before you've cleared the kerb to your left, and often get "squeezed out".

If you're in front of the lead car at the lights, they HAVE to see you and acknowledge you as they negotiate the junction. If you're trapped to the left of a stream of traffic as the lights change, this doesn't happen and it puts you in danger.

Getting to the front at lights is just cyclists being pro-active about safety.

Good answer. I thought I'd also mention that if you're riding with clipped in pedals it's easier to keep going than to stop, especially if the junction is uphill. Plus it's not just the delayed start from most drivers that's salient here, it's also the fact that your average cyclist out accelerates your average car up to 15 or 20mph. Obviously if they both tried hard that wouldn't be the case, but on average that's what happens.

The other thing is I could rephrase the point from the position of the cyclist - why do so many car drivers insist on overtaking cyclists 20 or 30 yards from a red light and then braking to a standstill in front of them? Isn't that just rude, completely pointless and inconvenient for everyone? 95% of drivers seem to do it though. Personally when I'm driving a car if I can see that both me and a slower road user up ahead (eg a cyclist, horse rider, moped etc) are going to stop very soon then I don't overtake, I maintain the present order (them in front, me behind) by backing off a bit earlier - it's a far safer and more logical thing to do.