A cycling type question
Discussion
geeteeaye said:
BliarOut said:
Stu R said:
Note to self: Don't annoy BlairOut.
I self censored my comments about his first born 
kin' ruin you...As said, bad cyclists and bad car drivers, they're about. I find usually a single cyclist to be no problem (at least, someone who clearly does it a lot, wearing proper gear etc. The bimblers are a PITA due to a lack of confidence/random wobbles etc). However, there does seem to be a bit of a tttish group mentality that is fairly commonplace (Before I get flamed, in no means all cyclists! 
As one myself, I appreciate that there are more good ones than bad ones! ).
Example that springs to mind is a few Sunday evenings ago on an urban, wide road but with traffic islands down the middle. Two cyclists bimbling along chatting to each other, taking up about half the lane. Gave a quick toot and flash, thinking they might not have realised I was there etc. Got the finger and the outermost one stuck rigidly in the carriageway glancing back, leaving me the choice of following them at ~10mph or overtaking on the other side. Empty road so dropped to second and did just that, but fk me. Not sure if it is a British, or indeed a Dagenham thing but the friendly horn doesn't really seem to exist around here. I cycle most days, often with mates, and whenever we're on roads we stick to single file. Just feels safer as much as anything.
ttish group mentality that is fairly commonplace (Before I get flamed, in no means all cyclists! As one myself, I appreciate that there are more good ones than bad ones! ). Example that springs to mind is a few Sunday evenings ago on an urban, wide road but with traffic islands down the middle. Two cyclists bimbling along chatting to each other, taking up about half the lane. Gave a quick toot and flash, thinking they might not have realised I was there etc. Got the finger and the outermost one stuck rigidly in the carriageway glancing back, leaving me the choice of following them at ~10mph or overtaking on the other side. Empty road so dropped to second and did just that, but f
k me. Not sure if it is a British, or indeed a Dagenham thing but the friendly horn doesn't really seem to exist around here. I cycle most days, often with mates, and whenever we're on roads we stick to single file. Just feels safer as much as anything.I'm a cyclist.
My son's a cyclist and doing a long distance event this summer.
The cyclist/highway code says to ride in single file when a car is approaching from the rear, stop making rules up to the contrary.
Stop being arragant tw*ats, and ride properly, i.e in single file, as appropriate, in traffic.
Any cyclist that chooses to berate me for my actions, will find his Lycra clad a*se, put through the nearest hedge.
My son's a cyclist and doing a long distance event this summer.
The cyclist/highway code says to ride in single file when a car is approaching from the rear, stop making rules up to the contrary.
Stop being arragant tw*ats, and ride properly, i.e in single file, as appropriate, in traffic.
Any cyclist that chooses to berate me for my actions, will find his Lycra clad a*se, put through the nearest hedge.
icepop said:
I'm a cyclist.
My son's a cyclist and doing a long distance event this summer.
The cyclist/highway code says to ride in single file when a car is approaching from the rear, stop making rules up to the contrary.
Stop being arragant tw*ats, and ride properly, i.e in single file, as appropriate, in traffic.
Any cyclist that chooses to berate me for my actions, will find his Lycra clad a*se, put through the nearest hedge.
At last, a balanced and mature attitude. My son's a cyclist and doing a long distance event this summer.
The cyclist/highway code says to ride in single file when a car is approaching from the rear, stop making rules up to the contrary.
Stop being arragant tw*ats, and ride properly, i.e in single file, as appropriate, in traffic.
Any cyclist that chooses to berate me for my actions, will find his Lycra clad a*se, put through the nearest hedge.
Would berating you for putting threatening, moronic posts on Pistonheads qualify, or does one have to be a cyclist as well?
A balanced and mature attitude in this instance, is to move from 2 abreast to single file, as the cycling code states, when a car approaches from the rear, and not, as is the usual case, to stick two fingers up, and shout obsenities, at the passing car, as if they are in the wrong. The only threat arises from a moronic suggestion that bad cycling behaviour, of the type indicated, is acceptable.
Edited by icepop on Thursday 12th May 02:11
I had the misfortune to meet a very intelligent woman.
She bicycles with her husband.
He doesn't like cars and doesn't own one.
She's a rabid anti royalist and slightly left of Mao Tse Tung...
He's in a cycle club that goes on evening and weekend bicyclistings...
The evening runs are popular because they can reclaim the roads from cars...
He's doing 200 miles next weekend...
I hope a badger brings him down...
So its mates can bite his nuts...
She bicycles with her husband.
He doesn't like cars and doesn't own one.
She's a rabid anti royalist and slightly left of Mao Tse Tung...
He's in a cycle club that goes on evening and weekend bicyclistings...
The evening runs are popular because they can reclaim the roads from cars...
He's doing 200 miles next weekend...
I hope a badger brings him down...
So its mates can bite his nuts...
Yawn....
There are poor drivers and poor cyclists. When they have the misfortune to come together, it's the cyclist that suffers.
I am a keen cyclist and keen driver. I drive an E60 M5 and ride a variety of bikes. I am occasionally, as a driver, slightly inconvenienced by cyclists performing poor manoeuvres. On my bike, I regularly witness and avoid poor driving that could kill me.
Any driver who rants about cyclists causing them a regular obstruction is clearly a) unaware of the relative vulnerability of road users, and b) in need of some advanced driving tuition.
Steve
There are poor drivers and poor cyclists. When they have the misfortune to come together, it's the cyclist that suffers.
I am a keen cyclist and keen driver. I drive an E60 M5 and ride a variety of bikes. I am occasionally, as a driver, slightly inconvenienced by cyclists performing poor manoeuvres. On my bike, I regularly witness and avoid poor driving that could kill me.
Any driver who rants about cyclists causing them a regular obstruction is clearly a) unaware of the relative vulnerability of road users, and b) in need of some advanced driving tuition.
Steve
flemke said:
Garlick said:
I do think cyclists should move, if as described then courtesy should be shown (by both parties).
Bad cyclists, bad drivers. They're out there
IMO almost all cyclists do move over, once they become aware that a motor vehicle is now behind and would like to overtake. On a bike, it's no fun to have breathing down your neck a car that might attempt a dodgy overtake at any moment. If you're cycling at high-teens or greater speed, there's enough aero noise to mask the sound of most cars that would be following behind. A polite toot on the horn should never be a problem, for either driver or cyclist. When the cyclist becomes aware, normally he will pull over, if only for self-preservation. Bad cyclists, bad drivers. They're out there
In the major cycling nations on the Continent, it is common for an approaching driver to toot for a cyclist. Almost invariably, the toot is intended both as a friendly caution and as recognition and encouragement to the cyclist. Those intentions would be opposed to the horn's frequent meaning in the UK: "Hey, you - get the fu<k out of my way!" (Please note that none of those words has more than one syllable.)
Obviously, when a cyclist is made aware of a following vehicle and yet refuses to budge, that's a different story.
One could ask, "Why can't cyclists ride single file constantly?" The answer to that might be, "Because they're waiting for that practice to be demonstrated by car passengers' traveling for hours without speaking to each other."
On the continent [Southern France, Thursdays afternoon ish] the pack sorts itself out post haste and it's happy happy all round.
Hmm indeed.
Johnnytheboy said:
A couple of weeks ago, I was forced to a halt by cyclists coming at me two abreast round a corner on a fairly narrow lane. I _could_ have squeezed past but no doubt would have got some abuse for doing so, instead I had to hit the brakes hard enough to upset my dog in the back a bit, so they could continue in their formation. I personally don't think that's reasonable road behaviour.
At least some of them thanked me.... not.
Unfortunately, it's your responsibility to match your speed to the conditions and anticipate hazards ahead. On any occasion where you find you need to brake harder than you'd like, a question of what could you have done differently to avoid the situation occurring usually leads to a few options. Blaming someone else won't help you in the long run.At least some of them thanked me.... not.
croyde said:
Unfortunately, in this country at least, any use of the horn is considered the same as someone trying to rape your wife, kids, gerbil, iguana and so on.
It's worse than that, if they become the 'target' of a horn beep, a British person feels to have *lost face*.The only method to rectify this situation is a vendetta against the user of the horn.
This stands no matter what the reason for the use of said horn.
geeteeaye said:
BliarOut said:
Stu R said:
Note to self: Don't annoy BlairOut.
I self censored my comments about his first born What would you do if you met BliarOut on the road? I'm intrigued. Would you try your stupid manoeuvre again? You really do have issues if you want to aim a tonne of metal at someone purely because they held you up for a few minutes.
I'm surprised people can't see that a horn beep may not be the best choice. Someone pedalling along at 20mph on a road bike is not the same as you tootling along a towpath at 8mph on your mountain bike. It's a lot less stable, the steering is much much sharper and startling them will likely result in a fair old jitter and certainly a crash is not out of the question.
Another thing, if you met a group of 3-4 cyclists all in single file rather than in a group 2 abreast or whatever, you'd still be whining that they present a long slow moving obstacle to overtake.
Another thing, if you met a group of 3-4 cyclists all in single file rather than in a group 2 abreast or whatever, you'd still be whining that they present a long slow moving obstacle to overtake.
icepop said:
I'm a cyclist.
My son's a cyclist and doing a long distance event this summer.
The cyclist/highway code says to ride in single file when a car is approaching from the rear, stop making rules up to the contrary.
Stop being arragant tw*ats, and ride properly, i.e in single file, as appropriate, in traffic.
Which is exactly what most cyclists do.My son's a cyclist and doing a long distance event this summer.
The cyclist/highway code says to ride in single file when a car is approaching from the rear, stop making rules up to the contrary.
Stop being arragant tw*ats, and ride properly, i.e in single file, as appropriate, in traffic.
icepop said:
Any cyclist that chooses to berate me for my actions, will find his Lycra clad a*se, put through the nearest hedge.
And then the keyboard warrior comes out. Ooooh! Scary! Seriously, do you really think that last sentence enhances your perfectly good post?On most of the roads cyclists use there will be just about enough room for a single cyclist, car passing and car coming the other way. This is with the cyclist holding a line very close to the road edge and not moving.
With the current state of the roads (potholes) it isn't going to happen that cyclists can hold the same line for mile after mile. This isn't just being picky about not ruining the bike, there are plenty of potholes out there at the moment that would have us straight off. Car drivers will swerve for these too.
As it's pretty much the case that a cyclist can't really be overtaken with oncoming traffic riding 2 abreast makes a much more compact group (8 riders probably taking up less room than a van) meaning we're actually making life easier for you to complete a pass in one safe move.
It's actually the single file spread out in a long line that I find causes difficulty to overtake.
For the people who are prepared to pass with a cyclist tucked in to the side and oncoming traffic, what happens if the oncoming car is making the same pass to a cyclist on his side? Is there really room for this to end well?
I am also a keen driver but enjoy cycling for the speed, excitement and freedom. I certainly don't agree with sticking the fingers up if someone toots unless it's very obviously angry for no real reason. If it's a maybe angry, maybe not I'll wave. If they're angry a friendly wave is probably worse than the finger and if it was friendly then it's acknowledged.
With the current state of the roads (potholes) it isn't going to happen that cyclists can hold the same line for mile after mile. This isn't just being picky about not ruining the bike, there are plenty of potholes out there at the moment that would have us straight off. Car drivers will swerve for these too.
As it's pretty much the case that a cyclist can't really be overtaken with oncoming traffic riding 2 abreast makes a much more compact group (8 riders probably taking up less room than a van) meaning we're actually making life easier for you to complete a pass in one safe move.
It's actually the single file spread out in a long line that I find causes difficulty to overtake.
For the people who are prepared to pass with a cyclist tucked in to the side and oncoming traffic, what happens if the oncoming car is making the same pass to a cyclist on his side? Is there really room for this to end well?
I am also a keen driver but enjoy cycling for the speed, excitement and freedom. I certainly don't agree with sticking the fingers up if someone toots unless it's very obviously angry for no real reason. If it's a maybe angry, maybe not I'll wave. If they're angry a friendly wave is probably worse than the finger and if it was friendly then it's acknowledged.
icepop said:
A balanced and mature attitude in this instance, is to move from 2 abreast to single file, as the cycling code states, when a car approaches from the rear, and not, as is the usual case, to stick two fingers up, and shout obsenities, at the passing car, as if they are in the wrong. The only threat arises from a moronic suggestion that bad cycling behaviour, of the type indicated, is acceptable.
I'd completely agree with all you say, apart from what is the "usual case" when cyclists react to drivers approaching them from the back. In my experience, that sort of behaviour is exceedingly rare. I've never had a cyclist show me any kind of gesture like what you describe, or shout obscenities at me.What I was objecting to was the idea that, if a cyclist were to berate you for your (unspecified) actions, you would "put his Lycra-clad arse through the nearest hedge". In the context, the image evoked was of a driver getting pissed off at a cyclist ahead and, with his vehicle, forcing the cyclist off the road and into a hedge.
I had a look at a number of your other posts, which seemed without exception to be helpful, reasonable, and mature. The one on this thread was an anomaly, especially having come from a cyclist and father of a sportive or competitive cyclist.
Mojocvh said:
flemke said:
Garlick said:
I do think cyclists should move, if as described then courtesy should be shown (by both parties).
Bad cyclists, bad drivers. They're out there
IMO almost all cyclists do move over, once they become aware that a motor vehicle is now behind and would like to overtake. On a bike, it's no fun to have breathing down your neck a car that might attempt a dodgy overtake at any moment. If you're cycling at high-teens or greater speed, there's enough aero noise to mask the sound of most cars that would be following behind. A polite toot on the horn should never be a problem, for either driver or cyclist. When the cyclist becomes aware, normally he will pull over, if only for self-preservation. Bad cyclists, bad drivers. They're out there
In the major cycling nations on the Continent, it is common for an approaching driver to toot for a cyclist. Almost invariably, the toot is intended both as a friendly caution and as recognition and encouragement to the cyclist. Those intentions would be opposed to the horn's frequent meaning in the UK: "Hey, you - get the fu<k out of my way!" (Please note that none of those words has more than one syllable.)
Obviously, when a cyclist is made aware of a following vehicle and yet refuses to budge, that's a different story.
One could ask, "Why can't cyclists ride single file constantly?" The answer to that might be, "Because they're waiting for that practice to be demonstrated by car passengers' traveling for hours without speaking to each other."
On the continent [Southern France, Thursdays afternoon ish] the pack sorts itself out post haste and it's happy happy all round.
Hmm indeed.
The tooting bit is unfortunately more complicated than it ought to be. A lot of modern horns cannot be modulated very well (at least not by me). You're intending a minimum of sound, just enough politely to alert the cyclist of your presence and wish to come through. Despite the intention, the sound tends to be a "HONK!" that the cyclist interprets as bullying.
I'm sure that what makes things far worse than necessary is the attitude that too large a minority of British drivers have. IME, the distribution of British drivers' mentalities has something of a dumbbell shape (pun perhaps intended). That is, a meaningful % of British drivers are exceptionally accommodating and cooperative with other road users, whilst a meaningful % of the same universe are some of the most selfish, aggressive, thoughtless scumbags I have found in any country. Some of the 5hit that I have encountered in Britain as a cyclist, pedestrian, and driver has been breathtaking. One does not see this stuff on the Continent, and not usually in the States either. Because of cyclists' especial vulnerability to sub-human drivers of motor vehicles, and because the British driving population is blighted by too many of such sub-humans, cyclists here are more inclined to interpret what was meant to be an "Excuse me" toot as a "Get the fu<k outta my way" HONK, and resent it.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff