Cyclist awareness

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

I suppose we should be mindful that the first paved roads were built in the UK almost 2000 years ago... We've only had cars for about 130 of them! Lol. 

 

I think it took a bit longer to get roads in Scotland though @Gary Taylor - Scotland AO, I'm sure someone stopped near Carlisle and built a mahoosive wall! 😂😂 

 

 

[Steve (sdh2903)]

10 minutes ago, RobH72 said:

I think it took a bit longer to get roads in Scotland though @Gary Taylor - Scotland AO, I'm sure someone stopped near Carlisle and built a mahoosive wall! 😂😂 

 

I think wee nicola is trying to get it rebuilt 😂

[maurici]

Well. If you live in mallorca, with about 4k rented road bikes a day, plus all the people that brings their owns..  plus all of them normally head to the same hot spots (you know, turism + sport) you learn to consider them not much more than wildlife... and as all, you learn to not to run over the wildlife because it will damage your car... not much more.

 

Having said that, used to over 3000 retardeds pedaling around my folks place in Soller in a daily basis, that they are convinced that the road is for their exclusive use because "they are on holidays" i find the average cyclist in uk to be quite aware and respectfull... so am I with them.

[MrPid]

We went out for a run through the moon valley early sunday morn. There were tons of cyclists riding three or four (and more) abreast.

 

Some were courteous and moved out of the way but some were just belligerent and rude. We encountered lots of horses also and had stopped to let them pass to then have a gaggle of cyclists come tearing past, scaring the horses!

 

We passed another group to then be faced with a red light on temporary traffic lights. We stopped and the lycra warriors came past and carried on through the red light! Luckily Karma was watching and they came head on with a large Warburtons truck and had to take evasive action, which was amusing.

 

They really don't do themselves any favours.

[Captain Colonial]

Cyclists should be grateful they don’t live in Russia, where the vehicle / cycle accident rate is much higher and cyclists (and pedestrians) are commonly referred to “road plankton”.

 

The ones who really amaze me are the incredibly fat people on their electric four-wheeled obesecycles who insist on driving (illegally) on the street so they don’t have to slow down for pedestrians.  There’s one around here who smothers the thing when she sits on it to the point it looks like she’s levitating down the road.

[Ian Podmore]

The one thing that I don't think drivers realise is the shocking state of the roads.  With 25mm wide road tyres the road surface/craters can easily be very dangerous when cycling, when we can drive over it without a concern in a car.  This often means we cannot keep closer to the edge of the road and may ride a metre or so away from the kerb, there was even one section of road locally where we couldn't ride on the left side of the road at all it was that bad.

 

I find most drivers are good, and have maybe got better with cyclists, but you always get one that doesn't consider you to be an equal road user as you don't have a 1.5t metal box around you.  This is mainly in a give way situation / safety bollards etc.

 

Over my 24 years with the Westfield, I have certainly noticed a massive increase in cyclists.  

[Captain Colonial]

Don’t get me started on cyclists who have a cycle lane available and won’t use it, riding on the pavement or in the vehicle lane instead, and then wondering why others get angry at them.  There’s an old well-known clip of a cyclist with a GoPro nearly getting taking out at a roundabout by an idiot driving a fuel tanker.  What’s rarely shown was the 60 seconds previous to that when the same cyclist was riding down the middle of the vehicle lane, well outside the cycle lane, with cars having to swerve to get around him.
 

There are idiots on the roads with any number of different contraptions under them, and now it’s electric scooters that can hit 15 mph that we’ll be mixing it up with behind the wheel and on the pavements - it’s going to be a recipe for injury and death to be sure.  

[Dibby]

41 minutes ago, Ian Podmore said:

The one thing that I don't think drivers realise is the shocking state of the roads.  With 25mm wide road tyres the road surface/craters can easily be very dangerous when cycling, when we can drive over it without a concern in a car.  This often means we cannot keep closer to the edge of the road and may ride a metre or so away from the kerb, there was even one section of road locally where we couldn't ride on the left side of the road at all it was that bad.

To be fair though, you have to spec components suitable for the terrain. The times you see an 18 stone chap on 23mm tyres on potholed roads - it's just not suitable. It gives cyclists a bad reputation when they're weaving round all the potholes, save the high pressure skinnies and super rigid carbon frames/ forks for track cycling and ride something a bit more robust.

 

My 'road' bike has 40mm tyres, tubeless at 40psi and being a mountain biker, potholes and loose drain covers are no issue. Ridden 200-mile weekends on them over some terrible roads and they're a lot more comfortable than super skinnies for putting the miles in. They're a good compromise for British roads.

[Nemesis]

I keep the whole interaction thing simple.

 

I treat all road users with courtesy and respect, (apart from our local UBER drivers who are to be given no quarter whatsoever) I will give pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists as much room and consideration as I would another car, they are after all a tad softer than the average tin top.

 

That said here's the flip side, If I've taken the time and effort to pass Mr or Mrs 2 wheel and tribe in a safe and respectful manner and then find myself undertaken at a junction or stop point with just enough room to pass a fag paper between us then I take that as an indication that they don't want that sort of safe space, and on subsequent passing they get no extended courtesy, I'll get past them in a safe way but they usually don't like it, it's amazing how selective some of them can be with their attitude to self preservation.

I also carry a rechargeable air horn, with that I can let any earphone wearing wobbler know I'm there if I feel they don't know, but to be honest I've only ever used that once and that was as an answer to a tirade of abuse I got after nearly wiping out what looked like the entire peloton of the Tour-De-France coming up a one way street the wrong way.

 

Nem.........

[XTR2Turbo]

I was a very keen cyclist in my 20s and 30s and rode 10000 miles one year. Having started riding again recently I would overall say car drivers are probably more considerate than I remember them being before probably helped by more of them cycling too. Traffic is much worse but luckily I can go on pretty rural routes.   The one issue I do think is cycle paths. When they exist cars seem to take great offence if cyclists aren’t on them. But the few around me are poorly designed, covered in glass and other crap and have junctions and interruptions or pedestrians on. Many are just paths that have had a white line drawn on them and an occasional blue sign. It makes them next to useless unless you are happy pootling along at walking pace. 
 

But it really seems to wind motorists up if you still use the road . I wish they were not there generally. 
 

I also make a point of acknowledging cars that wait to overtake etc. Same as would if it was a car that waited if giving way to me in a car.  A little bit of courtesy goes a long way.

 

ps I understand you can get points on your licence riding a bike dangerously same as you can riding an electric scooter etc not that it happens very often. 

[McFrancis]

On 14/07/2020 at 10:52, Nemesis said:

I take that as an indication that they don't want that sort of safe space

Nem,  I get your sentiment, but you don't want to be remembered as the person that wiped out a family.

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

Yesterday the wife and I went for a ride along the High Peak trail, a disused railway line converted to a trail for cyclists, walkers and horse riders.

In some places it is quite wide and in others only about a metre or so wide. We were approaching a family, Mum, Dad walking and two little girls wobbling along in front of mum and dad on their small bikes. as I approached the girls i slowed down from my already slow pace and tried to give as wide a berth as possible on the quite narrow track, as I did this Mr Lycra bombing along as only Mr Lycra can shouted that he was here and wanted to pass, i stayed where i was til' i had passed the girls, Margaret was behind me passing the second girl and his mate Mr Lycra 2 sped through the safe gap that Margaret had left between her and the little girl. Those two were only interested in going at their own pace regardless of anyone else's safety, even small children. I hope that one day they get their come uppance under the wheels of a 38 ton truck 

Its not as if they couldn't see me 

[Nemesis]

12 hours ago, McFrancis said:

Nem,  I get your sentiment, but you don't want to be remembered as the person that wiped out a family.

 

I don't talk of this very often but this thread warrants it.

 

Around about 1987 when I was all of 19 years old, having done 3 years on motorbikes decided it was time to learn to drive a car, on lesson number 3 in our small village, 10 yards from a T junction an elderly lady walked straight out in front of me, I almost got the car completely stopped but still managed to 'push' her enough that she fell down, she broke her hip and bumped her head when she met the road, she passed away 2 weeks later from surgical complications. I have to live with that every day.

 

I think if you take a moment to re-read what I wrote then you'll see that I don't want to wipe anyone out.

 

Nem.....

[Jim RS]

12 hours ago, Paul Hurdsfield said:

Yesterday the wife and I went for a ride along the High Peak trail, a disused railway line converted to a trail for cyclists, walkers and horse riders.

In some places it is quite wide and in others only about a metre or so wide. We were approaching a family, Mum, Dad walking and two little girls wobbling along in front of mum and dad on their small bikes. as I approached the girls i slowed down from my already slow pace and tried to give as wide a berth as possible on the quite narrow track, as I did this Mr Lycra bombing along as only Mr Lycra can shouted that he was here and wanted to pass, i stayed where i was til' i had passed the girls, Margaret was behind me passing the second girl and his mate Mr Lycra 2 sped through the safe gap that Margaret had left between her and the little girl. Those two were only interested in going at their own pace regardless of anyone else's safety, even small children. I hope that one day they get their come uppance under the wheels of a 38 ton truck 

Its not as if they couldn't see me 

Brilliant safety wear.

Personally I feel that high vis clothing should be mandatory for cyclists, especially on the road and don't get me started on those stupid flashing lights.

[keirik]

On 13/07/2020 at 10:46, CosKev said:

I'm finding more cyclists are now looking for confrontations with motorists, they hear a car behind them,look over shoulder then take up more room on the road than they were🙄

They then proceed to eye ball you as you pass hoping for a response from the car driver.🤬

This is not just in my kit car,finding it on my commute in the daily too👎 

I only do it to you Kev 😉