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Original poster

Why so much anger towards cyclists?

248 replies

Thatsthatthen87 · 09/09/2022 17:50

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/sep/01/i-will-never-ride-a-bike-again-why-people-are-giving-up-on-cycling

Just read this and I can totally relate to what a couple of people are saying about drivers' attitudes to cyclists. If people are not following the rules or using their bikes responsibly or whatever, I get it, but some drivers just seem to hate the fact that they have to share the road. Why? I've even had 'get a car' yelled at me from a window. 😄

OP posts:
ArialAnna · 09/09/2022 20:00

Reading through posts so far, it sounds like the MAMILS are the issue for many and it's a position I have some sympathy with. Allowing your hobby to block busy country roads is not cool, and it can't be that pleasant for cyclists to have traffic constantly whizzing past them - surely there are plenty of quiet country back lanes much more suitable for a weekend lesiure route.

The problem is we mustn't let annoyance with MAMILS spill into vilification of all cyclists, and reduce support for better cycle infrastructure. Particularly in large towns and cities, getting people out of their cars and onto bikes is beneficial for us all - less pollution, congestion and health benefits. We need a cycling culture more like countries like the Netherlands, where cycling is for everyone - parents taking young kids to school in cargo bikes, older kids cycling themselves to school and to see friends, pensioners sedately cycling to the shops. The more people who cycle the safer and pleasanter it will be, which in turn encourages more cycling. But threads like these are yet another barrier to people who are thinking of taking it up to get to A to B.

Pedallleur · 09/09/2022 20:01

Somehow people riding bikes is seen as stopping people doing important things and somehow dangerous but you casually accept the road casualty statistics and the air pollution as just the cost of motoring.

Anon778833 · 09/09/2022 20:04

Also I life in quite a countrified area and have never had any problem with horse riders. They always behave sensibly ime.

Interested in this thread?

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Cycling
sqirrelfriends · 09/09/2022 20:06

Because the minority that act like idiots make some people (who also happen to be massive dicks) think that all cyclists are the same.

mam0918 · 09/09/2022 20:06

Because most cyclists are dangerous nusences, especially the ones who are wrongly convinced they are not the problem.

If you truely cant see the obvious issues you're deluded and probably unaware that you are actually the problem.

Anon778833 · 09/09/2022 20:07

ivykaty44 · 09/09/2022 19:54

MondaysChild7 Do you ever read the Highway Code?

Yes. The only time cyclists should use the middle of the road is in slow moving traffic. They should only do so if they’re keeping up with traffic, which is often not the case!

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 09/09/2022 20:08

It’s not Lycra I’m objecting to.

Its the groups of men in cycling clubs that do my head in. Even in bin bags they’d do my head in.

l don’t have any issues with people commuting in Lycra. So it’s not Lycra, or even cyclists, it’s the cycling clubs that do my head in.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 09/09/2022 20:09

I thought they could use the middle of the road at junctions?

LimboLass · 09/09/2022 20:10

Drivers lack any empathy and understanding because they simply have no idea what it is like being a cyclist.

We are not cycling 2m away from the kerb for a laugh. We are avoiding all the glass and vehicle debris that will puncture our tyres and the pot holes that will spit our rims.

We are not sitting in the middle of the road at traffic lights to be annoying. We are ensuring that drivers cannot cut us up when taking the corner.

We are not cycling two abreast down country lanes to slow you ruin your weekend. We are cycling two abreast because it dissuades you from attempting a dangerously close overtake at speed.

LimboLass · 09/09/2022 20:11

I thought they could use the middle of the road at junctions?

Yes. We do this for safety reasons that I have outlined above.

MikeWozniaksMoustache · 09/09/2022 20:13

mam0918 · 09/09/2022 20:06

Because most cyclists are dangerous nusences, especially the ones who are wrongly convinced they are not the problem.

If you truely cant see the obvious issues you're deluded and probably unaware that you are actually the problem.

The ridiculous blanket statements like this I could easily apply to motorists. I don’t drive, nor cycle these days, but I have seen / had the potential to be injured by WAY more cunts driving cars that cyclists.

Anon778833 · 09/09/2022 20:14

We are not cycling 2m away from the kerb for a laugh. We are avoiding all the glass and vehicle debris that will puncture our tyres and the pot holes that will spit our rims.

Why don’t you report it to the council then instead of holding people up who are trying to get to work / school on time? Drivers fail their driving tests for holding up other drivers.

AssumethePerpendicular · 09/09/2022 20:14

I don’t mind cyclists, I always give them lots of room, which annoys cars behind me while I wait for a gap.
I get annoyed with those who ride wearing dark colours with tiny lights on dark roads.
my biggest bug bear are the road cycling races. There’s signs up for another this weekend on my village, 100s of bikes coming through. I’m doing a running race this weekend and I have to pay to enter to cover fees to close the roads so we can race, yet bike races just race along public roads and no regard for anyone else.

LimboLass · 09/09/2022 20:16

Why don’t you report it to the council then instead of holding people up who are trying to get to work / school on time? Drivers fail their driving tests for holding up other drivers

We do! Frequently

If you are getting held up then....erm.....I dont know....

Leave earlier

🙄

Anon778833 · 09/09/2022 20:17

Leave earlier because you might need to drive at 10pmh? I’ve heard it all now 🤣

loveisanopensore · 09/09/2022 20:17

I worry that being in metal boxes that go fast shuts down any sense of danger.
On a bike I've had cars overtake then turn left across my path, also had a car try to over take after I'd signalled right and moved out to do so.
While walking I've had to push a buggy out onto a main road because cars parked on the footpath and at a junction near my daughter's school cars break the lights most days.

Blondie1209 · 09/09/2022 20:19

blacksax · 09/09/2022 18:24

Drivers don't like being inconvenienced

No, I certainly don't like being purposely inconvenienced by a bunch of lycra-clad entitled arseholes when they are gallivanting mob-handed around the country lanes on a Sunday morning. They deliberately slow down as soon as they get an inkling that there's a vehicle behind them, and spread out all over the lane so you literally can't overtake. It isn't safe to do so because they are winding roads. On roads where there is a 30mph speed limit they make sure they are doing around 26. Slow enough to be a pain in the arse, but too fast to be able to pass a dozen of them without breaking the speed limit yourself.

And don't get me started on the ones who blithely ignore red traffic lights.

Ordinary folks going from A to B on their bike are fine. It's the (invariably male and middle-aged) hobbyists who are the utter gits.

👆 THIS! 👆

PauliesWalnuts · 09/09/2022 20:20

Anon778833 · 09/09/2022 20:14

We are not cycling 2m away from the kerb for a laugh. We are avoiding all the glass and vehicle debris that will puncture our tyres and the pot holes that will spit our rims.

Why don’t you report it to the council then instead of holding people up who are trying to get to work / school on time? Drivers fail their driving tests for holding up other drivers.

What a great idea! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that… 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Codingand36 · 09/09/2022 20:22

Because a cyclist cycled into me when it was a red light and the green man said cross. I had a head injury and visibly injured (blood streaming out of my head and face)

Cyclist called me a cunt and had a go at me because he was late for work. Didn't ask if I was OK, didn't say sorry. He kicked his bike.

Sweaty lycrad horrible man.

Anon778833 · 09/09/2022 20:23

@PauliesWalnuts i report stuff to the council all the time and it’s usually fixed within a few days. For example, dog shit by my child’s nursery.

Ponderingwindow · 09/09/2022 20:23

I used to be a cyclist so I feel like I understand both sides.

there are two issues

  1. If you have encounter after encounter with awful people In a certain group, eventually you start pre-judging everyone in that group
  2. we can’t deny that being on a narrow road stuck behind a cyclist with traffic building up behind you is stressful. It’s not fair to take out that stress in the cyclist. The angst should go to city planners who don’t provide bike routes. It’s human nature though that when we are stressed, we sometimes direct that stress towards the most immediate and convenient explanation instead of the most logical .
drpet49 · 09/09/2022 20:24

TheJudgment · 09/09/2022 17:59

99% of them are idiots. I used to be fair and open to them but having seen and been the subject of dangerous and illegal moves by cyclists, I now realise it’s them.

Motorcyclists are the worst.

Original poster
Thatsthatthen87 · 09/09/2022 20:27

Codingand36 · 09/09/2022 20:22

Because a cyclist cycled into me when it was a red light and the green man said cross. I had a head injury and visibly injured (blood streaming out of my head and face)

Cyclist called me a cunt and had a go at me because he was late for work. Didn't ask if I was OK, didn't say sorry. He kicked his bike.

Sweaty lycrad horrible man.

What a nasty prick he was

OP posts:
Frazzled2207 · 09/09/2022 20:28

I’m a cyclist and a car driver and have far far more issues with car drivers than cyclists.

when cycling the other day I was hooted and sworn at for doing the great inconvenience of slowing down and turning right.

Original poster
Thatsthatthen87 · 09/09/2022 20:29

Alopeciabop · 09/09/2022 19:36

I can answer this -

because USUALLY the people riding are men with decent jobs (lawyers, media careers, similar) and they will give you a lecture about how cycling is good for the environment, yet they’ll drive their families around in large litred cars the rest of the week. oh and I’m pretty certain Lycra production isn’t good for the environment, nor the materials they use to create these bikes worth thousands of pounds but please correct me if I’m wrong.

They’ll lecture you about how cycling is excellent exercise, yet consume many pints and a burger every time they finish a ride (and many then drink cycle after the pub)

they’ll put cycling above their friends and family.

they hold up traffic (which is not good for the environment)

also (and I live in a cyclist heavy area) they weave all over the place, make it hard to overtake them, ignore cars jamming up behind them.

are impolite - I also live in a horse heavy area, and 99% of the riders make an effort to let cars squeeze by. Cyclists will just carry on as if the own the road.

theyre dangerous - as much as you might like the roads to be for everyone, cars are on the road and playing chicken with a car is just ridiculous. Cyclists forget that they just can’t be seen as easily. You might feel obvious, but it is easy to get loads in a blind spot. It’s nerve wracking as a road user!

I feel like the men you're describing are the husbands of half of mumsnet.

OP posts:
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